Bull Riding for Charity
Photo courtesy of Crown Royal.Steve Woolsey makes money for charity every time he stays on a bull. Injuries are a part of the cowboy life. If you stay in it long enough you will get hurt. It’s a simple fact, cowboy Steve Woolsey says. On the back of a bull,…
The Truth on the Matt Schaub Situation
I understand the emotions of sports fans. Hell, I am a sports fan; I just happen to have a microphone and a password to the Houston Press’s blogging mechanism. I was there in the stadium for most of the soul-crushing Matt Schaub pick sixes last season, including the third play…
Cover Story: Obamacare Still Lacking for Some Local Musicians
January 1, 2014 saw most of the final stages of President Barack Obama’s signature legislation, the health-care reform initiative known as both the official title of the Affordable Care Act and more derisively as Obamacare, start to be implemented. The individual mandate that requires every able person to purchase insurance…
Reality Bites: Secret Sex Lives
There are a million reality shows on the naked television. We’re going to watch them all, one at a time. TLC’s Secret Sex Lives is little more than anthology series depicting the sort of thing Rick Santorum probably believes will become commonplace if gay marriage is legalized. In his mind,…
100 Favorite Dishes 2013-2014: No. 16, Okra with Crème Fraîche at Oxheart
This year, leading up to our annual Menu of Menus® issue, Kaitlin Steinberg counts down her 100 favorite dishes as she eats her way through Houston. She’ll compile a collection of the dishes she thinks are the most awesome, most creative and, of course, most delicious in town. It’s a…
Galveston Bay Closed to Shellfish Harvesting Due to Dinophysis
The time has come, the walrus said, to talk of other things. Not because we want to go and eat all the oysters up, à la Lewis Carroll, but because right now is decidedly not the best time to go oystering in Galveston Bay. As of Thursday, parts of Galveston…
This Week in Food Blogs: Houston Rodeo Food & Cookie Architecture
Zagat Houston: There’s a lot of food at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo; some good, some bad and some so incredible that you can’t miss trying. Zagat Houston’s Amber Ambrose lists the five best foods at the Houston Rodeo this year, beginning with the Pickle Dog from Get Pickled;…
Update: No Motive Yet in Murder of Gay Houston Couple in Galveston
James Larry CosbyUpdate 3/13, 5p.m.: Galveston County Sheriff’s Deputies today arrested the father of one of the murder victims, Britney Cosby, at the home the victims shared with him and his mother. Sheriff Henry Trochesset said there is a strong possibility James Larry Cosby could be charged with capital murder…
How to Make a Film About Noah and Try Desperately Not to Offend Your Evangelical Christian Market
Our writer Abby Koenig has previously written about the sudden surge in Bible-based movies. Several somebodies in Hollywood got together and all thought this was a great idea. But from a number of reports, it seems Paramount Pictures has had difficulty courting the evangelical Christian ticket-buying public for Noah starring…
Jason Aldean at Reliant Stadium, 3/11/2014
Jason Aldean Reliant Stadium March 11, 2014 We’re a bit confused, but somehow still impressed, in the aftermath of Tuesday night’s performance at RodeoHouston. You see, Jason Aldean made his fifth consecutive rodeo appearance, and from the moment he took the stage, everything was right with the world. He showed…
Five Cities Where We’d Prefer a High-Speed Train Connection to Houston
A private investor group is trying to do a redux on an old plan to build a bullet train through Texas, connecting the Bayou City with Dallas. But of all the options for high-speed travel, is getting to Dallas in less than two hours really what we want? We asked…
Houston’s Own Steve Tyrell Has Done Good (Real, Real Good)
There’s a noticeable Texas twang to singer/producer Steve Tyrell’s speaking voice. He came by it honestly: Tyrell grew up in Houston’s Fifth Ward. “I was the only white guy around for miles,” he laughs. He wasn’t, however, the only musician. Houston Music Hall of Famer pianist Joe Sample lived down…
Robert Ellis at Cactus Music, 3/11/2014
Robert Ellis Cactus Music March 11, 2014 Something will always be all too familiar any time Robert Ellis takes a Houston stage. Even if he’s just passing through, which is the case these days after his relocation to Nashville, his performances here will always be in front of a hometown…
100 Favorite Dishes 2013-2014: No. 17, Alba White Truffle Soufflé at Tony’s
This year, leading up to our annual Menu of Menus® issue, Kaitlin Steinberg counts down her 100 favorite dishes as she eats her way through Houston. She’ll compile a collection of the dishes she thinks are the most awesome, most creative and, of course, most delicious in town. It’s a…
Alex Zemke: Animating Ellie’s Kiss in The Last of Us and Portal: Companionship
Because it bears repeating every time the subject is brought up, The Last of Us was the best game of 2013. Recently we saw the story continue in the downloadable expansion Left Behind, an inspiring addition to the main story that was so good that it’s prompted me to replay…
Houston Texans: 2014 Free Agency Dashboard
As the Texans make moves amidst a coaching regime change, I think it makes sense to look back at what has necessitated all of the movement that’s gone on in the organization in the last few months. Certainly, indecisiveness and questionable decisions by the previous coaching staff contributed greatly to…
The Most Underrated Restaurant in Houston Is…
Well, friends, more than 1,300 of you voted on the most underrated restaurant in Houston. Thanks for letting your opinion be known. Some of you weren’t happy with the poll choices, but remember, those came from you, not me. So you have only yourselves to blame. But really, I thought…
NASA Needs Asteroid Hunters
Since a trip to Mars is years and a whole lot of scientific development away, NASA is focusing on asteroids. If you’ve always dreamed of saving the planet from an asteroid, now is your chance. NASA kicks off a program on March 17 where “citizen scientists” will have the chance…
Houston, Here Are 7 Seafood Sandwiches to Help You Survive Lent
One Friday down, seven more to go. This past week, the 40 days of Lent began. For many, it’s a time of prayer, atonement and — most important for the purposes of this article — meat-free Fridays. This can be quite difficult, especially in a city where fantastic burgers, juicy…
100 Creatives 2014: Ricky Ortiz, Painter, Tattoo Artist
What He Does: Though he’s quite capable of translating a beautiful image to be forever etched into your very flesh as a tattoo artist, most of the work that comes from Ricky Ortiz’s brush is of a much more disturbing quality. Screams, fractured anatomies, and a penchant for poses that…
‘Una Serata Bolognese’: An Evening in Bologna With Tony Vallone
“How did you like the lasagna?” asked Donna Vallone as she stopped by to chat at my table. She looked me directly in the eye as she asked, giving me that unspoken message that said, “It was incredible, wasn’t it?” I nodded in agreement, confessing somewhat shamefacedly: “It was so…
Ten Places in Texas to Party for Spring Break
Shots, shots, shots, shots, shots, shots, e’ryyyyyyyybodyyyyyyy! So you wanna party for spring break with the college kids, huh? But what’s that you say? You’re just as broke as a college kid? Well, it’s obviously gotta be Spring Break in the Lone Star State, son! And you’re in luck, because…
Cowboy Diaries 2014: Cooper Shofner, Rodeo Houston First-Timer
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…
Ohio’s Buffalo Killers Reach a New Level of Heavy
For those keeping track of kickass contemporary power trios, you’ve just lost one of the biggest and best. Cincinnati’s Buffalo Killers has added a member, so writers will have to stop their comparisons to Blue Cheer and Mountain. “Yeah, we added Sven Kahns. He plays second guitar and lap steel,”…
Gary Numan’s Life Beyond the “Long Shadow” of “Cars”
While his latest record, the dark and evocative Splinter (Songs From a Broken Mind) is giving him some of the best reviews of his 35-plus-year career, Gary Numan knows that many people associate him with one song: 1980’s synth-heavy Top 10 hit “Cars.” The memorable song, and its equally memorable…
Five Fictional Musicians We’d Like to See Onstage
Ricky Gervais is a man on a mission. After seeing his own musical dreams go up in smoke back in the ’80s, when the failure of his little-known New Wave group Seona Dancing thrust him towards comedy, Gervais wants to make the musical dreams of his fictional character David Brent…
Receivership Extended as Sharpstown Condos Start to Shed Gang Complex
A realtor who cut his teeth cleaning up and rebuilding faded developments on his home turf in the Third Ward last week was granted a two-year extension by the state to oversee a formerly gang-plagued condo complex in Sharpstown. Known as the Le Promenade Townhomes, now changed to The Gardens…
St. Vincent at House of Blues, 3/10/2014
St. Vincent House of Blues March 10, 2014 There’s a fine line between eccentric and creepy. Luckily, St. Vincent has the kind of preternatural grace that makes negotiating such a tricky threshold as easy as hopping over little puddles on the sidewalk. Every so often, though… Just kidding. The indie…
Credit Card Numbers, Checks, Cash Stolen From Megachurch
Joel Osteen’s megachurch became more than a half-million dollars less prosperous, according to reports, following a theft from the Lakewood Church coffers over the weekend. The church sent out a letter to churchgoers on Monday, the Houston Chronicle reports, telling them about the theft of cash, checks and donation slips…
100 Favorite Dishes 2013-2014: No. 18, Phat Ass Ham Hock at Goro & Gun
This year, leading up to our annual Menu of Menus® issue, Kaitlin Steinberg counts down her 100 favorite dishes as she eats her way through Houston. She’ll compile a collection of the dishes she thinks are the most awesome, most creative and, of course, most delicious in town. It’s a…
Defending Zack Snyder, Sort Of
Zack Snyder, director of 300 and Man of Steel, also helmed the film adaptation of Alan Moore’s Watchmen. What’s “important” for purposes of this little spiel is Terry Gilliam (Brazil, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas) also attempted to make Watchmen, twice, but eventually gave up, deeming the comic “unfilmable.”…
UPDATED: Should Owners Have 30 Days to Reclaim Lost Pets?
Update: The Houston City Council has postponed the vote until March 26. The Houston City Council is scheduled to vote Wednesday on a proposal that would eliminate a 30-day redemption period in the animal control ordinance allowing prior owners to reclaim animals that wind up in the city pound. Bureau…
Battle Refrigerated Biscuit Dough: Pillsbury vs. Store Brand
Whose refrigerated biscuit dough brings all the boys to the yard? This intrepid food journalist decided to find out by conducting a comprehensive evaluation taste-testing of two brands side by side. The contenders: Pillsbury and H-E-B store brand “Hill Country Fare.” Okay, a little more background. Although I prefer making…
Zapruder Analysis of a Women’s Basketball Sucker Punch for the Ages
I’m not a big women’s basketball guy. That statement is not meant as a slight toward women. I love women! I’m just not a huge fan of their brand of basketball, which is built around a seemingly stronger gravitational pull than the men’s game and a false veil of “fundamental…
Reviews for the Lazy Gamer: Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster
Game: Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster Platform: PS3, PS Vita Publisher/Developer: Square Enix Genre: RPG Describe This Game in Three Words: The Complete Spira…
Top 5 Pepperidge Farm Cookie Varieties
I grew up eating Pepperidge Farm cookies, not so much because my mother couldn’t bake (believe me, she made a mean chocolate chip and walnut cookie), but rather because I think she liked to use the brand’s system of naming baked goods after European regions and urban centers as a…
REO Speedwagon at Reliant Stadium, 3/11/2014
REO Speedwagon Reliant Stadium March 11, 2014 “We all get a little bit crazy now, don’t we, my friends.” Why, yes we do. Every once in a blue moon, a show really surprises us. Whether it’s the energy, the volume of the crowd’s approval, or simply the sheer musicianship, it’ll…
Kool-Aid as Lipstick and Other Alternative Uses for Food
“Life hacks” is the term most often used by websites like Buzzfeed and Pinterest to refer to something that makes life easier. Use a soda tab to hang paintings! Separate egg yolks with a plastic bottle! Store cleaning supplies in a hanging shoe rack! While these are all perfectly fine…
Resurgent Lin Sparks Streaking Rockets
The Rockets have been winning huge games for a while now, but one thing is new this week. It’s largely because of reserve guard Jeremy Lin, rather than in spite of. And while the local bandwagon swells with talk of James Harden’s latest heroics, the most positive development for the…
Stanton Welch Celebrates 10 Years at the Houston Ballet
The Setup: Houston Ballet’s Stanton Welch is celebrating ten years as artistic director of one of the country’s most respected ballet companies. To commemorate his decade of dance, Houston Ballet presents a mixed repertory of Welch choreography, including the world premiere of The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra, set…
Pop Rocks: My Love-Hate Relationship With Lena Dunham
Lena Dunham, star of the hit HBO comedy Girls, leaves me terribly conflicted. On one hand, I loathe her insanely selfish and entitled character on the show. On the other, her portrayal is brilliant. Part of me feels like she represents a certain kind of annoying hipster that often makes…
The Rocks Off 200: Fat Tony, Third Ward to “BKNY”
Who? Anthony Obi, aka Fat Tony, is a Nigerian-American rap musician from the great Third Ward, Houston, Texas. His his music is smart, fun and (according to Tony) “very enjoyable in Whataburger drive-thrus!” Home Base: “I like to keep it moving,” Tony says. “I made my last two albums in…
Schaub Watch 2014: Could He Stay or Should He Go?
You always have to read the signs, and sometimes the signs can be subtle. I’ve said before that one very underplayed way to gauge where a player stands with a franchise is the pricing of his jerseys in the team store. I’ve shared the story about going to Cowboys Stadium…
Dim Sum for Dinner via Yum Yum Cha
The oppositional streak in me most definitely plays out in the dining world. I like eating traditional breakfast items at night and have been known to eat my entrée before my appetizer. And, unsurprisingly, I have always preferred dim sum for dinner rather than as a brunch or midday meal…
Rand Paul Calls Ted Cruz on Bashing Their Party
Lots of people in the Republican party are fed up with Sen. Ted Cruz, but Sen. Rand Paul is the guy who is doing something about it. On Monday, the conservative news website, Breitbart News, published an op-ed by Paul, where the senator from Kentucky took Cruz to task –…
Spotlight on Chef Austin Simmons’s Cuisine at Hubbell & Hudson Bistro
I’ve been a fan of Hubbell & Hudson Bistro since I first dined there three years ago. Admittedly, I have not had the chance to return since then (it takes me about an hour to get to The Woodlands), but so memorable was the food that I can recall, with…
The Dark Comedy Rome Dives Into Suicide and Sex, Mutilation and Death
The setup: John Harvey is resident playwright for Mildred’s Umbrella Theater Company, and has now written Rome his tenth play for them, a world premiere. It takes place in one continuous scene, in the drawing room to a mansion, as three men and three women discuss death and mutilation, suicide…
Menchie’s Frozen Yogurt Food Truck Has Arrived
Menchie’s Frozen Yogurt has established a presence in Houston during the past several months. The franchise has 15 locations in Houston and the surrounding area, and now it can say it has the first frozen yogurt food truck in Houston. On Friday, March 7, Menchie’s opened its bright pink froyo…
How to “Joke Post” on Facebook
So, this last Saturday was International Women’s Days, and my newsfeed on Facebook was full of several sentiments just like the one you see above. After the author receives many scathing rebukes for what is a rather overprivileged and oblivious sentiment, he complained that “for the light hearted disabled: this…
Cowboy Diaries 2014: Casey Martin, in It for the People
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…
Visionary Old Man Neil Young’s New Trick: Pono
Rolling Stone once described Neil Young in its “100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time” issue as a “restless experimenter… who transform[s] the most obvious music into something revelatory.” Admittedly, I don’t know much of Neil Young’s musical catalog, and there’s something about that high-pitched voice…but wait, before you all start…
Gary Numan: the Dark Genius Behind a Broken Mind
“There are still people trying to work out what a genius Gary Numan is” — Prince In the U.S., Gary Numan is mostly viewed a one-hit wonder. His 1980 Top 10 hit “Cars” (and its accompanying iconic video) remains a perfect little time capsule of synthy New Wave keyboards and…
Music’s Got 99 Problems, and Jay Z Ain’t One
According to a recent report, Justin Bieber’s mom — who we’ll just call Mama Bieber — is planning to launch her music career. Yes, that means exactly what you think it does. Two Biebers will be working the fame-whore stroll — probably together, since rumor has it that they’re recording…
Opening Match to Opening Training Camp: 5 Soccer Notes From the Weekend
If the soccer gods could have scripted a way to start the spring break weekend in Houston, this would have been it. A 4-0 rout for the Houston Dynamo in their opening match, followed by a picturesque day for the Houston Dash to open training camp on Monday. The main…
Rockets Are the Hottest Team in Basketball for Good Reason (for Once)
Whenever an NBA team goes on a winning streak, even if that streak is four or five games, declarations are made. Some are long term, often with little evidentiary basis, but most are the of the moment variety. That team gets the designation of hottest team in the league. The…
The New Hate Group List Is In, Y’all!
Courtesy Southern Poverty Law CenterA cornucopia of contempt! The Southern Poverty Law Center has released its 2014 map of hate groups, and we’re so stoked over the 57 choices in Texas that we don’t even know which one to join! Choices include Holocaust deniers, Nazis, black separatists, neo-Confederates and that…
“New Works by David A. Brown: trying to find my way…” Opens at the Jung Center
Many Houstonians got their first look at David A. Brown’s “trying to find my way …” photographic series at the Darke Gallery four years ago as part of FotoFest 2010. His “New Works by David A. Brown: trying to find my way …” exhibit, just opened at the Jung Educational…
The Top 10 Dishes (Other Than Cheesecake) at The Cheesecake Factory
Opening the menu at The Cheesecake Factory is like opening an encyclopedia. Spiral-bound, it’s filled with nearly 200 menu items and 50 types of cheesecake. You’d think a restaurant named after the creamy dessert would have more flavors of cheesecake than entrée options. As you flip through the monstrosity that…
HPD Officer Wakes Up, Takes on Three Burglars, Killing One
Wearing only his underclothes, an off-duty Houston Police Department officer took on three burglars Thursday morning, fatally wounding one of them, according to the Harris County Sheriff’s Department.The unnamed officer was asleep in his townhouse in the 500 block of West Road near I-45 when he was awakened by breaking…
Sondheim’s A Little Night Music Employs Magical Music in a Company of Fools
The set-up: Has any classic Stephen Sondheim musical ever looked quite so ravishing as this Houston Grand Opera production of A Little Night Music, borrowed from Opera Theatre of Saint Louis? Sondheim’s multiple Tony-winner, awarded best Book (Hugh Wheeler), Score, and Musical, freely adapted from Ingmar Bergman’s period movie romance…
2014 NFL Draft: Texans Tracker Update, “Ryan Mallett Trade Rumor” Edition
Free agency is almost here, and beginning Tuesday afternoon teams will be shopping to fill holes on their rosters, and spending prices anywhere from “Rodeo Drive” to “bargain bin scrap heap.” Some teams like the Texans will hardly be spending at all, as they do what they can to keep…
Selena Gomez at Reliant Stadium, 3/9/2014
Selena Gomez Reliant Stadium March 9th, 2014 There are plenty of reasons why Selena Gomez may have mailed in Sunday night’s performance at RodeoHouston. Perhaps she didn’t take the Daylight Saving Time change well. Perhaps as a North Texas native, she has an irrational dislike of Houston. Perhaps she was…
Top Five Items on the Pickle Shelf
The pickles on the grocery store shelves are getting more interesting.
Cassette Tape at House of Blues, 3/8/2014
Cassette Tape, Mama Tried, Idiginis, Alvin and the Slickpunks House of Blues Bronze Peacock Room March 8, 2014 The streets of downtown Houston may have been cold and wet on Saturday night, but the Bronze Peacock Room at House of Blues was as warm and pleasant as an island breeze…
DEFCON Dining: Whole-Wheat Pancakes are for the Birds at Buffalo Grille
Dining out with children is an exercise in situational awareness. Each experience is unique, with different variables leading to different possible outcomes, DEFCON-like in their escalating threat levels. Keen observation, forward planning and prior experience are critical in determining the proper strategy. Here at DEFCON Dining, we do the grunt…
HCSO Looks for Trio Suspected in Mexican Market Burglary Spree
A group of thieves has been focusing their attention on a local Mexican market chain, attempting to knock over about 17 La Michoacana stores in the Houston area. Harris County Sheriff’s Office investigators are looking for the public’s help in identifying the suspected burglars, known as the “The Crawlers”. Three…
Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Jersey Lily Never Quite Takes Off
The setup: The characters of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson are now in the public domain, as the copyright has expired, so authors other than the originator, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, can use these characters in their own works. Playwright Katie Forgette has done so in Sherlock Holmes and the…
Childish Gambino at House of Blues, 3/8/2014
Childish Gambino House of Blues March 8, 2014 We used to adore cops and cowboys; now we love scientists and engineers. We used to want to be John Wayne, but now we’d prefer to be Mark Zuckerberg. It was only so long before our computerized generation of tech-savvy youngsters would…
CSN Houston Owners Actually Agreed on Something
The good news is that the Houston Astros, Houston Rockets, and Comcast finally found something on which to agree. The bad news is that the agreement’s on how much the attorneys handling the bankruptcy of Comcast SportsNet Houston should be paid. The parties are still battling things out in court,…
What’s the Deal With All These Bible Movies?
There’s one thing you can say about Hollywood: When they get on a kick, it’s like a soccer championship death match. In recent years they’ve given us vampires and not just a few but an entire cemetery’s worth. Then zombies became hip, and it was all brain eating all the…
Is It a Quesadilla or a Sincronizada? How to Tell, In Theory
Hoagies vs. Grinders vs. Subs vs. Po’boys? Only in America do we have such esoteric nomenclature for sandwiches that are often virtually indistinguishable. Or not. It recently came to my attention that it’s not just we Yankees who insist on distinction without a difference with regards to our cuisine. While…
Fantasy Crime League Update: The Ravens Are Running Away With 2014!
Sometimes, a team is so dialed in, it’s almost mesmerizing to watch, taking their collective game to heights never before seen. We saw it in football with the Rams in the late 90’s, the “Greatest Show On Turf.” We saw it with last year’s Miami Heat during their 27 game…
Chris Young at Reliant Stadium, 3/8/2014
Chris Young Reliant Stadium March 8, 2014 Folks, you should be saving water by drinkin’ beer. According to Chris Young, anyway. The twangy country singer gave that exact advice to an official paid crowd of 68,890 Saturday night at RodeoHouston. And judging by his hour-long set list, it does seem…
Retailers Doing It Right on Social Media
For some retail brands, social media is a hard nut to crack. Questions like, What do I post? How do I find my followers?, and How often do I need to be on there?, befuddle many a business owner. The confusion leads to Twitter feeds full of automatic posts, Instagrams…
A Brief History of the Pu Pu Platter
It’s inevitable. We’ve finally chosen our main dishes after the requisite debate about getting old favorites (sesame chicken, peking duck) or trying something new. The only task left in completing our order is deciding on appetizers. I always want crab rangoon, he wants fried wontons; we both also want spare…
Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks at Fitzgerald’s, 3/7/2014
Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks Fitzgerald’s March 7, 2014 “Can you remember the thrill and the rush/ You’re not out of touch/ Come tonight, you’ll see/ No one here has changed, and no one ever will.” These lyrics from Jicks’ song “Rumble at the Rainbo” might best describe the vibe…
Top 5 Cheese Plates in Houston
When a menu offers a cheese plate, there’s a 99 percent chance I am going to order it. Especially if it comes with a variety of breads, crackers, fruits, meats, and preserves or jams. Each of these enhances the cheese — and you can make a meal out of an…
Doctor Who: The 5 Most Important Women Behind the Scenes
Last Saturday was International Women’s Day, and while I would like to say that my Facebook newsfeed was filled to the brim with intelligent discussions involving the accomplishments and struggles of women around the world the truth is I saw a lot more ruminations on why women need a day…
Cowboy Diaries 2014: Juel Hazen, Rodeo Is a Way of Life
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…
Usher at Reliant Stadium, 3/7/2014
Usher Reliant Stadium March 7, 2014 Usher’s first trip to the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo will likely remain one of the most memorable of his career. It was a show that started with big-budget excitement, continued on through a whole bunch of dirty dancing, teetered on the edge of…
Bob Dylan’s Star-Studded “Halftime Show” Gets Deluxe Treatment
“Thanks Bob! Thanks for having Bob Fest!” Neil Young enthuses at one point during his set at the Bob Dylan 30th Anniversary Concert. And though methinks that the October 1992 show at Madison Square Garden paying tribute to the Bard of Hibbing was due more to the planning of Columbia…
The Best Concerts in Houston This Week: St. Vincent, Gary Numan, Maroon 5, etc.
St. Vincent House of Blues, March 10 An adventurous, ambitious singer-songwriter who delights in smearing the lines between art and pop, St. Vincent is quickly becoming one of the biggest indie-rock stars around. Born and raised in Dallas and now splitting her time between Texas and New York, the 31-year-old…
South By Due East Is Still Here, Still Free
Rocks Off would like to apologize to the people behind South By Due East for not mentioning this event in our digital pages more often. It’s just that SXDE, as we’ve taken to calling it, manages to pull together a not-so-quiet four days of live, largely local music at Dan…
100 Favorite Dishes 2013-2014: No. 19, Dahi Puri at Shri Balaji Bhavan
This year, leading up to our annual Menu of Menus® issue, Kaitlin Steinberg counts down her 100 favorite dishes as she eats her way through Houston. She’ll compile a collection of the dishes she thinks are the most awesome, most creative and, of course, most delicious in town. It’s a…
Tweeting and Policing
We were hoping for the social media equivalent to “Cops” when we found out the Houston Police Department was going to live tweet another patrol. This isn’t the first time they’ve taken to social media from the passenger seat of a squad car, back in September the department did another…
Don’t Blink or You’ll Miss It: The Village Bakery
You would think that driving down a certain street nearly every day for the past five years would enable you to notice even the most minor of changes on that route. Not so in my case, for although I’ve used Kelvin Drive as a shortcut back from the gym for…
Season Outlook: Dynamo Ride Offense to MLS Cup Playoffs
Every year that Hair Balls does a season preview on the Houston Dynamo, footy aficionados always complain and moan about the same things: why didn’t the front office bring in a star player, is this team aging before our eyes, blah, blah, blah. For starters, the average age on the…
Dish of the Week: Irish Soda Bread
From classic comfort foods to regional standouts and desserts, we’ll be sharing a new recipe with you each week. See the complete list of recipes at the end of this post. Soda bread is a popular quick bread made with sodium bicarbonate — also known as baking soda, or ‘bread…
Pillsbury’s Chocolatier Collection: Bake This
They had me at chocolatier. I don’t know what exactly this word means (and something tells me neither does Pillsbury), but I like to imagine it’s the chocolate version of an atelier. The master artist of this cookshop is, of course, the Doughboy, who presides over various apprentices as they…
Get a Sneak Preview of a Kick-Ass Documentary on Gay Activist Ray Hill
Courtesy Houston’s Voice and Proud Pony InternationalActivist Ray Hill knows a thing or two about trouble. One of the things you’ll learn in the upcoming documentary about gay activist Ray Hill is that when police raided Houston’s lesbian bars in the 1960s, they would arrest any woman wearing pants with…
Reviews for the Easily Distracted: 300: Rise of an Empire
Title: 300: Rise of an Empire What Are Your Favorite Empires? Strikes Back and Queensryche’s. Rating Using Random Objects Relevant To The Film: One and a half Abs of Steel videotapes out of five. Brief Plot Synopsis: Athenian general unites Greek city-states in order to repel Persian invasion via mass…
Texas Democratic Establishment, Houston Chronicle, Dallas Morning News All Endorse Biggest Loser
Ignored by the state Democratic establishment like he was an Al-Qaeda terrorist wearing a bomb coat, Richard “Kinky” Friedman still managed to garner about 185,000 votes in the Democratic primary March 4. Friedman’s vote total put him in second place with 37.7 percent of the vote and forced a late…
Reba at Reliant Stadium, 3/6/2014
Reba (McEntire) Reliant Stadium March 6, 2014 Country stars facing a certain age inevitably come to a point where they can either continue chasing chart success or consolidate their style into a brand, using the showbiz capital they’ve accumulated to explore other interests and opportunities. For Reba McEntire, that must…
Osteria Mazzantini’s Samantha Porter Tells Stories With Wine
This week’s cafe review takes a look at Osteria Mazzantini, a new-ish Italian restaurant from Mockingbird Bistro’s John Sheely. I first went there on opening night, and though I enjoyed the food, I found myself most impressed by the creative and interesting wine list and the young sommelier who had…
Doctor Who: Who Was the Longest-Serving Companion?
The Daleks themselves said in “Asylum of the Daleks” that it was known throughout the universe that The Doctor requires companions in his travels. They didn’t know why, but they acknowledged that it was so. He’s had dozens, maybe hundreds of them in his running through all of time and…
Wendy Davis Isn’t Running from Obama
Texas gubernatorial candidate Wendy Davis has been walking a fine line since she became a political star last summer. Davis is trying to become the first Democrat to be elected to statewide office since 1994, and that’s no easy task. But if you think Davis plans on steering clear of…
The 5 Best Things to Eat or Drink This Weekend: Cracking Cheese and a Chili Cook-Off
Street Food Festival @ Whole Foods Market Friday-Sunday, 12-5 p.m. 701 Waugh Dr. All of the Whole Foods Markets in Houston will host a “Street Food Festival” this weekend, but the Montrose Whole Foods Market will celebrate New Orleans-style. On Saturday from 12 p.m. until 5 p.m., James Nelson of…
Sin City Returns, Finally, in New Sin City: A Dame to Kill For Trailer
Sin City: A Dame to Kill For isn’t exactly the Chinese Democracy of film, but for a while there it did start to feel like the movie may never be coming out. Pop quiz: how long has it been since a Sin City movie was in theaters? It’s been nearly…
Johnny Manziel Gets Paid (And Is Allowed to Acknowledge It)
All right, I’ll admit it. This feels weird. Over the last year and change, we’ve become so used to casting a skeptical eye toward everything involving Johnny Manziel and any sort of renumeration or benefit. Courtside tickets to NBA playoff games? Must be some booster behind it, right? Golf in…
UPDATED: Founders Hope New 1836 Fest Is a Texas-Size Hit
UPDATE UPDATE (Friday, 3 p.m.): Although dogs are normally allowed at the Cottonwood, 1836 is a no-dog festival. This sounds like a joke, but we’ll find out soon enough whether it is or not. Did you hear the one about the three lawyers who started a music festival? Well, they…
Upcoming Events: Macerated Wines and Pop-Up Dinners
On Monday, March 10, Batanga will host a Saint Arnold Beer Dinner featuring five beers from the brewery. This $60 event begins at 6:30 p.m. with a “Meet & Greet” over cod fritters, mushroom croquettes and Brazilian-style sausage, linguiça. Munch on these small bites while you sip on Saint Arnold’s…
The Top 5 Things to Do in Houston This Weekend: NobleMotion Unplugged, New Work by David A. Brown and More
NobleMotion Dance, led by husband-and-wife co-artistic directors Andy Noble and Dionne Sparkman Noble, is known for its innovative use of technology and frequent collaborations. The group sheds its multi-media tools for NobleMotion Unplugged which is an “acoustic” show, says Andy Noble. Unplugged runs on Friday and Saturday. “Folks are used…
Don’t Mind the Zebras at Houston’s Coziest “Strip Pub”
“Don’t worry, they died of natural causes at a farm out in East Texas,” the older man says. “We raised all sorts of exotic animals out there.” Mouth open, we’re staring at a pair of stuffed zebras, right past the row of topless dancers flanking them. To be fair, mounted…
Cowboy Diaries 2014: Britany Diaz, Rodeoing Beats Working in a Bank
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…
Openings & Closings: It’s the Year of the Bakery
Hubbell & Hudson Market’s official last day is Wednesday, March 12, but according to CultureMap’s Eric Sandler, from the looks of the market it could close much sooner. Whether it is on or before March 12, Hubbell & Hudson Market is closing. The Kitchen and Bistro are not going anywhere,…
Food Vendors Go Over the Top for Rodeo Gold Buckle Foodie Awards
Somehow, carnival food just lends itself to improper jokes. Or maybe it’s because I was sitting at a table with CultureMap’s Eric Sandler, Zagat’s Amber Ambrose, Houstonia’s Katharine Shilcutt and freelance beer nerd Joshua Justice. Regardless, our table ended up with a lot of sausage and corn dogs, and we…
The Five Funniest Onstage Banterers
Being a front person of a band is a lot like being a stand-up comedian or a radio-show host. The worst thing is dead air. Yes, you want your music to breathe, but you also can’t leave the crowd hanging for too long before they get restless. Some fill those…
Look Out, Boy DJs of Houston: Here Come the Girls
At their first gig ever, a funny thing happened to Here Come The Girls. The boys came running. “It was a bit hectic getting all of the gear set up and we had guys coming up to us all night fixing our levels on the mixer,” says co-founder Darenda Weaver…
Houston’s Top 10 Irish Bars
As our sister blog Eating… Our Words does, from time to time Rocks Off will be giving your our picks for the top taverns in various Houston-area neighborhoods. Of course, the lines can be porous, but here anything with a TABC license that cannot reasonably be considered either a restaurant,…
The Best Concerts in Houston This Weekend: Stephen Malkmus, Childish Gambino, etc.
Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks Fitzgerald’s, March 7 Slack-rock innovator Stephen Malkmus — best-known for his tenure in ’90s figureheads Pavement — is, in reality, quite insightful. But he’s as always been an anomaly in many ways. He’s a pioneering musician, smart-as-a-whip scholar, skilled sports fanatic and noble family man…
Rome
Director Jennifer Decker calls John Harvey’s new play, Rome, “a black experimental comedy.” Making its world premiere here, Rome follows a group of people as they wait for a man in the next room to die. Oddly, the impending death isn’t their focus. “These are people who are focusing on…
A Little Night Music
It’s a weekend in the Swedish countryside in 1900 and hostess and actress Desiree Armfeldt is entertaining an old flame and his young wife, as well as her former lover’s son, who is a divinity student. A current lover and his wife pop in, and, of course, everyone is mismatched…
The Meh Wayback: Mr. Peabody & Sherman
First, the pleasant surprises. In puffing up the slight, absurd Mr. Peabody and Sherman shorts from Jay Ward’s The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show into an 82-minute 3D save-the-timestream child-distractor, director Rob Minkoff and his many writers have preserved a few of the hallmarks distinguishing the Dada, deadpan, almost primitive original,…
Squeezing the Globe
Here’s the rare current-affairs documentary that doesn’t just show us something gone wrong in some part of our world. Rachel Boynton’s first-rate Big Men instead peels the skin off the world itself, revealing the gears as they grind away, casting familiar doc scenarios in shades of illuminating gray: The heroes…
You Won’t Feel It
Think adapting War and Peace is hard? Try adapting the race car video game Need for Speed. Tolstoy’s 1,225-page behemoth has nothing on the Electronic Arts franchise’s irreconcilably complicated 20-year, 20-installment history: Sometimes cars are subject to physics; sometimes they aren’t. Sometimes they’re invulnerable; sometimes they break. Maybe you’re in…
Diorama Hard
Leave it to Wes Anderson to make a film about World War II without mentioning Germany. In The Grand Budapest Hotel, a wundercabinet set in the fictitious Eastern European Republic of Zubrowka circa 1932, Anderson captures the collapse of a kingdom and rise of a reich without so much as…
Virtuosity Is Enough
Blockbuster spectacles are a dime a dozen. The thing we almost never see is the ambitious trifle, the smaller movie that strives to tell a story with vivid images rather than dialogue, that uses music lavishly but intelligently, that dances right at us, Nijinksy-style, with unapologetic theatricality, if not outright…
French Cultures Festival
Discovery Green will look a little bit more like the streets of Paris — if only for a night — during the French Cultures Festival. Celebrating the French language, which is spoken by an estimated 1.3 million people in the U.S. alone, the festival features live music (France’s La Femme…
WindSync
The WindSync wind quintet calls Houston home, and while the group has enjoyed impressive success internationally with acclaimed performances at the Shanghai Oriental Arts Center and the Washington Performing Arts Society and a sold-out concert at Carnegie Hall, today’s show marks the first time the group will perform at Hobby…
Spring Street Studios Second Saturdays Open Studios
Get the first look at some of the works in the citywide exhibit “FotoFest 2014 Biennial — Contemporary Arab Photographic Art” at this month’s Spring Street Studios Second Saturdays Open Studios. “FotoFest will be in the building,” Sara Jackson, spokesperson for the studios, tells us. “It doesn’t officially start until…
NobleMotion Unplugged
NobleMotion Dance, led by husband-and-wife co-artistic directors Andy Noble and Dionne Sparkman Noble, is known for its innovative use of technology and frequent collaborations. The group sheds its multi-media tools for NobleMotion Unplugged, which is an “acoustic” show, says Andy Noble. “Folks are used to seeing us with a substantial…
Persian New Year
The month of March is filled with holiday celebrations. Houstonians celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in a really big way, and International Women’s Day gets plenty of attention. (Some folks we know even celebrate World Kidney Day.) A little less well known locally than St. Paddy’s Day is Nowruz. “Nowruz is…
2014 New American Voices
The Landing Theatre Company and Wordsmyth Theater Company host 2014 New American Voices, a weekend of four play readings. “The plays are a rich blend of some of the most exciting writing of our day, dealing with issues that are current and often provocative,” says David Rainey, Landing Theatre’s artistic…
“New Works by David A. Brown: trying to find my way…”
The photographs we see in “New Works by David A. Brown: trying to find my way…” capture a multitude of images, all simultaneously seen in the same space. The windows of an office building lobby, for example, become a canvas for dozens of reflections, all layered over one another. This…
The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra
Texas actor Jaston Williams (Greater Tuna and A Tuna Christmas) narrates the world premiere of Stanton Welch’s The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra in a mixed-repertory program of the same name. Via press materials, Welch says the work “marks a very significant collaboration between our dances and the orchestra.”…
Alain Resnais Imagined the Whole Memory of the World
Alain Resnais’s last completed film, Life of Riley (2014), presents a group of aging friends who plan, hope, wish, dream and scheme after they learn that one of their own is dying. The doomed man, George Riley, never shown onscreen, is enlisted to join an amateur theater production in the…
RIP Rozz Zamorano
Miles-Tones Houston’s music community is still reeling after bassist Rozzano Zamorano was found dead in his Montrose apartment late in the evening of Friday, February 21. Friends say Zamorano failed to show up for a gig with Vince Converse that night at Dan Electro’s Guitar Bar, leading police officers to…
Vintage and Latino Racism
Dear Mexican, My Dad says when he was a kid growing up in Downey, California, they used to open the local plunge (pool) to mexicanos and negritos on Thursdays only because the pool was cleaned once a week on Friday mornings. Is this an accurate account of racism in the…
Blindness Won’t Stop These Twins From Showing Their Goats at the Rodeo
It was time to prepare the goats. Faith Snapp, 12, stepped into the pen and slid her hand along the rump of cream- and toffee-colored Mac, checking to make sure he was clean. Her twin brother, Caleb, stood in the corner feeding Pi his formula while the twins’ parents and…
Impressive Steaks and Family Heritage on the Menu at Osteria Mazzantini
The March issue of Texas Monthly features signature dishes from some of the best restaurants around the state, all gathered together on one long metal skewer. Representing Houston, there’s barbecue pork banh mi from Don Café, a whole crab from Cajun Kitchen and, right in the center, a ruddy pink…
The 2014 Houston St. Patrick’s Day Guide
Mondays are, of course, the worst, but there’s no better way to spruce up the start to your workweek than with a trip to your favorite haunt on St. Paddy’s Day, where you can knock back a few green beers, listen to the music of the old country and take…
Whether He Wants It or Not, the Media Circus Will Be Following Michael Sam
“I wish you guys would see me as Michael Sam the football player, not Michael Sam the gay football player.” — Michael Sam at his NFL Scouting Combine press conference, February 22 On the evening of February 9, as Missouri defensive end and prospective 2014 NFL draftee Michael Sam was announcing…
The Colorado, Houston’s Premier “Strip Pub,” Knows What Guys Want
‘Don’t worry, they died of natural causes at a farm out in East Texas,” the older man says. “We raised all sorts of exotic animals out there.” Mouth open, we’re staring at a pair of stuffed zebras, right past the row of topless dancers flanking them. To be fair, mounted…
Main Street’s Macbeth Hits the Highlights, But Is Missing Some of the Fire.
Shakespeare’s shortest tragedy gets cut down to bite-size in this latest collaboration between Guy Roberts’s Prague Shakespeare Company and Main Street Theater. Although Macbeth doesn’t approach their panoplied Henry V or their gleefully malevolent rendition of Richard III, the result of such drastic pruning is, in its telling, still tasty…
300: Rise of an Empire Offers More Bloody Hunks — and Eva Green
Man, woman, gay, straight, bi: There’s something for everyone in 300: Rise of an Empire, the XXL sequel to the also-larger-than-life Greeks-in-shinguards extravaganza 300. In that picture, directed by Zack Snyder and based on Frank Miller’s graphic novel about the three-day Battle of Thermopylae, which took place in 480 B.C.,…
Three Reasons Why HBO’s Looking Is the Perfect Show for Women
(Spoiler alert: The following piece discusses up to the February 16 episode of Looking.)HBO’s Looking has had a tough time winning over its intended fans. Upon its premiere, Gawker’s Rich Juzwiak yawningly summed up the political achievement of creator Michael Lannan’s wonderful half-hour dramedy about three homosexual men in San…
Capsule Art Reviews: “The Age of Impressionism: Great French Paintings from the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute,” “Georges Braque: A Retrospective,” “Funnel Tunnel,” Magritte: The Mystery of the Ordinary, 1926-1938
“The Age of Impressionism: Great French Paintings from the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute” These days, Impressionist exhibitions are the art museum version of the ballet The Nutcracker: frothy and beautiful, if a little overexposed, and sure to pack ’em in at almost any price. Even though we’ve already…
A Call to Arms
Highlights from Hair Balls Political Animals Congressman Louie Gohmert is always coming up with, shall we say, interesting ideas. But his latest brain baby takes the cake. According to Gohmert, African Americans should oppose gay marriage because they won the right to oppose things with the Civil Rights movement. The…
Capsule Stage Reviews: 4000 Miles, The Diary of Anne Frank, Fool, Peter Pan, Ruined
4000 Miles Amy Herzog’s play 4000 Miles, which won the 2012 Obie Award for Best New American Play, chronicles a visit by a young man of 21, who has just biked across the country, with his grandmother of 91, living in Greenwich Village. Biker Leo is portrayed by Jordan Jaffe,…
Move Over, Cupcakes
Food Nation Think back to a few years ago when cupcakes were introduced as glamorous desserts. You probably recall that cupcake shops such asSprinkles,Magnolia BakeryandGeorgetown Cupcakein Beverly Hills, NYC and DC, respectively, became household names. As the popularity of these (sometimes filled) personal cakes topped with colorful swirls of frosting,…
