Comment of the Day: Hold the Cream
Here on Eating Our Words, the commenters absolutely make the blog, and our Comment of the Day honors the best of the bunch. Every day, we read you guys and pick the commenter, or commenters, who made us laugh, cry, salivate over something delicious, or think about things in a…
Cops Sexually Abusing Teens Learning to Be Cops
What could go wrong with young kids learning to be cops by hanging with them as they do their jobs? Lots, according to this week’s cover story. The Explorer program is administered by Learning for Life, a subsidiary of the Boy Scouts of America. Teenage girls and boys take part…
Grammys Wrap Nominations, Performances Into Live Show Tonight
In this week’s edition of “no one cares so do whatever you want,” the Grammy’s will be announcing nominations tonight for their annual awards presented in February. Normally, a simple press conference would suffice, but NARAS (National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences) thinks it would be a good idea…
Taste of the South Devotes Nine-Page Spread to Houston
“This city is a Texas-size melting pot for flavors and cuisine from around the world, all served with a side of Southern hospitality,” writes Taste of the South of Houston. The bi-monthly cooking magazine devoted a colorful nine-page spread to our city in its December-January issue, and those are their…
James Franco on the UH Campus? Officials Know Nothing About It
Twitter is exploding locally with alleged sightings, or rumors of sightings, or alleged rumors of alleged sightings, about James Franco being on campus today. Franco, of course, was accepted into the university’s respected Creative Writing program earlier this year, but put off his classes at least until next fall. UH…
Samurai Steak & Sushi
I wrongly assumed that Benihana was a hokey American take on Japanese steakhouses, basing my opinion on the famous, and un-Japanese, fried rice. But I married a girl who’d lived in Tokyo, and she assured me that most elements of Benihana are authentic, except the fried rice. Furthermore, she loves…
A Single Plum, Floating in Perfume, Served in a Men’s Hat: Fake Yoko Ono Tweets
We’ve razzed Yoko Ono on Rocks Off a bit this past year. This week we poked fun at her Facebook presence, and we even did an analysis of how some feel she continues to matter in the art and pop worlds. We made the argument that she helped usher in…
Jerry and Wynonne Hart Sure Don’t Seem Like Ponzi Schemers, Say Friends and Business Associates
Pals of and folks who did business with Jerry and Wynonne Hart, who once ran Houston’s top fine art and antiques auction house, say there’s no way the two ran a Ponzi scheme that left consignors more than $200,000 poorer. Two years ago, Jerry, 67, and Wynonne, 64, claimed that…
Jerry and Wynonne Hart: Former Fine Art and Antique Dealers Wait for a Possible Retrial
As Jerry and Wynonne Hart wait to hear back from the Court of Criminal Appeals, friends and business associates say that the couple did not concoct a $200,000 Ponzi scheme. The two once ran Houston’s top fine art and antiques auction house. In 2009, Jerry, 67, and Wynonne, 64, claimed…
Gothic Council Mutinies Over “This Corrosion” Cover
We still haven’t gotten around to setting up our iTunes account on the new phone yet. Since we mostly listen to the NPR live stream in the car anyway it’s not a big deal, but every once and a while we get a sudden urge for a certain tune. Usually…
What Does 180 Years Smell Like? Heaven, When You’re Guerlain
Guerlain makes some of the most beautiful perfumes in the world: l’Heure Bleu, Jicky and the Queen of All Perfumes, Shalimar. One of the oldest, most famous Parisian design houses, Guerlain has been making luxury perfumes since 1828 and for many perfume fans, it represents the highest standard of the…
Tasting Notes: This Week in Wine Blogs
Another Wine Blog: Love born in the blogosphere. It’s a beautiful thing. A few weeks ago, when I shared a glass of stinky, delicious Cortese (from Piedmont) with tandem wine bloggers Amy and Joe Power, authors of Another Wine Blog, they told me the story of how they met in…
Anatomy of an Illegal New Caney Garbage Pile: Meth, Funny Money and a Hate Pumpkin
Felony charges could be pending after a Montgomery County Precinct 4 constable uncovered some incriminating and weird items in a large, illegal roadside garbage pile. Acting on a citizen’s complaint, deputy Chapa found the 680-pound dump site in a ditch at the corner of White Oak and Vick in a…
Prisoners of Sex: 10 Movie Womanizers, from the Sick to the Sublime
The movies are full of bed-hopping men — think of Humphrey Bogart’s serial flirtations in The Big Sleep (1946), and Richard Roundtree laying his way uptown and down in Shaft (1971). But in Steve McQueen’s Shame, slated to open in Houston December 16, womanizing is not just an outgrowth of…
The Key to the Kitchen: Coppa’s Female Executive Chef, Brandi Key, Is No Novelty Act
November 3 was National Men Make Dinner Day, one of an increasingly nonsensical line of national holidays that are being trotted out in larger numbers every year. This particular holiday was especially perplexing to those in the food industry, where men make dinner every night. A man probably will make…
Artist of the Week: Bang Bangz
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 sheaserrano@gmail.com. Bang Bangz is a band. A new band…
Hero Metro Cops Awarded for Helping Save Chris Gray
Our favorite Metro cops — the officers whose quick actions helped save Houston Press Music Editor Chris Gray after he suffered a heart attack last month — were presented with awards this morning from Metro and the American Heart Association. Officers John Zepeda and Leonard Wagner just happened to be…
Yo Gabba Gabba’s Creator Talks Bands and Stage Diving Kids
What do you do when you have kids but you can’t stand any of the TV programming geared toward them? Get together with a long-time buddy and make a low-budget version of what you’d like to see on television. That’s how Christian Jacobs, lead singer of the punk band The…
Christian Jacobs on Yo Gabba Gabba, Stage-Diving Kids and Biz Markie
What do you do when you have kids but you can’t stand any of the TV programming geared toward them? Get together with a longtime buddy and make a low-budget version of what you’d like to see on television. That’s how Christian Jacobs, lead singer of the punk band The…
“Eat More Kale” Guy Pisses Off Chick-fil-A; Unlike Cows, He Can Spell
Vermont folk artist and small businessman Bo Muller-Moore has gone and done pissed off the folks over at Chick-fil-A with his “Eat More Kale” T-shirts. Muller-Moore began printing the slogan when his kale-farmer friend asked him to make T-shirts for friends and family. “Eat More Kale” seemed to catch on,…
Christopher Hilton: HPD Seeks Victims of Suspected Molester, Child-Porn Fan
Houston police are putting out the word, asking for any victims of a suspected child abuser to step forward. Christopher Ian Hilton, 32, was arrested November 17 on child-porn charges. He faces three possession charges. “Investigators said Hilton’s past employment history indicates he had access to children,” HPD says. “Information…
Houston Grand Opera’s Grander Plan Complete With Kids
When Sandra Bernhard says that “Opera has a lot of myths associated with it,” she’s not talking about the great story lines of La Traviata or Barber of Seville. No, the director of HGOco, Houston Grand Opera’s community outreach arm, is directly confronting the litany of knocks that people have…
Chef Chat, Part 1: Vanessa O’Donnell of Ooh La La Dessert Boutique
It’s amazing what Vanessa O’Donnell, pastry chef and owner of Ooh La La Dessert Boutique, has accomplished in the four short years since she opened her first location. Even more amazing is the fact that she was just 26 years old when she started, and that she did it all…
Ask A Rapper: E.S.G. and the Rapper That’s Going to be Better Than All You Suckas
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. Something you always wanted to…
Comment of the Day: Cancer Doc Burzynski — If It Walks Like a Duck
We have some great commenters here on Hair Balls, and it’s time we paid some damn attention to them. So we’ll be highlighting a Comment of the Day each morning, from the previous day’s work. Maybe two comments, even. This will all be determined by a highly rigorous scientific formula…
Copycat vs. Real Deal: La Madeleine Tomato Basil Soup
I remember the first time I had La Madeleine’s tomato basil soup. It was freakishly cold in February of 2004 in Austin. We got almost two inches of snow on Valentine’s Day, the most snow Austin received at one time in the past decade. We were starving, freezing and grocery-less,…
Art Attack Looking for More Writers
Here at Art Attack, we’re always looking for new writers to go with the wonderful voices we already have. So if you’ve even thought about writing for us, now could be your golden moment. We’re looking for people who love the immediacy and community of blogdom. And who can be…
Classic Christmas: Vince Guaraldi Trio’s A Charlie Brown Christmas
Over the holidays, we’re looking back at some classic Christmas albums taking some track by track and just digging on others. There are seminal moments in the life of a child and it is not uncommon that some of them involve holidays, Christmas in particular. There’s a comfort as a…
Top 5: Peking Duck in Houston
I’m one of those people who gets super-strong cravings for food. It can be a whiff, a smell, a dish that someone mentions, a feeling that I associate with the weather, or something I see through a restaurant window that causes the craving. In this instance, ever since I saw…
Bad Mugshot Bonanza: Five Longview Crime All-Stars Netted in Single Drug Bust
An expired inspection sticker led to fresh arrests for five of Longview’s most frequently busted miscreants Friday. Police say that 48-year-old Howard “Cowboy” Perkins and 47-year-old Clifton Ardry were stopped while riding in a pickup near the home of 54-year-old, Biblically bearded George Clifford Griffis. Since the two men told…
R.I.P. Patrice O’Neal and Eight More Standup Comics Who Died Before Their Time
Fans of standup comedy suffered a real blow yesterday when Patrice O’Neal passed away at the young age of 41. For those unfamiliar with O’Neal’s brand of comedy, it was confrontational, blunt, and unapologetic to the point of arrogance. It was also brilliant. Patrice’s comedy would instantly convert half of…
The Texans: Seven Motivational Posters for the Rest of the Season
We all know things have changed a bit for the Houston Texans from those halcyon days just a couple of weeks ago when they were pushing for the Number One seed in the AFC. Matt Schaub had a season-ending injury. Backup QB Matt Leinart had a season-ending injury. But all…
Jim Parsons on Broadway in Harvey, but Who Will Play Harvey?
It was just announced that Houston’s favorite nerd, Jim Parsons, will return to Broadway this coming spring. Parsons, who made his big stage debut this past year in Larry Kramer’s The Normal Heart, will now take on the lead role in the Pulitzer Prize winning play Harvey. Harvey is about…
Vanesa Blackshire: Hits Walmart Parking Space Poacher With Her SUV, Cops Say
A Longview woman apparently got the jump on bad Black Friday-like behavior the night before Thanksgiving. That’s when police say she ran over a man in the parking lot of an area Walmart, all because of a dispute over a parking spot. According to the Longview News-Journal, the incident occurred…
Richardson and del Grosso Honored by Downbeat Magazine
While most of Houston only yawned when it was released, the Jonn Richardson/Rich del Grosso album Time Slips On By made Downbeat magazine’s recently published Best of 2011 list. Richardson, a monster picker who tours behind Diunnah Greenleaf and Otis Taylor, and del Grosso, a rare practitioner of blues mandolin…
Sampler Plate: This Week in Food Blogs
2 Dine For: New food blog alert! You can now catch our own Christina Uticone over at new Houston food blog 2 Dine For (don’t worry; she’s still writing for EOW, too), where she and fellow writer Joshua Payne are tag-teaming Houston’s restaurants and providing He Said, She Said-style reviews…
Best Comics of November: Including Mutants & an Ex-Slave Girl
Once a month the amazing staff at 8th Dimension Comics selects a pile of the best new releases for us to peruse and judge. Unfortunately, we’re just barely missing the release of the KISS/Archie Comics crossover, but you can be sure we’ll be bringing you our thoughts on that in…
Exotic Bugatti Car Driven into Lagoon on Purpose, Insurance Company Says
When Andy House famously drove his extremely expensive Bugatti Veyron into a La Marque lagoon two years ago, he said he’d been distracted by a low-flying pelican. As we noted at the time a subsequent video of the event came out, there don’t appear to be any pelicans around. Jalopnik…
Auburn Offensive Coordinator Gus Malzahn’s Wife Is Insane (w/ VIDEO)
Simultaneous with the push toward bowl season every year, we have the college football coaching carousel that begins spinning around Thanksgiving and doesn’t stop until around the time the bowl games end (or until around spring practice if your quarterback is trading signed memorabilia for tattoos). The intrigue of who…
Comment of the Day: The Sacrilege of Ketchup on a Burger
Here on Eating Our Words, the commenters absolutely make the blog, and our Comment of the Day honors the best of the bunch. Every day, we read you guys and pick the commenter, or commenters, who made us laugh, cry, salivate over something delicious, or think about things in a…
Delfino Hernandez, 18, Second Murder on Same Block Within a Month, Bayou Body Count No. 187
For the second time in a little over a month, a man has been killed in the 12600 block of Huntington Venture Drive. Delfino Hernandez, 18, was shot about 10:50 p.m. on November 20 as he sat in a car out on the west side. Police say another car “containing…
Classic Christmas: George Winston’s December
Over the holidays, we’re looking back at some classic Christmas albums taking some track by track and just digging on others. It doesn’t happen often, but every once in a while, a record or artist outside the mainstream will make a blip on the pop culture radar, like Norah Jones’…
Yao Ming: Basketball Player, Shark Saver, Wine Maker
The last time we wrote about Yao Ming, it was to cover the former Houston Rockets center’s fight against shark fin soup consumption in his home country, China, where the soup is considered a luxury and a necessity at large banquets and parties. Now, the retired basketball player is making…
Lean1 Vanilla Smoothie from Smoothie King
In early fall, Smoothie King released Lean1 Smoothies with this description: Burn body fat up to 68 percent faster with Lean1! This great-tasting, high-protein smoothie is known for fighting hunger cravings, plus it helps tone and define muscles. With 27 vitamins and minerals, it also aids in speeding recovery from…
Need A Band Name? Let A Random Gawker Headline Help You!
Gawker is one of the most fun and informative sites on the innerwebs. Where else can you hear about the awful and sexy things that humans do to each other? Each day brings a new bounty of curiousness, like the one about the midget porn star Gordon Ramsay-lookalike that ended…
Natalie Wood Pictures 30 Years After Her Tragic Death: 10 Plus 1
It was 30 years ago today that Natalie Wood’s corpse was found floating off the coast of Southern California’s Catalina Island. The 43-year old star of films such as West Side Story, Rebel Without a Cause, The Searchers, Sex and the Single Girl and many other classics had been aboard…
Joel Osteen’s Reality Show: How It Will Be If Based on Any of Six Current Shows
TMZ has reported that Lakewood Church’s Joel and Victoria Osteen will be the stars of a new reality show by the producer of Survivor. “The premise of the show is that ordinary people will give up several days or longer to go on a mission with Joel Osteen, one of…
Ingredient of the Week: Leftover Turkey
The week after Thanksgiving is often riddled with cooks across America scratching their heads at what to do with all the leftover turkey. Not to worry. Here at Eating Our Words, we offer not one, not two, but three things to do with that leftover turkey, not to mention its…
Geto Boy Alum Big Mike Breaks His Silence with New Album
Big Mike will always be linked to his ephemeral stint in the Geto Boys. When Willie D left the Geto Boys in 1992, J. Prince called on Mike to replace him. Mike left L.A. and a potential deal with Suge Knight’s Death Row to join Scarface and Bushwick Bill in…
Google-Map Your Way Through Bush & Hobby Airport Terminals
The interiors of Houston’s two airports are part of a launch of a new Google Maps for Android feature that lets you determine where the hell you are inside of big places like malls and department stores. Bush Intercontinental and Hobby are part of the 18 U.S. airports mapped out…
DVDs & Blu-rays: The “Oh, Never Mind!” Edition
It’s a bad week for new DVDs and Blu-ray releases. We only found two worth mentioning, and that was just because we wanted to warn you in case you accidentally picked one up. Friends with Benefits stars Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis; Will Gluck directs. The Setup: Justin Timberlake and…
Sugar, Sugar Book Launch and Cooking Class at Central Market on December 5
I have confessed my lack of kitchen skills to you guys on several occasions, but my one true kitchen talent is baking. I love to bake breads and muffins and cookies, and with the arrival of the holiday season I have already been hard at work testing new recipes. So…
Unidentified Car-Wash Customer, 28, Bayou Body Count No. 186
A customer at a westside car wash was killed in broad daylight Monday when two men tried to rob him, police say. The 28-year-old victim, whose name was not released pending notification of his family, was shot about 11:15 a.m. in the 10700 block of Harwin, HPD says. Police say…
Memoir From Early AC/DC bassist Mark Evans Sheds Light On Band’s Beginnings
Get Lit: Dirty Deeds – My Life Inside/Outside of AC/DC By Mark Evans 288 pp., $19.95, Bazillion Points Books The Thunder from Down Under that is AC/DC has been blasting eardrums for nearly four decades, continuing to move millions of records and tour huge arenas worldwide. And though the lineup…
The 5 Dirtiest Lines from Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory
Like a lot of kids, I grew up watching Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory all year round — but especially during the holidays. The movie is, to me, the best adaptation of a Roald Dahl book so far (just barely ahead of Matilda, of course). Gene Wilder plays the…
Winter Wonderettes at Stages: Not Much Plot, But Plenty Nostalgia
The setup: The all-girl singing group The Wonderettes, featured in the popular, long-running The Marvelous Wonderettes at Stages in 2010, returns for a 2011 holiday event in another jukebox musical. The execution: It might have been called Waiting for Santa, as that title would succinctly capture what passes for a…
Burzynski Fanatic Threatens Bloggers ‘Round the World
Here’s a warning for anyone out there considering blogging or tweeting anything questioning the greatness of cancer-curing Houston doc Stanislaw Burzynski: You will probably be threatened by the head of marketing for the Burzynski Patient Support Group. We first heard about loose cannon Marc Stephens’s weird diatribes Monday, when a…
7 Houston Rap Tributes by Non-Houston Rappers
Are you happy with your current city? Yeah? Then feel free to ignore this list of rappers from other cities drooling over all things Houston. It’s likely to breed envy. Some of these come from gushing fans and some are random, but the vast majority illustrate just how much rappers…
Top 6 Nuttiest Nutcrackers Money Can Buy
Since at least the 15th century, a festive nutcracker has taken on the form of a knight or king, at the ready to crack that walnut or almond. Today, a simple lever will do the trick just fine, but the figurines are still prevalent for some standard holiday fare (and…
Tequila Don Julio Launches Don Julio 70, The World’s First Añejo Claro
When I think of tequila, I think of the distinctive aroma that I have come to associate with it. Anyone who’s taken a shot of tequila or had one too many margaritas can identify with me, I’m sure: the pungent aroma impales the senses, its heady strength rushing to the…
Galen Wallace: Accused of Chemical Drain Cleaner Attack
Police are still seeking a man they say burned the faces of two rural East Texans early Monday morning. Harrison County sheriffs say that 39-year-old Galen Granger Wallace hurled liquid drain cleaner at a man and a woman inside a home north of Marshall. The victims told police that Wallace…
Whey-Brined Pork Leftovers
I cook too much. I don’t mean I spend too much time in the kitchen; I’m talking quantity. Nearly every time I make a meal, there’s enough leftover to warrant another. It’s both a blessing and a curse, and has been with me since I first stepped into the kitchen…
The Virgin Diaries and TLC’s Reality Show Circus
It’s rarely enjoyable watching other people kiss (why stand on the sidelines when you could get in the game?), but this commercial for TLC’s The Virgin Diaries features kissing that is downright gross. You can’t blame the couple too much, of course, because they saved the first kiss of their…
Elvis Costello to Fans: “Don’t Buy My Overpriced Record”
In a recession, particularly one as deep and annoyingly persistent as the one we currently find ourselves in, it is tough to justify larger purchases, particularly for things that aren’t necessities. As much as we love music here at Rocks Off, we too are often shocked at the price of…
Distant Early Warning: Alabama Shakes, Flogging Molly, Josefus, Slim Thug, Cave
“3rd Annual Feed Houston Concert” With Slim Thug,: Fri., Dec. 16, 8 p.m. Warehouse Live, 813 St. Emanuel, Houston. Awolnation: Tue., Jan. 24. Warehouse Live, 813 St. Emanuel, Houston. Band Of Heathens: Wed., Dec. 28. Fitzgerald’s, 2706 White Oak, Houston. Cowboy Mouth: Tue., Feb. 21. House of Blues, 1204 Caroline,…
Fast Times: Texas Smashburger
When I stopped into Smashburger on Buffalo Speedway I was only looking for a little snack — some fried pickles, or some veggie frites to tide me over until dinner. Unfortunately, the line was quite long, giving me ample time to peruse the short-but-tempting menu, and when I got to…
Five Gifted Actors Play 43 Roles in It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play at Texas Rep
The setup: The perennially popular movie featuring Jimmy Stewart is recast, this time as a highly original radio play. The execution: The production is much more than audio, as we are at the art deco set of WBKR, a radio station featuring The Playhouse of the Air. In fact, it…
Comment of the Day: Don’t Get Too Excited About the Astro Front-Office Firings
We have some great commenters here on Hair Balls, and it’s time we paid some damn attention to them. So we’ll be highlighting a Comment of the Day each morning, from the previous day’s work. Maybe two comments, even. This will all be determined by a highly rigorous scientific formula…
Pop Rocks: The Appeal of the Kardashians Finally Makes Sense
America, you have serious problems: It was business–big business–as usual for Kourtney & Kim Take New York and The Walking Dead. Here’s what the shows’ Sunday-night TV ratings performances meant: For Kourtney & Kim, the reality-show’s season premiere, which scored a series-best 3.2 million viewers for an opener, showed audiences…
Pop Rocks: The Kardashians’ Popularity, Explained
America, you have serious problems: It was business–big business–as usual for Kourtney & Kim Take New York and The Walking Dead. Here’s what the shows’ Sunday-night TV ratings performances meant: For Kourtney & Kim, the reality-show’s season premiere, which scored a series-best 3.2 million viewers for an opener, showed audiences…
Brett Favre, Sage Rosenfels, Etc.: The Pluses & Minuses of Potential New Texans QBs
With Texan quarterbacks falling like British Tommies at the Somme, speculation is rampant that the team might sign a veteran who would give them a better chance in the playoffs than rookie T.J. Yates. We’re not sure we buy into the theory, but the names being tossed around all come…
Wyclef Jean Squanders Relief Funds, Heralds Apocalypse
Mason Lankford said, “There will come a day when we forget the Rapture ever even happened,” but Rocks Off is keeping an eye out for signs of our impending Armageddon. We were wrong last time, but we’re totally right this time! It’s been a while since we predicted the end…
5 Origin Stories We’d Rather See Than Puss in Boots
Shrek spin-off Puss in Boots debuted at number one its opening weekend and has continued to dominate the box office ever since. Although much worse films have had that honor (lookin’ at you, Paul Blart Mall Cop), we must still ask — really? This makes the fifth film of the…
Where Are We Drinking?
At this BYOB spot, you can drink your beer from the bottle or pour it into one of the charming Ball jars normally used for water or homemade aguas frescas. Does the scene below look familiar to you? Think you know where we’re drinking? Leave your guess in the comments…
Chron Art Critic Douglas Britt’s Very Odd Meth-Filled, “I’m a Hooker” Blog: Bad Performance Art Or Sign of a Personal Crisis?
For people not involved or interested in Houston’s art scene, Houston Chronicle critic Douglas Britt first drew attention with a 1,400-word screed telling PR people how to send pitches to him. Now, he’s either desperate for attention or going off the deep end. In what is either a (very tedious)…
Lowell “Cook” Bell: Do You Know Who Killed Him?
Stymied cops are again asking the public’s help in finding out who killed Lowell “Cook” Bell. Bell, 55, was found dead August 22 in his apartment in the 6700 block of Fairway after friends and relatives became concerned since they had not heard from him. “After entering the apartment, they…
2011 Rewind: Concert Tickets From An Alternate Universe
This originally ran on June 8, but seeing that the year is coming to an end, we are looking back at some of our favorite blogs we gave to you these past 12 months. One of the best dreams we ever had was of covering a Clash show for Rocks…
First Look at Biba’s Kitbar
No, none of those words above are typos. That’s how the “new” Bibas is styling itself these days: Biba’s Kitbar. Kitbar is apparently a portmanteau of the words “kitchen” and “bar,” and thankfully does not refer to the Urban Dictionary definition of the word. If the name is a bit…
Metro Gets the Light-Rail Federal Funding It Craved
Metro had itself a party this morning, with tons of local officials making happy speeches and a federal official on hand to dole out cash. The transit agency announced it’s officially been cleared to get $900 million in federal funds to build more light rail in town, funds that had…
Material World: Music to Rock Your Cyber Monday with Video
In the late ’70s, there was a movie spoof on Friday the 13th called Saturday the 14th. It was about as dumb as you imagine it would be. Well, insert punchline here because Black Friday is over, but we are still smack dab in the middle of Cyber Monday, where…
Eat Smart: Top Brain Boosting Foods
With the multitude of mind-numbing reality television shows that I can’t stop watching and people like this parading around the internet, it’s become blatantly obvious; I’m getting stupider more stupider just more freaking dumb by the second. Luckily, research has shown that what you eat plays an important role in…
Miley Cyrus Smokes Weed! Pot Party in the USA!
OMG y’all, Miley Cyrus smokes weed, according to this video from the multimillionaire pop and TV star’s 19th birthday party last Wednesday. Okay, she’s not really a music star, but that whole Hannah Montana dual personality stuff was pretty popular. Truth be told, we think Cyrus has more than earned…
Rap Round Table: What is the Best Pimp C Song of All Time
Some rappers happen to be thoughtful, intelligent people. Each week Rocks Off will have some of them here discussing issues relevant to their culture. This Week’s Panel: A Whole Bunch of Twitter Folks Not Invited: Facebook This Week’s Prompt: The anniversary of the death of Pimp C is next week…
Who Will Be the Next Ryan Gosling?
First there was James Franco, now we have Ryan Gosling. Hollywood hottie obsession has been around for a long time, but sexy male intellectuals really took hold of our collective consciousness in 2011 — the year modern-day lust really found its voice on the Internet (or at least the part…
Lucky Peach Discovers and Covers Ike Jime in Second Issue
Lucky Peach is the new food magazine from the cool kids at McSweeney’s, part Gourmet for hipsters and part zine. It’s not always appetizing — the latest [and only the magazine’s second] issue features a five-page spread of rotting food transforming into nightmarish new foods — but it’s been interesting…
Coog Fever: Students Grab Those C-USA Championship Tickets
This was the ticket line at the University of Houston this morning, as students lined up to get tickets for the Conference USA title game this weekend that, Coog fans fervently hope, will send the team to its first BCS bowl. Robertson Stadium should be sold out for the game…
Wine of the Week: Domaine du Salvard 2010 Cheverny
There is SO much wine in the aisles of Houston’s wine shops these days. From Spec’s to Richard’s, from Whole Foods toCentral Market, from the Tasting Room to my personal favorite, the Houston Wine Merchant, the number of choices on the shelves can be simply overwhelming — even for a wine…
Old Man: A Happy Birthday Randy Newman Playlist
Mr. Randy Newman, who turns 68 years old today, turned in one of the best and our most most favorite sets of this year’s Austin City Limits Music Festival. In a festival littered with Kanye West, Coldplay, and Skrillex, Newman’s set was the most stripped down and satisfying. He had…
MasterMind Awards: Don’t Miss Your Chance to Nominate
Nag, nag, nag. It’s reminder time that nominations are now open for the fourth annual MasterMind Award competition honoring the best in Houston arts. The Houston Press is looking for artists of all types who are changing our creative and cultural landscape in the Houston area. Past honorees have included…
Unidentified Alleged Car Thief, Bayou Body Count No. 185
The fatal shooting of a man allegedly trying to break into a car on the southeast side will be sent to a grand jury to determine charges, Houston police say. The victim’s name has not been released, pending notification of family. He was shot about 2:15 a.m. Sunday in the…
How To: Make Bite-size “Butterfingers” At Home
That one in the middle just looks like it’s stuck to your computer screen, doesn’t it? Don’t you just want to…grab it? Making these mini Butterfingers is so easy it’s dumb. I’m a sucker for those “crispety, crunchety” bite-size morsels of awesome. I’m always raiding the office candy jar and…
Aerosol Warfare: Exhibit, Visual History and Performance Art in One Show
See more pics of Aerosol Warfare’s Rock the Lot in our slideshow. There was a lot going on at the Aerosol Warfare artist reception Saturday night for Rock The Lot! Art Attack schmoozed with other gallery wanderers as we took in the art accompaniment of the film Stick ‘Em Up!,…
Happy Birthday Paul Shaffer: Here Are Five Reasons Why He is Cool
Back in the 1980’s, there was a certain class of musician who considered a slot in the Late Show with David Letterman band as the ultimate gig. Of course, that lineup hasn’t changed since 1983, but dare to dream. From the very beginning, there was Paul Shaffer. The quirky Canadian…
Astros Fire Ed Wade & Tal Smith: The New Era Begins
Where have you gone, Ed Wade? A nation’s no-hit, aging, injury-prone free agent infielders turn their lonely eyes to you. Where have you gone, Ed Wade? A nation’s worth of middle relievers looking for multimillion contracts turn their lonely eyes to you. Ed Wade is gone. So is Tal Smith…
Angel By Nature: Rest In Peace Clip D
Check our post on Hair Balls with the Police Department’s official report. The Houston rap community is mourning the loss of Dominic “Clip D” Brown who was shot and killed early Friday morning outside of Breakers after-hours club (9600 Bissonnet). Brown, 34, belonged to rapper Trae Tha Truth’s ABN camp,…
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever from AD Players: Rebellious Kids Put on a Show
The setup: A substitute pageant director has (gasp!) to cast six unruly children to tell the story of The Manger. The execution: The Herdsman family is financially challenged, and its six children are boisterous and rebellious and a great deal of fun, even if they never have read the Bible…
What’s Cooking This Week?
Last week’s menu was the perfect lead-up to the massive feast that is Thanksgiving. I spent the day itself in NJ with the best family and friends a girl could ask for. Back to the grind now and ready for some new treats. Here’s what I’m making: Broiled Halibut &…
Dominic Levar Brown a.k.a. Money Clip D, 34, Bayou Body Count No. 184 (UPDATED)
Dominic Levar Brown, who as Money Clip D was a key assistant and friend to Houston rapper Trae, was shot and killed outside a southwest-side after-hours nightclub early Friday morning, police say. Brown, 34, was outside Breakers in the 9600 block of Bissonnet when he was shot about 5:30 a.m.,…
Local Punk Compilation Bullshit Vol. 1 Available as Free Download
According to Mike from Agro-Wax Records, some of Houston’s favorite punk-rock noun adjuncts of 2011 will be on a compilation record at the start of the new year. The first installment of the compilation has been sent to be mastered and pressed. The compilation is called Bullshit Vol. 1 and…
The Week in TV: The Muppets Now Control Everything
Not much happened last week, what with everyone taking extra naps and blaming it on the turkey. Still, it wasn’t a totally uneventful week in TV Land: • Having been dragged back into the mainstream spotlight by Jason Segel, the Muppets are now eyeing a return to TV, the medium…
Dirt and Water
Both of the cauliflower plants in the photo were the same size when I planted them a month ago. The transplants got the same sun and rain, but the normal one on the left was planted in a commercial potting soil, whereas big brother was inserted into custom soil. Why…
Roadtrippin’: The Eight Track Museum In Dallas
Last week while this member Rocks Off was in Dallas for the 48th anniversary of the Kennedy assassination and our annual trek to Dealey Plaza, we stopped in to the Eight Track Museum in the Deep Ellum district of the city. The opening rumblings of the small museum, located in…
Poutine and Other New Dishes at BRC Gastropub
When BRC Gastropub first opened, I immediately became a fan of their juicy burgers, luscious roast oysters, and decadent daily macaroni and cheese specials. But after a series of visits, my passion for BRC cooled. It was, perhaps, the seven-month itch one experiences during a relationship with a once-thrilling restaurant…
Comment of the Day: We Spread the Anal Joy (Say What?)
We have some great commenters here on Hair Balls, and it’s time we paid some damn attention to them. So we’ll be highlighting a Comment of the Day each morning, from the previous day’s work. Maybe two comments, even. This will all be determined by a highly rigorous scientific formula…
Modern Holiday Classics Veer Off from Feelgood and into Cynicism
This week, as Christmas movies began their assault on cable and network television, it occurred to us that in the past decade or so, holiday film tastes have begun to veer from lighthearted feelgood affairs and straight into stress-filled, caustic celebrations of the things we will all hate for the…
Coogs Whip Tulsa, Now One Game Away from the BCS
It’s the same story that’s been written six other times about the Cougars this season. Team goes on the road. Struggles in the first half. Explodes in the third quarter. Buries opposition in the fourth quarter. It’s the same story, but this time it’s different. This time the Cougars were…
Pop Quiz: William Shakespeare or Legacy of Kain?
Awhile back when we were talking about actors who are never going to get their due, we mentioned the incredible work that was done by the writers and voice cast of the Legacy of Kain series of video games. Today we thought we’d put our money where our mouths are…
Five Jobs Even Riskier Than Texans’ QB, Such As Spinal Tap Drummer
If you didn’t read our Texans’ game wrap — and you should, it offers positive thoughts for the team’s future this season — you might not know that Matt Leinart, the backup quarterback playing his first game as a Texan because starter Matt Schaub had a season-ending injury, suffered his…
Hey Pookie: Top 5 Cheesy Love Songs
We recently started getting fan mail in addition to the more… creatively worded correspondence that we’ve always gotten in response to our articles. The accolades are worth almost as much as the paycheck, but we wanted to take this opportunity to pass on that praise to one of our favorite…
Where Are We Eating?
If you like hot cereal for breakfast — whether it be Cream of Wheat, Malt-O-Meal, grits or oatmeal — you’ll probably like uppma, too. This hot breakfast cereal is made with cornmeal and cauliflower. And at this spot, it’s also garnished with green peas, fresh yogurt and peanuts. Think you…
A Christmas Carol – A Ghost Story of Christmas from the Alley: A Splendid Production
The setup: The Alley Theatre adaptation of Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol returns in all its theatrical splendor for the 16th time. The execution: This adaptation, by Michael Wilson, premiered at the Alley in 1990, and has become a popular annual event elsewhere as well. While the Dickensian grasp of…
Texans 20, Jaguars 13: Five Reasons Why Not to Panic
In the moment, it felt so overwhelming. How could the Texans, already reeling from the loss of Matt Schaub, recover from yet another season-ending quarterback injury, this time to the left collarbone of Matt Leinart? The initial results didn’t look promising. Although the Texans won their fifth straight and improved…
RenFest: Your Last Chance To Get All Medieval This Weekend
Check out even more of our RenFest pictures gathered up as we wandered the grounds on Friday. This is it, the final countdown. With two days left in RenFest season for this year, it’s today and tomorrow to haul yourself up to the fields south of Plantersville, lace yourself into…
Looking Back at A Very Special Christmas Track by Track
In the late 1980’s, music empresario Jimmy Iovine cobbled together quite a collection of pop and rock artists to record songs for a Christmas album benefitting the Special Olympics. In 1987, A Very Special Christmas was released and rapidly became an instant holiday classic thanks to the star powered lineup…
Upcoming Events: Chef Swaps and Smorgasbords
The Swedish invented the smörgåsbord, and they don’t mess around — and certainly not at Christmas. On Friday, December 9, IKEA will be hosting a traditional Swedish julbord, the Christmas version of a smorgasbord, or buffet-style feast. From 6 to 8:30 p.m., the julbord (literally meaning “Yule table”) meal will…
Rocks Off’s Annual Descent Into Sunny 99.1’s Christmas Music K-Hole
Since 2008, I have spent an hour listening to Sunny 99.1 FM’s Christmas music for the Rocks Off blog. Right after Thanksgiving, it’s the first thing on my checklist, right next to finding new, weird holiday music for you and trying not to gain 20 pounds in merriment by January…
Forget Turkey Sandwiches: Make Leftover Gumbo
Thanksgiving is over. If you’re fortunate, you were surrounded by family and buried in a deluge of smoked, broiled and baked meats with side dishes stacked to the ceiling. You likely ate at least two celebratory meals at two family locations due to dysfunction or marriage. When all is said…
A Modern Throwback: Mel Torme’s Christmas Songs
Mel Torme holds a special place in the hearts of Gen Xers because of his re-occurring appearance on Night Court and his classic guest stint on Seinfeld. In fact, Torme put in quite a bit of time on TV and in films despite the fact that his main gig was…
The Color War: The Week in Photos
It’s time again to check out the Houston Press Flickr Pool and see what kinds of art shots our talented photographers have added. We love street art, unique perspectives and beautiful photos of Houston’s creative community. If you think you’ve got a good eye, drop your pictures in the pool…
Odd Pair: Asparagus and Wine
Today we think of asparagus as one of the standard vegetable side dishes in the contemporary canon of American gastronomy. But in another era, asparagus was considered one of the world’s greatest delicacies: The insatiable King Louis XIV built greenhouses so that he could eat asparagus all year round. From…
Rainy, Cold Post-Thanksgiving Weekend…in Houston!
There’s a saying that if you don’t like the weather in Texas, just wait. Well, this weekend qualifies, particularly for those of you all hopped up on turkey, Christmas songs and holiday joy as you flit about the area malls and Best Buys scraping and clawing your way to gift-buying…
Openings & Closings: Food Trucks and Football-Shaped Bars
As we reported earlier this week, Houston is getting three new out-of-town chains soon. Will you be patronizing any of them? Austin-based Torchy’s Tacos will be opening on December 7 in the old Gratefull Taco spot. Burger House is moving down from Dallas into a space in Rice Village in…
Free for All: The Post-Thanksgiving Day Edition
Look, it’s Black Friday (and dark gray Saturday and Sunday, or whatever they call the rest of the weekend), and if you aren’t going shopping or to the movies or fighting with relatives, what else is there to do? We’ve come up with a few suggestions. And they all have…
Some Perspective on Ndamukong Suh’s Cheap Shot (w/ VIDEO)
In what was easily the most significant Thanksgiving Day game played in Detroit in the last ten years, the Green Bay Packers ran their record to 11-0 by beating the Lions pretty soundly 27-15. After the game, the big story had nothing to do with the Packers’ chasing history, nor…
Five Spot: Houston Video Spotlight
Dudes, it the day after Thanksgiving. You shouldn’t be reading junk on the computer. You should be celebrating with your family, talking about how awesome life is and how Rocks Off is just about the best place on the Internet and yeah, yeah, yeah. But since you’re here though, let’s…
Chef Chat, Part 3: Sophie Elhage of Skewers Mediterranean Café & Grill
Fresh from chef chat parts one and two with Sophie Elhage of Skewers, welcome back to the best part of chef chat: part three, the food. We begin our culinary journey through Sophie Elhage’s Lebanon with a spin-off of a dish she created in college: lamb meatball pasta. The new…
For Savvy Shoppers, Black Friday Started Last Tuesday
If you missed out on a great deal for a humongous flat-screen television at Best Buy today, you can only blame yourself. Some folks, like Becky H., put a lot of effort into making sure they got door buster prices for televisions, computers and other big-ticket electronics. “Tuesday night we…
Last Night: The Handshake, Caddywhompus and Sideshow Tramps at Fitzgerald’s
Thanksgiving ended up being kind of boring. Besides eating too many plates of knockoff Luby’s mac and cheese, we were inundated with hours worth of “I’m thankful for…” Facebook statuses and Twitter feeds. Yes, we do spend entire days on the innerwebs. Anyway, by the time the sun went down,…
Top 5 Reasons Cyber Monday Is Better Than Black Friday
To bastardize a line from Groundhog Day, “Well, it’s Black Friday…again.” It’s that oh-so-magical time of year when the strong walk away from predawn shopping trips with armfuls of electronic goodies while the weak get treated by EMS for boot marks left by shoppers stampeding into Best Buy. Since 2005,…
A Cult Hit: The Gingerbread Martini at Outback Steakhouse
Here at the Houston Press, we keep an eye on which stories are the most popular, and sometimes we notice interesting oddities. One is a post on the Gingerbread Martini at Outback Steakhouse, written in 2007 by our drinks columnist at the time, Debbylou Mountjoy. Apparently this martini has a…
5 Reasons You Should Skip Black Friday for Cyber Monday
Well, it’s Black Friday again. I sincerely hope you and your loved ones remain un-trampled and filled with holiday spirit or, if retailers got their wish, with carloads of merchandise. Since 2005, the nerdy cousin to Black Friday has been Cyber Monday. Traditionally, and I hesitate to even use that…
Reviews for the Easily Distracted: The Descendants
Title: The Descendants Doesn’t George Clooney Have An Oscar Already? Nominated five times, won once (Best Supporting Actor for Syriana). Rating Using Random Objects Relevant To The Film: Four Kilauea volcanoes out of five. Brief Plot Synopsis: A Hawaiian land baron must come to grips with the fact that his…
Y’all Musta Forgot: Le$’s Luminescent Settle 4 Le$ Vol. 2
“I gotta stay paid ’cause I like fly shit.” — Le$, “Gangsta” There was this time where, on Twitter, Le$ remarked that someone — a street tough, presumably- had told him that his shoes were ugly. He Instagramed the right one. It was an Ice Cream sneaker, an explosion of…
The Ultimate Leftover Turkey Sandwiches
Every year, by the time we’re ready to sit down and enjoy the Thanksgiving meal, I’ve already done multiple completely necessary taste tests of nearly everything in the kitchen and I have left no room for the bird we’ve been slaving over for hours. I’ll take a sliver of turkey…
Skyward Sword: Zelda’s Perfect Silver Anniversary Gift
We apologize for being a little late this week on this. We weren’t aware that we had to upgrade to the Wii Motion Plus controller to play Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. We picked ours up for $20 at Target, so make sure you do that if you don’t have…
Week in Photos: Shasta
Each week, we take a dip into the Houston Press Flickr pool and see what our talented photographers have been up to. We’re looking for pictures that represent the best of Houston, from food to art to events, to secret hidden spots of beauty. Just drop them in our Flickr…
Dear Hollywood, Get Some New Ideas
If Hollywood was a TV dinner, it would be the fried chicken, mashed potato, brownie kind. It’s fine enough depending on how long you cook it for. If you undercook it, the brownie is gooey and can be eaten with a spoon, but the mashed potatoes are still frozen. Overcooked…
An Afternoon with SEARCH Leads a Writer to Recall His Own Homeless Mother
As a guest of local homelessness advocates SEARCH, I spent last Friday afternoon pretending to be homeless. Sort of…At any rate, it was a strange afternoon for me as my experience of homelessness is far more up close and personal than that of most people. The afternoon began at the…
Yoko Ono Just Wants to Be Liked…on Facebook
OK, Facebook finally went too far last night when it casually offered me a chance to “like” Yoko Ono. Six others I’m somehow connected with via F-book (and I’m starting to wonder why I’m connected to them at all) “like” the 78-year old Mrs. Lennon. So when does an “artist”…
Like Crazy: 10 Other Twentysomething Firsts No One Will Be Making a Movie About
At some point in the human life cycle, everyone begins to relate to the songs of Phil Collins. It’s called having loved and lost. In Like Crazy, currently showing at the River Oaks Theatre, director Drake Doremus depicts the rise and fall of first love. Two attractive youths played by…
The Rest of the Best: Houston’s Top 5 Pho
For the next 20 weeks, we’ll be rounding up the runners-up to our 2011 Best of Houston® winners. In many categories, picking each year’s winner is no easy task. We’ll be spotlighting 20 of those categories, in which the winner had hefty competition from other Houston bars and restaurants…
Albert Haynesworth Is Proud of Hurting Matt Schaub
“You know me. I love to hit Schaub.” — Tampa Bay defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth We’ve talked so much about the effect that Matt Schaub’s injury could have on the remainder of the Texans’ 2011 season (and rightfully so), we haven’t even really talked about how it happened. And until…
Your 2011 Punk, Metal, And Indie Rock Christmas Music Playlist
Might as well get this one out of the way right after Thanksgiving. Each year we compile new, old, and classic punk, heavy metal, and indie Christmas songs for you to soundtrack your holiday season. We’ve already helped you discover the majesty of Lemmy, Dave Grohl, and Billy Gibbons jamming…
Tequila y Tamales: Come Judge Them Both With Us In December
Here in Houston, it’s not Christmas without tamales. And nothing goes better with tamales on a cold night than a warming shot of tequila. So head out to Xuco Xicana on Thursday, December 15, from 6 to 8 p.m. to share both with us as Eating Our Words presents Tequila…
Comment of the Day: Sex-Offender Sentences
We have some great commenters here on Hair Balls, and it’s time we paid some damn attention to them. So we’ll be highlighting a Comment of the Day each morning, from the previous day’s work. Maybe two comments, even. This will all be determined by a highly rigorous scientific formula…
Brew Blog: Independence Jasperilla Old Ale
As I mentioned back in June, while writing about a Camp Beer event, Old Ale is kind of an oddball. From what I understand, nobody really knows what it is, and brewers are left to their own devices and historical notes and anecdotes to fashion their own versions of this…
Local Music Turkey of the Year: Mike Kelley
Taken from our annual cover story on the Turkeys of the Year. From savior to pariah in less than a year: Promoter Mike Kelley is the Rick Perry of the local music scene. When legendary Montrose favorite Numbers looked to be in trouble, Kelley and his OnStage Events stepped in,…
Health Department Roundup
This week people across the country will remember just how much cooking can suck. Imagine being a chef or restaurateur, trying to cook for many more diners than the average Thanksgiving party. And keeping things clean for the Health Department while you do it. And not making a whole lot…
UT Sports, George Greanias: The Turkeys of the Year Runners-Up
Not everyone can be a winner. Not everyone can be such a loser that they become a Houston Press Turkey of the Year. But while we don’t give out participation ribbons, we do think there were some candidates who only barely eked out our 2011 winners. So we salute these…
Bartender Chat: Adrienne Byard of Grand Prize
I first met Adrienne while visiting a friend in New York in 2009. She was working at an art gallery in the Lower East Side for the summer, and after the internship was over, she moved back to Austin to finish school at St. Edwards, getting her degree in photography…
The X Factor: Judges’ Deadlock! America Decides
Last night on The X Factor we got a taste of what it means when America’s votes have a direct impact on determining which contestant goes home. After performances by Kelly Clarkson and Bruno Mars, and The Big Ensemble Number performed by The Remaining Contestants, we get right down to…
French Onion Soup & Deathbugs: Our Nine Musical Turkeys Of 2011
Danzig Shame on us for thinking that a Danzig show would go off without a hitch, and infinite shame on Glenn Danzig for the debacle that was his “appearance” at Fun Fun Fun Fest in Austin. We will never look at French onion soup ever again without bellowing “Mother”. Lulu…
American Horror Story: Who Is the Rubber Man?
Up until now, we would have said that each episode of American Horror Story served, in and of itself, as a separate and specific type of horror film. This week, we feel as if for the first time the series has actually become a series rather than a serial. It…
The 10 Best Food-Centric TV Episodes on Netflix, For Your Post-Thanksgiving Food Coma
Before I had cable, I invested in Netflix’s streaming video service. It continues to be the best $7 I spend each month, despite the service’s recent, public misadventures. And anyway, Netflix is where the new episodes of Arrested Development will eventually air, and that news more or less made up…
Art Attack Has Some Thanks to Hand Out This Turkey Day
Several of our writers in Art Attack wanted to say thanks about things in the Houston arts community that are special to them. Feel free to add any ones of your own. Jef With One F More than anything, I’m thankful for all the local artists I’ve met through the…
10 Pumpkin Dishes to Try in Houston: #1 Pumpkin Trio at Ninfa’s On Navigation
In 2010, I had a grand ol’ time scouring Houston for outstanding pumpkin dishes. One year later I’m older, definitely not wiser, and still in love with orange squash. So from now until Thanksgiving I’ve been counting down (again) 10 Pumpkin Dishes to Try in Houston. Forks at the ready!…
Welcome to the Latest, Greatest Must-Win Game for the Cougars
The Cougars are one game short of regular-season perfection. One game short of the team’s best win total. Ever. One game short of the Conference USA title game. A BCS Bowl is just over the horizon. Of course, the Cougars haven’t played the Tulsa Golden Hurricane. Tulsa’s overall record of…
What We Are Thankful For This Year
Like most years, 2011 has been…complicated. We’ve heard some great music, seen some killer shows and lost some amazing people. We also nearly lost one of our own. That’s how it goes in this world and it’s why the things we are thankful for take on added meaning as the…
A Winter Wardrobe Wishlist in the City of Perpetual Summer
By Thanksgiving, you can expect a few things — holiday music on repeat, the proliferation of red, green and silver, and lists themed around winter wear — the seven prettiest scarves, the best boots, tips on switching to a winter wardrobe. The latter’s fine and all, except here in Houston,…
Matt Schaub Is Done, So Gary Kubiak Can Show His “One Thing”
In the movie The Breakfast Club, there’s a scene where the five main characters are sitting around the library and the topic of conversation lands on “What’s the one thing you can do well?” As it turned out, the Geek was pretty good at making spaghetti, the Basket Case could…
Top 5 Songs About Whiskey
Whether it’s rye or bourbon, straight or blended, Irish, Scotch or Canadian, rock, country or classical, whiskey and warblers go way back. Even Stravinsky was quoted as saying “My God, so much I like to drink Scotch that sometimes I think my name is Igor Stra-whiskey.” In whiskey-related weird news,…
Chef Chat, Part 2: Sophie Elhage of Skewers Mediterranean Café & Grill
We’re back from the first installment of chef chat with Sophie Elhage and her husband and co-owner, Hadi of Skewers. EOW: So I hear you had a fire here…..
National Novel Writing Month Goes Gothic
National Novel Writing Month began in 1999 with just 21 participants. Since then it’s grown to more than 200,000, including two regular members of Houston Press’s Gothic Council, Sarah Fanning and Carmilla Voiez. The rule of the contest are simple. You have from November 1 to November 30 to turn…
ICYMI: The 10 Worst Things You Will Face at Your Family Thanksgiving
Don’t get us wrong — we love Thanksgiving. Being with family and friends, eating great food, watching football — it’s hard to beat. But it does come with some trials and tribulations. We put together a list last year of what to look out for. Not all of these happen…
So Long, Black Eyed Peas. And Take _____________ With You
I suppose “taking a break” before that Super Bowl performance was too much to ask: The Black Eyed Peas have denied rumors that they are breaking up but say they are taking a break from making music together for a while. “We are not breaking up,” band member Taboo told…
Bye Bye, Black Eyed Peas. And Take _____________ With You
I suppose “taking a break” before that Super Bowl performance was too much to ask: The Black Eyed Peas have denied rumors that they are breaking up but say they are taking a break from making music together for a while. “We are not breaking up,” band member Taboo told…
Some Strings Attached: Puppets In Music Videos
The Muppets had a successful and profitable opening yesterday, proving that after 30 years of television and movies, Kermit still has his acting chops. Jim Henson’s premiere Muppets motion picture, The Muppets Movie, came out in June of 1979. The film was the first to feature a leading cast of…
The Great Escape: 8 Ways to Ditch Your Family This Thanksgiving
The holiday of plenty is finally here. The house smells of cranberries and fried delights. Your home is a bustle of relatives, cousins, aunts… neighbors? All of a sudden a severe panic envelops your body: it’s only 8 a.m. You have an entire day to spend with these people -…
Chiles and Chili: The Most Obvious Episode of Top Chef: Texas Yet
Above is is how I imagine the initial planning meetings for Top Chef: Texas went. I’m also imagining future episodes where the contestants will be forced to shoot their own horses and grill them over a fire of cactus paddles. Let’s go, Top Chef: Texas! DO THIS SHIT RIGHT. Until…
Anal Exceus, Shi’tia Alford: More of the Best Names We’ve Found In Harris County Records
Every now and then, Hair Balls reports the oddest, funniest, and most puzzling names we come across in Harris County official records — usually but not always the crime reports. As always, a couple of disclaimers are in order. Not all, indeed not necessarily any, of these people were convicted…
TXU Energy Turkey Trot
You’ll have to get up early if you want to participate in the third largest footrace in the city, the TXU Energy Turkey Trot (the race starts at 6 a.m.). The annual event benefits Sheltering Arms Senior Services, an organization dedicated to making sure that Houston’s elderly continue to live…
62nd Annual Holiday Parade Presented by H-E-B
The holiday season is ushered into Houston by the 62nd Annual Holiday Parade Presented by H-E-B. This year’s parade includes musical performances by Booboo Stewart, who plays Seth Clearwater in the Twilight Saga film series, singing a duet with his sister Fivel, and hip-hop artist Pit Boss. The nearly 400,000…
26th Annual Uptown Holiday Lighting
Get a great start on the Christmas season at the 26th Annual Uptown Holiday Lighting, where half a million brilliant, twinkling lights cover some 80 Christmas trees lining Post Oak Boulevard. Santa Claus himself will flip the switch, with a little help from some costumed characters, including several giant reindeer…
Tender Buttons
Mildred’s Umbrella Theater, one of Houston’s most lively experimental theater groups, is named after a Gertrude Stein poem from the collection Tender Buttons. And so it makes perfect sense that they would be producing a show called Tender Buttons: A Derriere-Garde Rock & Cooking Cabaret, a musical based on that…
Houston Symphony: Vivaldi’s Four Seasons
The Houston Symphony delves into the story behind the music in a special one-night-only performance of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, one of the best-loved works in the classical canon. During the first half of Four Seasons, narrator Jim Johnson and actors Nicky Mondellini and Carolyn Johnson join the orchestra onstage for…
The Man Who Fell to Earth
Thomas Jerome Seabrook’s incredible David Bowie biography, Bowie in Berlin, begins its gripping look at one of the most productive and brilliant periods in the legendary artist’s life by recounting the filming of The Man Who Fell to Earth, Nicholas Roeg’s adaptation of Walter Tevis’s bleak science-fiction novel. At the…
The Nightmare Before Christmas Sing-Along
Take a break from holiday shopping with a special sing-along screening of Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas. Burton teamed with composer Danny Elfman for the animated film. It tells the story of Jack Skellington, king of Halloweentown, who is bored with the monotony of his holiday-themed town. When Jack…
Cinema Bomar: Drugs in the Tenderloin
November’s Cinema Bomar showcase will feature Drugs in the Tenderloin, which is about the connection between the drug scene and the gay communities of San Francisco. Other films on the program will be announced. And coming up in December is Free Enterprise – What’s That? 8:30 p.m. Domy Books, 1709…
It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play
George Bailey’s story gets a twist at the Texas Repertory Theatre’s presentation of the newly adapted It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play. The fictional station WBFR re-creates a radio performance of the holiday classic onstage, complete with sound effects, commercials and the audience acting as the in-studio audience…
Parabelle
Parabelle started out as a side project by former Evans Blue front man Kevin Matisyn, and while his former band mates may be out there doing big numbers, for our money Parabelle has the better sound. The band maintains the energy of the hard rock, Buzz-worthy set, but adds a…
Street Dogs
Part Dropkick Murphys, part angry pit bulls on the loose with guitars, Boston punks Street Dogs take no political prisoners. Led by former Dropkicker Michael McColgan, this band’s brand of punk is straight out of 1977: torrid, angry, political and almost perfect for our time. A straight-out cry of blue-collar…
Capsule Art Reviews: “Book Report” “Insperity Golf Experience” “Matt Magee,” “New Formations: Czech Avant-Garde Art and Modern Glass from the Roy and Mary Cullen Collection,” “Oil Sketches by Kim Dingle,” “Working in the Abstract: Rethinking the Literal”
“Book Report” As the electronic word slowly usurps the printed word, books are becoming increasingly fetishized. “Book Report,” organized by Kinzelman Art Consulting in the lobby of the Bank of America building, brings together a host of book-related works. Given all the recent bank bailouts (and my personal animosity towards…
White Ghost Shivers
If you were a fan of the Squirrel Nut Zippers in the ’90s, have a severe addiction to HBO’s Boardwalk Empire or just prefer the Roaring Twenties to the Über-Depressing ’10s, then Austin’s White Ghost Shivers are more than likely about to be your favorite band. This vaudeville-informed group, seven…
Good Seed
Take a sneak peek inside the food truck along with owners Matti Merrell and Rodney Perry. On a sunny Friday afternoon, a woman stood on her tiptoes as she peered eagerly into Green Seed Vegan’s tidy, cabbage-colored truck after placing her order. Green Seed’s owner, Matti Merrell, chatted easily with…
Buxton
It goes without saying that Buxton is one of Houston’s best acts, and has been since we first saw the group play at Avant Garden (then Helios) an embarrassing number of years ago. Though they’re generally quiet and laid-back, there’s no denying the fire they deliver from the depths of…
MiMoSa
In just one short year, Tigran MiMoSa has gone from bass-bombing small clubs and playing free shows at record stores to headlining the Fillmore in Denver. His most recent album, 58 Degrees, showcases his drum-and-bass influences while hinting at his progression into a finer, more complex realm of musical composition…
The Wylie Llama for President
The great Americano-Texican balladeer Kinky Friedman has run for Governor of Texas, so why shouldn’t Ray Wylie Hubbard, a.k.a. “the Wylie Llama,” run for office? A man of wide popularity, undeniable gravitas and Zen-like literary skills who commands almost universal respect, Hubbard could either go straight for the Presidency given…
Entitled to What?
Two years ago, Monica Ochoa received a letter saying her three-year-old daughter would be admitted to her local public school’s pre-kindergarten program if there was enough room. “We bought uniforms, supplies, everything,” Ochoa says. Then just a couple weeks before the start of school, someone called to say there wasn’t…
Capsule Stage Reviews: Cinderella, A Contemporary American’s Guide to a Successful Marriage @ 1959, Dear Santa, My Fair Lady, Oliver Twist
Cinderella The Ensemble Theatre’s take on Cinderella gives the fairy tale a lively, rollicking treatment. There are moments of poignant beauty in this production, but broad humor and even broader acting take center stage. Cinderella is portrayed by Teacake, reprising the role she played a year ago, and she brings…
Turkeys of the Year 2011
In many ways, the Houston Press’s annual Turkeys of the Year competition is like the NFL – although some entrants are more successful than others, and therefore are considered favorites going into each year, there are mechanisms in place to insure parity and a slew of surprise contenders. In the…
Mahnahmahmeh
Desperately trying to appeal to not just the Gen X’ers who grew up with Kermit, Miss Piggy and Dr. Teeth, but also the tykes who’ve never even heard of Jim Henson, The Muppets has none of the easy confidence of the original TV show or the 1979 movie. Those Carter-era…
A Boy, His Toy and the History of Cinema
Martin Scorsese’s first foray into big-budget family filmmaking — as well as his inaugural effort in 3-D — Hugo is a personal statement disguised as a sellout. Based on Brian Selznick’s 2007 illustrated kids’ book The Invention of Hugo Cabret, Hugo centers on its title character, played by Asa Butterfield,…
Hard Times at the Chron
SPACED CITY Hard Times at the Chron Unbleached towels in the bathroom By Richard Connelly The Houston Chronicle has been hit with the same rough economy as others in the print media. Sometimes that leads to layoffs. Sometimes it leads to cutting back on the janitorial services. A new memo…
Are More Mexicans Becoming Conservative?
Dear Mexican, GOP Senator Mel Martinez authored a decent compromise bill to resolve the growing illegal immigration problem in the United States. He broke up the group of 11 million illegals into three classes, depending on the amount of time that they were in the country. Those in the United…
Thanks, Houston
Fitzgerald’s and Band Camp I’m thankful for two things in Houston: The Fitzgerald’s open mikes on Wednesday nights and Bandcamp’s Houston search tool, because I like to feel like I am Al Percolo from The Scout, that 1994 movie with Albert Brooks as a minor league baseball scout. The Fitz…
Hugs and Hoots
Eight seconds ago, Cheryl Menjivar, a 35-year-old employee at Texas Children’s Hospital, was sitting on a bull. And now she’s lying on her face. Her husband, a square-framed man with strong hands and an honest smile, looks on in amusement. Several family members and friends do as well. A few…
Fallcore XI
Houston hardcore and metal institution Fallcore returns to Fitzgerald’s for its eleventh bruising all-nighter. Anyone who grew up punk in Houston in the early 2000s spent time at a handful of Fallcore festivals, like me — I was indoctrinated back sometime in 2001 upstairs at Fitz to the strains of…
