The Top Rock-Star Death Conspiracies: Elvis, Michael, Kurt, Tupac and More
It seems that the stranger and weirder our world gets by the day, humanity struggles to find reasons behind all this calamity and tragedy. We try our best to find conclusions to why bad things happen, and when we can’t fully fathom that the awful truth is just that, instead…
Vegetarian Thanksgiving
Eating Our Words isn’t a vegetarian (or — perish the thought — a vegan), but we have a lot of friends who are. And for those folks, Thanksgiving can be a nightmare of avoiding the main show (that dried out or deep-fried turkey) while navigating gloppy side dishes like green…
Is Lightnin’ Hopkins Finally About to Get His Own Official Historical Marker?
Both Rocks Off and our predecessor in the music editor’s chair have written about what a travesty it is that there is no official marker honoring perhaps the most famous and influential musician to ever call Houston home, country-blues icon Sam “Lightnin'” Hopkins. Along the way, we’ve both mentioned that…
Whataburger Retires the A1 Thick & Hearty Burger (For Good?)
But before they do, they’ve created a microsite, A1SupportGroup.com, for fans sure to mourn the loss come December 21. Harking back to Burger King’s Subservient Chicken, A1SupportGroup.com offers all the support you’ll need to get through the less saucy times ahead – coping tips such as keeping an A1 glove…
Is Lightnin’ Hopkins Finally About to Get His Own Official Historical Marker?
Both Rocks Off and our predecessor in the music editor’s chair have written about what a travesty it is that there is no official marker honoring perhaps the most famous and influential musician to ever call Houston home, country-blues icon Sam “Lightnin'” Hopkins. Along the way, we’ve both mentioned that…
Turkeys Of The Past: 2003 Edition
We’re about a week away from the always highly anticipated Turkey of the Year award issue. There’s absolutely no telling who will walk away with the coveted honor this year, because for the love of Christ there have been a ton of worthy nominees.It’s our seventh annual list; in the…
Rather Sweet Goodies
This past summer, Robb Walsh visited Fredericksburg hot spot Rebecca’s Table, owned by famous chef and baker Rebecca Rather. After his mouthwatering description of the rabbit sausage there, I couldn’t wait to go. Unfortunately, it’s now closed, but I decided to try the bakery next door, Rather Sweet, which Rather…
Sampler Plate: This Week In Food Blogs
Each week, we put together a sampler plate of the most interesting links from both local and national food blogs. Know a blog we should be paying particular attention to? Leave the address in the comments section below. Dude, You Going To Eat That: What begins as a simple question…
Local Man, For Some Reason, Wants World To Know That The Idea For Beverly Hills Chihuahua Was His
If you ask Houstonian Zenon Yracheta, he’ll tell you that he’s the one to blame for that, shall we say, underwhelming, Hollywood movie about a Chihuahua in Beverly Hills, aptly titled, Beverly Hills Chihuahua.And to take a swing at proving it, he’s filed a lawsuit in Houston federal court against…
Lost Tuneage: “The Singing Fisherman,” Honky-Tonk Man Johnny Horton
Other than Buck Owens, no artist had a bigger effect on Dwight Yoakam than “The Singing Fisherman,” Johnny Horton. This East Texas rockabilly cool cat grabbed Rocks Off’s attention every time his name was mentioned or a song of his came on the radio. We suspect it was the same…
New Menu Items at Ra Sushi in Highland Village
RA Sushi’s corporate executive chef Tai Obata has come through with some new menu items — several with a Tex-Mex influence — and we made our way over to a media tasting to try them out at the Highland Village location on Westheimer. It was a tasting that went on…
Game Time: Charlie Weis Getting Canned; Business Is About To Pick Up
I remember my tenth grade Economics teacher Mr. Amstutz telling our class one time about how, whenever there’s a recession or a depression, one thing that can “pull the economy out of the dumper is a good ol’ fashioned WAR.” Keep in mind, this is in 1984, when the United…
San Antonio Blogger Has Had Enough “Free South Park Mexican” Sentiment
A little over seven years ago, we wrote about the South Park Mexican trial. The rapper, born Carlos Coy, had it all: money, his own record label, a nightclub and, most importantly, the ear of a generation. He was the voice of a new type of person: the Southern and…
Turducken Lovin’
America has harbored an infatuation with the Turducken since John Madden mentioned it in a Thanksgiving Day broadcast several years back. The mere idea of a turkey stuffed with a duck stuffed with a chicken brings carnivores to their knees, thanking God, Charlton Heston, and their lucky stars that someone…
Houston Dance Club Rich’s Shut Down for Apparent Nonpayment of Taxes; Liquor License Suspended; May Reopen Tomorrow
Update: According to the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission’s Web site, Rich’s – listed as owned by MZM Nightlife, Inc. – has had its liquor license suspended. The license was scheduled to expire on November 29. Rocks Off received an email this morning that longstanding Houston dance club Rich’s had been…
The Five Lamest Ninjas, And A Chance To Win Passes For A Ninja Assassin Preview
It’s been a while since we had a straight-up ninja movie. If you grew up during the ’80s, it was almost impossible to click through your impressive 56-channel lineup on a Saturday afternoon and not find a dozen flicks starring Sho Kosugi or Michael “American Ninja” Dudikoff to help ease…
Thanksgiving Recipe: Ancho Chiles Stuffed with Sweet Potatoes
This is my favorite side dish with roast turkey. The idea here is to spoon some sweet potato puree into some dried ancho chiles that have been soaked in warm water to make them pliant. Then you put a medallion of goat cheese on top and stick the stuffed chiles…
Rich’s Closed Over Tax Dispute, Possibly Only For A Short While
Hair Balls received an email this morning that longstanding Houston dance club Rich’s had been shut down. So far all the information we have been able to gather has come from social-networking sites. The incident appears to have happened Saturday night between 12:30 and 1 a.m., as tweeted by @djebonix…
Chef Chat: Houston Country Club’s Michael O’Connor
Michael O’Connor, chef of Houston Country Club’s Garde Manger, is just about as private as the club he works with. We luckily ran into him late-night for a drink and convinced him to talk about himself and his “geeky” craft. Eating Our Words: How hard is it to get a…
Coogs Open The Basketball Season With A Solid, If Expected, Win
On Monday night, Cal State-Fullerton defeated UCLA in one of those so-called easy basketball openers that so-called major powers are supposed to easily win. Kind of like Houston’s Tuesday night opener against Nicholls State was supposed to be one of the easy games for a so-called major team to win.And…
Artist of the Week: Time Travelers and Staunch Futurama Defenders Holy Fiction
Each Wednesday, Rocks Off arbitrarily appoints one lucky local performer or group “Artist of the Week,” bestowing upon them all the fame and grandeur such a lofty title implies. Know a band or artist that isn’t awful? Email their particulars to introducingliston@gmail.com. Occasionally, you’ll hear a band name and think,…
Bayou Body Count: Burning Down The House
There’s the guy who allegedly drove over a woman and then there’s the fellow who allegedly shot three dudes and burned the house down.Yes, these are just a few of the many murders that the hard-working Houston homicide detectives have ostensibly solved over the past week. It started out as…
Fish Fry for Friends
Jeff Lewis’s business card says his food aims for urban, chic and sleek. But the co-owner and executive chef of Little Blackbox Company isn’t above frying up a down-home dish for friends. Sunday night a crowd of about 50 gathered on the front steps of the Elder Street Artist Lofts…
Five Musicians Who’d Make Better Vampires than Those Sparkly Twilight Douchebags
New Moon, the second movie in the Twilight series, hits theaters this week, and even though the trailers alone have us ready to put it on our “Worst of 2009” lists (“Jake! NOOOO!”), there’s no denying the movie is going to make more money than an underaged prostitute at a…
Dancing With the Stars: Suck It, Maxim Model!
This is it. The ninth week of Dancing With the Stars has now come and gone. Only now do I understand the bittersweet joy of watching a baby grow up. This week’s pointless encore command performance was Mya’s salsa, which had earned her a perfect 30 the night before. Len…
Tonight You Can Be Filmed For A DVD With Chelsea Lately’s Josh Wolf
Hair Balls wanted to do a little background checking before talking to comedian Josh Wolf so of course we headed to that fountain of all knowledge, Wikipedia. Imagine our surprise when Wiki identified Wolf as an “American journalist who was jailed by a Federal district court …for refusing to turn…
Stirred and Shaken: Miyako’s Lychee-Tini
When I eat expensive sushi, it’s usually at family dinners honoring special occasions — my little brother coming down from Austin for Mom’s birthday, my little brother getting out of city lockup, my little brother beating that misdemeanor drug charge. (Lesson learned: Don’t bring weed through the downtown Greyhound station…
Lonesome Onry and Mean: The Sickest, Most Twisted Musical Genre Isn’t Gangsta Rap – It’s Bluegrass
Not really sure whether it’s our alcohol mixture, some pharmacological imbalance our sex life or just male menopausal phenomena, but lately Lonesome, Onry and Mean has been on an evil bluegrass jag. Nothing like playing our Stanley Brothers 45-rpm of “If I Lose” – “If I lose, let me lose/…
I Wanna Be Your Dog (Or Cat): 5-7-5 And Gift Certificates!
Whenever there’s a seasonal change (or what passes for a seasonal change in Houston) Hair Balls tends to get a bit wistful. With the holidays approaching and the weather cooling a bit this week, we couldn’t help but turn inward and examine our own soul, even as we try to…
Bloody Good Times at Beaver’s Ice House
While we may not have a palate for wine, it’s no secret that Eating Our Words loves beer. And hot sauce. And the two of those things magically mixed together in a pint glass. So in the interest of further promoting this concoction, we agreed to judge this past Sunday’s…
I Gave Her a Ring…: Musical Minutiae About Fingers and Birds
Although we recently discovered how to access the primitive version of Facebook on our non-iPhone (so watch out), Rocks Off generally lives in an Internet-free bubble outside the office. And happily so, so it took until Monday’s late local news for us to see – and subsequently laugh our fool…
Thanksgiving Recipe: Coca-Cola Habanero Potatoes
I’m on vacation in Southern California now — I’ll be back in Houston resuming the donut patrol soon. But since everybody is getting ready for Thanksgiving, I thought I’d dig up a few recipes from one of my first cookbooks, Nuevo Tex-Mex, which I wrote with David Garrido, and share…
Metro Rolls Out Facebook & Twitter Accounts To Zero Fanfare
In a press release clearly launched from the Stone Age, the Bayou City’s Metropolitan Transit Authority (that’s Metro, if you’re nasty) puffed up its chest and triumphantly declared today that it is “expanding the conversation by adding social media tools Facebook and Twitter to its communication portfolio.”Oh goody gumdrops! Yes,…
Strip House Restaurant: Five Years of Fine Dining and Pictures of Naked Women
In honor of its Fifth Anniversary, the Strip House, 1200 McKinney, is offering a five-course meal for $55 that is a real deal for anyone not bothered by a whole lot of pictures of naked women on the walls around the room. Actually, the photos add to the adventure and…
Uncle Charlie, In Considerably Fewer Words Than We Expended
They say less is more, and in this case they’re probably right. Houston poster artist Uncle Charlie, the subject of one of Rocks Off’s recent columns in his ink-and-paper Noise persona, is currently the featured yarn-spinner on the L.A.-based blog Six-Word Tales. Charlie’s old friend Stiles White, who co-wrote the…
Top 5 Sweets of Sugar Land
Imperial Sugar may not actually produce sugar in Sugar Land anymore, but even as dust collects on the factory smokestacks and the museum leads tours through the old warehouse, there are still a number of bakeries, breweries and cafes making Sugar Land’s namesake proud. 5. Dessert Gallery is an itch…
Jerry Glanville’s Career Slide Continues; Eighth Circle Of Hell Reached
If you were a Houston Oiler fan, you were divided on Jerry Glanville, who coached the team in the late 1980s.A lot of fans loved his bluster, his defenses, and his cuh-waaazy antics like always leaving a ticket for Elvis at the gate. (Presley, not Costello.)Others thought him a buffoon,…
Johann Schuster Makes Ceviche
Though a cuddly two-month-old alpaca drew some interest, the hit of Houston’s first Peruvian festival, held last weekend at Heights Theatre, was a ceviche demonstration by chef Johann Schuster. The owner of Charivari Restaurant in Midtown, Schuster whipped up three batches of the raw-fish dish, common in several South American…
Does Anyone Care About Super Tuesdays Anymore? Besides Us?
Time was that Tuesdays used to be the best day of the week for your average recorded-music consumer. Since Rocks Off was just a wee music nerd, Tuesdays were his favorite days of the week because it was always the universal day for all new releases to hit the stores…
Thursday Is World Toilet Day; We Celebrate Without Using An Expletive In The Headline
Hair Balls would like to take the time to discuss a very serious matter: pooping. Specifically, pooping in a toilet. More specifically, not having a toilet in which to poop. It’s a serious situation that affects 2.5 billion people in developing nations, according to the World Toilet Organization, which is…
Taqueria Huetamo II
On a random weekday around lunchtime we stumbled upon Taqueria Huetamo II (210 Aldine Bender Rd). With only a simple black awning with the name Taqueria Huetamo II in white letters, this place is the poster child for a hole-in-the-wall restaurant. It was clean, simple and almost empty. We were…
Lonesome Onry and Mean: How Two Houstonians Helped Make Dwight Yoakam a Star
Dwight Yoakam live at Rockefeller’s, October 1986 Other than his adopted Los Angeles, Houston may be the most important city in country singer Dwight Yoakam’s career. Yoakam’s music finally found a rabid country audience in Houston when KIKK disc jockey and music director Joe Ladd began to spin Yoakam’s cover…
Game Time: In Defense Of TCU, An Open Letter To The Chron’s Richard Justice
Dear Richard,I’m not sure if you are aware of this but your Monday column entitled “10-0 TCU Not Equal of 10-0 Texas” has caused quite an uproar among the Horned Frog faithful. I am going to assume you are aware of this because the only logical explanation for your outlandish…
The Shameless Chef: Lemon Butter Shells with Ham
This week’s dish is going to be a little bit more complicated than usual. I’ll come right out and say it: You are going to make some sauce. OUT OF A KIT! Haha, out of a kit. Sorry, don’t panic. I should have said that up front. You’re going to…
TUTS’ Sound of Music: The Nuns Will Be Singing But Thank God They Don’t Have to Tap Dance
It’s been years since Roy Hamlin, associate artistic director at Theatre Under the Stars, has had anything to do with The Sound of Music — not since his high school days when he was playing Uncle Max.Now he gets to direct it professionally, to do the one-more-time thing at Hobby…
Ask a Rapper: Street Military’s Icey Hott on “What If DJ Screw Were Alive Today”?
The hip-hop world is a less than sensible place – lots of times, you’re even required to clarify when bad means bad and when bad means good – so once a week we’re going to get with a rapper and ask them to explain things. Have something you always wanted…
Aeros Enforcer Mitch Love Returns, Now On The Other Side
The Houston Aeros caught a wave late in the regular season last year, made it into the playoffs, and went on a run that nearly carried the team to the AHL Calder Cup. After the season, new management took over the Minnesota Wild, the parent club of the Aeros, and…
Straits Singaporean: A Different Kind of Fire
There we were, looking at what appeared to be eyes staring back at us in a faintly orangish sauce. “It’s messy,” my dining companion promised, “But it’s good.” Actually, the “eyes” were halved boiled eggs, their deep yellow yolks in stark contrast to the coconut milk-flavored sauce that surrounded them…
Send Lawyers, Guns & Money: Nine Non-Boring Songs About the Work Attorneys Do
Rocks Off’s local watering hole is frequented by a lawyer named Eugene Lawley, whom we always refer to as our Walker Percy. Lawley has more than a small literary bent – we hardly ever mention a book he hasn’t read – and has a fine ear for song lyrics. His…
Nintendo Goes Old School For The Holidays: A Review
Ho, Ho, Ho! For this, the most somber of holiday seasons, our dear friends Nintendo have found have their nostalgic side. With their recent release of Super Mario Brothers Wii, and The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks — due out December 3 — Nintendo has gone back to two originals…
Coffee Practices: Transparency
One of the most important aspects of the movement for quality coffee is transparency. This doesn’t mean your cup of joe should be clear, but that the consumer should understand as much about the product as possible. In the ’90s, coffee blends hit the market with a bang. Since then,…
Dancing With the Stars: The Light at the End of the Tunnel
You guys! YOU GUYS! We’re closer to the end of Dancing With the Stars than I’d thought! The grid at Futon Critic only had the show running through next week, the 24th. And then, like manna from sequined heaven, Tom Bergeron confirmed at the top of last night’s competition ep…
Aftermath: Dengue Fever Explores The Lost World at Warehouse Live
There was a moment at the beginning of Dengue Fever’s performance Saturday night where the movie the band was scoring, 1925’s The Lost World, kind of faded into the background and all we could concentrate on was how their music was filling the space like warm water in a bathtub…
Why Notre Dame Will Win The BCS Title Next YearAnd UT Won’t, Part 10
It’s been a fun nine weeks, watching the slow, tortuous slide into mediocrity of the Longhorn football program, even as its deluded fans continue to fantasize about a BCS title, completely unaware that Notre Dame is breathing down their back ready to take that title away.Next year.It turns out we…
Where Are We Drinking?
We’re not quite sure what’s going on in this photo, but it shouldn’t prevent you from figuring out where we’re drinking (and dancing?) this week. Leave your guess in the comments section below…
Distant Early Warning: 30FootFall, Agnostic Front, Dropkick Murphys, George Thorogood, Joe Ely, Slayer, etc.
30FootFall: Fri., Dec. 25. Fitzgerald’s. Agnostic Front, Death By Stereo: Sun., Jan. 24. Walter’s on Washington. American Sharks, The Watermarks: Wed., Nov. 25. Boondocks. Band of Heathens: Fri., Dec. 11. Old Quarter Acoustic Cafe. Basses Loaded, Springfield Riots, Nosaprise: Fri., Nov. 27, 8 p.m., $5. Mango’s. Bill Maher: Sat., Jan…
Pop Rocks: V For “Very Nice”
I’ve been watching V: The Series, more out of nostalgic fondness for the original than any hope the remake would be worth a damn (and I prefer a long-haired Morena Baccarin anyway). Despite solid efforts by Elizabeth Mitchell (Agent Evans) and Alan Tudyk (whose recent string of bad-guy roles threatens…
Whirlwind Weekend: See What You Missed
Whether you hit the Lebowski Bash on Friday night, the Westheimer Block Party on Saturday night or the Chris Brown (!!!) concert at the House of Blues, or whether you just shook your ass on the dance floor at Venue or Mantra, here’s a sampling of the weekend in photos…
Saying Yes to Yelapa
It looks like the curse may have been lifted from 2303 Richmond. The location has seen many restaurants come and go over the years, some which have had achingly short lifespans. Most recently, it was the home of The Chimney (for a few short months) and before that, Saute. But…
Bud Adams, Owner Of One Darn Expensive Middle Finger
Houstonians have long been aware of the class and dignity that comes in the package we know as Bud Adams.Adams has demonstrated once again his nuanced understanding of the social mores of our time, and it has resulted in some pain to his pocketbook.The NFL has fined Adams a quarter-million…
Put a Cork In It: In Which We Pretend to Be Wine Judges for a Day
As it turns out, Eating Our Words is not a very good wine judge. Blame our unappreciative palates or — as we did on Saturday afternoon — our preternatural ability to judge beers instead of wines, but one thing is certain: We’re pretty sure the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo will not…
One Final Word About the Westheimer Block Party, and the Rest In a Few Easy Clicks
Things could have gone smoother this past weekend on lower Westheimer. No one is denying that. Rocks Off has learned to live with the inevitable scheduling delays and interminable sound checks, as we’re sure most Westheimer Block Party regulars have, but performers please take heed: Swapping stage times with each…
Friday Night Lights, Houston Style: Another Hurricane Beating For Galveston
After the high school football playoff schedule was released last week, Hair Balls was ready to jump on the Galveston Ball High bandwagon and follow the team on what we hoped would be a miracle playoff run. Ball had already exceeded expectations by making the playoffs, considering Hurricane Ike made football…
Donut Patrol: Christy’s
A bunch of people were ordering the cinnamon-coated glazed donuts at Christy’s on Montrose so I followed suit. But the donut was disappointing — it tasted very dry. The glazed donut wasn’t worth eating either. It didn’t make sense. This place has lots of customers all the time, so where…
Five Guys Burgers and Fries: New Location
Five Guys Burgers and Fries, which started out in Arlington, Va. more than 20 years ago, is opening another restaurant in Houston today. The latest is at 1150 Fry Road, another one of 50 stores its parent company, TCH Restaurant Group, has planned for Houston. This one will be open…
Aftermath: Conspiracies, Prog-Metal, Gypsy-Folk, Hardcore and Remembering a Fallen Friend Sunday at Westheimer Block Party
Day 2 of the Westheimer Block Party started with slightly cooler temperatures and an hour-long caffeine-fueled session speaking with the 9/11 conspiracy booth in the parking lot at Numbers. Did you know that there were three shooters at Columbine, and bombs planted inside the federal building in Oklahoma City in…
Game Time: Road Trip Edition, The Middle And The End
(Cue cheesy announcer voice:) “When we last left our our venerable 1560 The Game crew of Pendergast, Nuno and Ramzanali, they were checking into the Norman, Oklahoma Days Inn at 2:30 in the morning, readying themselves for three days of free continental breakfast and lumpy mattresses. To read about the…
Candy-Coated Fantasies
After a fruitful trip to Half-Price Books in Rice Village, we stopped by the newest location of The Chocolate Bar, which serves up chocolate-covered fun in just about any form you can imagine: fruit, nuts, popcorn, coffee beans, pretzels, Oreos and more. If you can dream it, they can dip…
See What You Missed (or Didn’t) at Westheimer Block Party With These Lovely Videos
Video by Craig Hlavaty Right now Rocks Off HQ looks more like a MASH unit as we slowly recover from this weekend’s Westheimer Block Party. We won’t be on the shelf for long – not with the Marleys, Dwight Yoakam, Neko Case and lots more coming up soon – but…
While You Weren’t Tweeting: Mondays Still Suck
It’s raining, it’s pouring, it’s really Monday morning. Wait, did you blink? Then you certainly missed the brief appearance of the sun, radiating invisible rainbows over our fair city. Is that a pleasant breeze whipping your tailfeathers ’round? Well, it’s about to turn arctic; give it a second. Oh, say,…
$7 at BB Donuts
Where: BB Donuts, 515 Westheimer, Ste. B, 713-520-7557 What $7 gets you: Anything you want from the small, fast and easy lunch menu. (Or, because it is a donut shop as well, you could stuff your face with $7 worth of donuts, which we don’t recommend.) BB’s — which,…
Aftermath: A Weekend With the Magically Reappearing Ralf Armin (and Some Really Gross Portapotties) at Westheimer Block Party
You know how sometimes you’ll learn a new word, and in the weeks that follow you’ll realize you’re hearing that word everywhere, eavesdropping it in conversations and reading it in the newspaper. Call it the Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon, or call it confirmation of bias, but whatever you call it, it was…
Pay No Attention To The Massive Police Activity At The Ship Channel Tonight
PLEASE TAKE NOTE: The Houston Ship Channel will not be the scene of a terrorist attack tonight, one that will involve FBI agents, huge law-enforcement motocades, sirens, lights, all the good stuff.If you see such things, don’t start running for the hills. It’s a drill, baby.”Late this evening into early…
Aftermath: Puppet Shows, Neo-Rastas, Freddie Gonorrhea, Black Congress and an Impromptu Nap Saturday at Westheimer Block Party
Saturday’s Westheimer Block Party began on a wobbly note, as most music festivals do with fans and staff still trying to find their bearings, aided by alcohol or otherwise. The scene on the ground seemed chaotic just an hour into the first day of the event. Organizer and Free Press…
Wine of the Week – Rancho Ponte Vineyard
Five miles east of Fredericksburg, Texas is the newest addition to the 290 Wine Corridor, Rancho Ponte Vineyard. This family-owned winery opened in early 2009 and features, in my opinion, some of the better Texas wines. Rancho Ponte offers tastings Wednesdays through Sundays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and…
After OT Playoff Loss, The Dynamo Face A Lot Of Questions
The LA Galaxy put the dagger in the Houston Dynamo’s heart last Friday, ending their 2009 season. The 2-0 defeat in overtime left the Orange marooned one step away from the MLS Cup.It was a wild affair in Los Angeles, a game that was interrupted twice for power outages, and…
Houston Female Firefighters Get In On The Calendar Act
For years, the studs of the Houston Fire Department have been selling charity calendars to gay men all over the city. Possibly some women buy them, too.Now — to top off a year when female firefighters have alleged harassment and abuse by colleagues and lack of support from supervisors –…
Turning the Screw: K-Rino, Bun B, Lil Wayne, Snoop Dogg, C-Murder, Lil’ Kim, Flavor Flav, Guccie Mane, Mike Jones, etc.
Welcome back to Turning the Screw, Rocks Off’s weekly rap post. It probably won’t rhyme, at least most of the time. E-mail tips to introducingliston@gmail.com. Thanks, homies. Single of the Week: “Phony,” K-Rino Wire To Wire Always good to read something from Bun B. K-Rino had an album release party…
Chicken Pot Pies at Classic Bakery
In a nondescript storefront named simply “Classic Bakery” next to Wel-Farm on Highway 6 sits an unassuming Chinese bakery that serves some of the most delicious chicken pot pies I’ve ever tasted…
Houston Voice Shuts Down
The chain that publishes the Houston Voice and other gay-community papers nationwide — including the venerable Washington Blade — has gone kaput.Gawker and other media are reporting that Window Media, the financially strapped company that owns more gay news titles than any other chain, has shut everything down.The Houston Voice…
Aftermath: Peace, Love, Little Joe and Hooker Heels at Westheimer Block Party
We’ll get the obligatory platitude out of the way first. If any of you didn’t Day 1 of the one-and-only two-day edition of the Westheimer Block Party, then you missed an excellent day of music and community in Houston. As we walked between stages spanning the corner of Westheimer and…
Another Farmers’ Market
There has been some flak about too many farmers’ markets, but Houston needs a slow food movement and the markets are where it is going to start. Houston has another market sprouting roots Saturday mornings at Rice University from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the corner of Greenbriar and…
The Cougars Run Into Upset City, Again
It’s easy to blame the Houston Cougar defense for Saturday’s 37-32 loss to the University of Central Florida Knights. After all, the Knights scored 37 points, gained 393 yards, and controlled the ball for almost 40 minutes of of the game.If the defense makes some plays, then the loss doesn’t…
Aftermath: Ladies of All Ages, Shapes and Sizes Still Love Chris Brown
7:54 p.m.: The show is sold out, so we were hoping to have left for it already. However, there is a major crisis in our home right now: Boy B is certain he caught a glimpse of the Cucuy. (The Cucuy is the boogeyman for Mexicans and he is fucking…
The Week In TV: Art of the Dushku
I’m waiting for winter, I’m tired of Joseph Fiennes, and I can’t stop raving about Wade Boggs’ Carpet World. This was the week in TV Land: • I’ve been a little remiss in advising you to watch Parks and Recreation, which is my bad, as I heard a kid say…
Where Are We Eating?
Today marks the 30th installment of our weekly “Where Are We Eating” series. Last week, we promised a special edition for those readers who have become far too skilled at guessing a restaurant by its interior. This week, we’re asking you to identify establishments based solely on the dishes pictured…
Texas Traveler: Conspiracy Dallas
A few months ago Texas Traveler visited the always-interesting Sixth Floor Museum dedicated to the “official” account of President John F. Kennedy’s assassination. It’s definitely worth going to if you’re interested in any way in American history or politics, but maybe you, like some of us, are less apt to…
Free Press Staffer’s Death Darkens Westheimer Block Party
The first bit of news to report from this weekend’s Westheimer Block Party is not a happy one at all. Late Saturday night, Free Press Houston staffer Lee Powers, 19, fell to his death from the Hazard St. bridge over U.S. 59. Powers, who also worked as a cook at…
Taking Tibet By Motor Home: Two Houstonians RV On The Roof Of The World
Houstonians Harriet and Dr. John Halkyard love to travel in motor homes. They are also good at it. In 2005, the couple recounted their adventures in Mexico and Central America in the book 99 Days to Panama, but a more recent trip was much more exotic.Two years ago, the retirees…
That Bugatti Crash Was Caught On Video! (We’re Pretty Sure)
Remember the luckless Bugatti? Either these guys whipped out a video camera at just the right time because they were so impressed with the Bugatti, or this is the most elaborate video prank ever.Seems real to us. Not sure we see a pelican, though. Always blaming the birds…
Dynamo’s Playoff Run Continues Tonight: We Predict Victory
What a wild ride the first rounds of the MLS Cup Playoffs were. Two weeks ago, Hair Balls gave our predictions for that round, and we went a perfect 4-4, sort of. We guessed the winners right, but were a bit off on the aggregate scores.The next round of the…
Westheimer Block Party News and Notes – It’s The Last One (For Now), Y’all
Update: In a Facebook note Friday afternoon, Free Press Houston editor/publisher Omar Afra announced that this weekend’s Block Party will be the last one in its current form due to safety reasons surrounding to his inability – or the City of Houston’s unwillingness – to close down Westheimer during the…
This Week In Deliciousness
Welcome back to the weekly round-up here at Eating Our Words, where we’ve finally tracked the taco trucks down to the secret underground hive where they sleep inside a gigantic sopapilla honeycomb. This week started off with Robb Walsh’s wild, untamed nuts. Specifically, pecans, which we’ve noticed are especially tender…
Hutchison Staying In Senate Until She Wins The GOP Gubernatorial Primary (If She Does Win)
More stumbles for Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison in her attempt to take out Governor Rick Perry: After saying for months that she would quit the Senate around now to go all in on the gubernatorial race, she has just announced she won’t leave until after the GOP primary.Why? Bad poll…
Last Call For Art: A Gruesome Closing
Let’s say that through some cosmic accident, you can only go to one show this weekend. Please, please, please make it Gruesome Playground Injuries. Not because you’re guaranteed to like it, but because whether you like it or not, Houston’s theater world hasn’t seen anything as fresh and different as…
Upcoming Events
This weekend, get outside and enjoy this beautiful weather while it lasts. The Slow Food Picnic Dinner at Discovery Green is just one way to do that. Monica Pope and Andrea Lazar of t’afia are putting on the at 6 p.m. It will feature locally grown and caught food prepared by…
The 2009 Cinema Arts Festival Houston Features Kids From MacGregor Elementary And Some Weird Living-Computer Thing
Two of the more off-beat events happening this weekend at the 2009 Cinema Arts Festival are Peter Pan at Miller Outdoor Theatre, and Biomodd (ATH’): A Living Game Computer as Social Sculpture at Rice Media Center.A screening of the 1925 silent film Peter Pan, considered by many to be the…
He Said She Said: Songs from the Year We Were Born That We Still Listen To, Part 2
When He Said began researching the music that came out the year we were born, 1983, we were taken aback by how much of this music has warped, shaped and informed our life. Pretty much all of the albums and bands that were prevalent that year are still on our…
You Are Your Avatar, UT Study Declares
Attention gamers: If you find yourself overflowing with hatred and killing your virtual teammates when you’re supposed to be helping them, you might want to reconsider that Grand Dragon of the Knights of White Purity avatar — a new study out of UT suggests that your online persona can affect how you…
For The Lebowski Bash: Five Dudes Better Than The Dude
The Big Lebowski has undergone a hell of a transformation since hitting big screens over a decade ago. A (very) mild financial success upon theatrical release, it’s gone on to become a bona fide cult phenomenon, spawning “Dudeism” — an online religion with over 60,000 ordained ministers — and the…
Inquiring Minds: Dengue Fever’s Senon Williams on Scoring The Lost World
Not content to just make records, Cambodian surf-pop band Dengue Fever’s projects have included multiple soundtracks, a documentary film, and now, an original score. Rocks Off can think of few other bands whose music perfectly fits the exotic otherworldliness of the 1925 silent version of The Lost World, based on…
On a Roll at Kubo’s Sushi Competition
Rice, salmon, tuna, seaweed, wasabi, avocado, octopus, daikon radish, cucumber — it seemed the food would never stop coming. Last night at Kubo’s, we were faced with enough sushi to feed two sumo wrestlers. One brightly colored roll after another crossed our plates and palates as we attempted the near-impossible task…
That Christian Group Has A Most Christian Runoff Endorsement
Talk about a ballsy endorsement: local group Christians For Better Government announced today that it definitely thinks you should vote Annise Paker for mayor. Or maybe Gene Locke. Come to think of it, wouldn’t it be swell if we could have two mayors?? This is after the non-profit, Pentecostal-Charismatic political…
Good Deals on Texas Oysters
Texas oyster season opened November 1, and the oysters have started to flood the local market. Lots of restaurants around town are running specials. The cheapest price I’ve seen is at the Ragin Cajun on Richmond, where they offer 25¢ oysters during happy hour (Mondays through Fridays from 3 to…
Game Time: Road Trip Edition
At some point, there is an age you reach where climbing into an SUV with three of your buddies to drive a ridiculous distance to a backwater town to watch football, drink beer, fart, and pretend you’re 22 again becomes old. I don’t know what age that is, I just…
Friday Night Noise: Werewolf Jerusalem’s Cruel Kidnapping; Lightning Bolt’s Earthly Delights
Werewolf Jerusalem “Cruel Kidnapping, Part I” Friday Night Noise wonders: is Mom to blame for our present-day fascination with/lust for noise musics? As a boy, Mom used hydrogen peroxide solution to loosen the wax in FNN’s oft-clogged ear canals, and anybody who’s been through that – sitting at a table,…
Cheerleader Calendar Season Begins: Do’s And Don’ts
If it’s November, it must be time for professional sports teams to start pimping cheerleader calendars.The Houston Texans cheerleaders are doing a promo tonight to launch sales of the 2010 calendar. The Texans calendars are not exactly known for their raciness, as befits the “good guy” philosophy of the team…
Is It Still Too Soon to Forgive Chris Brown?
Chris Brown – Yo (Excuse Me Miss) (Official Music Video) – Click here for more blooper videos Sweet little Chris Brown. This is how we prefer to remember him. This video came out when he was, what, 16? He’s so young here, so adorable, so polite! The way he calls…
Happy Hour Scene – Boheme
If you blink, you might miss Boheme. The coffee shop-by-day, cocktails-by-night hideaway is tucked away on Fairview between Morgan and Taft. On Thursday nights, Boheme gives you the perfect excuse to drink – Spacetaker’s Cultured Cocktails Happy Hour. Each week from 5 to 10 p.m., a portion of the proceeds…
The Week In Photos
Each Friday, we choose our favorite images from the Houston Press Flickr pool. Want to see your photos featured here? Jump in to the Flickr pool and start submitting. For more information about a photo, including the photographer and subject, simply click on it…
The Music of HBO’s True Blood, Episode 1.6: Making the Two-Backed Beast to Cat Power
Alan Ball was known for his masterful use of music in Six Feet Under. He’s lost none of his touch when it comes to his current HBO series, True Blood – which happens to be set in the Louisiana swamps, not terribly far from Houston. With Season 2 just completed,…
Pecan Pie in a Jar
Let’s start by saying that Pecan Pie in a Jar is not meant to be eaten directly from the jar. One spoonful and I was sure this taste test was over before it began, but upon further review of the fine print, it turned out you actually need eggs to…
John O’Quinn’s Death By Speeding On A Rain-Slicked Road A Mystery, National Enquirer Reports
We have become all too lax in keeping up with the National Enquirer; most of the “celebrities” who are getting fat, having affairs or going to rehab in its pages are pretty much unfamiliar to us. (We know there’s a dude named Gosselin who’s very bad, but we don’t know…
Aftermath: We Do Not Choke Other People, Even at a Dethklok/ Mastodon/ Converge/ High on Fire Metalocalypse
If you were to tell any random music fan on the street that a tour with the four bands on the “Adult Swim Presents” would be happening, they would say “Oh sure, fuck it. Why not? It’s all loud.” But that’s sort of where the tour planners alternately went wrong…
Coog Hoops Has Leaders, Bulk And A Good Shot At March Madness
Photo courtesy UHThe time has come. The time for Tom Penders and his Cougars basketball team to show their worth. The hopes are that this squad is one that will make the NCAA Tournament for the first time since the early 1990s.There are a couple of things working in the…
Tamale Pie
I wanted to try his canned tamale casserole, but I can’t get The Shameless Chef to invite me over for dinner. I run into this problem all the time. Who wants to cook for a food critic? So absent canned tamale wonderfulness, I came up with my own quickie tamale…
Five Spot: New Videos from Bushwick, Chamillionaire, Trae; A Classic from Big Mello
Welcome back to Five Spot. Every Friday, we’ll examine a recent bit of music news and, sometimes awkwardly, tie it to a bit of Houston rap. It’s five videos and occasional cussing. Send tips to introducingliston@gmail.com. Several key artists in Houston released new videos this week. However, before we get…
Update Your Facebook Status, Then Go Rob Someone
For those of you still in the Facebook Is Utterly Useless camp, we’re gonna attempt to pooh-pooh you now. That’s right. Pooh-pooh with a capital P. ‘Cause there ain’t no arguing that Facebook is apparently good enough these days to bust you outta the slammer and clear your good name…
Kolache Crawl: Klobasneks
On the left, Hruska’s pan sausage and cheese kolache, on the right, Weikel’s link sausage kolache. I loved them both. But the slightly dried, peppery link sausage inside of Weikel’s version put it over the top. However, I am told that these sausage kolaches aren’t really kolaches at all. Sausage…
The Office: Murder (Not Mukduk)
Last night’s episode of The Office, “Murder,” was a cute enough episode that won’t rank among the series’ greats but still had some solid moments and fun plotting. After a cold open featuring Dwight beating himself in a karate seminar that was a little too “hey look how wacky he…
He Said She Said: Songs from the Year We Were Born That We Still Listen To
The thing that struck She Said most when researching this list of songs that came out the year we were born (May 1980) was just how much of this music we regularly listen to now. 1980 marked the end of disco, the middle of New Wave and punk, and a…
FlashForward: From Awesomely Bad to Boringly Bad
Spoiler alert: I’m half-assing this one! Because for reals, if you’re still watching FlashForward expecting a great show, you’ve got problems. But if you keep reading this blog expecting the torrent of bad TV I watch every week to drive me crazy, well, you just might be in luck. The…
Food Fight: Battle Grilled Cheese
Grilled cheese is one of the ultimate comfort foods, perfect for chilly weather — especially when served with a bowl of creamy tomato soup. And like most comfort foods — mashed potatoes, chicken and dumplings, macaroni and cheese, fried chicken — it’s spectacular in its simplest incarnation but can go…
The Archbishop Outlines Which Galveston Churches Are Not Long For This World
The list of Galveston Catholic churches that the Archdiocese wants to tear down is out, and it’s somewhat grim reading.The Galveston County Daily News reports that Archbishop Daniel DiNardo wrote island parishioners of the plans, not making everyone all that happy in the process.Among those that might soon be gone…
Divine Reserve #9: A Pumpkin in Every Keg
We took one last trip to the old Saint Arnold brewery today for a very special occasion: Divine Reserve #9 is being bottled and brewed at this very moment, ready to hit store shelves on December 1. This particular batch of Divine Reserve was created by Nicholas Walther, a young brewer who’s…
Westheimer Block Party Listology: Flowers to Hide Chooses the Saddest Songs In the World
All this week, Rocks Off is previewing Saturday and Sunday’s Westheimer Block Party by asking WBP performers to fill out a list from Lisa Nola’s Music Listography book we’re so fond of. Next up, Jesus and Mary Chain-y alt-rockers Flowers to Hide tell us the saddest songs in the world…
Donut Patrol: Queen Donuts
Skip the glazed, but don’t miss the terrific blueberry cake doughnuts at Queen Donuts on 18th St. This place was recommended by a Donut Patrol regular named Laura who wrote: “If you’re trolling this area (the Heights), I suggest Queen Donut on 18th street. Their ham & cheese croissants are…
The Great Guillermo Arriaga, On Writing, Directing And What He Wants Houstonians To Do
Babel, Amores Perros, 21 Grams, The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada — all these movies have one thing in common: Mexican author, screenwriter, director and producer Guillermo Arriaga. He’s in Houston this week and you’ll have two chances to meet him and check out his films at the Houston Cinema…
Westheimer Block Party Listology: The Watermarks (Minus One) Choose Their Favorite Duets
All this week, Rocks Off is previewing Saturday and Sunday’s Westheimer Block Party by asking WBP performers to fill out a list from Lisa Nola’s Music Listography book we’re so fond of. Next up, four-fifths of local electro-tinged post-punks the Watermarks choose their favorite duets. Jessica Brand My favorite duet,…
Where You @?
South Houston is home to one of the most culturally diverse neighborhoods in Houston, Sagemont. There is a dense population of Vietnamese in this area, and as a result, a fantastic selection of great Asian food. T@pioca is a little Vietnamese banh mi, yogurt, and bubble tea dive on Fuqua…
Game Time: Bad Boys, What’cha Gonna Do
That noise you hear is Florida coach Urban Meyer laughing his ass off. In case you missed it, news broke this morning that three University of Tennessee Volunteer football players — freshman defensive backs Janzen Jackson and Mike Edwards, as well as freshman running back Nu’Keese Richardson — have been…
How Much of Claude Levi-Strauss’ Myths and Archetypes Reside In Popular Music?
Claude Levi-Strauss died last week at the age of 100. He was one of the great minds of the 20th century, who took the tools of anthropology and used them not simply to observe and record the detailed facts of cultures but also to investigate meta-matters of philosophy and structure…
Tacos, Tits and Ass on Richmond
The sign says it all. If you’re looking for a live-action version of Tony Stamolis’s new book T&T&A here in Houston, look no further than El Tiempo. Formerly the Pink Pussycat Cabaret, El Tiempo’s closest neighbor offers free admission for those in the grips of a taco-chica love triangle. Strangely,…
The (Alleged) Dick-Measuring Lawsuit Ends With A Whimper
It was a case that ended as strangely as it began. In April, Hair Balls told you about a lawsuit filed in Houston federal court aimed at Glacial Energy Holdings alleging that its CEO in 2007, Gary Mole, dropped trou at a work dinner, tried to force his way into…
Lonesome Onry and Mean: Last Men Standing
Lonesome Onry and Mean vaguely remembers someone telling us a couple of years ago that Las Vegas bookies actually had a line on whether Chuck Berry would die that year (we think it was 2007). The macabre factor aside, remembering this Wednesday got LOM to pondering about the Godfathers of…
Mexican Breakfast: Alma Latina Taqueria
Two cheese enchiladas topped with a fried egg (or two) is one of my favorite Tex-Mex breakfasts. It used to be known as huevos montados (eggs mounted) back in the day. Dos Amigos on Washington has this dish on the menu. So do lots of other Houston Tex-Mex joints. But…
In Honor Of The Bugatti Incident: The Five Best Incidents Of When Birds Attack
Today’s story on a pelican causing a $2 million sports car to wind up in a lagoon is, of course, distressing. And not just if you’re the owner of that $2 million car.Birds — you gotta watch out for them. You just never know when they’re going to strike.The lagoon…
Inquiring Minds: Converge’s Jacob Bannon on the Metalcore Pioneers’ Signature Sound
Out of the four bands playing tonight’s big “Adult Swim Presents” tour, Converge sticks out like a shard of bloody glass embedded in your foot. Opening doomers High On Fire and co-headliner Mastodon are both devastating bands who orchestrate monolithic walls of precise metal sludge, akin to the kind that…
Fall Wine Tasting at Simposio Ristorante
In 2007, Vasco Luti, owner of Simposio Ristorante, opened the restaurant’s new location in an unlikely shopping center at the corner of Westheimer and Dunvale. Historically, this native Tuscan focused on Northern Italian cuisine, but last night, Simposio debuted some new wines and Southern Italian dishes at the first of…
It’s Turkey-Lurkey Time, As Burt Bacharach Would Say
November brings with it Thanksgiving, which in turn brings with it the annual Houston Press accounting of the Turkeys of the Year here in Houston.Last year was easy, of course: any year that includes the e-mail antics of District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal is pretty much a no-brainer. When a year…
Cutout Bin: Exploring 1950s Human Sexuality With Dr. Murray Banks
Dr. Murray Banks What YOU can learn from the Kinsey Report (Audio Masterworks, 1956) In the late 1940s and ’50s, the lives of staid conservative Americans were rocked by the release of Dr. Alfred Kinsey’s reports on human sexuality. Thanks to the recent film, you probably already know the story…
A $2 Million Car, A Pelican And A Lagoon
Here is a sentence with so many strange and wonderful parts in it that it’s best just to let it speak for itself:A Lufkin man drove his $2 million Bugatti sportscar into a Galveston-area lagoon after being distracted by a pelican.First, who spends $2 million on a car? And second,…
Man Food for Your Man Cave
Eating Our Words headed over to The Guy Expo at the George R. Brown Convention Center this past weekend, where we found — as expected — a plethora of manly products for sale, manly sports to play, manly women to ogle (wait, that came out wrong…) and manly foods to…
The H-Town Countdown, No. 11: Z-Ro’s Let the Truth Be Told
Roughly 84,000 rap albums have been released in Houston since 1989. We’re counting down the 25 best of all time every Thursday. Got a problem with the list? Shove it. Just kidding. Friendship. Email sheaserrano@gmail.com. Z-Ro Let the Truth Be Told (Asylum, 2005) This is our second entry from Joseph…
Glee: How We’ve Missed You!
Glee is on! Wait, Glee is on? I’ve forgotten what it’s like for this show to actually air new episodes, what with all the baseball. Last night’s ep, “Wheels,” opened up with Quinn all depressed at being off the Cheerios and having to pay baby bills. But she decided to…
The Astros Have Themselves A Gold-Glove Centerfielder
Congratulations are in order for Michael Bourn. Yesterday, he became the first Astros outfielder since Cesar Cedeno in 1976 to win the Gold Glove. And anybody who has seen Bourn roam the vast Minute Maid Park centerfield knows that the award is well deserved.It’s kind of amazing when you think…
Kolache Crawl: Hruska’s
There are many factors to take into consideration when choosing between Hruska’s and Weikel’s. I almost always stop at one place or the other when driving between Houston and Austin. Both are gas stations and outstanding kolache bakeries. There are more gas pumps at Hruska’s, and my traveling companions say…
Werewolves Got Fingered: The 5 Worst Movies (Besides Twilight: New Moon) With the Best Soundtracks
Good news, all you fans of condensed screen versions of self-indulgent Mormon vampire pseudo-erotic clit-tease fantasies: Twilight: New Moon is being released in only eight days. Rocks Off, accustomed to scorn from literary snobs for his steadfast support of the Harry Potter series, actually picked up the first Twilight novel…
Pop Rocks: Give Elizabeth Lambert A Break
Arguably more obnoxious than the actual on-field behavior of New Mexico soccer player Elizabeth Lambert — immortalized for her rampage in a match against BYU — has been the reaction to it.I’m not talking about the infantile sexual commentary accompanying the various clips posted online. They’re unpleasant, but pretty much…
Kenneth Breaux: Courtesies of the Heart
Author Kenneth Breaux was at a New Year’s Eve party when he met a young woman who told him about her father, Lieutenant William Lewis, who went down in a fighter plane during WWII and was considered MIA. Luckily, Breaux, a former soldier, had some experience in finding MIAs. He…
Orhan Pamuk
It’s not every day that Houston hosts a Nobel Prize winner, but the Bayou City will get a chance to see one in the flesh when Turkish novelist Orhan Pamuk – who won for Literature in 2006 – reads from his new novel The Museum of Innocence. The book, like…
Houston Peruvian Festival
It’s three full days of music, dance, art and food at the Houston Peruvian Festival. Along with live bands, folk dancers including Houston-based dance group Raices del Peru, and traditional Peruvian food, there’s an Alpaca petting zoo for the kids. Artists and vendors are coming in from Peru to show…
The Guinea Pig Diaries: My Life as an Experiment
We could call A.J. Jacobs an odd duck, but actually he’s a guinea pig. A writer for Esquire and a best-selling author, he spent a year completing what he calls “radical lifestyle experiments.” The results of his foray into the unknown became the book The Guinea Pig Diaries: My Life…
“Seasons of Sharing”
Even if your kids have been to “Seasons of Sharing” celebrations before, there’s good reason to visit again. “I would say people should come back several times, because performers will change every week,” says Henry Yau of the Children’s Museum of Houston. The exhibit is made up of a row…
Le fils de l’épicier (The Grocer’s Son)
For 30-year-old Antoine Sforza, it isn’t that “you can’t go home again” as much as it’s “you shouldn’t go home again.” In the film Le fils de l’épicier (The Grocer’s Son), Sforza is living a meager life in the city when his father falls ill. Sforza’s forced to return home…
Knights of the Casa Bolero
Josh Jordan, artistic director for the Red Door Theatre Company, has a warning for audiences coming to see the Knights of the Casa Bolero: “You have to be a Tex-Mex food lover,” he says, “or at least have lived in Texas long enough to know that Tex-Mex is…sacred.” Written by…
Quirky Works Texas
Quirky Works Texas allows Houston Metropolitan Dance Company to brag about its friends list. Every year, fellow troupes from around the country come to strut their stuff with the folks at Houston Met, who lean back and say, “Yeah, we’re friends.” Headlining this year’s event is choreographer Braham Logan Crane…
Prometheus Bound
The Classical Theatre Company starts this season’s Douglas Earle Johnston Reading Series with a staged reading of Prometheus Bound. CTC Executive Artistic Director John Johnston recounts the storyline for us: “It’s based on the Greek myth of Prometheus, who is a Titan…He sided with the humans to protect them from…
“The Growth Experiment”
Melanie Schlossberg literally drew her subjects from the ground up for “The Growth Experiment.” “I begin with a young plant and continue to paint the same plant as it grows over days and months, adding new phases of its growth to the original depiction,” says the artist in an e-mail…
Kid Pan Alley/Peter Pan
As if the screening of the 1924 silent gem Peter Pan weren’t enough of a treat, audiences will also enjoy musical accompaniment written by children from HISD’s MacGregor Elementary. The students composed the film score during a weeklong intensive workshop led by Kid Pan Alley Music Director Paul Reisler as…
“Obsession of the Essential”
In “Obsession of the Essential,” artist Brent Kollock reminds society that it rarely fixates on what matters. “You know, life, love and the woes and the joys,” he says. His somber mixed-media works feature dense, dark collages made of cutout face parts – eyes, ears, noses, teeth – shaped like…
Josephine Meckseper: Artist Talk and Video Screening
As her first solo show in Texas is about to come to a close at Blaffer Gallery, Josephine Meckseper will host an artist’s talk and video screening to accompany the exhibit. Meckseper will discuss the sculptures, installations and videos in the show, all of which focus on the inherent conflict…
13th Annual Art on the Avenue
Indecisive types, be warned: The array of art going up for auction at the 13th Annual Art on the Avenue benefit will not be conducive to easy choices. More than 275 Texas artists will have work available at Winter Street Studios for patrons to bid on in a silent auction…
Clive Cussler: The Wrecker and Spartan Gold
Hitler, train wrecks, rare bottles of wine, treasure maps, a hero, a terrorist and a descendent of Persian kings all figure in Clive Cussler’s two newest novels, Spartan Gold and The Wrecker. With more than 40 books to his credit, Cussler is perhaps best known as the author of the…
Naked Lunch
A mixture of apocalyptic fiction and awful truth is the basis for the film Naked Lunch, based on the writings of William S. Burroughs. A dark, convoluted tale, Naked Lunch features William Lee (the Burroughs character played by Peter Weller) as an exterminator-turned-secret-agent-turned-loco who shoots his wife in the head…
Touring Taste of Dance Salad
If you’ve ever attended Nancy Henderek’s impressive Dance Salad Festival, you know it’s more smorgasbord than salad – there’s something for everyone and no one leaves unsatisfied. For those who can’t wait until next April’s Festival, there’s Touring Taste of Dance Salad, video highlights from the spring 2009 show by…
The Dance on Camera Festival
Torn between seeing a cool new film or enjoying a night of modern dance? The Dance on Camera Festival, hosted by Freneticore, has your ticket. The eclectic series of films runs the gamut from micro-minis to half-hour movies. Program 1 includes works like Bardo, a celluloid version of choreographer Richard…
Between the Folds
So you have a successful career as a scientist and a bucket full of graduate degrees, but you chuck it all to become a major player in the world of – wait for it – origami. That’s the story of Between the Folds, a documentary screening at Rice University. Filmmaker…
Trey McIntyre Project
Trey McIntyre, former choreographic associate with Houston Ballet, is returning to Houston with his own company, the Trey McIntyre Project, for one night. And what a night it will be. The evening features four ballets from the former Houstonian. On the ticket is Shape, for two women and a man…
The End Is Near
Completing his multi-film vendetta against the world’s tourist trade, German-born director Roland Emmerich sends the mother of all storms to level the Washington Monument, the Eiffel Tower and a priest-filled Vatican City, among other locales, in his newest end-times thriller, 2012. From Independence Day (1996) to The Day After Tomorrow…
Front Roe
The spaghetti bottarga ($16) at Valentino’s (2525 West Loop South, 713-850-9200) is an intensely flavored dish that’s one-of-a-kind in Houston. Bottarga, the roe from a gray mullet fish, tastes a whole lot better than it sounds or looks and is often referred to as poor man’s caviar. A lot like…
Unmasked and Anonymous
Deluged as we are with music these days, it’s easy to forget how much guts it takes to get onstage with just a guitar and sing your heart out for a room full of strangers. Especially when it’s just you up there, with no band to hide behind. That feeling…
Loose Change
Dan Aykroyd is one smooth-talking S.O.B. Besides doing more with his life than any six people you know personally — were you aware that he’s been in more than 70 movies, including Dragnet, one of the most underrated detective movies of all time? — he’s also a co-founder of the…
The Lost Weekend?
Attention Houston motorists: If you find yourself in the vicinity of lower Westheimer this weekend,please be careful. What you are likely to find, besides a traffic snarl of rush-hour proportions, is a parade of hippies, hipsters, indie-rockers, acid casualties, crusty-punks, street artists, trustafarians, walking tattoos, homeless people, people who only…
Converge
To the uninitiated, Massachusetts quartet Converge can be downright terrifying. And it’s not because they appear clad in face paint or leather and chains — this underground punk-bred foursome would never waste time on costume-like trappings. They are so scary because they are so physically unassuming, so loud and so…
Elvis Perkins in Dearland
Elvis Perkins may well be the most capable performing docent in the museum of American music, as shown on his recently released, gap-filling Doomsday E.P. Kicking off with the defiantly joyful version of “Doomsday” from Perkins’s latest full-length, Elvis Perkins in Dearland, this brief effort stomps and sweeps through a…
The Mayorial Madness Continues… Plus: Memories of Mary’s
Political Animals Why Brown Barely Beat Morales Spending Millions For Third Place By Richard Connelly Ah, Peter Brown. You spent more than $3 million of your wife’s cash, you put up dazzling ads that showed you jazzercising your way to Houston’s future, you led the polls most of the way,…
The Swell Season, Rachael Yamagata
Although Strict Joy may be a bit of an odd title for the sophomore effort from The Swell Season, it points to the direction the band has taken this time around. Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová have fleshed out the spare, introspective sound of their eponymous debut and their Oscar-winning…
Sub-Prime Beef
Sub-Prime Beef Online readers respond to “No Justice,”by James Lieber, October 29: Props: This is an interesting article with some good points. Props for calling Obama to task. I completely agree there needs to be prosecutions of the über-elite, but why stop there? How about everyone who got a sub-prime…
Dengue Fever
Dengue Fever was one of our most pleasant discoveries of 2008, when the Los Angeles outfit wowed us with a sold-out performance at the Orange Show. Whether live or on 2008 album Venus on Earth, the Fever’s brand of Khmer-American pop-rock is instantly likeable and bears up under repeated listening…
Darrell Scott
Superlatives surround Darrell Scott: hit song writer, monster picker, amazing voice. I still find it amazing that an artist of so many talents is so relatively unknown. Scott’s 2008 album American Hymns was full of tastfully done covers of everything from Guy Clark (“Old Time Feeling”) to Paul Simon (“American…
Spicy Women, Kids and Legitimate Language
Dear Mexican, Whenever I see an ad for a Mexican ramera, they always describe themselves as “spicy.” Are Mexican women hiding habaneros in their panochas? Concha Curious Dear Gabacho, “I wish I could say that ‘Mexican Spitfire’ Lupe Velez was to blame for the ‘spicy’ epithet so often associated with…
Of Manon and Men
During the waning years of the 19th century — what’s now known as the fin de siècle — the Parisian opera stage was crammed with sex. The public couldn’t get enough. Reigning divas clamored to be bad girls, and librettists supplied countless tales of virginal beauties who hit the skids…
Capsule Art Reviews: Damascus Gate (Stretch Variation III), “Howard Sherman: When gorillas shoot pigs”, “Jon Pylypchuk”, “Josephine Meckseper”
Damascus Gate (Stretch Variation III) It’s big, it’s bright, it’s art-historically important, and it’s at the MFAH. Frank Stella’s epic, 50-foot painting Damascus Gate (Stretch Variation III) (1970) is billed as the last in his “Protractor” series. Stella broke onto the art scene in the late 1950s with the stark…
City of Coffee
Carlos de Aldecoa, “the Coffee King,” is a dashing young Mexican-American with wavy black hair and a sly smile. He seems too young to be the head of the largest privately held coffee concern in America. Right now de Aldecoa is leaning so far into the coffee cup, it looks…
The Boys Are Back
Heartfelt, honest and influential as hell, the Get Up Kids are best known for the well-loved landmark 1999 album i>Something to Write Home About. The five-piece group — Matt Pryor, Jim Suptic, James Dewees, Ryan Pope and Rob Pope — crafted spunky indie-pop anthems from 1995 until bowing out in…
City of Coffee: Houston Coffee Culture
Some people drink coffee for the jolt. Some people drink it for the flavor. But coffee is, in fact, part of an ancient social ritual as elaborate as the culture of alcohol. Ethiopian Coffee Blue Nile Restaurant 9400 Richmond, 713-782-6882 At $10 for three people, or $20 dollars for six,…
Capsule Stage Reviews: Lohengrin, ‘night, Mother, The Story of My Life
Lohengrin The magic inherent in Richard Wagner’s first international hit, Lohengrin (1850), is apparent at Houston Grand Opera. Under the assured baton of maestro Patrick Summers, the ethereal, earthly and demonic glories that this work revels in are newly revealed. The familiar motifs and signature tunes, like the “Bridal Chorus”…
Diary of a Sad Black Woman
In her broad outlines, Claireece Precious Jones risks sounding like the epitome of ghetto cliché: an obese, illiterate 16-year-old; mother to a four-year-old Down syndrome daughter and now pregnant again; physically and psychologically abused by her mother; repeatedly raped by her father, who is, also, the father of her own…
Enough About Mi
The mixed grill with sticky rice and a sunny-side up fried egg at Banh Cuon Hoa #2 on Beechnut made an outstanding lunch. The lemongrass-marinated beef, sweet-and-hot pork, juicy grilled chicken breast and fresh shrimp were all well marinated and char-grilled until they were extremely flavorful. But it was the…
Sinking Ship
Seven months after its theatrical release in the UK and two months after its DVD debut there, Pirate Radio washes ashore in U.S. theaters with a different title (it was formerly known as The Boat That Rocked) and most of its better bits excised. Writer-director Richard Curtis, paying homage to…
Haute Texan Tacos
Jason Jones has had a long and distinguished culinary career. He is a Cordon Bleu-trained chef and has worked in Los Angeles, Seattle, Austin and Houston, where he’s from. He has taught the culinary arts, designed menus and designed kitchen layouts. He’s even cooked for bigwigs like George Bush, Dick…
