Rocks Off Is Too Critical For CMT
If you’ve been following Rocks Off’s rodeo coverage, which hopefully you have, you’ve probably noticed that we’ve found a few of the entertainers’ performances to be less than stellar. Which is not to say we haven’t been having a blast down at Reliant Park with thousands of our friends and…
Ron Paul, Crusading Against All Pork But His
Of all the Republicans in the US House of Representatives, who do you think has the most earmarks in the omnibus spending bill? Some RINO from up north?Nah. It’s our own Ron Paul, stalwart criticizer of government spending (that’s not in his district.)Fox News is touting the story of Paul’s…
Chart Check: Texans on Billboard
A periodic look at how Lone Star natives are faring in the national music biz…Hot 100 (singles) 10. Kelly Clarkson, “My Life Would Suck Without You” 12. Jamie Foxx feat. T-Pain, “Blame It” 16. Beyonce, “Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It)” 21. Beyonce, “Diva” 41. Beyonce, “Halo” Billboard 200…
Spin Alert: DA and Police Chief To Praise Themselves Tomorrow
DA Patricia Lykos and HOD chief Harold Hurtt have announced a joint press conference tomorrow, dealing with the fallout of the false conviction of Ricardo Rachell, the disfigured guy accused of being a child predator.DNA evidence exonerated him…after he’d served five years in prison.The press-conference notice indicates that yeah, maybe…
French Haute Cuisine on the Banks of Lake Conroe: La Torretta Del Lago Resort & Spa
This past weekend, a mixture of media and local Conroe dignitaries gathered at La Torretta Del Lago Resort & Spa for a cocktail party celebrating the opening of the very upscale Chez Roux, designed to be the best restaurant on the property. Guests got to walk through the kitchen and…
Solange Knowles Shaken by Tour Bus-Deer Accident
Turns out Solange Knowles had a pretty legit reason for being off her game at last Friday’s rodeo concert: While she and her band were en route from Austin, their tour bus plowed headlong into a colony of deer. Solange is one of the most prolific Twittering musicians out there…
They’re Still Arresting People Who Curse In Galveston County, Gosh Darn It
Last year Kristi Fridge garnered nationwide publicity after being arrested in a La Marque Wal-Mart for cursing. Reasonable people thought that if a vengeful God had somehow decided to mess with you enough to place you in a Wal-Mart in LaMarque, then cursing would be a viable response.The whole thing…
Another Slap On The Wrist For The Child-Fondling Doctor
Here’s today’s criminal justice system tip: If you’re going to plead guilty in Harris County to repeatedly fondling young girls — some of whom you’re related to — make sure you’re a doctor. And we’re not talking podiatrist, here.Hair Balls suggest you be a cardiologist, like Jeffrey Klem, who pleaded…
Life On The Rodeo Road: The Doctor Says Football & Hockey Players Are Wusses
Photo by Paul KnightName: Don AndrewsHometown: DallasEvent: Cowboy doctorAndrews is working with doctors from NASA to use an accelerometer to measure the amount of G-force experienced by bareback and bull riders. I got into rodeo after I came to Texas with the New York Islanders hockey team. I needed an…
Chronicle Employees: Part Of “An Absolute Ton Of Fat”
Hearst, the privately held company that owns the Houston Chronicle and is busy killing respected dailies in San Francisco and Seattle, has good news for its newspaper employees.They are part of “an absolute ton of fat” that has been built up over the years.That’s the sympathetic analysis of Steven Swartz,…
Aftermath: Toby Keith at RodeoHouston
It’s easy to see why Toby Keith is so popular… until he opens his mouth to sing. The 47-year-old singer, actor and tireless Ford pitchman has the kind of easygoing, big-galoot charisma that would make him an ideal drinking buddy. No doubt that’s why so many of his songs, which…
The Rodeo: Do You Know Where That Milk’s Been?
So, I thought I knew everything there is to know about milk. Until I stumbled across the Southwest Dairy Farmers mobile dairy classroom at the rodeo yesterday. It comes fully loaded with a cow, a multi-armed milking device and a huge tank to collect all that raw, unpasteurized milk the…
When Publicists Attack: Solarcaded
I had already drawn a bullseye on the side of my forehead and was just getting the gun out of the drawer. I’m normally not suicidal or, for that matter, the type to brood and get depressed. But as has been mentioned in these pages before, every so often a…
Some Straight Bar In Houston Is About To Be Invaded By Teh Gheys
The “Guerrilla Gay Bar” concept is coming to Houston.Announced on a Facebook page, the event will begin Friday night.And what is a Guerrilla Gay Bar?As the announcement says: “Once a month, we will venture away from our normal hangouts and take over one of the local ‘straight’ bars. They will…
Artist of the Week: JUZCOZ
Each Wednesday, Rocks Off arbitrarily appoints one lucky local performer or group “Artist of the Week,” bestowing upon them all the fame and grandeur such a lofty title implies. Know a band or artist that isn’t awful? Email their particulars to introducingliston@gmail.com. We listen to a lot of hip-hop. A…
Idol Beat: The Final 13
Tonight’s theme? “Michael Jackson Night.” Thus, a lot of tears (and no lack of cruel laughter) are pretty much guaranteed – and the King of Pop won’t even be there! * Ryan Seacrest outsources announcing duties to some nameless stooge. Hey, anonymous announcers need work, too. Toupees don’t buy themselves!…
Texas, You Don’t Want Liquor Sales On Sunday (Allegedly)
According to a new poll, Texans overwhelmingly do not want liquor stores open on Sunday.We bet we could find some polling places in the state where they might get a different result.But the polling firm of Baselice & Associates asked 801 randomly selected Texans (from Baylor, probably) about it and…
It’s Time For Another Astros Slogan Contest!
Buried towards the bottom of a Pete Gammons blog post on the Boston Red Sox signing pitcher Jon Lester to a big contract is what appears to be a throwaway paragraph about MLB facing a huge economic problem this season. Gammons states that MLB officials have told teams to expect…
It’s Time For Another Astros Slogan Contest!
Buried towards the bottom of a Pete Gammons blog post on the Boston Red Sox signing pitcher Jon Lester to a big contract is what appears to be a throwaway paragraph about MLB facing a huge economic problem this season. Gammons states that MLB officials have told teams to expect…
The Top Hurricane Ike Myths
The Bay Area Houston Chamber of Commerce Convention & Visitors Bureau says there are a lot of myths going around about Hurricane Ike damage, and they’re determined to stop them.So they’ve issued a release listing the Top Five Myths Following Hurricane Ike, and they address each with no-nonsense answers.But in…
Uh-Oh: The Guy Who Found Houston’s Most Famous Fossil Was A Con Man
In the small Montana town of Malta, a paelontologist named Nate Murphy pleaded guilty this week to stealing a rare fossil from a landowner.Murphy had found an exceedingly rare turkey-sized raptor fossil and made money off it, but he faked the paperwork declaring where he found it. He said he…
As You Get Ready For South Padre: The Five Best Spring Break Movies
Spring Break! Since time immemorial (or the mid-20th century, anyway) it’s been a rite of passage for college students to spend their days on the beach, presenting their hindquarters to potential suitors, and their nights crammed into structurally unsound firetraps alongside hundreds of potential date rapists and venereal-disease vectors. Cherish…
Sierra Club Sues Over Grand Parkway
Logo courtesy Sierra ClubThe Grand Parkway, that expansive road to nowhere in the middle of nowhere, is headed to court.The Sierra Club has filed a federal suit against the project, saying that environmental-impact studies have been inadequate.Brandt Mannchen of the group appeared before Commissioners Court today to explain.”Filing a lawsuit…
$7 at Grand Garden Restaurant in Atascocita
Where: Grand Garden, 5324 Atascocita Rd., Humble, 281-812-5858, Free delivery over $15 What $7 gets you: Your choice from a pretty good selection of lunch specials with fresh food. Those familiar with this area may remember this spot as Chino Express. Grand Garden may have a shot, given that the…
UT Regents Vote To Keep UTMB On The Island
Great news for Galveston residents: The UT board of regents has voted to keep UTMB on the island.The bad news: They still have to get funding from the legislature to do so, and are throwing around figures like “a billion dollars over time.”But that’s another bridge to cross, at another…
Cuteness Overload At The Rodeo
Although it’s lumped in with the children’s section, people of all ages huddle around the Birthing Center stalls at the rodeo, hoping to snap pictures the young animals and their mothers. A world of cuteness awaits you, if you can overcome the queasiness that comes with having to listen to…
How About Some SXSW Day Parties? A LOT of SXSW Day Parties?
We here at Rocks Off are only about a week away from chafed inner thighs, weird Japanese punk bands puking in hotel pools and sweating out our morning mojitos while walking to an art space off 4th Street. South By Southwest is now only a week away. It was all…
H-Town Hangman: We Have a Winner
Betcha thought Rocks Off forgot about our new little guess-that-local-band contest, huh? Actually, we kind of did, so thanks to HTH founder and head noose-wielder Nicholas L. Hall for the reminder. Anyways, after careful consideration – and thanks to so many of the Blaggards’ loyal (and possibly tipsy) fans for storming…
Harris County’s Death-Row Rep Gets Another Workout
As we first reported last October, the year 2008 marked the first time since the death penalty was reinstated in 1977 that Harris County would not be sending anyone to Death Row.The high cost of capital murder trials, some setbacks in prosecutions that may have indicated changing public sentiment, no…
The Heights Is Getting A Supersized Supermarket
Swamplot has a collection of photos of the vast destruction being wreaked upon the strip mall at 11th Street and Shepherd that includes a Kroger.What’s going on? A huge new Kroger store — the largest in the city — is being put there, a spokesman tells Hair Balls.The current store…
Westheimer Block Party Seeking Vendors
Yes, Rocks Off knows we’re in the middle of the rodeo, and SXSW is next week (shiver), but life does go on, y’all. Besides, once all the SXSW debris is cleared away, it’ll be less than a week until Free Press Houston’s Westheimer Block Party – which is rapidly metastasizing into one of…
How Much More Clear Than “Certain Death” Can You Be?
The South Florida Sun-Sentinel has a story up today about how the National Weather Service plans to offer guidelines on changing the warnings it gives for hurricanes and tornadoes, because not enough people are paying attention to them.Reports the paper:”It’s not necessarily an overhaul. It’s just better focusing the information…
Life On The Rodeo Road: It’s The Economy, Stupid
Rodeo cowboys basically live on the road, traveling with a herd of men and women crazy enough to ride, rope and wrestle live animals for a paycheck. Each day, Hair Balls is asking a different cowboy to tell us a little bit about himself and his wildest story from a…
Aftermath: Lady Antebellum at RodeoHouston
From one-night stands to missing the one that got away, love and country music go hand in hand. Monday night, fresh pop-country faces Lady Antebellum – reigning ACM Top New Duo or Group and CMA New Artist of the Year – rocked out to all of love’s in-betweens. Kicking off…
See Yourself On TV From Space!
Here’s something neat from NASA that will let you while away your cubicle hours waiting for the corporate ax to fall: live shots of Earth from the space station.The International Space Station will be streaming live video from external cameras seven days a week at this website. The video will…
Tonight: Toby Keith at Reliant Stadium
Just think, if not for September 11, Toby Keith would probably still be as bland as dry toast and just as exciting. The horrific events of that day, and our nation’s rapid retaliation, suddenly sprung the Oklahoma-born Keith into action – he soon began a whole new career as a political…
What The Web Was Made For: Old Newsmen Reminiscing About Sex
The other day, Hair Balls stumbled on the newish blog I Heard It At the Ice House, the online home of eightysomething retired newsman John Moore Moore’s complete profile reads “I am a retired newspaper columnist” (for the Houston Post, among other papers) and he has the stories to back…
Get Lit: Million Dollar Bash: Bob Dylan, The Band, and the Basement Tapes by Sid Griffin
They are perhaps rock’s most mythical treasure trove of performances, more than 100 songs recorded on low-quality tape rolling on a 2-track recorder by six musician friends mostly fucking around in 1967. But the legend and impact of the so-called “Basement Tapes” (actually recorded in three different locations) would way…
Obama Follows Yet Another Bush Policy: He Praises HISD
The Houston school district got a shout-out from President Obama this morning.In a major speech on education, Obama urged a raft of reforms “to finally make No Child Left Behind live up to its name.”Among the reforms he urged districts to adopt: Houston’s method of keeping track of how students…
The Great American Soccer Boom: Not Gonna Happen
Last week, I wrote a post about the Rockets lowering ticket prices, and I made a comment about the Dynamo playing in a minor league. And that is a comment that I stand by, though several of you got upset. And the responses that I got were the same as…
The Great American Soccer Boom: Not Gonna Happen
Last week, I wrote a post about the Rockets lowering ticket prices, and I made a comment about the Dynamo playing in a minor league. And that is a comment that I stand by, though several of you got upset. And the responses that I got were the same as…
Stuff I Wish I Could Call 911 About (a.k.a. Dumb McNuggets Lady)
So the lady who called 911 three times because McDonald’s wouldn’t give her the McNuggets she ordered really deserves to have her voting rights rescinded at the very least. I mean, it’s stories like these that make me question the democratic process. I suppose I understand the sense of anger…
Houston Exports Its Airport Know-How, God Help Us All
Believe it or not, the Juan Santamaria airport in San Jose, Costa Rica, might actually get finished.Stunning, right?You may not have known that there have been ongoing delay problems with the airport. Even more likely, you may be wondering why you should care.But it was the opening of this story…
Houston Sells Galveston Some Old School Buses, Cheap
An item on the upcoming HISD board agenda calls for the district to sell 50 school buses to Galveston ISD to replace those lost in Ike.The cost: $682 each.HISD says that figure is “the average sale price of a school bus that HISD has received from past auctions.” To which…
De Kine Loco Moco
On the last day of our stay at the Fairmont Orchid resort on the Kohala Coast, I told the waiter at the breakfast restaurant, “I’ll have a super loco moco.” When he asked what that meant, I complained that the last time I ordered a loco moco, I got one…
Lonesome Onry and Mean: A Five-Day Musical Marathon
I never thought I’d be so glad to see a Monday. I’ve been in the midst of a musical onslaught since 7 p.m. Wednesday night. The week went something like this: Miss Leslie and Heather Myles at Under the Volcano; ditto for Thursday, only the venue was Blanco’s. Friday evening…
HPD’s Rodeo Warrant Roundup: A True-Life Tale
If you’re heading through the Reliant Stadium area, make sure you don’t have unpaid tickets It’s official. HPD is doing some wrangling of its own. Ironically, this press release, which announces HPD’s participation in 2009 Great Texas Warrant Round Up beginning March 7, 2009, came through while I sat in…
Aftermath: One Wild Weekend
Rocks Off is still in the very early recovery stages from this weekend, which was one of the most satisfying musical whirlwinds he’s been sucked into in quite some time. He started off Friday evening at the Arena Theatre (his new favorite local venue) for Erykah Badu’s retro-futuristic benefit for Houston’s Imani…
Aftermath: Solange Knowles and Gladys Knight at RodeoHouston
A lot of good things went down at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo Friday night, but Solange Knowles’ performance was not one of them. The songstress paled in comparison to veteran singer Gladys Knight, who went on after Solange’s 1960s- and ’70s-inspired, mess of a set. In keeping with…
The Most Scholarly Jonas Brothers Reviewer Ever
Allen Matusow is in the midst of a distinguished career — he’s the director of academic affairs at Rice’s Baker Institute for Public Policy; he’s written such tomes as Nixon’s Economy: Boom, Busts, Dollars and Votes and The Unraveling of America: A History of Liberalism in the 1960s; and he’s…
Scammed By Stanford? The FBI Wants To Hear From You
Were you screwed by Houston’s Stanford Financial Group? The FBI would like to talk to you.Today they’ve started a major outreach to investors of the Houston company, asking them to contact the agency by phone or e-mail to detail their investment and experience with this year’s Enron.”In an effort to…
That Roberts Elementary Teacher Is Reinstated; Kids Learn Lesson About Protesting
As promised last week, the Houston school district is trying to fast-track reinstatement for some teachers caught up in the drug-dog sweeps that caused such a kerfluffle.The district announced today that Mindy Herrick, the Roberts Elementary teacher whose arrest sparked protests from parents and students, is getting her job back,…
Metro’s Getting Right On That Sleeping-Driver Complaint (Kinda)
It’s now been two weeks since Metro passenger Ania Howard happened upon a snoozing, erratic bus driver on her Bellaire route, but she hasn’t gotten any answers yet to her pretty basic question of “What the hell was going on?”She and her daughter took a bus to the Bellaire Transit…
Groups Protest The “Lock Up the Immigrants” Facility
Just before noon on Saturday some 50 protesters, including members of Houston’s Students for a Democratic Society, gathered at the T. Don Hutto Family Detention Center outside Taylor, Texas, a holding facility for families of undocumented immigrants that are waiting for immigration-court dates. Opposed to Hutto’s policy of detaining families…
U2 Closer to Firming Up Reliant Stadium Date
Update: No Line did indeed debut at No. 1, selling 484,000 copies. U2 has sent out the equivalent of a “Save the Date” card. Today the Irish rockers, whose new album No Line on the Horizon opened to mixed reviews but debuted at No. 1 in most of Europe (UK,…
Over the Weekend: Jonas Brothers, Las Haciendas, Houston Aeros and Houston Rockets
We’ll spare the introductory message, since we know y’all probably have already clicked on that photo of the Jonas Brother below and are now in pubescent heaven. Jonas Brothers at Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo The Jonas Brothers. They came to the rodeo. They did their thing. We posted tons…
Life On The Rodeo Road: 69 Is A Good Number To Have
Photo by Paul KnightName: B.J. CampbellAge: 29Hometown: Benton City, WashingtonEvent: Team RopingI got into rodeo because I’ve roped and rode my whole life. My family did it; my dad. I started [competing] when I was about five, but I took it serious at 11. I turned professional at 17. If…
Turning the Screw: G.R.I.T Boys, Coolio, Nas, Eminem, Tupac, Lil’ Kim, Chris Brown, R. Kelly, Snoop Dogg, Scarface and More
Welcome back to Turning the Screw, Rocks Off’s weekly rap post. It probably won’t rhyme, at least most of the time. E-mail tips to introducingliston@gmail.com. Thanks, homies. Single of the Week “I’m Fresh,” G.R.I.T. Boys ft. Trae and Tum Tum Wire to Wire Brooklyn’s Uncle Murda was convicted of ID…
Aftermath: The Jonas Brothers at RodeoHouston
I didn’t want to go the Jonas Brothers at the Houston Livestock and Rodeo, but I had no choice. My 10-year old granddaughter did want to go, and I owed her. For two years of the Hannah Montana craze, Jade had the wig and the poster and never missed a…
Houston Aeros Bounce Back
With the end of the regular season fast approaching, the Houston Aeros chose last week to play some of their best hockey of the past month, defeating the Grand Rapids Griffins, one of the AHL’s best teams, by a 2-1 margin on Thursday night. And though they played an error-filled…
Houston Aeros Bounce Back
With the end of the regular season fast approaching, the Houston Aeros chose last week to play some of their best hockey of the past month, defeating the Grand Rapids Griffins, one of the AHL’s best teams, by a 2-1 margin on Thursday night. And though they played an error-filled…
Astros’ Brandon Backe, Fresh From Bar Brawl, Decides To Open His Own Bar
When last we heard from putative Astros pitcher Brandon Backe — besides his struggles on the mound — he was getting in a raucous bar fight at a Galveston wedding.Cops were called, charges filed, lawsuits threatened.So what are Backe’s latest plans?Opening up a bar of his own.The Galveston County Daily…
What A Relief: You Don’t Have To Pee Your Pants To Pass A TAKS Test
Last week saw the first volley of TAKS (Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills) testing for public high schoolers. Crucial to the success of the mission was a ruling from State Education Commissioner Robert Scott that yes, bathroom breaks are allowed during the testing. The Texas Classroom Teachers Association is…
Art Rock: Little Joe Washington’s 70th Birthday at the Continental Club
Note: As of Friday, Sherman Robertson, Texas Johnny Brown, Jackie Gray, the El Orbits, I.J. Gosey, Diunna Greenleaf and of course Little Joe himself were scheduled to appear. 4 p.m. today at the Continental Club, 3700 Main, 713-529-9899 or www.continentalclub.com/houston.html…
Dragonfruit at the Keauhou Farmer’s Market
Going to the Farmer’s Market on Saturday morning is one of those habits that’s fun to engage in while you’re on the road. And since I am staying in a condo with a kitchen this week in Kailua-Kona, it was great to buy some fresh local produce. The vegetables looked…
Rockets-Suns: Brooks, Lowry Bring Small Ball to Houston
If the Rockets needed any additional evidence to the potential success of a two point-guard system, they only needed to look on the other end of the court on Friday night at Toyota Center. The Phoenix Suns (34-28) have been the model of up-tempo basketball in recent years, routinely playing…
Rockets-Suns: Brooks, Lowry Bring Small Ball to Houston
If the Rockets needed any additional evidence to the potential success of a two point-guard system, they only needed to look on the other end of the court on Friday night at Toyota Center. The Phoenix Suns (34-28) have been the model of up-tempo basketball in recent years, routinely playing…
Today: SpringFest in Old Town Spring
Lots of twangy stuff going on in the North Woods this weekend. Scroll down a bit for the Texas Independence Day in downtown Conroe (starring Mr. “Screw You, We’re From Texas” himself, Ray Wylie Hubbard) or, if you prefer, there’s SpringFest – including wine tastings courtesy of nearby vineyards -…
Tonight: Windsor Drive EP Release at Fitzgerald’s
Windsor Drive Bridges EP www.myspace.com/windsordrive The second EP, Bridges, from local indie darlings Windsor Drive (currently signed to Ping Pong Music) drops this Saturday at what promises to be a spectacular show. Luckily, Rocks Off managed to snag an advanced copy in electronic form so you readers can know just…
Some Recession Survival Tips For Houstonians
Remember that Houston energy-industry buffer that some economists were talking about? The one that would protect us, at least for a while, from the free-falling economic recession the US (and most of the world) now finds itself in? Well, it’s gone. The unemployment rate is rising, the number of new…
Tonight: Erykah Badu at the Arena Theatre
Last week, Rocks Off had the distinct pleasure of chatting with R&B Earth mother Erykah Badu as she looked after her brood at her South Dallas home. The first part of our interview appears in this week’s print issue and online here. Here’s the rest. Rocks Off: How have you…
This Week In Deliciousness
Robb Walsh has been vacationing in Hawaii. He had beer for breakfast and Spam musubi that actually looked really tasty. We hate him. A lot of restaurants are closing. A lot of GOOD restaurants. It sucks. Rodeo food: Give us fried or on a stick. Both would be best. That’ll…
What Are Houston Twitterers Doing For the Rodeo?
We don’t know if you’re heard, but there’s something going on over at Reliant Stadium called the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo. We sent the call out over Twitter for Houston folks to tell us their plans, and they did. Y’all are cooperative that way. Houston Press comments are in…
Octopus Cocktail at Connie’s Seafood Market
Admit it. It’s just fun to say: octopus cocktail. You want to say it five times fast. Go on. Try. When you’re done, head over to Connie’s Seafood Market on Airline for the best octopus cocktail in town. I was first turned on to the delicious and underrated octopus in Waco,…
Life On The Rodeo Road: The Road Was My Home
Rodeo cowboys basically live on the road, traveling with a herd of men and women crazy enough to ride, rope and wrestle live animals for a paycheck. Each day, Hair Balls is asking a different cowboy to tell us a little bit about himself and his wildest story from a…
Read My Lips. My Freakishly Colored Lips.
The FBI always comes up with cool names for bank robbers, and the G-Men (and G-Women) didn’t let Hair Balls down today: following a robbery at the midtown Wachovia Bank this mornings, authorities nabbed a suspect with freakishly colored lips. And now the FBI thinks he might be “Read My…
Hightower High Broadcast Academy Scores Another Grant
This past January, when the Houston Press awarded its first-ever MasterMinds Awards to three local groups showing cutting edge creativity and determination, one of the recipients of a $2,000 check from us was the Hightower High School’s Broadcast Academy, headed up by Ted Irving, the media academy coordinator. Today Irving…
Aftermath: Derek Trucks Band at House of Blues
At its best, music has a deeply spiritual quality, an ability to create some connection on a higher level between performer and audience that even someone with a bust of Madalyn Murray O’Hair on their mantle can get on board with. Thursday night at House of Blues, Derek Trucks was…
More Sex! Less Food! The Eggheads Proclaimeth
Katharine Shilcutt’s excellent post from last week, Depart From Me! I Never Knew You, Eaters of Bacon, in both its content and the commentary it generated, raised a very interesting question: Why would mega-pastor Joel Osteen decide to preach (dictate?) to his flock about what they should and should not…
Tonight: Benjamin Wesley CD Release at Walter’s on Washington
Benjamin Wesley Geschichte EP www.myspace.com/benjaminwesleywinder3 The driving force behind disbanded, fuzzed-out four-string symphony Basses Loaded and low-end minder for rap-rock rude boys Tha Fucking Transmissions, Benjamin Wesley is one of the most gifted, eclectically-minded musical catalysts in town. So when he turns his considerable talents toward his own compositions, the…
Almost Time for Lunch. How about Some Hamburger Sex?
Hamburgers having sex is just one of the features of Michelle Ellswortha’s multimedia project “The Objectification of Things.” She also uses Astro-turf, images of death and torture, carbon biochemistry,and synchronized back-up dancers. Ellsworth and company perform “The Objectification of Things” at 8 p.m. March 20 and 21 at DiverseWorks, 1117…
Five Spot: Lil Jared Is Doper Than Most Kid Rappers
Welcome back to Five Spot. Every Friday, we’ll examine a recent bit of music news and list five reasons why it’s either brilliant or dumb-assed. Send tips to introducingliston@gmail.com. As set forth in the official “Give Any Song From the Offspring of a Local Icon at Least Three Weeks of…
Cutout Bin: Cynthia Clawson’s You’re Welcome Here
Well, hello there! Thanks for coming on such short notice. We were lucky to get reservations at this place. Luckily I know Neil, the manager. I helped him out with a little problem he had with a waitress some time ago. Here, I brought you a rose, in case you…
Idol Beat: Wild Card Wildout
First off, I’d like to extend a hearty Idol Beat way-to-go to the Fox minion or technological gremlin responsible for causing last night’s episode of American Idol to cut out while Simon Cowell and Tatiana Del Toro were quibbling over the latter’s decision to re-visit a particular Whitney Houston song…
Houston Ranks Second in All-Important Commando Cilantro Index
Damn, guys, what’s up with Houston only being the 39th manliest city in the land? We’re only one spot above Seattle, and we all know what kind of dudes hang out there. Not very manly dudes, that’s who. In all seriousness, this is easily one of the lamest surveys ever…
Houston Rockets To Lower Ticket Prices — Wait, They Meant “Raise,” Right?
There is only one actual major league team in Houston to ever win a world title. The Houston Rockets. And there is only one legit major league team in Houston that ever makes the effort to field a winning team every season. And yet there is only one legit major…
Houston Rockets To Lower Ticket Prices — Wait, They Meant “Raise,” Right?
There is only one actual major league team in Houston to ever win a world title. The Houston Rockets. And there is only one legit major league team in Houston that ever makes the effort to field a winning team every season. And yet there is only one legit major…
Roberts Elementary Teacher, Nabbed In Drug Sweep, May Get Fast-Track Reinstatement
Big props to the Chronicle’s Ericka Mellon for, again, live-blogging a lengthy and often-tedious HISd board meeting. Since the district can’t seem to wrap its arms around 20th-Century technology to broadcast these things, it’s really an invaluable service.And from it we learned that board president Lawrence Marshall fought and won…
Food Fight at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo
Photo by Margaret Downing Click here for plenty more photos of fried goodness. The food was carefully laid out on each judge’s plate. First up, a beef burrito taco. We had palate cleansers (pickles, crackers and green grapes) and water at the ready. Cameras were clicking and video was running…
“If The Real Thing Don’t Do The Trick” — A Barracuda, Elvis & San Antone
Photo courtesy Leake Auction CompanyFor a moment there, it seemed like a lost piece of Elvis Presley memorabilia was rediscovered.No, not the mason jar where they kept his stillborn twin brother Jesse Garon, but something almost as cool – a Plymouth Barracuda thought to have been bought by the King…
Aftermath: Miss Leslie and Heather Myles at Under the Volcano
It’s not often the Wednesday-night act at Under the Volcano arrives with special guests in tow, but local songstress/honky-tonk goddess Leslie Sloan presented Californian Heather Myles to the Houston music crowd last night. If you call 25 totally mesmerized honky-tonk fanatics a crowd. Music usually doesn’t start until 8 p.m…
Food Fight at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo
Photo by Margaret Downing Click here for plenty more photos of fried goodness. The food was carefully laid out on each judge’s plate. First up, a beef burrito taco. We had palate cleansers (pickles, crackers and green grapes) and water at the ready. Cameras were clicking and video was running…
Houston Zoo To Unveil OH DEAR GOD THAT IS CUTE
On March 28, the Houston Zoo will unveil its new star attraction: a rare red panda named Toby. Holy hell, Toby is cute.Have you ever seen one of these things? Probably not, unless you happen to live in the Himalayan foothills between 5,000 and 13,000 feet. Red pandas eat exclusively…
Welcome Back, Super Happy Fun Land
Closed since February 2008 – not long after it had relocated from the Heights – due to lack of an occupancy permit and other necessary city paperwork, East End performance-art/music venue Super Happy Fun Land (3801 Polk) finally reopened this week. The converted warehouse now has an occupancy load card…
Las Alamedas: What’s Left Behind
The marquee outside Las Alamedas says it all: 28 Great Years. Thank You Houston. We Will Relocate. After an extended battle with their landlords — who greedily increased the monthly rent on the building by 50% — the owners of Las Alamedas have finally closed their doors. And although the…
RIP Bob Dylan?
At first, when Rocks Off saw this flyer (right) come over ye olde MySpace, we didn’t really give it much thought. It looked like a decent night of tunes from a bunch of dead rockers – maybe some “Lithium”, a little “Purple Haze.” After all, the night is dedicated to…
How To Save Galveston, Part 3: Gettin’ Its Savannah On
This week, Hair Balls is examining the many and varied roads Galveston could take to recover from Hurricane Ike. This week’s cover story explores the possibility of casino gambling, while an earlier post here discusses Galveston relying on its existing, tried-and-true economic drivers. A third envisions Galveston as the Hong…
It’s Knoll Design Day In Dallas, Home To The World’s Most Famous Knoll
Press release headlines that maybe should have been rethought: “Mayor of Dallas, Tom Leppert, Declares March 5th Knoll Design Day.”In Dallas? Would that be a grassy knoll you’re talking about?”OK, Dallasites, we are looking for your best knoll designs!! Where to hide that third shooter? Where should all those Cubans…
Mercury Retrograde At Crosby High
Here’s one way to get out of TAKS testing — bring in a pint-sized bottle of mercury and drop it.That’s what happened today at Crosby High School, where a female student had one to two pounds of mercury in her purse (Why? No one knows), and when it dropped it…
Sole Of Houston: Mapping Out The Past & Future
With another Sole stroll nigh, we thought now was as good a time as any for a look back at what we’ve accomplished already. Here is the Google map of our past adventures. View Larger Map Looks like we’re gonna need to tackle Fifth Ward / Kashmere Gardens, the Heights,…
Latest Chronicle Rumor Goes National
There’s little but doom and gloom coming out of 801 Texas these days, as Houston Chronicle staffers watch its parent company Hearst dismantle papers in Seattle and San Francisco.Officially, the upcoming layoffs in Houston are supposed to be set at 10 percent of the staff, but wilder and wilder rumors…
Aftermath: Alan Jackson at RodeoHouston
Alan Jackson is like the world’s most comfortable pair of boots. Over the past 20 years, the Georgia-born singer and songwriter has amassed an enormous catalog of songs loaded with self-deprecating modesty, gentle tongue-in-cheek humor and unabashed sentimentality, that every so often – whether happy-hour Jimmy Buffett duet “It’s Five…
The Best Block in Houston Gets Better
Known to fans as “The Best Block in Houston,” 3600 Main houses some of the city’s best, quirkiest and most diverse establishments: Tacos A Go-Go, t’afia, The Breakfast Klub, Sig’s Lagoon, The Continental Club, Shoeshine Charlie’s Big Top Lounge, The Mink, Julia’s Bistro, and the Midtown Farmer’s Market on Saturday mornings. Across…
Idol Beat: The Final 36, Group 3 Results
In honor of Randy “That Was Hot!” Jackson, startlingly homely American Idol Season 6 auditionee Jennifer “The Hotness” Chapton, and rapidly shrinking boomer-rawk mag Rolling Stone – which boasts a “Hot List” annually – today’s edition of Idol Beat comes at you from a “Hot” perspective. HOT ‘DO Von Smith’s…
TUTS Thanks MTV For Legally Blonde Crowds
Frank Young, the man who is Theatre Under the Stars, has been known to refer to his subscription audience as “blue-hairs” when defending the conservative, warhorse musical choices that usually make up TUTS season.So who knew TUTS would be raking in the bucks this year because of MTV?Legally Blonde just…
Don’t Make Me Beg
The rumor mill has it that AOL Sports is about to start hiring beat reporters to cover the various sports in the professional leagues. This is supposed to be like what Yahoo! and CBS Sportsline have done – those of you who have read those sites know how those work…
Don’t Make Me Beg
The rumor mill has it that AOL Sports is about to start hiring beat reporters to cover the various sports in the professional leagues. This is supposed to be like what Yahoo! and CBS Sportsline have done – those of you who have read those sites know how those work…
Life On The Rodeo Road: Man, That’s Your Nut Hanging Loose
Rodeo cowboys basically live on the road, traveling with a herd of men and women crazy enough to ride, rope and wrestle live animals for a paycheck. Each day, Hair Balls is asking a different cowboy to tell us a little bit about himself and his wildest story from a…
Rocks Off at the Reliant Rodeo Round-Up
Video and photos by John Seaborn Gray; music by Miss Leslie & Her Juke-Jointers Monday afternoon, Rocks Off headed down to Reliant Park to participate in the annual Reliant Rodeo Round-Up, a competition between local media “personalities” – Rocks Off supposes that’s an appropriate term, though some who know him…
Houston Pavilions: the Reviews Are In, And They’re Not Good
Photo by Jack OpatrnyThe Houston Pavilions, downtown’s new, three-block $107 million retail/office project is being called disappointing and “oddly retrograde” in the new issue of Cite, the quarterly journal of the Rice Design Alliance. Meanwhile, on Cite’s blog, another prominent critic is saying the project lacks synergy and connectivity with…
Phil Collins, Alamo History Buff
English musician, former member of Genesis and victor over the South Park movie at the 2000 Academy Awards Phil Collins is, sometime soon, probably going to stop in to take a look at a historic area in Corpus Christi where 35 Texans were killed or captured by Mexican forces. Fine…
The Traffic Fun Lasts All Weekend On The Gulf Freeway
This weekend begins a traffic nightmare on the Gulf Freeway.Actually, it sorta began last night, when they closed down NASA Road 1 and FM 529 for a couple of months. But tomorrow night the real fun begins, as the highway itself is closed so that workers can destroy the overpass…
AV Club Members — You Have A Future On Broadway!
How do you make an older, much-beloved, much-seen show new and appealing to audiences? Especially when it was done very right the first thousand times?Well, there’s always the tried and true method of lining up a pretty high caliber of stars. In the upcoming Theatre Under the Stars production of…
International Women’s Day Soiree
It might be difficult to find an International Women’s Day greeting card to send to a friend, but you can still mark the holiday at Dancepatheatre’s International Women’s Day Soiree. They’ll be presenting the world premiere of Caution: Women at Work, a collaborative piece by poet Donna Garrett and choreographer…
2009 Mutt Strut and Runway Race
Admit it — you kiss your dog. You rub noses, snuggle and then that big, sloppy, wet tongue slurps around and smacks you on the lips. Everyone else thinks it’s gross, but you’re actually not too bothered by it. Well, now you can say you’ve just been practicing for the…
Museum of Fine Arts Houston: Madeleine
The woman at the center of Madeleine has one too many lovers. After an affair with a Frenchman, she becomes engaged to an Englishman. But the Frenchman isn’t giving up so easily. Based on the true story of a Glasgow woman, the 1949 film is directed by David Lean. 7…
Contemporary Arts Museum Houston: Joel Orr/Bobbindoctrin Puppet Theatre Artist Talk and Performance for “The Puppet Show”
Puppetry helps Joel Orr get surreal. “It kind of suited my satirical approach [to writing] because I didn’t have to worry about realism,” says the founder of Houston’s Bobbindoctrin Puppet Theatre. Unlike actors, puppets allow Orr to illustrate the elements of satire more effectively — especially hyperbole. “I can go…
“Morris Chackas: Still Lives 1973-1982”
The paintings featured in “Morris Chackas: Still Lives 1973-1982,” like the artist’s life, are quietly unusual. Upon return from World War II, the reclusive Marxist set up a studio in a shed in Oxford, England. The solitary nature of his existence is evidenced by the fact that after his death…
Buffalo Bayou Regatta
The largest canoe and kayak race in the state, the Buffalo Bayou Regatta welcomes beginners and experts alike. The 15-mile course runs along a scenic stretch of bayou, so those entrants more interested in fun than race stats will have something nice to see as they float by. Of course,…
Rodeo Uncorked
You’ll get a good idea of the variety of Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo events at today’s Rodeo Uncorked. On one end of the spectrum, you have stinky cows and tough-as-nails bull riders. On the other end, this end, you have champion wines, a gourmet dinner and black-tie-wearing cowboys. See…
Casseroles and Cocktails: A 1950s Themed Aurora House Party
The liquid elements of Casseroles and Cocktails: A 1950s Themed Aurora House Party seem to be well taken care of — Saint Arnold Brewing Company and Stockholm Vodka are both on board. Cinema Bomar’s contributing two short films to the fun (Magazine Model and Color Harmony for Your Home), and…
Houston Symphony: Copland’s Rodeo
The Wild West comes to the concert hall when the Houston Symphony performs Aaron Copland’s Rodeo for two lively shows. Robert Franz conducts the orchestra in the family-friendly program, which includes “Woody’s Round Up” from Toy Story and traditional tunes such as “Coming Around the Mountain.” 10 and 11:30 a.m…
Gulf Reading Series: Kathy Elliott, Kasten Glover, David MacLean
Writer David MacLean goes back to childhood for his contribution to this month’s Gulf Coast Reading Series. “The story that I’m reading is about kids at a pool during the summer, and the awful hierarchy that results, and the narrator’s failed attempt to be the king badass of the pool,”…
Commissaire Badouz
It’s deadly fun in the black comedy Commissaire Badouz. The village of Cajarne sur Allon has its peaceful summer interrupted by a visit from Commissaire Badouz. Maybe he’s there for a vacation, maybe he’s there to find a killer. A journalist hoping for a scoop, her politically connected lover, a…
Richard Price
In Richard Price’s novel Lush Life, police scramble to solve a murder in modern-day New York City. Eric Cash, a 34-year-old bartender, becomes a suspect after an acquaintance is killed during a mugging. Even though he didn’t do it, Cash may not be able to pull himself out of the…
Five Flights
A gay hockey player, the fear of commitment and a crumbling aviary all play a role in the comedy Five Flights, Unhinged Productions’ latest offering. Siblings Ed, Bobby and Adele have inherited a house-size aviary from their father. He built the giant birdhouse after his wife died because he believed…
Rabbit Hole
A child’s death clouds the atmosphere of David Lindsay-Abaire’s Rabbit Hole. Even so, the show shimmers with the very heartbeat of life as it focuses on Becca and Howie, a couple struggling to recover from the death of their son Danny. The husband and wife, along with an aunt and…
The Value of Men
One father with two sons, and hundreds of life-changing decisions. It’s a common story, but the trio of characters in The Value of Men has an uncommon willingness to step up to the plate. The three men tell an uplifting story as they face obstacles with courage and prove that…
The Murder Room
Mavis Hollister isn’t going to get any Wife of the Year awards in British farce The Murder Room. For one thing, she’s having an affair. For another, she and her lover are plotting to kill her rich husband. They might have succeeded, but they can’t be sure because they can’t…
Bruce Bruce
Comedian Bruce Bruce walks a fine line between adult humor and N-word-laden urban humor. Instead of an endless stream of bitches and F-bombs, Bruce Bruce relies on his well-honed improv skills and quick-witted punch lines. 8 and 10:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 7:30 p.m. Sunday. The Improv, 7620 Katy Freeway…
Paranormal Signing Night
With all apologies to agents Mulder and Scully, you may never find out if the truth is really out there. But you can get a bit out-of-this-world at Murder by the Book’s Paranormal Signing Night. “Paranormal mysteries and thrillers usually involve characters who are ghosts, vampires, werewolves or some other…
An Intimate Evening with Lauren Bacall
One of actress Lauren Bacall’s most recent roles was playing herself on an episode of “The Sopranos.” She got memorably cold-cocked by a swag bag-thieving Christopher. But that was just acting. In real life, the 84-year-old Bacall probably would have wrestled him to the ground. That’s because the woman once…
“Midnight in the Garden of Warhol and Haring”
The Vaughan Christopher Gallery welcomes spring with “Midnight in the Garden of Warhol and Haring.” The exhibit features -garden-themed avant-garde works by the likes of Matisse, Damien Hirst and Warhol (ten of his hand-colored flowers are included). The opening reception is today from 6 to 8 p.m. Regular gallery hours…
“Nation of Splendor: Taiwan, the Republic of China”
Whatever Taiwan and China’s political history, one thing’s for sure: The region is beautiful, as seen in “Nation of Splendor.” The exhibit pulls photos from two collections, “Enchanting Taiwan” (a look at China’s natural beauty) and “Taiwan: Plugging into the World” (a glimpse at China’s use of new technologies.). 7…
How to Absorb the Colorama Format
“Don’t Ask, Just Watch,” should be the motto of the postmodern Suchu Dance, whose choreographer, Jennifer Wood, rarely explains her work. That’s a smart choice, because words almost never do the final work justice. The latest evidence of this is How to Absorb the Colorama Format, Wood’s newest transporting, hypnotic…
Tim Dorsey: Nuclear Jellyfish
Meet Serge A. Storms, the lead character in Tim Dorsey’s latest title, Nuclear Jellyfish. Serge is a bit of an oddball. He’s a tour guide, history nut and, oh yeah, serial killer. This time Serge is after a diamond thief called Jellyfish, but he doesn’t mind putting some hurt on…
Shhhh!
Off the streets and into the gallery, “The Boardroom,” Art League Houston’s first-ever graffiti exhibition, isn’t your average scrawl on the bathroom wall. The show features large-scale, original murals created collaboratively by artists WEAH, ACK! and Raiko Nin (this is also the first time the group has worked together). The…
Wordsmyth Play Reading Series: Stop, Traveler
In this season’s first installment of the Wordsmyth Play Reading Series, Stop, Traveler, it’s been ten years since Shawn Alexander left his hometown in the Midwest. It wasn’t a happy scene — his family rejected him for being gay. Now an invitation from his brother brings him back, but it’s…
KUHF Silent Film Concert: Destiny
Firmly set in cinema’s pantheon for his masterpieces Die Nibelungen, Metropolis and M, iconographic filmmaker Fritz Lang had his first great success with the 1921 visually exuberant, existential fairy tale Destiny, which will be shown al fresco at Discovery Green as a co-presentation under KUHF’s Silent Film Concerts, with live…
Robin Romm: The Mother Garden — A Memoir of Three Weeks
How do you live after you lose the person you can’t live without? Robin Romm tells us in The Mother Garden — A Memoir of Three Weeks. Using the days just before her mother’s death as a starting point, Romm tells us a story of raw anger, black humor, fear…
“Ike: Passages and Memories”
Texas painter Albert Faggard Jr. was on Galveston’s High Island when Hurricane Ike hit the Gulf Coast, and he was one of the first to see the extreme damage the storm left behind. The paintings that make up his “Ike: Passages and Memories” recall the area’s landmarks and animal inhabitants…
The Take Action Tour, with Meg & Dia
Hopeless Records and nonprofit organization Sub City have joined forces with music chain F.Y.E. to put on the eighth annual Take Action Tour. To date, this tour has raised over $550,000 for DoSomething.org, a nonprofit focused not on one particular charity, but rather on providing tools, resources and motivation to…
Russian Spring Festival
Lovers of bliny — those toasty Russian pancakes served with sour cream and caviar — should be in carbohydrate heaven when the Russian Cultural Center of Texas celebrates Maslenitsa, the Russian festival of spring. Dating back to pagan times, the festival signals the end of the long Russian winter, and…
Estelle
For the next couple of weeks, Houston will be visited by a couple of soulful, award-winning Brit chicks. Booming-voiced, zaftig darling — and newly minted Best New Artist 2009 Grammy winner — Adele hits Warehouse Live next week for an already sold-out show. But Tuesday, House of Blues will welcome…
Tokyo Police Club
Tokyo Police Club is like the best children’s literature: Energetic, fast-paced, whimsical, yet with a certain intellectual bent — as if the author is either catering to the handful of adults in the audience or just trying to see if the kids are paying attention. With 2006’s A Lesson in…
Random Rodeo and The End of NoTsuOh?
BY RICHARD CONNELLY The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo is in town this week, the sign that spring can’t be far behind. We’ve promised ourselves for weeks that we would never, ever succumb to the “25 Random Things” meme, or phenomenon, or whatever it is, but we have received in…
Is Casino Gambling in the Cards for Galveston?: PLAN B
In the debate for and against casinos, might there not be a third way? Though he doesn’t expressly say so, Bill Cherry would probably agree that the best thing for Galveston would be to bring back the casinos without bothering to get them legalized. And even then, he believes, they…
Pinche Bumblebee man
Dear Readers, Before we move on to your spicy preguntas, a bit of housecleaning. Primeramente, gracias to all the Know Nothings who responded to my 100-word-essay challenge asking them to justify loving legal Mexicans but not the illegal ones; I will publish the best entries on the Mexican’s April Fools’…
Dr. Manhattan, Meet Dr. Hollywood
The most eagerly anticipated (as well as the most beleaguered) movie of the year (if not the century), Watchmen is neither desecratory disaster nor total triumph. In filming David Hayter and Alex Tse’s adaptation of the most ambitious superhero comic book ever written, director Zack Snyder has managed to address…
Capsule Art Reviews: “Danny Rolph — Accelerator,” “Donald Baechler — Recent Paintings and Collages,” “Garland Fielder – A Likely Story,” “PRISMATTAK,” “The Puppet Show”
“Danny Rolph — Accelerator” Ostensibly, “Accelerator” is a kind of crash-’em-up homage to trucking culture and fast living. London-born Rolph’s mixed-media pieces seem both to celebrate, and to caution against, gasoline-guzzling lifestyles. Fittingly, Rolph’s surface material is Triplewall, clear, polycarbonate sheets used to protect windows and doors from hurricane-force winds…
Spring Cleaning
With the rodeo upon us and SXSW nearly so, there’s no better time for Noise to set his house in order than right now. Actually, he probably should have done this awhile back, but one thing or another kept distracting him and led to mountainous piles of local CDs on…
Capsule Stage Reviews: Amadeus, Nursery School Musical, The Pie Dialogues
Amadeus The life of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart has fascinated the world since the child prodigy turned musical genius died in 1791, when he was only 35 years old, after producing an astounding body of work. Peter Shaffer’s Amadeus (made famous in the 1984 film directed by Milos Forman) captures a…
He’s The Man Who Came to Dinner
“Fabulous monster.” “Spoiled baby.” “Improbable…insufferable.” “Fat duchess.” “A scorpion.” “God’s big brother.” And that’s just what his close friends called him. He was all these and more, but most important for posterity, he was the inspiration behind Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman’s The Man Who Came to Dinner, the…
No Bacon or Shellfish?
Online readers respond to “Depart From Me! I Never Knew You, Eaters of Bacon,” Eating…Our Words blog, by Katharine Shilcutt, February 23. Oh, Katharine: Don’t you know you can’t combine all those shellfish with a BLT? The mayo-coated lettuce would make all those excreetment-infused mussels just slide right out of the…
Leon Hendrix Is a Voodoo Child
On November 6, several famous guitarists — Buddy Guy, Mike McCready, Johnny Lang and Kenny Wayne Shepherd among them — took the stage at the opulent Paramount Theatre, trading porn licks in front of a sold-out crowd. The concert marked the Seattle stop of an annual Jimi Hendrix tribute tour…
Find your Irish side at this year’s festivities
This St. Patrick’s Day, head into town for the annual parade and a visit to your favorite pub. The next day might bring a headache to those of us who can’t hold our liquor as well as others, but who can resist a holiday where drinking more than you should…
Trainsmash and Bobotie at Out of Africa
Pap with trainsmash is a South African dish I encountered on the Sunday brunch buffet line at Out of Africa in Sugar Land. The pap was a yellow cornmeal mush, and the trainsmash was a sauce with large chunks of tomato and big slices of onion in it. It was…
Ex-13th Floor Elevator Tommy Hall Is Still Psychedelic
Tommy Hall is nursing a Coke at a corner table at San Francisco’s Hemlock Tavern. The guru of ’60s psychedelic rock doesn’t drink alcohol. Booze brings you down, and Hall believes you should always be working on a high. The jukebox is playing “You’re Gonna Miss Me,” the biggest hit…
Voodoo Child: He Ain’t Not Heavy
It’s not unusual for siblings to enter similar lines of work. They share the same genes, after all. But when siblings enter a field in the public eye — be it sports, politics or entertainment — how one compares to the other(s) becomes, well, quite public. Luke and Owen Wilson,…
Is Casino Gambling in the Cards for Galveston?
It might be tough times and diminished expectations now, but from 1918 to 1957, Galveston Island was known as a “wide-open” town, where prostitution, smuggling, bootlegging and gambling all flourished. Many remember the 1940s and early ’50s as the glory days of “the Free State of Galveston,” when the Balinese…
Is Casino Gambling in the Cards for Galveston?: Getting Up a Game
Bringing any casinos to Texas will require an amendment to the state constitution, which will require a two-thirds vote of both houses in the Legislature and a simple majority vote of the Texas electorate. While Governor Rick Perry has pledged to veto any casino gambling bills that cross his desk,…
K-Rino: The Blood Doctrine
We say this without irony, sarcasm, hyperbole or qualifier: K-Rino is a genius — but not a rapper who happens to be a genius, a genius who happens to be a rapper. Accordingly, in and of themselves his songs are not extraordinary; most often, they offer thick production, minimal catchiness…
Brick House Tavern & Tap
Mike Jones, the general manager of the newly opened Brick House Tavern & Tap (12910 Northwest Fwy., 713-462-0576), says it’s a guys’ paradise. “It’s the perfect basement hideaway. This is where the ultimate man cave meets the temple of beer… It’s a place for guys to relax, meet some friends,…
What A Spread At Hazzard’s Bar & Grill
If you’ve never eaten Indonesian food, the rijsttafel ($21.50) at Hazzard’s Bar & Grill (1910 S. Dairy Ashford, 281-497-8783) is the perfect way to get to know this exotic cuisine. The meal starts with a cup of soto ayam, a warming chicken noodle soup, with noodles that are the fine…
Lily Allen: It’s Not Me, It’s You
Lily Allen would be the perfect girlfriend. She likes to drink and smoke. Growing up, family friend Joe Strummer played old ska records for her. Not to mention that she has a bitter wit on record that can make a man feel like a total douche, which means she wouldn’t…
THE USUAL’S THE USUAL
Sometimes these things just write themselves…I knew it was karaoke night the moment I got out of my car at The Usual (5519 Allen St., 281-501-1478) on a recent Thursday night. There’s nothing quite like the sound of drunk white chicks crucifying Motown’s finest. They always go in groups, always…
Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys: The Tiffany Transcriptions
Western Swing is an enigma for people outside Texas and the Southwest, who — if they spare a thought for it at all — tend to write it off under “country” and move on. (To be fair, it is where the “western” in “country & western” comes from.) But about…
The Derek Trucks Band: Already Free
Talk about laziness. Slide guitar genius Derek Trucks is pushing 30, and so far he’s only worked as a professional musician for two decades — jamming with everyone from Santana to Buddy Guy — been the second axeman with uncle Butch’s Allman Brothers Band and led his own little combo…
R&B Queen Erykah Badu’s Egyptian Mystique
Mystical, mysterious Dallas native Erykah Badu was immediately pegged as one of the leading ladies of neo-soul — characterized by intimate songwriting and vintage jazz and R&B grooves — upon her 1997 debut Baduizm, and reached full cosmic fruition with last year’s politically charged, simmeringly funky New Amerykah Vol. 1:…
Southern Culture on the Skids
Southern Culture on the Skids’ annual two-night Continental stand is becoming a local rite of spring that would make Igor Stravinsky proud. The late Russian composer knew a thing or two about tapping into peasant rituals and indigenous folk music, after all, and so does the chicken-pickin’ Chapel Hill, North…
Little Joe Washington’s 70th Birthday
Since he’s entering his eighth decade, Little Joe Washington gets a pass (for now) on any speculation about whatever bargain the iconic, dreadlocked local electric bluesman must have struck with sinister celestial forces to achieve such longevity. The fact remains that, compared to almost a year ago at this time…
