Three Ways Eddie Van Halen Changed Rock Guitar Forever
Love him or hate him, Eddie Van Halen changed the rock-guitar world forever. I play guitar and have been in bands for many years, so he was always someone I was aware of. There was no way to ignore Eddie’s presence if you were interested in hard rock of any kind…
Five Songs Inspired by Five Nights at Freddy’s
Recently I’ve been just the tiniest bit obsessed with the blockbuster indie horror-game franchise Five Night’s at Freddy’s. It’s twisted, innovative and terrifying. Granted, the third one maybe didn’t live up to the hype, but it’s still an impressive trilogy. It’s also an amazing accomplishment in that all three games…
Kristal Cherelle Has “Only Love” For Houston
Maybe you’re not feeling so great about Houston right at this moment. It could be because your local sports team tanked, or maybe because someone haphazardly cut you off on the freeway. Until this week, it might have been because felt like you live in a city where it never…
Energy Transference Inspires Object-Based Sculptures
Our planet reshapes itself in a million different ways – seeds emit roots and bloom, plants are woven into cloth, the tailor cuts a shirt, and the tattered rags of the discarded garment are reworked into a bird’s nest. Yet, throughout this process of eternal birth and expiration, our planet…
P.L.X.T.X.’s One-Man Riot Is Nigh Unstoppable
According to Che Guevara, “The revolution is not an apple that falls when it is ripe. You have to make it fall.” For Bradley Muñoz, the sole savant behind HTX electronic-hardcore act P.L.X.T.X (pronounced Pluto), he is ready to chop down the entire tree without mercy or recompense. The 24-year-old Chilean-American…
The Best Comics in May: How Many Thors Can Dance on the Handle of Mjolnir?
Every month the staff at 8th Dimension comics helps us select the best single issues in comics. Night Nurse I LOVE the Night Nurse as a character. The idea that there would need to be specialized, available and discreet care for superheroes in New York is a fascinating concept, especially…
UPDATED: What’s Up With the Bogus Waco Biker Bond Reduction Story?
We’re guessing that, in the coming years, the Waco authorities’ handling of the Twin Peaks biker gang shootout in May will become a textbook example of how not to handle an emergency situation. The wholesale arrest of 170 bikers, under pro-forma charges, with astronomical bail ($1 million) has done wonders in the…
It’s Never Too Early To Guess The Next James Bond
Jason Statham co-stars in the upcoming comedy Spy. Saw it last night, and my review, as always, will be hard-hitting and incisive. However, I’m more concerned with an interview Statham recently gave to the Guardian, in which he asserted his enthusiasm for playing 007: “Could I do it? Abso-fucking-lutely,” he…
Chef Chat, Part 1: David Guerrero of Andes Café — South America in Houston
Houston is known as a multicultural city—a true melting pot of people and cuisines from around the world. This continues a series where we take a look at the chefs responsible for creating authentic dishes from several different nations right here in Houston. Some chefs focus on a country. At…
Thriller Ben Coes Discusses Patriotism and Author Photos
Some authors look especially suited to their genre — political thriller novelist Daniel Silva looks like he could be an international spy. Horror writer Anne Rice has sported a decidedly stark, supernatural style on occasion. And Ben Coes, the author of the Dewey Andreas international espionage thrillers, looks like a…
UPDATED: Brooks’ Place Barbecue Says Dunkin’ Donuts Is Picking a Fight Over Breakfast Tacos
According to Trent Brooks of Brooks’ Place barbecue trailer, new neighbor Dunkin’ Donuts has demanded he stop selling breakfast tacos. The franchise location at 7017 Barker Cypress opened about six months ago. Brooks says that the franchisee of that Dunkin’ Donuts location visited the trailer on May 29 and, in…
Chedda Da Connect’s ‘Chedda World’ Strengthens Houston/Atlanta Bond
Houston and Atlanta are becoming rather easy bedfellows. We’re talking the kind of bedfellows that are way too easy to guess, as if they belong together and you’re waiting for the moment when they essentially fuck and get it over with. Houston has been fucking with Atlanta’s alien-like grasp of…
STORM Fight Continues as Texas Oysters Are Salvaged From the Floods
Some might have thought the flood of fresh water into the bays would cause the two sides to stop fighting as they worked to save their oysters, but they thought wrong. Even as the oystermen grapple with fallout from the past two weeks of flooding the fight over control of…
An Ood Goes Country at a Doctor Who Art Show
The East End Gallery is currently hosting a group exhibition show dedicated to the long-running science fiction series Doctor Who called “Bigger on the Inside.” Fan art is something that is rapidly becoming more and more accepted within artistic circles. Whar’Hous, for instance, hosts an annual celebration of Star Wars…
A Firsthand Account of How Belle and Sebastian Came to Be That Way
In the All-Night Cafe: A Memoir of Belle and Sebastian’s Formative Year By Stuart David Little Brown UK/Chicago Review Press, 208 pp., $15.95 With Belle and Sebastian playing Free Press Summer Fest this weekend (the first time the Scottish band has performed in Houston in ages), we decided to review…
County Will Pay $400k to Inmate Trapped for Weeks in Feces-Covered Jail Cell
Months before Adrian Garcia resigned as Harris County Sheriff and officially enter the crowded Houston mayoral race, photos surfaced showing Terry Goodwin trapped inside a bug-infested cell at the Harris County jail. There were mounds of trash and feces clogging the toilet, sink and shower drain. We later learned jailers…
Adrian Peterson Backs Off Trade Demands, Reports to Minnesota Vikings OTA’s
If you’re an NFL player trying to control or manipulate your contractual (or in the case of Adrian Peterson, your geographical) situation, there are precious few leverage points on the NFL calendar. Contracts are very one-sided in favor of the employer, and when those leverage points come and go, there’s…
HPD Is Really Sorry About All That Poop on the Downtown Bike Lane
Before an evening storm dumped even more water on us, Saturday was all sunshine, a perfect day for biking in Houston. Which was good timing for the first Houston Bike Plan meeting, an info session with city workers and Bike Houston volunteers hoping to get cyclists engaged in the process…
This Just In: Shooting a Dog at a Dog Park is Apparently Not a Crime in Harris County
A Harris County grand jury has declined to indict a man who shot and killed a dog at a Clear Lake-area dog park in January, KPRC is reporting. Joseph Potts, 27, was charged with felony animal cruelty in March. Harris County District Attorney Devon Anderson told KPRC that, “Although this…
Memorial Hermann and other Nonprofit Hospitals Aren’t Into BBB Charity Audits
Since 2003 the Houston branch of the Better Business Bureau has been requesting that certain Houston nonprofit hospital systems including Memorial Hermann Healthcare System — the largest nonprofit hospital system in Houston – undergo a free BBB philanthropy audit. Maybe it shouldn’t come as a shock that most hospital officials,…
Theatre Southwest Sets the Scene for a Beguiling Production of The Philadelphia Story
The set-up: Theatre Southwest sets you up right at the start with a most beguiling preview, laying the tone for all that follows. The entrance foyer into its intimate theater is bedecked in flowers like an outdoor gazebo, a brick walkway leads us in through French doors (a perfect touch)…
Gov. Abbott Signs Probably Worthless Medical Marijuana Bill
Yesterday Gov. Greg Abbott signed the state’s first-ever medical marijuana law. Which is a huge deal when you consider the draconian laws governing all things herb in this state. At last, there’s finally some recognition from state lawmakers that cannabis has legitimate uses, sign that attitudes at the Lege are…
A Fresh Look at PrintMaking
During the summer-long PrintHouston 2015 festival, Houstonians can look forward to lectures, workshops, art exhibitions and special events at museums, galleries and alternative spaces. At Hunter Gather Project in its Fresh group exhibit, the focus is on pushing the boundaries of printmaking, as seen in works by contemporary artists Laura…
Authorities Say Ali Irsan Stole Out of Greed and Murdered Out of Honor
Coty Beavers was in his northwest Houston apartment on November 12, 2012, when the bullets ripped through him from behind. Whoever pulled the trigger slipped out as easily as he had gotten in, leaving the 28-year-old to die on the floor. Two days earlier, a dark-haired man with thick eyebrows…
Game of Thrones: The Musical — This Really Happened
Red Nose Day started as a biannual telethon held by British charity organization Comic Relief to raise money for children and young people living in poverty. Its focus is on comedy, hence the red noses. Apparently the British are the last people to realize all clowns should be exterminated, preferably…
Room 101 Comes Full Circle: ‘Order Is Important, and So Is Chaos’
Roburt Reynolds is a one-man unit steadfastly wielding his punk soapbox against the seemingly Teflon slick world of hegemony and patriarchy. Bareboned and singular, he jams his own kind of ‘econo’ by mixing brutal speed, tight-wrangled rhythmic combustibility, and lean musical spareness. All wrapped up in easy panache, boy-next-door good…
This Week in Houston Food Blogs: A Big Dining Week for Bloggers
Local food bloggers have really been getting out and about to restaurants all over town and writing about their experiences. This Week In Houston Food Blogs is almost an all-restaurant edition but there’s a Southern biscuit recipe that home bakers will want to try, too. Take a look and start…
Houston Texans OTA’s: Bill O’Brien Acknowledges Tom Savage’s Existence
A week or so ago, fourth year quarterback Ryan Tannehill signed a nearly $100 million contract extension with the Miami Dolphins. Yesterday, news of Cam Newton imminently doing the same with the Carolina Panthers made the rounds. Both contracts are precursors to Andrew Luck and Russell Wilson setting new standards…
4 Ways Hollywood Consistently Misrepresents Guns
Guns are a polarizing issue in America today, but they are such an ingrained part of our culture that they can be seen in nearly every movie or television show that features crime or “action” as part of the plot. I have a nuanced view of how guns should be…
North Italia Combines Chain Restaurants’ Lower Prices With a Chef-Driven Menu
The merry spinach tortelloni at North Italia, shaped like tiny, emerald-colored pillbox hats, were as appealing in the mouth as to the eyes. Wilted spinach and pleasantly chewy slices of mushrooms were scattered amid the ricotta-filled pillows of pasta. A dash of saba, made from grape must — freshly squeezed…
Upcoming: Beach House, King’s X, Nashville Pussy, New Found Glory, Run the Jewels, Springboard South, etc.
40oz To Freedom — A tribute to SUBLIME: Fri., July 31, 9 p.m., $10. Scout Bar, 18307 Egret Bay Blvd., Houston, 281-335-0002. 8 Ball Aitken: Sat., June 20, 8:45 p.m., $15. Anderson Fair Retail Restaurant, 2007 Grant, Houston, 832-767-2785. 93.7 The Beat & The Breakfast Club Present #TBE2015 Black Friday:…
The Mr. and Miss Texas Hard Body Contest Was Just a Little Surreal
“Jessie loves boxing and Fast and Furious.” This is only one example of the many hilarious and uncanny things our less-than-verbose host mumbled into the microphone as Jessie walked the catwalk showing off his glistening pecs and chiseled calves. Somehow I was at a co-ed Hard Body contest, and didn’t know…
GBH Leads Punk-Rock Raid On Houston-Area Yuppie Stronghold
GBH, The Business, Total Chaos Fitzgerald’s May 31, 2015 More than 100 years of combined punk history occupied the yuppie-seized White Oak area Sunday night and for four heavenly hours held it hostage, only before having to relinquish control back to the people they continue to rail against. Total Chaos,…
What It’s Like to Watch an Air-Guitar Contest
Before the head-bangin’, groin-thrustin’, Lone Star-swiggin’, finger-flickin’ mayhem of the US Air Guitar Championships semi-qualifying event began, its host told me the most unbelievable thing I’d encounter on a night full of inspired weirdness. “You either love this, or you hate it,” said Taylor Fullbright, a.k.a Brock McRock, not just…
Good-bye Rain, Hello Pests! Drying Out Means Dealing With Unwanted Visitors
I was recently exchanging flood stories and photos with my brother-in-law via text. He lives in Austin and, like me, is a bit of a nerd for this sort of thing. When I mentioned what a change for the positive this ultimately was for areas of the state still drought-ridden…
Game Of Thrones S05E08: “Two Terrible Children Of Two Terrible Fathers.”
I gotta say, I didn’t see that coming. Granted, HBO’s adaptation of George R.R. Martin’s series has gone so far afield of its source material it’s been hard to know what to expect in general, but last night’s episode did something the books have yet to do: drive home the…
George Clinton’s Mothership Funks Up Downtown Houston
Note: no words, because the funk speaks for itself. As do these photos by Eric Sauseda…
Comedian Jeff Ross Temporarily Makes Texas Jail Slightly Less Dehumanizing
We’ve heard of comedians performing in unusual venues — combat zone Army bases, hospitals, the Chuckle Hut — but never jail. But veteran comic Jeff Ross can cross that one off the list; he gave three performances at the Brazos County Jail in February that will be featured in his…
Action Bronson’s Delicious Rhymes Are Sunday’s Blue-Plate Special
Action Bronson House of Blues May 31, 2015 In the less than five years, Action Bronson has catapulted himself into one of hip-hop’s most passionate and charismatic heavyweights. Known to splice juicy metaphors and succulent life lessons into his rhymes, the former chef turned rapper has amassed a large following…
Texas Prosecutors Still Trying to Keep Dude in Jail for Murder When There is No Murder
You’ve got to hand it to Montgomery County prosecutors — they’ll fight tooth and nail to keep a guy in prison for homicide, even when there’s technically no homicide. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals will rehear arguments June 3 in the strange murder-not-murder case of Neal Hampton Robbins. (The…
Supporting Characters Soar in Sarah Ruhl’s Comic Stage Kiss
“No notes. We can calibrate the style after the preview. For now, trust your performance.” This unhelpful and ambiguous stage direction comes courtesy of the comically inept Adrian Schwalbach, director of the soap opera-esque, risible play within a play that makes up Sarah Ruhl’s cleverly silly Stage Kiss. But rather…
The Samsung Level On Headphones Were the Best Part of the Worst Trip of My LIfe
I woke up from my three-minute nap and I couldn’t hear the plane’s engines. This should have filled me with something, maybe fear, probably panic, but by this point in the day my brain, and by extension my body, could no longer bring itself to care. I had spent more…
It Might Have Taken All Night, But Rice Eliminates UH From The NCAA Regionals
It started all so long ago. Back on a Friday in May when we were young. It ended sometime in June on a Monday morning when most normal people were still in bed. There were rain delays and pitching meltdowns. Thunder and lightning and flooded parking lots. There was a…
100 Favorite Dishes 2015: No. 91, Eggs, Refried Beans, Hash Browns and Hugo’s Sauce At 59 Diner
Phaedra Cook is eating her way through Houston and counting down her 100 favorite dishes of 2015. It’s a collection of personal favorites that is also indicative of Houston dining. It’s a scene where a vast range of dishes coexist: highbrow and lowbrow; local and international; cheap and expensive; modern…
The Seven Worst Things About The Sarkeesian Effect Trailer
It’s here! It’s finally here! The trailer for Jordan Owen and Davis Aurinini’s documentary that will supposedly expose Feminist Frequency’s Anita Sarkeesian as a fraud and the devil of video gaming is live and it is just as gloriously terrible as it ever promised to be. Let’s poke it with…
Texas Legislature Gun Show Comes to a Close
Thanks to late-stage maneuvering by the Texas Legislature this year, soon you’ll be able to openly carry a handgun, and campus-carry a handgun, but you generally can’t openly carry your handgun on campus. Except if you want to openly carry your handgun as you stroll through the greenspaces of a…
Dish of the Week: Swiss Patty Melt
From classic comfort foods to regional standouts and desserts, we’ll be sharing a new recipe with you each week. Find other dishes of the week here. This week, we’re looking into one of the best burger variations around: The Swiss Patty Melt. In case you’ve been seriously under-burgered most of…
After a Soggy Week, Finally Some Good Weather
Perhaps someone finally told Rick Perry and his pals to stop praying for rain. So the bad news is rain pummeled the Houston area again this weekend, with severe thunderstorms and flash flooding that soaked parts of the city already water-logged by last week’s epic Memorial Day flood. Good news?…
Updated: This Week In Houston Food Events: Wine In The Woodlands; Cocktails In The City
Monday, June 1 Speakeasy Night Featuring Negronis At Beaver’s It’s Speakeasy Night at Beaver’s and this one celebrates Negroni Week. There’s a full menu of them for $5 each tonight, including “You Won’t Like This” with mezcal, Cynar and Campari and the frozen “Red Rocket” with Altos blanco tequila, Campari,…
Doctor Who: Suggestions on Gender-Swapped Time Lord Grammar
This has got to be the nerdiest thing I’ve ever written. Nerdier than the time I explored the currency exchange rates between the Mushroom Kingdom and Hyrule? Yeah, it’s probably nerdier than that. Here we go, then. Last season of Doctor Who brought us a real game-changer in the series;…
FPSF Rolls With the Punches, Into NRG Park
Besides unseasonably hot temperatures for early June (i.e. the threshold of hell), the last thing the Free Press Summer Fest organizers probably wanted to see was record-setting flooding along Buffalo Bayou, from which their home of Eleanor Tinsley Park sits mere inches away. But that’s what they got, so last…
Cracker Throws a Few Curve Balls at Warehouse Live
Cracker Warehouse Live May 29, 2015 The floods might have taken the top off Cracker’s crowd at Warehouse Live Friday night, but that didn’t keep the veteran rockers from opening with a roaring extended anthem, “One Fine Day.” Steel guitarist Pistol Stoessel and keys-man Rob Crowell were given plenty of…
The Five Best Concerts In Houston This Week: The Duck’s 25th, Sons of Texas, Romeo Santos, Ministry, etc.
The Duck’s 25th McGonigel’s Mucky Duck, June 1-7 For those who truly appreciate the art of songwriting, it’s hard to imagine a cozier or more receptive environment than McGonigel’s Mucky Duck. This week the world-class Upper Kirby pub/listening room celebrates its 25th birthday not with a big blowout, but a…
Sports Flood 2015, The Sequel: Scenes From Saturday Inside Minute Maid Park
You don’t need me to tell you that It’s been a rough week for our city. That’s fairly obvious. Just drive around the parts of the city that don’t drain all that well, and take a look at the debris. Look at the discarded furniture in front of every house in…
Floods Force FPSF to Move to NRG Park
The Memorial Day floods turned out to be too much for Eleanor Tinsley Park to handle after all. Friday evening, Free Press Houston announced that Free Press Summer Fest will move to NRG Park next weekend, but will otherwise proceed as scheduled The following statement was posted about 45 minutes…
Lege Passes $209.4 billion Budget
On Friday, the Legislature finally passed a nearly $210 billion budget for 2016-2017, promising both $3.8 billion in tax cuts and a three percent budget increase over 2015. Conservatives were pleased that the budget also managed to stay well under the spending cap and not touch the so-called Rainy Day…
Judicial Bypass Bill Moves to Gov. Abbott’s Desk
On Friday, the House passed HB 3994, which substantially restricts the circumstances in which a woman under the age of 18 can obtain an abortion without parental notification or consent in Texas. The bill, which would alter the so-called judicial bypass process (read more about that here), underwent some notable…
Hundreds of Cyclists Are Hit on Houston Streets Every Year
Rick Martinez was lit up like a Christmas tree. Like most mornings, Martinez rode his bicycle to work at a Pasadena petrochemical plant early last December decked out in a yellow reflective vest. He had flashing lights on his handlebars and seat post so anyone could see him coming. He…
Aloha’s Terrible, but Its Biggest Problem Is Shared by Almost All Cameron Crowe Films
Good or bad, Cameron Crowe movies build to improbable declarations of sincerity, to the great acts or speeches a man must loose from himself into a world too cynical to value them. His heroes always must filibuster regular life with their decency. Superficially, these acts and speeches are performed in…
Why George Clinton’s P-Funk Mothership Regularly Docks at SugarHill Studios
A few years ago a book about Houston’s SugarHill Recording Studios was entitled House of Hits, but more recently it’s been closer to a House of Funk. George Clinton’s Parlia ment-Funkadelic mothership has docked at the historic Produce Row studios in the neighborhood of a dozen times over the past…
The 5 Best Things to Do in Houston This Weekend: “Fresh,” Morris, Welch & Kylián and More
On Friday, the new exhibit “Fresh” by Laura Grossett, Sandria Hu and Marie Leterme opens at Hunter Gather. Swarms of oversize insects aren’t usually associated with printmaking, but they’re perfectly suited to Grossett’s Ascending Swarm. The artist printed a host of bees, each individually, and attached them to a nine-foot-wide…
Postmodern Jukebox Flips the Idea of a Cover Band On Its Ear
Postmodern Jukebox Warehouse Live May 28, 2015 “Shake It Off” by Taylor Swift, “Steal My Girl” by One Direction, “Burn” by Ellie Goulding, “I’m Not the Only One” by Sam Smith, and “I Don’t Mind” by Usher. From looking at some of the songs performed Thursday night, it may seem…
Stanton Welch’s Zodiac is an Enchanting Rendering of the Astrological Signs
The Setup: Opening night of Houston Ballet’s mixed-rep program, Morris, Welch, & Kylián, saw two world premieres, including Artistic Director Stanton Welch’s much-anticipated Zodiac, a ballet in 12 movements based on the astrological signs. The second, The Letter V, was choreographed by the groundbreaking Mark Morris; it holds the distinction…
Volbeat Brings the Throwback Thunder to Bayou Music Center
Volbeat, Anthrax, Crobot Bayou Music Center May 28, 2015 It’s a pretty short list of rock bands from Denmark that have broken big in the U.S. over the past 50 years or so. When it comes to Danish groups to grace the massive stage at Bayou Music Center, that list…
New Orleans Saints Cancel Preseason Practices With Texans, “Hard Knocks” Likely The Reason
Throughout the press conference on Wednesday to announce the Houston Texans’ participation in HBO’s award winning Hard Knocks series on life in NFL training camp, a recurring theme was the possible concern that head coach Bill O’Brien might have about the presence of the NFL Films cameras effecting the team’s preparation…
Even Astronauts Could Witness Jimmy Buffett’s Awesomeness Last Night
Jimmy Buffett & the Coral Reefer Band Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion/International Space Station May 28, 2015 So, I learned last night that DayQuil, humidity and Jimmy Buffett don’t mix all that well. After trying to knock down an early-Summer fever with the powers of pharmaceuticals, I set out to hang…
Houston’s 5 Best Weekend Food Bets: Hit the Farmers’ Market & the Breweries
Bayou City Outdoors Farmers Market Ride @ Onion Creek (starting point) Saturday, 8 a.m. to noon 3106 White Oak Meet at Onion Creek for a leisurely morning coffee before cruising to some stellar farmers markets, where you’ll find fresh produce, sauces, jams, artisan bread and more. The 12-15 mile social ride…
UH and Rice Seek to Renew Rivalry This Weekend
Houston Cougars players all point to the team’s 11-0 loss to Rice in early April as the turning point for the team’s season. Not only was the loss embarrassing because of the score, but it stung because the loss came to Rice, the team that had been at the top…
Cinderella Sparkles With Rodgers & Hammerstein Song and a Grand Leading Lady
The set-up: The old gal who sits by the embers has still got it! The execution: Ever since her CBS TV debut in 1957 (with Julie Andrews, then appearing on Broadway in My Fair Lady, as the lady of the fireplace), Rodgers and Hammerstein’s musical version of Cinderella has beguiled…
Upcoming Houston Food Events: This Curry Crawl Will Bring The Heat
Copper & Kings American Brandy Co – a favorite new mix-in for several Houston bartenders – is hosting an awesome brandy and music event along with Johnny’s Gold Brick, 2518 Yale, on Monday, June 1. Beginning at 8 p.m., bartenders Leslie Ross and Jason Moore and Marie Zahn of Hawthorn…
Houston Attorney Convicted of Screwing Over Criminals
There’s nothing we hate more than when drug traffickers — the small business-owners that make up the backbone of this country — are taken advantage of, which is why we’re glad to see that a local criminal defense attorney has been convicted of ripping off clients he poached from other…
Six Reasons to Be Optimistic if You Are a Rockets Fan
It’s tough to be happy when your team goes down 4-1 in the Western Conference Finals, your best player sets the NBA record for turnovers in a single playoff game and you were clearly overmatched. But, life speeds ahead and it’s time to move on into the hot, uneasy boredom…
Rich O’Toole’s Genius ‘TexMojis’ Could Change the Way Texans Text
You hardly even need a smartphone these days to know that the world has been overrun by emojis. The whimsical digital pictograms have certainly been all over the news lately, as academics and journalists alike continue advancing the perfectly plausible theory that emojis represent nothing short of the next step…
Openings & Closings: Flood Waters Damage Brenner’s On The Bayou
Thanks to a reader tip, we discovered that Brenner’s On The Bayou suffered extensive damage from the recent floods. The restaurant’s outgoing phone message currently says, it is “temporarily closed until further notice.” Their PR company had not responded to our email inquiry by press time, but one estimate we’ve…
Houston’s 10 Best Theme Bars
We present to you here a list of what we feel are the best theme bars in our beloved city of Houston. When creating this list, we avoided listing places that have a national and international presence — Hard Rock Café for example — and we also tried to avoid…
What’s In a Name? The Perfectly Monikered Quiet Morning & the Calamity
In its earliest days, some music critics wrote punk rock off as a three-chord flash in the pan. Its musicians had all the rage, but little of the talent, some short-sighted early detractors surmised. What those folks couldn’t foretell was the genre’s staying power. They couldn’t predict how the music would…
The Best Concerts In Houston This Weekend: Cracker, Cassandra Wilson, John Moreland, Action Bronson, etc.
Cracker Warehouse Live, May 29 On its recently released tenth album, Berkeley to Bakersfield, Cracker comes full circle back to its California origins, though admittedly the band has never strayed far from its reliable sonic template. Front man David Lowery, who has become a very visible and vocal advocate for…
Dynamo v. Manchester Charity Match Canceled Because Field Isn’t Ready
Well, this is disappointing. Ground crews over at BBVA Compass Stadium apparently couldn’t get the field up to snuff in time for tonight’s Dynamo Charities Cup match. Noting that “officials determined that the field did not meet their expectations,” the team just sent out a statement that officials have canceled…
Texas May Finally Get an Exoneration Commission. Now if the CCA Would Just Exonerate Innocent People
Rep. Ruth Jones McClendon’s persistence seems to have finally paid off this session. In addition to finally getting her long-stalled needle-exchange bill through the House, the San Antonio Democrat appears to have finally won another hard-fought legislative battle. For more than a decade McClendon has filed a bill to create…
Feast Your Eyes on Fun Fun Fun Fest X
Check it out y’all…Fun Fun Fun Fest’s tenth-anniversary lineup, scheduled for Nov. 6-8 at Austin’s Auditorium Shores. Names of interest from this part of the world include ex-Houston rockers American Sharks, progressive ATX electronica auteur Roger Sellers (a Spring native), and locally well-connected Dallas rap group The Outfit, TX and…
Shark-Finning Bill Poised to Become Law
In what amounts to a dark day for douches, a state bill banning shark finning passed the Senate Wednesday and should soon become law. The bill sailed through the House in April. Specifically, the bill makes it illegal to sell, trade, buy, or transport shark fins in Texas. It’s a barbaric practice…
It’s Official, The Houston Texans Will Be On HBO’s “Hard Knocks”
The way the television-vetting rules of the NFL work, teams cannot refuse a selection to be the subject of the HBO reality series Hard Knocks if they a) have never been on the show before, b) have a first year head coach, or c) made the playoffs within the last…
Is Open Carry Just Too Scary for Cops? (UPDATED)
Well, nobody saw that coming. While the Texas House provided smooth sailing for the contentious “campus carry” bill to continue its journey back to the Senate and then to Governor Greg Abbott, its spiritual twin “open carry” had a much more difficult time. In fact, some gun rights advocates worry…
With His District Underwater, Councilman Green Demands More Funding For Brays Bayou Flood Control Project
The full scope of the damage from Monday night’s flood began to sink in Wednesday as the official death toll in across Houston area rose to seven. Down in the neighborhoods along Brays Bayou in southwest Houston, residents were still slogging through knee-deep water that drenched the area when the…
NBA Western Conference Finals, Game 5: Warriors 104, Rockets 90 — 4 Winners, 4 Losers
Someday, an NBA team is going to come back from a 3-0 deficit in a best of seven playoff series. It’s simple math. If something feasible gets attempted enough times, even with a minuscule level of feasibility, eventually it will happen. It just won’t be the 2014-15 Houston Rockets accomplishing…
Austin’s Choctaw Wildfire Come Out of ‘Nowhere’
Not everyone has noticed, but Texas sure does seem to produce a lot of great Americana these days. While we have some great bands coming out of Houston, tonight one of Austin’s best will play at the Continental Club to celebrate the release of their new sophomore record, Nowhere. Choctaw…
Chef Chat, Part 2: Kaiser Lashkari of Himalaya — Pakistan In Houston
As we covered in Part 1 of our Chef Chat, Kaiser Lashkari emigrated to Houston from Pakistan specifically with the intent to get a degree in hotel and restaurant management and open his own restaurant. He attended the Hilton College at the University Of Houston. His first restaurant was only…
Lawmakers Let Anti-LGBT Bills Die, But Not Without a Resolution
In a move that somewhat mirrored the Texas House earlier this month, state senators swapped the last of their anti-LGBT bills for a hastily written resolution reaffirming the old “1 man + 1 woman = marriage” saw. (Seriously, the text of the resolution was so new it was not even…
My Man Is Hot But His Attitude Sucks. Help!
MY HANDSOME BOYFRIEND HAS AN UGLY ATTITUDE Dear Willie D: My boyfriend is a sweetheart when he wants to be, but more often than not he is rude and condescending. It’s like he knows he’s fine so he doesn’t have to be nice to people. He once told me I’m…
Neon Desert: The Best Little Music Festival In Texas
When it comes to music festivals, certain factors contribute to the enjoyability and success of the event. A strong lineup is paramount, but also in consideration is price, location, production and food options. Now in its fifth year, Neon Desert Music Festival is on pace to become one of the…
FPSF on Track Despite Flooding, Afra Says
With Free Press Summer Fest now just ten days away, the grounds for Houston’s annual two-day music festival remain underwater after Monday’s massive overnight flooding. But one of FPSF’s top officials says all systems are still go. “We’re watching this like everybody else, but we’re planning on putting on a…
Neil Diamond Sexes Up Toyota Center
“Every day you get older, now that’s a law!” — Butch Cassidy I’ve been keenly aware of my own advancing mortality in recent years. And aside from the graying hair, aching joints, and intolerance for young people, the clearest indicator of my looming decrepitude has been the aging of our…
After the Flood, Rain Continues to Hit Houston
Fans of Tuesday’s deluge might be disappointed that Wednesday hasn’t yet reached the Noah-and-the-Flood levels yet, but they can rest assured that things still kinda suck. Early morning thunderstorms Wednesday dumped even more rain onto the already waterlogged roads, leading to another hazardous morning commute. While there were plenty of…
Revamped Campus Carry Measure Would Apply to Private Schools (UPDATED)
At the end of a marathon session in the Texas House last night, members passed a measure that would allow students and faculty to carry concealed handguns on public and private college and university campuses. Democrats in the House had tried to weigh down Senate Bill 11 by proposing more…
The Fault and Our Stars
The San Andreas fault stretches 810 miles up the Pacific coast, roughly the length of a dozen Dwayne “The Rock” Johnsons lying end to end. When it rumbles, we’ll need all 12 of him to spring into action — although, as Brad Peyton’s San Andreas warns, that still won’t be…
The Connection Is a Very Familiar Crime Film, This Time in French
A movie about bringing down druglords that’s actually mostly about movies, Cédric Jimenez’s The Connection is stretched over driven-cop beats so familiar American audiences could probably follow it without subtitles. (It’s in French — add that to the title, and you get a sense of its police-film ambitions.) It’s a…
