Pope Francis I: Five Questions We Want Answered About the New Guy
We’ve got white smoke; we’ve got cheering crowds, habemus papam, as they say. Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio got the gig and, even though his name ends in a vowel and looks like it should be preceded by a nickname, he’s not Italian. For the third time in a row, the…
Porn Proves Texas Is Not Southern: We Prefer “Teen,” They Prefer “Ebony”
The question of whether Texas is part of the South or the Southwest has long been debated. Now we can answer that question, thanks to porn. (Is there anything porn can’t do?) PornMD, a porn-searching Web site that apparently tries to wrap itself in the aura of the health industry,…
Welcome to a Harsh World: Infant in Middle of Shootout That Leaves His Dad & a 15-Year-Old Dead
We should at least be happy that eight-month-olds remember nothing of what happens to them. One such infant got a shocking introduction to the world Tuesday when he watched from the back seat as attackers ambushed his father at a northwest side apartment complex in a wild shootout that left…
Rocks Off’s Rodeo Concert Guide: Jake Owen
The Rocks Off Rodeo Concert Guide is our annual helpful (?) primer for those of you unsure about your HLSR music choices for the big event at Reliant Stadium. Date: March 13 Name: Jake Owen AKA: “The guy who originally wanted to be a golfer.”…
Last Night: Muse at Toyota Center
Muse Toyota Center March 12, 2013 There are certain types of bands you expect to pack arenas: bands who have figured out the power of pop hooks (Maroon 5), bands who play the most populist modern rock imaginable (Nickelback), and the dinosaurs of classic rock (Fleetwood Mac). Muse could have…
Chef Chat, Part 1: Jeff Axline of Brooklyn Athletic Club, on Moving Around as a Navy Kid, and the Sexy Lifestyle of a Free-Standing Restaurant Chef
This is the first part of a three-part Chef Chat series. Come back to read parts two and three, which will run in this same space on Thursday and Friday. On a sleepy corner of Richmond, close to the Spur and around the corner from Montrose, the Brooklyn Athletic Club…
Cover Story: Prosecutors Say Two Houston Men Sold Analog Drugs That Killed Teenagers Over 1,000 Miles Away.
When kids in North Dakota and Minnesota started overdosing and dropping dead from synthetic drugs in a span of a week last year, authorities there knew they had a problem on their hands. It didn’t take long for them to trace the drugs — called 25-I or NBOME — to…
Reality Bites: The Millionaire Matchmaker
There are a million reality shows on the naked television. We’re going to watch them all, one at a time. I realize the dating scene is rough. It was bad enough in the days when the only way to meet someone was through random nighttime encounters, via your parents/friends or…
Last Night: Solange at Fitzgerald’s
Solange Fitzgerald’s March 12, 2013 Solange has a famous sister. You’ve probably heard of her; both women grew up around here. And now let that be the last time we mention the elder Knowles sibling, because her younger sister is definitely on some different shit. In her half-decade and change…
Shaking Up the Bar at Provisions
It felt somewhat incomplete writing up this week’s cafe review of Provisions — the casual half of dual-restaurant concept The Pass & Provisions — without mentioning the bar program. After all, much of the large, multi-roomed space at Provisions is devoted to its sleek bar. And much was written of…
Ex-NFLer Scott Turner, Now a State Rep, Wants Tougher Penalities for First-Time DWI Offenders
New state Representative Scott Turner, R-Rockwall, lent a certain amount of star power to a bill Rep. Bill Callegari, R-Katy, continues to push each session: mandatory interlock devices for first-time driving-while-intoxicated offenders. Turner, who played nine years as a defensive back in the National Football League, still counsels professional players…
Pregame for St. Paddy’s Day with the Irish Blonde Cocktail
With less than a week to go until Saint Patrick’s Day, it’s time to start taste-tasting mixed drinks so on the day-of, you can mask your alcoholism with sophisticated cocktail selections. You’re not fooling anyone if you belly up to the bar and request an Irish Car Bomb, nor will…
Bad Religion’s Brian Baker: “Rage Is a Powerful Tool”
It’s not uncommon for punk bands to live by the credo that it’s better to burn out than fade away. Naturally, neither option has ever suited Bad Religion. After 16 albums over three decades spent toting the genre’s banner across the globe, it doesn’t appear as though the ultimate Southern…
The Eye of Toby Kamps at Front Gallery
If you’re curious what captures Toby Kamps’s eye, look no further than Front Gallery. The Montrose spot has a photography exhibition up featuring work not selected by the Menil curator, but taken by him. “99 Cent Dreams” features 14 recent photographs by Kamps, who, after moving to Houston in 2007,…
Reviews for the Lazy Gamer: God of War: Ascension
Game: God of War: Ascension Platform: PS3 Publisher/Developer: Sony Computer Entertainment/SCE Santa Monica Studio Genre: Action-adventure Describe This Game in Three Words: Demigod at best. To see what I thought about the multiplayer mode in beta-testing, click here. Plot Synopsis: Set before the first God of War, Ascension follows Kratos…
This Week in Food Blogs: Cheating Death and the Bitter Taste of Underberg
CultureMap: I look forward to Ruthie Johnson Miller’s “Where To Eat Right Now” post every month, as a quick and coherent round-up of the restaurants (and bars and food trucks and more) that are most ably capturing Houston’s short attention span at the moment. The list for March includes a…
Last Night: Kenny Chesney at Reliant Stadium
Kenny Chesney Reliant Stadium March 12, 2013 My heart was stolen by a cowboy last night, and I don’t want it back. I, along with nearly 70,000 other spectators, rolled into Reliant Stadium for yet another RodeoHouston concert — only this time it was Kenny Chesney. It was great to…
Cowboy Diaries 2013: Stran Smith, World Champion Roper
Stran Smith, Calf ropingTrue 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…
Mark West: Cops Say Long-Suspected Assistant Principal Finally Had Sex with a Student at Prom Event
Officials at Spring High School, it seems, had long been suspicious of assistant principal Mark Steve West’s closed-door meetings with female students. One told investigators she saw “female students exit [West’s] door with their hair and clothing disheveled, and the female students would be smiling and laughing,” court documents say…
Houston’s the Beans Grind Out an Album the Natural Way
The Beans have noticed a pretty insane trend lately: The Houston band has found itself compared to the likes of Texas rock legend Janis Joplin and Brittany Howard, vocal impresaria for the Alabama Shakes. The only problem in this equation? It’s a band chock full o’ dudes. They’re cool with…
Do These Logos Look Familiar? 6 Brands with Variant Names
Whether it’s for legal purposes, local recognition or because pancakes are just damn tasty-sounding, check out these brands that may have a different name depending on where you find them:…
A Fitting Memorial for Bert Long
If you can look on the bright side, this was some fortunate timing. The UAC Contemporary Art Gallery at Houston Baptist University was putting together a small show of Bert Long’s work late last year when the Fifth Ward artist was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He died a month later…
State Rep Harold Dutton Again Looks to Soften Jail-Cramming Marijuana Penalties
Rep. Harold Dutton’s efforts to minimize the criminal penalties on the possession of the smallest amount of marijuana got a mixed reception in the House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee. Dutton, D-Houston, is ever the logical one when it comes to challenging excessive, frivolous or ridiculous criminal penalties, even in Republican-dominated law-and-order…
100 Creatives 2013: Anthony Rathbun, Alternative Lifestyle Photographer
What He Does: Anthony Rathbun is a photographer, and like most photographers he’ll do your basic portraits and such. His real passion, though, is for people with alternative living preferences, especially if they can deliver themselves openly and honestly for the camera. He can get you the kind of photos…
DeAndre Jordan’s Dunk Immortalized by the Voice of WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross!
In 2013, one of the biggest gauges of your brand, your legacy, your relevance is what I like to call the “Google ______” test. Put someone’s name in Google and what are the first three or four items that Google self-fills in as related topics after that name. If my…
Video Game Addiction: A 30-Year-Old Cautionary Guide for Kids Still Rings True
When you have children, your parents and in-laws use that fact to unload every single bit of your own childhood that they refused to throw away. It’s a hit-or-miss process that usually ends with me just dumping or donating things when I get home, but last weekend I got a…
SXSW’s Class of 2008: Where Are They Now? (w/VIDEO)
My first true SXSW with the Houston Press and Rocks Off was way back in March 2008, when I was given a wristband to explore/maraud Austin looking for trouble and new bands. This was a time when Justice and MSTRKRFT were what would be called EDM now, and Israel’s Monotonix…
Burgers Off the Beaten Path: Blake’s BBQ and Burgers
I read somewhere once — I’m pretty sure it was in Hamburger America, by George Motz — that Blake’s BBQ and Burgers was erected when the street it’s on out here in west Houston was just a simple dirt road. I can believe that. Although Jeanetta is now fully paved,…
Baseball Fans: Even with a Story That Would Have Every Jury on Your Side, You Can’t Win a Lawsuit for Getting Hit with a Foul Ball in Houston
If you get bored at an Astros game this year — and chances are very good you will — read the tiny, tiny print on the back of your ticket. Somewhere in that mountain of impossible-to-read verbiage is notice that by using the ticket, you can’t sue if you’re hit…
Maria Calvillo: Nurse’s Aide Told Student to “Bend Me Over and F%# Me Tomorrow,” Cops Say (NSFW)
No one can accuse Maria Calvillo of being the world’s most subtle sexter. They can — and have — accused the Taylor High School nurse’s aide of having an improper relationship with a student. The 38-year-old is accused of having sex with a 17-year-old senior at the Alief ISD school…
The Complete SXSW Overflow Festival 2013 Guide: Week 1, Part 1
With SXSW under way in Austin, Super Happy Fun Land is keeping Houston ears satisfied with its Overflow Festival 2013, a two-week lineup of up-and-coming music acts from all over the world. Below is a complete list of the rest of this week’s performers. TUESDAY, MARCH 12 Ash Reiter: The…
Jovan Collier: Guy Who Killed His Family When He Was 14, Then Sent a Dead Pig & Sex Toys to a Girlfriend, Can’t Get a Dang Break
If there’s one thing that irks Hair Balls, it’s when we find out our new neighbor — a nice-enough dude we like to talk to about Dancing with the Stars and whatnot — turns out to be a convicted family-killer who also sends dead piglets to gals who catch his…
Battleship Texas, Seriously Injured, to Get (Some) Repairs
The good news: On the 99th anniversary of its commissioning, the Battleship Texas will be getting “the first significant structural repairs…in more than 20 years, Texas Parks & Wildlife announced. The bad news: Those repairs are about half of what is needed just to take a solid first step toward…
Rocks Off’s Rodeo Concert Guide: Kenny Chesney
The Rocks Off Rodeo Concert Guide is our annual helpful(?) primer for those of you unsure about your HLSR music choices for the big event at Reliant Stadium. Date: March 12 Name: Kenny Chesney AKA: “You’d think a guy that rich could afford shirts with sleeves.”…
Bountiful Bargains at Randalls Discount Rack
Almost every time I enter a clothing store, I head first to the sale rack. Why pay full price when there are bargains to be had? Up until recently, I didn’t replicate this pattern of behavior in supermarkets, where the discounts are dispersed throughout the store (or so I thought)…
Cowboy Diaries 2013: Wade Sumpter, a Footballer and a Hazer
Wade Sumpter, HazerTrue 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…
The Eating…Our Words 100: Kiran Verma, Executive Chef and Owner of Kiran’s Restaurant & Bar
What she does: When she came to the U.S. over 40 years ago from India, Kiran Verma and her friends (a lot of students) didn’t have a lot of money to be going out and spending, so she cooked at home for her friends and family on the weekends. That…
Last Night: Jason Aldean at Reliant Stadium
Jason Aldean Reliant Stadium March 11, 2013 Somewhere along the way Jason Aldean rubbed me the wrong way, and whenever I did have a stray thought about him, the words “massive tool” weren’t far behind. I spent most of his RodeoHouston concert Monday night at (a packed) Reliant Stadium trying…
Today’s DVDs & Blu-rays: Life of Pi, Hitchcock, Tristana and This Is Not a Film
Life of Pi stars Suraj Sharma and Irrfan Khan; Ang Lee directs. Thanks to Ang Lee’s strong storytelling skills, his Oscar winning film Life of Pi is more than just another Disney-esque movie. We see Pi as an adult (Irrfan Khan) recalling an adventure he had as a teen (Suraj…
Weather Week: Beautiful Weather for Your Spring Break
A blustery, overcast and even somewhat rainy weekend has given way to a seriously beautiful week, which should warm up nicely as we continue into this coming weekend, perfect for all you spring break maniacs. But if you started your party this past weekend, it might have been a minor…
Upcoming: Depeche Mode, Big Boi, Ariel Pink, Peter Murphy, Flying Lotus, etc.
Ariel Pink: Sun., June 16, 8 p.m., $15/$19. Fitzgerald’s, 2706 White Oak, Houston. Arum Rae: Fri., May 31, 8 p.m., $8/$11. Fitzgerald’s, 2706 White Oak, Houston. Avoxblue: With Andre Obin, Futility Closet, Stereo Telescope., Sun., March 17, 8 p.m., $3-$8. Notsuoh, 314 Main, Houston. Back in Black (AC/DC Tribute): Sat.,…
Iranian Street Artists Icy and Sot on Their Way to Aerosol Warfare Gallery in Houston
Since the 2009 uprisings in Tehran, the Iranian creative community hasn’t had the easiest time of it whenever it chooses to question its government. Whether they stay or leave, a small yet flourishing underground art culture has emerged globally. Two of the most prominent figures in that movement are brothers…
10 Items or Less: The Grocery Store Pet Peeves That Drive Us Crazy
My mother shops and cooks for a living. She’s there at Randalls or H-E-B or Kroger every single morning — sometimes Costco, depending on the client — with her battery of cloth sacks and cold bags, waiting for the day’s haul of fresh produce, raw meat and canned goods to…
Fall Out Boy’s Emo Adventures In the World of Prose
Folks, recently one of my longest-awaited moments in music came to fruition: Pete Wentz, Fall Out Boy bassist and songwriter, finally decided to release his full-length prose narrative Gray. He first mentioned it seven years ago, and now we finally have our hands on the book. With the recent reunion…
DEFCON Dining: El Gran Malo
On a recent Tuesday night — our late night, the one on which after-school activities all but force us to dine out instead of cooking — my youngest daughter said she’d rather go home and eat sandwiches than put on pants. She’d just gotten out of her gymnastics class, clad…
Jersey Boys: Rev Up Your Falsetto and Walk Like a Man
Colby Foytik grew up in Southern California in the ’70s and ’80s. “There’s absolutely nothing Italian or Jersey about me,” he says laughing. But that hasn’t stopped him from playing Tommy DeVito in the Tony®-, Grammy®- and Olivier Award-winning Best Musical Jersey Boys, about The Four Seasons — Frankie Valli,…
Constitutional Right to Bear Arms Found in Only Three Nations — Rest of World Smothered in Tyranny, Apparently
We’ve known for some time that the American Constitution, that yellowed document containing all our inalienable and God-given rights, was a special slip of parchment. The first of its kind, we’ve been told. The example. The lodestar. The exceptional. But recent research, publicized last week in Bloomberg, has helped shed…
Pop Rocks: Elisabeth Hasselbeck Isn’t Leaving The View, But We Can Still Dream
Reports of Elizabeth Hasselbeck’s departure from daytime talk mainstay The View appear to have been greatly exaggerated, with show founder Barbara Walters announcing yesterday, “We have no plans for Elisabeth to leave the show.” Bullshit? Possibly. As we all know, no one in the TV industry ever, ever lies about…
Lesley Pehrigo: Prison for Indecency with Four-Year-Old Boy in 1999; Gets Out & Violates Parole by Having Contact with Him
Lesley Pehrigo’s career as a sex offender seems odd and details are sketchy. But if online records are correct, she went to prison for indecency with a child — a four-year-old child. The incident, of which there aren’t many details handy, happened in 1999. She did her time and got…
Peeling Is for Suckers: 10 Crawfish Dishes to Try in Houston
One of the best crawfish dishes I ate last year didn’t involve a boil, peeling or shucking of any kind. It was a very simple, very extraordinary plate of crawfish tails poached in butter over al dente Texas-grown rice with green coriander and fermented carrot at Oxheart. While that particular…
The Rocks Off 100: Blaggards, Houston’s St. Paddy’s Day House Band
Welcome to the Rocks Off 100, our portrait gallery of the most compelling profiles and personalities in the far-flung Houston music community — a lot more than just musicians, but of course they’re in there too. See the entire Rocks Off 100 at this link. Who? Take a little Thin…
Warning: The Aggies Have Drones & Are Prepared to Use Them
All you teasippers out there, be on the lookout. Cougars, keep your head on a swivel. Baylor Bears, pray to your God. The Aggies have drones, and they’re launching them. As far as we know, the drones are unarmed. As far as we know. We are not saying you should…
Good-bye, “What Not to Wear”: TLC’s Smartest Show Calls It Quits
What Not to Wear used to be the most frivolous of TLC’s programming, back when TLC still stood for “The Learning Channel,” and featured shows about science, history, technology — you know, stuff you might want to know more about. Today TLC is the network that brings us Honey Boo…
Becks Prime Is Famous for Its Tuna, Right?
Every Saturday morning, my husband and I go to Urban Harvest Farmers Market and pick up all the veggies, bread and treats that catch our eye. Our last stop of the morning at the market is usually the Airline Seafood booth, where we pick up shrimp, plus a piece of…
Blake Shelton Has Helped Country’s “Old Farts” More Than They Seem to Know
“Can’t they just shut up?” That’s the question many country music fans proffer when musicians publicly express opinions that dare venture outside of benign Q&A quicksand and into the murky waters of relevant social issues. Country consumers from both sides of the political aisle can get riled up in these…
(UPDATED) NFL Free Agency 2013: Your Texans Cheat Sheet (Cap Numbers, Restructure Candidates and More!)
Back in the day, when I used to have oodles and oodles of idle time on my hands during prime game-show watching hours (that’s code for “back in college”), Wheel of Fortune was a staple of my game-show dance card. (For the record, Tic Tac Dough, Joker’s Wild and The…
EPIC: The 20 Most Overused Terms In SXSW Band Bios
Before I take any trip to Austin and SXSW, I always take more than a few days to peruse the schedule and check out a few of the hundreds of names on the roster and read their bios. Some years there are more bands with “wolf” and “space” in their…
An Open Letter to Stanton Welch: Please Create More Ballets (We have Some Suggestions)
We’ve had several magical experiences courtesy of Stanton Welch and the Houston Ballet. We count his Marie, Madam Butterfly, the recent La Bayadère and the current production of The Rite of Spring as some of the best performances we’ve had the pleasure to witness. Not just dance performances, mind you…
Houston Dominates Food & Wine‘s Best New Chef List
Each year, Food & Wine recognizes the nation’s great up-and-coming chefs with The People’s Best New Chef — a contest which allows readers to vote on the 10 best new chefs from 10 regions around the country. This is the first year that Food & Wine has employed a Gulf…
Last Night: Ryan Bingham at House of Blues
Ryan Bingham House of Blues March 10, 2013 It’s tempting to label Ryan Bingham a “throwback,” because nothing he does is especially modern. The former rodeo cowboy’s brand of classic rock, country-blues and flatland boogie feels like it blew in from out of the past, like a dust storm from…
Darque Tan Settles with AG over False Claims That Tanning Is Healthy
With people so worried about skin cancer that they’re looking for triple-digit SPFs, it takes guts to claim that spending time in a tanning bed is healthy. Orange-y, unnaturally colored guts. But Houston Darque Tans have apparently continued to say their beds increase Vitamin D in their GTL customers, much…
Last Night: Go Tejano Day 2013 at Reliant Stadium
Go Tejano Day feat. Julion Alvarez, Los Invasores De Nuevo Leon, Mariachi Invitational Finalists Reliant Stadium March 10, 2013 I’ve said it once or twice, but I will say it again, and continue to do so until I am proven wrong. Tejano music is dead, at least at RodeoHouston. In…
Cowboy Diaries 2013: Molly Powell, a Family Affair
Molly Powell, barrel racingTrue 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…
Last Night: Willie Nelson at Arena Theatre
Willie Nelson Arena Theatre March 10, 2013 For some artists, even superlatives aren’t enough. Willie Nelson turns 80 next month. He’s been making music — and making a living off it — longer than my parents have been alive. And while there are other country artists of similar vintage and…
Rocks Off’s Rodeo Concert Guide: Jason Aldean
The Rocks Off Rodeo Concert Guide is our annual helpful (?) primer for those of you unsure about your HLSR music choices for the big event at Reliant Stadium. Date: March 11 Name: Jason Aldean AKA: “That guy in a hat. No, not him. No, the other one.”…
First-World Problems: How Busy Are You That a “Thank You” E-mail Is a Problem?
I have long been a fan of the Dear Abby column. It’s not because I think her advice every time is spot on (though it mostly is) or that her folksy, home-grown wisdom is adorable (though it totally is). I mainly like it because I imagine her consternation when reading…
Houston’s Best Ribs, Tex-Mex and Steaks — According to You, Social Media Maven
What if you could ask social media sites such as Twitter, Foursquare, Facebook and TripAdvisor what Tex-Mex restaurant they’d recommend as the best in Houston? All at once? Without having to mess with that whole following-people-and-enduring-their-boring-status-updates part? Triposo is here for you. Triposo is a travel adviser Web site created…
Saturday Night: 22nd Annual Mariachi Invitational at Arena Theatre
HLS&R Go Tejano Committee 22nd Annual Mariachi Invitational Arena Theater March 9, 2013 In both numbers and influence, the Go Tejano Committee is one of the largest and strongest within the entire Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. It raises and awards millions of dollars worth of scholarships to high school…
Friday Night: Tim McGraw at Reliant Stadium
Tim McGraw Reliant Stadium March 9, 2013 Here’s the thing. I like Tim McGraw and his music, even if he’s been mired in schmaltz for the past decade, only sporadically making a song that sticks to my ribs. He seems sincere, even if his material isn’t always a great fit…
RIP Macy’s/Foley’s, 1947-2013: Pictures from the Wake
It started out as a Foley’s, turned into a Macy’s and ended up a sad, empty hulk in the middle of downtown. The big blank block that served as a downtown department store for almost 66 years closed down over the weekend. We listed six oddities you may not have…
Houston Facial Hair Club Is Growing and Fighting “Facial Hair Discrimination”
Check out our slideshow of magnificent beards and mustaches. When you think about fads in hair, you usually associate them with the female gender. It is women who fluff and style and buy expensive products for their ‘dos, not men. Men who spend too much time worrying about their hair…
Jordan, a California Chardonnay with Restraint: Does Your Choice of Wine Describe You as a Person?
A few years ago, a holiday weekend drive to Palm Springs from my native San Diego delivered me to the doorstep of Chardonnay Hills, an upscale homeowners association in Temecula. In this day and age, it’s not surprising that a community would name itself after a grape. After all, ampelonyms…
Once Again, Super Happy Fun Land Welcomes More Than 100 SXSW Overflow Acts
Actually, by the time you read this, that number will be closer to 90, but you get the point. SXSW, Austin’s popular music, film and interactive festival, opened its arms to the public this past Friday. In an adjacent welcoming hug, Super Happy Fun Land, Houston’s stuffed-animal-strewn East End venue,…
Nolan Ryan Ain’t Riding in on a White Horse to Save the Astros
The Nolan Ryan crisis in Arlington is well in its second week. Thus the questions over his future with the Rangers, and his future in general, continue. But while it appears Ryan is losing the battle for power, it’s just not known what role he will continue to serve in…
Sunday Brunch at Triniti: Affordable Luxury
Even though I’ve been to Triniti a handful of times, I’m still stunned by the subtle beauty of the airy space every time I walk inside. Accents of gold and cool-toned wood glitter and gleam in the mid-morning sunlight, never detracting from the clean white palette. Visiting Triniti during its…
Now, Forager, Slow Food Movement Film, Comes to Sundance
Mushrooms, for many, are a difficult food to swallow. They are neither vegetable nor animal, and while there is something “magical” about them, they grow in the wild, and as children we were warned not to eat them lest they kill us. To those of us who enjoy mushrooms, their…
Saturday Night: The Band Perry at Reliant Stadium
The Band Perry Reliant Stadium March 13, 2013 Was anyone else as confused as I was on Saturday night with the Band Perry’s concert at RodeoHouston? On paper, the Band Perry should be a fantastic live act to see. They’re a wholesome, family-friendly group, perfect for what the rodeo tries…
Man of Destiny and Dark Lady of the Sonnets: Really, Really Good in Parts, and Sometimes Not
The set-up: I looked forward to seeing Man of Destiny and Dark Lady of the Sonnets by George Bernard Shaw, two comedies I had read several times and admired extravagantly, but had never seen produced. Shaw is noted for his delight in paradoxes, and for his wit in deflating the…
Keep Hope Alive: Rockets Meandering Along Toward the Playoffs
“It’s the same old story, same old song and dance, my friend.” – Aerosmith All year, I’ve repeatedly said that following the Rockets is like riding a roller coaster. There are some tremendous highs and some devastating lows, but no matter what happens, it’s always exciting. This weekend was more…
Voucher Bill Hits Legislature, But Don’t Call It a Voucher Bill, Even If It Is
Last week, Democratic Sen. Eddie Lucio apparently reneged on his commitment to file a school voucher bill. Lucio’s flip-flop not only killed any pretense of bipartisanship with this controversial measure, but it left Sen. Dan Patrick, head of the Senate Eduction Committee, scrambling to find someone else to file a…
Who Should Fill In During Jon Stewart’s Daily Show Hiatus
Jon Stewart, you are such an old jokester. What is this we hear about you taking a break from The Daily Show to direct a movie? Very funny. Wait, what? Yes, the news is true. Comedy Central just announced that Stewart will be taking a two-month hiatus beginning in June…
What’s Cooking This Week? Skirt Steak with Chimichurri & More
I love cooking for my fiancé and me, but most of the time, cooking for two proves to be difficult. If I don’t make a plan, I end up running around in circles at the grocery store and wasting half the ingredient’s I’ve bought (and I hate wasting food). Enter…
Houston Bands Prepare to Invade SXSW
Starting this coming weekend, a slew (yes, a slew) of Houston bands will be invading Austin to take part in SXSW’s official and unofficial revelry. Grandfather Child, Electric Attitude, Something Fierce, Bagheera and many others will be playing free day parties, showcases and pop-up festivals. Recently I reached out to…
Don’t Spurn This Priest, or He’ll Slash Your Tires and Torch Your Buildings
Martin Villanueva didn’t mind the first time his tires were punctured. He knew how to repair the drill-holes — take a nail, take a bit of adhesive and call it good. He was frustrated, sure. But these things happen. Random day, random car. Then it happened again. Nails, adhesive, frustration…
Five Rock Supergroups That Actually Worked
Not long ago, we finally saw the release of the long-awaited album from Radiohead/Red Hot Chili Peppers supergroup Atoms for Peace, and it got me thinking: Supergroups are a tough trick to pull off. We all fantasize about our favorite musicians playing together, but when it actually comes to fruition,…
The 5 Best New Doctor Who Monsters
With the second half of Season 7 slowly making its way toward us, as well as the start of the 50th-anniversary celebrations coming into focus, all eyes are on the threats The Doctor and new companion Clara Oswin Oswald will face starting on March 30. The big buzz has been…
Meet West Virginia Head Coach Dana HORSEWOMEN!
Hey, look, before I get to my point here, let me first acknowledge that I understand when you’re in a content-driven business like radio, television, or journalism, that mistakes are going to happen. We’re all human, and with speed ruling the day over pinpoint accuracy in 2013, glitches like typos…
Burgers Off the Beaten Path: Stomp’s vs. Tookie’s
Here’s the quick story as I understand it: Tookie’s — the iconic gold-and-green burger stand in Seabrook — opened in 1975, served happy customers giant burgers for many wonderful years and was destroyed by Hurricane Ike in 2008. In the interim, Stomp’s opened two years later in Bacliff — just…
Non-Leprechaun Ways to Wear Green on St. Paddy’s Day
You have two options for St. Patrick’s day attire: full leprechaun regalia or a tasteful touch of green to let your inner Irish — real or symbolic — shine through. There is something to be said for the full-on wearin’-o-the-green. It’s definitely a conversation starter, and if you are ethnically…
The Best Concerts in Houston This Week: Muse, Major Lazer, Pitbull, etc.
Muse Toyota Center, March 12 The prospect of a new Muse album (The 2nd Law) was overshadowed by the band’s dalliance with dubstep, which was a shame, but not surprising in the current musical climate. When one of the world’s biggest stadium-rock bands’ tinkering with electronics becomes a dealbreaker, it…
Houston Ballet Continues Legacy of The Rite of Spring
The Setup: For the centennial of Vaslav Nijinky’s monumental The Rite of Spring, Houston Ballet’s Stanton Welch takes the tribal elements of the original dance of ritual sacrifice and magnifies them a hundred times over. The costuming and set design of the 1913 Paris debut is reminiscent of Eastern European…
Spring Break! Johnny Manziel Is Exhausted from Being Johnny Manziel
“The media don’t understand the pressures $42 million come with.” — Random sobbing professional athlete in the movie “Jerry Maguire” They say the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. Certainly, on a bad day, as we grind through life, it’s easy to look at the…
60 Years of Corvettes Featured in 35th Annual Corvette Expo This Weekend
The Chevrolet Corvette has been an American icon since the first generation debuted in 1953 as “America’s sports car.” Sixty years and six generations of Corvette later, the Corvette owner community is one of the most active groups of car enthusiasts around. This weekend marks the 35th annual Corvette Expo…
Houston’s B-cycle Program Begins, with More Kiosks to Come
Houston’s maiden foray into a public bicycle program began just weeks ago, with kiosks full of sturdy red Trek bicycles at B-cycle stations open and ready to serve Houstonians adventuresome enough to leave a car — or more than likely, truck — behind and embrace Bayou City life on a…
Rocks Off’s Rodeo Concert Guide for “Bros”: Tim McGraw
The Rocks Off Rodeo Concert Guide is our annual helpful(?) primer for those of you unsure about your HLSR music choices for the big event at Reliant Stadium. Date: March 8 Name: Tim McGraw AKA: “Mr. Faith Hill.”…
Community: A Shawshank Thanksgiving
Television comedies have been walking in two different directions over the past decade. With The Office, we have seen the rise of one-camera sitcoms that changed the style of the, now feeling, old timey manner in which television situational comedies had been created. That is not to say that multis…
Downtown: The Week in Photos
It’s time again to check out the Houston Press Flickr Pool and see what kinds of art shots our talented photographers have added. We love street art, unique perspectives and beautiful photos of Houston’s creative community. If you think you’ve got a good eye, drop your pictures in the pool…
Saint Arnold Icon Blue Has Arrived
The second beer in the new seasonal Icon series from Saint Arnold Brewery hits shelves this week in the form of Icon Blue. The beer, a Cascadian Dark Ale (or Black IPA), will be available in 12-ounce four-packs throughout the spring. While not all accounts have received their initial shipments,…
Versklaven: “A Cornered Animal That Lunges at Its Assailant”
It’s a well-known fact that most band names are gobbledygook, but here at the Houston Press, we’re doing our best to find meaning in the oddest monikers. In general I try to avoid delving into the message in metal bands’ names as it always leads some place weird and horrifying…
Michael Brown Gets 180 Days in Jail
Judge Sheri Dean sentenced Michael Brown to 180 days in Harris County Jail this morning for spending millions on luxury items and real estate in violation of a 2011 court order. She found he had violated the majority of claims his estranged wife Rachel Brown brought against him in their…
Person of Interest: “People with Something to Hide, or Hiding from Something.”
I’m sick of being watched. Seriously, though, does anybody give a second thought to the surveillance state anymore? Besides rolling their eyes at people who post link to Alex Jones on Facebook, I mean? Not only is it not going away, but our own Attorney General refused to rule out…
Welcome to Texas: Trucks Top the List of Stolen Vehicles in the Lone Star State
It’s appropriate that while the rodeo is happening over at Reliant Park, thieves are gearing up for another year of stealing your pickup trucks. The Texas Department of Public Safety released its list of the ten most stolen vehicles in the state and, not surprisingly, trucks are right at the…
Upcoming Events: Commercial Free Cocktail and Oysters for Cause
Alex Gregg, bar manager at the upcoming Goro & Gun, is reviving his popular Commercial Free Cocktail series — initially hosted at Grand Prize Bar — for a limited, three-night run at Ambrosia. And this time, he’s bringing along guest bartender Chris Frankel to help. Both bartenders got their start…
World’s Most Radical Natural Wine Now Available in Houston
Ever since the New York Times first reported on the radically Natural wines of Mt. Etna, Sicily producer Frank Cornelissen in 2009, the wines have captivated the attention of Natural wine writers, enthusiasts and detractors across the United States. To my knowledge, the wines have never been available in Texas…
Houston’s Top 10 Record Stores
Record Store Day (recordstoreday.com) is six weeks away, but a good Houstonian should never need an excuse to visit one of our city’s many record stores. These fine brick-and-mortar shops have been doling out music for years and even decades in some instances. Run by some of the finest music…
Last Night: Bruno Mars at Reliant Stadium
Bruno Mars Reliant Stadium March 7, 2013 We live in a world where a “singer” can be successful without actually knowing how to sing. Think about that for a second. Then think about why we allow that to happen. In the Internet age, we are less interested in the strength…
UPDATED: Mid Main’s First Thursday: Rocked Last Night (As Promised)
Updated with the name of artist David A. Feil. If you haven’t been over to the new/old happening area of Main Street, the first Thursday of each month is the time to go. Last night the block of Main between the 3600 and 3700, which calls itself Mid Main, had…
Survey: Texans Aren’t Big on Flossing, Houston Eighth Worst in the U.S.
“Now, take your big ass home and brush that tooth.” — Richard Pryor in Harlem Nights. DenTek makes flossing devices, so it isn’t really surprising they would commission a survey about it, but what is interesting about this particular survey is where Texas ended up on the list. And the…
Where the Chefs Eat: Ryan Lachaine, Lyle Bento and Victoria Dearmond
With the proliferation of open kitchens in Houston, it’s hard to ignore the chefs who are actually making the food. Nowhere is that more true than at Underbelly, where food enthusiasts can literally spend the evening watching all the action going on in the kitchen. At one point during the…
Reviews For The Easily Distracted: Oz The Great And Powerful
Title: Oz the Great and Powerful $325 Million? $325 million. Everybody keeps talking about that number, but I don’t see what the big deal is. The national debt increases by that much every 13 seconds. Rating Using Random Objects Relevant To The Film: Three-and-a-half Johnnys from Airplane out of five…
Grocery Stores & Supermarkets Increase Sales with Ready-to-Eat Foods
Grocery stores and supermarkets have turned into places where we can buy not only food to cook at home, but also meals that are already cooked for us. In the summer of 2012, Packaged Facts, a research company in Rockville, Maryland, predicted that this category of foods would reach $32.45…
Cover Story: A Brief History of Joe Sample and the Crusaders
What a badass. As chronicled in this week’s cover story, there’s a reason why Joe Sample is Texas Southern University’s artist-in-residence at the school’s jazz studies program — and why he may be able to reinvent TSU’s disgraced reputation. Cover Story: The New Crusaders Joe Sample Attempts to Bring TSU…
A Few Good Men: A Fast-Paced, Thought-Provoking Look at Power, the Military, and Cover-ups
Check out our interview with Gregory Boyd about this revival of A Few Good Men. The set-up: Aaron Sorkin blazed across Broadway’s theatrical sky with his 1989 drama A Few Good Men, a play inspired by a real-life situation at Guantanamo Naval Base in Cuba, although Sorkin modified some of…
One Man’s Baseball Bucket List
The thought of baseball season is depressing for some people, primarily because the Astros are going to be so damn bad. But that doesn’t bother me. I’m a baseball addict, and while the Astros will be bad, it’s not really going to matter because I’ll be watching baseball — and…
Cowboy Diaries 2013: Ty Blasingame, Kid Rock Buff
Ty Blasingame, Team ropingTrue 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…
Health Department Roundup: Knuckleheads, Privilege and Some Other Places with Normal Names
The first thing my oldest friend ever said to his future wife was “Do I look like I have gonorrhea?” He was waiting for the results of an STD test and was a little nervous. (They’re both successful, healthy lawyers now, which is sickening to us less successful people.) I’d…
Top Five Things to Do in Houston This Weekend: 2013 French Cultures Festival, Kerouac Fest 2013, The Rite of Spring and More
On Friday the 2013 French Cultures Festival, the sixth annual celebration of all things French across Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas kicks off with a free outdoor concert downtown. The French indie group LYS will share the stage with local band The Tontons and the swamp-pop, Cajun band The Revelers. LYS…
Hates Singer Looks Back on 35 Years of Houston Punk Rock
As the singer, guitarist and chief songwriter for the Hates — Houston’s most enduring punk rock band and a local institution — Christian Kidd (nee Christian Arnheiter, Christian Oppression and Christian Anarchy) has seen a lot. And with the band nearing its 35th anniversary (with Kidd as the only constant),…
For Spring Break: The 10 Weirdest Condom-Related Items on Etsy & eBay
Spring Break is on the horizon, beginning for some people this weekend. College kids will head to spots in Texas or Florida, cram themselves into motel rooms, hope they don’t get so drunk they pass out and wake up with their faces transformed into a piece of Sharpie art, and…
100 Creatives 2013: David Salinas, Computer-Less Analog Photographer
In a way, Art Attack is in the same boat as photographer David Salinas. We think modern photography’s digital craze is kind of weird and sometimes silly. “I work at a camera store and I think it’s funny how people get obsessed with megapixels and high-resolution cameras,” says Salinas. “I…
When Zombies Attack: The Colin Blunstone Interview, Part 2
Much of the Zombies’ music, even early on, was original material mostly written by Rod Argent and Chris White. It’s something that Colin Blunstone still marvels at today. “Our first album was going to be all covers,” he recalls. “But it was our producer, Ken James, who said we could…
Trailer Park: Of Course There Is Going To Be A Hangover Part III
Hangover II sucked. It was a cash-grab, which doesn’t mean that The Hangover was some sort of cinematic classic, though I could watch the first one endlessly. Oh, the days when Zack Galafianakis wasn’t overexposed. Before this movie, young men came to the city of Las Vegas to spend thousands…
Openings & Closings: Main Street Gets More Action, This Time in Midtown
If you’ve been looking for former Eating…Our Words contributor and Zilla Street Eats chef Jason Kerr lately, look no further: Kerr is the new chef at the recently opened second location of Hollister Grill on Washington Avenue. According to Eater Houston, the menu at this newer Hollister Grill is being…
The Best Concerts in Houston This Weekend: Bruce & Kelly, KTRU Outdoor Show, etc.
Bruce Robison & Kelly Willis McGonigel’s Mucky Duck, March 8 Spouses tempting fate by naming their new record Cheater’s Game? Nah, just the “First Couple of Texas Country Music” rewarding fans with the couple’s first-ever full-album collaboration, to go with any number of guest spots on each other’s songs over…
What Did Dennis Rodman Do to Piss Off North Korea?
To say the United States’ relationship with North Korea is less than cordial would be a bit of an understatement. A draconian cesspool of a society with nuclear weapons perpetually aimed our way, North Korea and its leadership (Kim Jong-un, yo!) represent the antithesis of everything the United States stands…
Michael Brown: “I’m Terrified of Going to Jail”
Both sides of the Michael “I Am Sorry for Fucking Your Mother Instead of Someone Else” Brown freakshow rested today, and Judge Sheri Dean will deliver her decision Friday at 10:30 a.m. Brown faces a maximum of six months in Harris County Jail if he’s found liable for violations of…
Montrose’s St. Stephen’s Will Hold Houston’s First Episcopal Ceremony “Marrying” Gays
St, Stephen’s Episcopal is in the heart of Montrose, and it has long embraced the neighborhood’s live-and-let-live vibe. (Kids, it really used to be like that before the townhomes invaded.) That tradition will continue March 17 hen it holds what it says is Houston’s first Witnessing and Blessing of a…
Try to Change the 24-Hour Mandatory Wait Before an Abortion? We’ll Make It a Longer Wait
Want an abortion? Great! So do many other women, but that doesn’t mean they get it whenever they want to in Texas. Women have to endure a mandatory consultation visit 24 hours before the abortion. Wait no more…maybe. Texas State Representative Jessica Farrar is filing a bill by the end…
Rocks Off’s Rodeo Concert Guide for “Bros”: Bruno Mars
The Rocks Off Rodeo Concert Guide is our annual helpful(?) primer for those of you unsure about your HLSR music choices for the big event at Reliant Stadium. Date: March 7 Name: Bruno Mars AKA: “Not that Bruno.”…
Looks Like We Can Pour One Out for Pearl Bar
This may be the end of the line for Pearl Bar. The once-crowded jewel of the Washington Avenue bar scene has apparently been locked out by its landlord for nonpayment of rent. The above notice was posted on the door of Pearl Wednesday night, and the photo was sent our…
The Rest of the Best: Houston’s Top 10 Museums
Houston’s Museum District is a favorite destination for both locals and tourists. But choice museum offerings aren’t limited to that one location. And while we have several world-class museums (the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and the Menil Collection leap immediately to mind), those aren’t the only ones on our…
10 of Our Favorite Parody Songs to Celebrate the Day They Became Fair Use
On this day in 1994 the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that parodies, commercial or non-commercial, do not violate copyright law. 2 Live Crew had applied for permission to parody Roy Orbison’s “Oh Pretty Woman,” but were refused. They made the song anyway, and after a quarter of…
Divine, The Queen Of Trash, Remembered 25 Years After Her Death
On this date in 1988, Harris Glenn Milstead, known as the drag queen Divine to fans of trash cinema and people so filthy that they became glam, was found dead from complications of an enlarged heart. He had died in his sleep. He was just 42. Divine would star in…
Greg Abbott’s Awful “Gun ‘n’ Bible” Ad Gets an F in Grammar
What was that old Warren Zevon song? “Send Bibles, Guns and Grammar”? No? Well, that or something along the lines of it should be sent to Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, who caused a few jaws to drop with an ad he put on his Facebook page. The ad is…
The Americans: “Sometimes What I Do Gets Scary.”
There’s something oddly soothing in winding down a long day of … whatever it is you do for your daily drudgery with a nice helping of the Cold War. I know it’s weird to be nostalgic about a period when the United States and the Soviet Union were at each…
Last Night: Dierks Bentley at Reliant Stadium
Dierks Bentley Reliant Stadium March 6, 2013 I never, ever do something like this, for reasons I hope should be obvious to our readers, but after watching Dierks Bentley (and the crowd) Wednesday night at RodeoHouston, I felt compelled to Google the words “Dierks Bentley girlfriend.” Ladies love this guy;…
5 Really Simple Things Everyone Should Know About the Internet
I spend most of my days working on Web sites. It’s what I do for a living. So, naturally, I also answer a lot of questions about the Internet from people who don’t know how to do things I consider simple, everyday tasks. Sometimes, this can be frustrating, but I…
SXSW’s 2013 Panels: EDM, Nashville and Tony Bennett’s Headphones
Since 2010 or so, while I am at SXSW in Austin, I have started to make the panels during the day a priority for my time at the conference. The trick is waking up by 10 a.m. most days. They are usually filled with industry celebs I can geek out…
Reviews for the Lazy Gamer: Tomb Raider
Game: Tomb Raider Platform: PS3, Xbox, PC Publisher/Developer: Square Enix/Crystal Dynamics Genre: Action-adventure Describe This Game in Three Words: You’ll barely survive. Plot Synopsis: In this reboot of the long-running franchise, archeologist Lara Croft leads a team on an expedition into the Dragon’s Triangle in order to investigate a legendary…
Act Fast to Save Big at Radical Eats, Charivari, Majorca and More
We’ll skip the “radical” pun and get straight to the good stuff: Today’s Houston Press Voice Daily Deal is good for over half-off your favorite vegetarian Mexican food at Radical Eats. Twelve dollars gets you $25 at this Best of Houston® award winner, where the vegan queso and fried avocado…
Houston’s Citgo Sends Off Hugo Chavez with a Fond Farewell
Venezuela’s Huge Chavez has been one of the more polarizing political figures on the world stage, beloved by many, hated by just as many if not more. Citgo is a huge energy company based in Houston, incorporated under U.S. laws….but owned by Venezuela. Which put the company in somewhat of…
How Many Bone Thugs-N-Harmony Can You Name?
Bone Thugs-N-Harmony are back, y’all. Tonight, the legendary Cleveland crew takes over the stage at House of Blues, and there’s going to be a lot of singing along. Most fans of rap’s golden age have been bumping the Bone since at least the “Crossroads” video came out. They’ve been on…
Human Trafficking Film Night at a 2nd Cup
Despite Houston’s excellent efforts to stop human trafficking, the city remains one at the top of many lists when it comes to this heinous crime. According to statistics a quarter of all reported human trafficking victims that are rescued happen to be here in Texas, with a good chunk of…
First Look at Oak Leaf Smokehouse, Replacing Pete’s BBQ on Telephone Road
I honestly don’t remember when Pete’s BBQ closed. The little barbecue shack on Telephone Road was utterly unremarkable aside from its fantastically retro sign, and waving cowboy above the entrance who beckoned people inside for chopped beef sandwiches and baked potatoes. If I was in the area, it was to…
Wanted: Your Best Galveston Beach Finds
Bill Davenport wants to know, what’s the best thing you’ve ever found on the beach? The Houston artist is teaming up with the Galveston Artist Residency to put on a show featuring items discovered on Galveston’s beaches, and they need you to contribute your best finds. That means shells, of…
The Rocks Off 100: DJ Meshak, Hongree Records’ Sound Selecter
Welcome to the Rocks Off 100, our portrait gallery of the most compelling profiles and personalities in the far-flung Houston music community — a lot more than just musicians, but of course they’re in there, too. See the entire Rocks Off 100 at this link. A “selecta” was originally the…
Why I Can’t Stop Thinking About Reef’s Happy Hour
Happy hour is most definitely my favorite part of any day — is that bad? Don’t answer. I love checking out new places, of course, but there’s nothing like going back to an old favorite. And right now, I can’t stop thinking about one of my all-time favorite spots: Reef’s…
Cowboy Diaries 2013: Shayde Etherton, in It for the Money
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…
Pop Rocks: Do We Even Want Carrie Fisher In The New Star Wars Movie?
The new J.J. Abrams-helmed, Disney approved Star Wars movie is still a couple years off, but that hasn’t stopped some of the original cast from chiming in about the possibility of a reappearance: We’re still years away from the next Star Wars movie, but rumors are already flying about the…
A Vintage, Awesome Antidrug PSA from Houston Astros Mascot Orbit
A few days ago, while doing a Google search for vintage Astros stuff — like one does — I found 101 Astrodome Memories, a blog devoted to Dome anecdotes and Astros randomness. Among other stories of trips to the Dome, I found a great antidrug PSA from Astros mascot Orbit,…
New Sonic Sweet Potato Tots Are Surprisingly Delicious
Tater tots at Sonic are always a good choice. In high school, my friends and I would hit up Sonic for an afternoon snack and Happy Hour sodas on a weekly basis. Diet cherry limeades and tater tots were the perfect snack after a long day of school. Now Sonic…
Ask Willie D: My Grown Pothead Son Won’t Move Out
Welcome to Ask Willie D, Rocks Off’s advice column where the Geto Boys MC answers reader questions about matters, in his own words, “funny, serious or unpredictable.” Something on your mind? Ask Willie D! GUILTY OF RAISING A DEADBEAT Willie D, my son is a complete and utter deadbeat. Since…
When It Comes to Ending Hunger, All Eyes Are upon Houston
Every other month, Moez El-Shohdi travels through the greater Middle East. Ranging from Morocco to Pakistan, El-Shohdi dots the landscape, visiting models he helped perfect through his work in Cairo. He examines the factory sprung in Riyadh. He tours the facilities in Damascus. He makes sure that his model, churning…
When Zombies Attack: The Colin Blunstone Interview, Part 1
In today’s pop culture, zombies are hot. Their lumbering, slack-jawed forms are moving (albeit slowly) on TV and in movies, video games, and off the pages of books. So it’s sort of appropriate that — like these monosyllabic, flesh-shedding creatures who get a second chance — the beloved ’60s British…
R.I.P.: Stanton’s City Bites Main Man Art Fong Has Passed Away
On his way to work at Stanton’s City Bites the morning of February 19, where he’d manned the front counter for over 30 years, Arthur Fong suffered a massive hemorrhagic stroke. Fong — known as “Art” to his friends and family — lingered in the intensive care unit until March…
I Don’t Want to Hate Anne Hathaway, and I’m Trying to Get Over It
If you’re like me, as the award season progressed your tolerance for Anne Hathaway was wearing thin. Yeah, yeah, I know–that makes me totally unoriginal since approximately everyone in America hates Anne Hathaway now (except Anderson Cooper). So even though some of us are still a little consumed by our…
R.I.P. Paul Bearer, 1954-2013: The Definitive Video Anthology of His WWE Career
In news that when transcribed sounds like some sort of weird mix between a scene from Inception and a Webcam installed in Vince McMahon’s brain, William Moody, an actual trained mortician turned wrestling manager by the name of “Paul Bearer” and longtime WWE manager of the legendary Undertaker, died on…
Fact: Pop Songs Always Give Brilliant Parenting Advice
I’m not sure who thought to film the fabulous display of parenting that is documented in the video below, but after watching this hot mess for exactly two minutes and 39 seconds, I’ve decided there’s nothing quite as disturbing as a six-year-old rapping about how he can make my “booty…
Top 10 Restaurants Near Hobby Airport
One of the questions I get most frequently from friends who travel is this: Why isn’t there anywhere to eat around Hobby Airport? To which I say: There are lots of places. You’re not looking hard enough. Hobby is in one of those parts of town that require a finer-toothed…
MLB 13: The Show: Sports Nerds Are Weird
MLB 13: The Show is the eighth title of one of the most critically acclaimed series of sports games ever. Though this area is not usually one of expertise for me due to the lack of epic quests, I thought I’ve give it a whirl, and that’s when I discovered…
Other Ozzes, Great and Terrible (But Mostly Terrible)
Twenty minutes into the first full-length movie based on L. Frank Baum’s most beloved novel, a duck pukes into the face of Larry Semon, the star and director. Semon’s 1925 flop, titled The Wizard of Oz, opens and closes with a Geppetto-esque toymaker reading to his granddaughter from a well-loved…
Raw Power
Only in Houston Last week Free Press Summer Fest announced most of the artists who will play its fifth edition, scheduled for June 1 and 2 at Eleanor Tinsley Park near downtown. At the top of the heap are punk godfathers Iggy Pop & the Stooges and reunited electro-pop swooners…
Oldies But Goodies
Dear Readers, The Mexican is currently dealing with deportation issues but will return next week once he builds his 15-foot escalera to climb over that pesky 14-foot wall. In the meanwhile, here’s some oldies-but-goodies to tide you by like yesterday’s menudo. Enjoy! Dear Mexican, It seems that whenever Chicano professors…
Capsule Art Reviews: “Cruz Ortiz: I Speak Lightning,” “Farewell Ruins: Julia Haft-Candell and Julia Kunin,” “Greg Miller: Over Time,” “Joshua Goode: Origin of Myth,” “Kathryn Kelley: “The uncontrollable nature of grief and forgiveness (or lack of)”
“Cruz Ortiz: I Speak Lightning” Cruz Ortiz is known to work in wheat paste murals, video, street sculptures and guerrilla AM radio broadcasts. His latest solo exhibition is just gouache on paper and panel, but that doesn’t make it any less quiet. “I Speak Lightning” at David Shelton Gallery is…
Dear Houston: You’re Idiotic
Highlights from Hair Balls Texas Spaced City Dear City of Houston: How’s it going? You know I love you. I mean, I’m a freaking advocate! But there are plenty of things I’d like to see changed. I want more light rail. I want the constant road construction to stop. I…
Capsule Stage Reviews: Broadway at the Box, The First Church of Texaco, God of Carnage, Man of La Mancha
Broadway at the Box The Music Box Theater is a repertory group of three women and two men — they sing, they dance, they act, they reminisce about their childhoods, they do solos and they do ensemble numbers, all this with such a sense of togetherness, of fun, of personal…
The New Crusaders
It’s a Saturday morning in January, and Joe Sample, casually dressed in a baby-blue polo and jeans, barks instructions inside of a matchbox-size rehearsal space at Texas Southern University, located on the Third Ward campus at Cleburne and Ennis streets. “In black music, you come down on the one. You’re…
Nazif’s Is Istanbul (Not Constantinople)
See inside Nazif’s kitchen and cozy up to its massive wood-burning oven in our slideshow. The sound of tiny silver spoons against the gold-trimmed glass cups of tea on every table at Nazif’s was clinking across the room like dozens of wind chimes, the hum of dozens more conversations in…
Reaching Critical Mass
As one walks in the front door of Art Palace, there are a series of black and white photos of a scrolling-text electric sign. The images capture random snippets like “Plan Ahead” and “Good Luck.” The photos are a part of Charlie Morris’s show “spinning under trees.” Titled “hell-narrow-path,” the…
Saint Patrick’s Day Guide
Prepare to see a world awash with green — St. Patrick’s Day is at hand once again. With this year’s national inebriation celebration falling on a Sunday, the hard stuff may have to be done the day before, but don’t worry; there are plenty of pubs and parades to help…
Oz the Great and Powerful
It’s a bad omen when, early on in Oz the Great and Powerful, we learn that the full given name of its wizard is Oscar, also the ceremony that star James Franco once presided over as calamitously as he does this sagging Disney tentpole, a gargantuan attempt to turn L…
Sitting Pretty
Top 10 Patio dining in Houston isn’t quite the rage it is in more temperate cities. In fact, even cities like Chicago — which arguably enjoys the same amount, perhaps even less, of patio-appropriate weather as we do — seem to clamor for outdoor dining more than Houston does. Despite…
