“Quieres Bailar?” Cafe Tacuba Packs ‘Em In at House of Blues
Save a performance at last year’s Latin Grammys, Mexican rock superstars Café Tacuba finally made their way back to Houston after a two-year absence with Grammy-winning tunes from their most recent album, Sino, and the light show to match. The band’s show at the sold-out House of Blues Tuesday night…
Give Something Better Than a Fruitcake This Year
Etsy, the online marketplace where the artsy-crafty types among us can sell their handcrafted and homemade gifts to the world, is good for gifts other than just jewelry or throw pillows. Their “edible” section is stocked full of yummy goodies — and now includes baked goods, too. So don’t fret…
Matt Houston Might Be Headed To DVD: 10 Reasons Why Its Title Sequence Is The Single Best Thing Hollywood Has Ever Made
Joyous news reaches us from the website TV Shows on DVD — as the breathless, exclamation-pointed headline puts it, “Matt Houston — Industry Gossip Indicates that the Classic `80s Series is Being Eyed For DVD!”Because really, what else would Hollywood be gossiping about other than the mere possibility of Matt…
Thanks for the Ajver
My gorgeous Bosnian friend Tanya Bozic and her daughter Anika joined us for Thanksgiving dinner. Tanya brought a homemade poppy seed cake for dessert. She also brought us a gift — a bottle of Biljana Makedonski Hot Ajver, her favorite commercial variety. The bottle says “homemade” on the outside. “It’s…
Uptight, Something to Remember Houston’s Teenage Kicks By
Last week, Houston’s own Team Science released the final posthumous release by late local mod-punks Teenage Kicks. Sadly, the band broke up in late March and the band members have gone on to other bands and projects such as the blues-stomping Passengers and the monthly Fistful of Soul night at…
More Help For Our Hard-Core Harry Potter Trivia Contest
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince comes out on DVD Tuesday, and we here at the Houston Press are giving them away.Well, we’re not actually giving them away — we’re making you earn them.At 6 p.m. Friday we’ll be posting one hard-ass Harry Potter trivia quiz, and the first three…
Elated over Elote
Elote con crema, or “corn in a cup,” is a popular way to eat corn-on-the-cob at the little stands and taco trucks that serve roasted corn around the city. The corn-on-the-cob cocktail is made by slicing roasted corn fresh off the cob and mixing it in a cup with such…
Health Department Roundup: Mamma Mia! Edition
While most of us were incapacitated by days of too much turkey, family and football, inspectors took a hit on the Italian family restaurants in town. Mia Bella Trattoria (320 Main St.) was found to have insufficient ventilation and walls/ceiling not maintained in good repair. Walls/ceiling and floor were not…
Lonesome Onry and Mean: Stoney Edwards, Another Lost African-American Country Singer
In our previous story regarding black artists who took the country music route, we omitted a huge talent who, though he never achieved Charley Pride’s level of commercial success, was a respected artist among those in the know in Nashville. Stoney Edwards was a farm boy from Oklahoma who eventually…
Twelve Days of Giftmas: Jewelry
Sick of corporate Christmas? Try shopping local. Hair Balls presents a 12-part series highlighting ideas for holiday gifts made and sold in Texas. If you aren’t familiar with Esty.com, you should be. The four-year-old website is the best online source for anything handmade, from warm knitted scarves to artwork to…
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. Guns and Tacos: Jay discovers one of the most charming things about…
Noel Contendre: 11 Musical Christmas Crimes and Misdemeanors
It’s beginning to sound a lot like Christmas – everywhere we go – and most people probably assume it’s all glad tidings of peace on Earth and goodwill towards men. Not Rocks Off. We did a little digging, polled our writers and the Houston Press editorial staff, and came up…
Game Time: Tiger, Why Can’t You Be More Like Jeter?
I have very few sports allegiances that drive me to either end of the emotional spectrum, especially professionally. Honestly, in the business that I’m in, I think it actually helps me think and assess things clearer than if I had a diehard rooting interest.Sure, I root for the Houston teams,…
Crave Cupcakes for the Holidays
Crave Cupcakes in Uptown Park dropped a dozen cupcakes off at Eating…Our Words this morning to give us a chance to try out its special holiday flavors: gingerbread with cream cheese frosting and eggnog with nutmeg frosting (with a perky green and red holly replica on top). Also included in…
From Fort Hood To Iraq, The Army’s Dealing With Stress-Related Fatal Incidents
A lot of people were shocked by the shootings at Fort Hood. Should they have been?Rick Anderson of Village Voice Media takes a look at how the Army handles issues of soldiers under stress, including a sergeant from Texas man who shot up a clinic in Iraq. In many respects,…
Bartender Chat – Cheri McCann of Shiloh Club
The prevailing wisdom on Shiloh Club (1321 Studewood St.): It’s a hole-in-the-wall bar where regulars drink Bud Light like water and wouldn’t dream of ordering liquor – certainly not the Bubble Gum Vodka special being advertised the other night. Would they? A casual conversation with Cheri McCann led us to…
How Not To Repair Your Credit
You might think that a business couldn’t squeeze much money out people who are tens of thousands of dollars in debt, but where there’s a will, and perhaps a paucity of ethics, there’s a way.This week’s Houston Press cover story takes a look at a rift between two “debt invalidation”…
Aftermath: Aging Industrialists Skinny Puppy at Warehouse Live
Aftermath never thought that the day would come when he would leave a Skinny Puppy totally blank and content. He’s either completely burned out on shock over this past year of seeing Yanni and Insane Clown Posse, or the industrial train has officially come into passé station. That’s the strange…
Bayou Body Count: Thanksgiving Murders On The Menu
While most folks over the long weekend were celebrating the season of thanks and giving, a few guys out there had their hearts filled with the spirit of taking and murder.On Friday night, a pair of armed men tried to rob 34-year-old Jonathan Young in Young’s home at 6719 Briargate…
Best Barbecued Brisket in Texas
“What’s the secret of smoking brisket?” I asked Cecil Sanchez, proprietor and pit boss at Mustang Creek B-B-Q, the source of my favorite barbecued brisket. “Practice,” he said as he carved me some fatty-end meat for a sandwich. “I’ve been doing this every day for 30 years.” I can’t say…
Artist of the Week: Lady Lux, Female Houston R&B Trio… and NOT Destiny’s Child
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. Let’s just get it out of the way…
Gene Locke The Lobbyist
If you missed last night’s debate then you missed a good one. In fact, it was the best one to date. Check the live-blog coverage to catch up on the juicy details.Gene Locke’s background and possible conflicts of interests were brought up midway through the debate via a question submitted…
Spotlight on Desserts
With winter comes that extra sumpthin’-sumpthin’ that keeps us warm at night. It’s called the dessert layer. That’s right: As the temperature drops, so does our metabolism. (Thud.) And while we fall in and out of love with desserts on a regular basis, the current State of Sweet around town…
Aftermath: Jackson Browne Doesn’t Do “Rehab Versions,” Does Do “Free Bird” at Verizon
Aftermath is a child of the 70’s, graduating from high school during our country’s bicentennial year. The last half of that decade, our patron saint of teen angst was Jackson Browne – even in our punk-rock heyday, Jackson was our go-to guy when we really wanted to brood. His first…
Cougar Basketball So Far: Lots Of Offense, Not Much D
The question mark for the Houston Cougars basketball team coming into this season was the defense. Head coach Tom Penders noted that when interviewed during practice before the season, and he reiterated it after the first game against Nicholls State.And it’s something he reiterated after his team had to come…
Stirred and Shaken: Ernie’s on Banks’s Krappy Kicker
With apologies to those who had legitimately rough childhoods, the Houston Oilers damn near scarred me for life as a kid. I’ve actually blocked out some of the more traumatic episodes from my memory. Grim hospital visits, dead pets, divorce — all that stuff is clear, but I couldn’t tell…
Aftermath: A Lesson In Emotional Violence With Taking Back Sunday at House of Blues
“It’s going to be so different without Fred,” that’s all he kept saying as we entered downtown. “Who?” was the response he got in return. “Fred…I can’t pronounce his last name, but he was the lead guitarist, you can totally tell which songs he wrote in comparison to the others,…
I Wanna Be Your Dog (Or Cat): Singing This Song For You
Hair Balls was talking the other day with an acquaintance who has incredible luck with the ladies. Scratch that — it’s not luck, really, because “luck” suggests that a dude who looks like Quasimodo could get lucky some day and hook up with Heidi Klum.No, this dude’s situation is based…
The Mayoral Debate: Live (-Blogged) and In Person
Tonight, we’ll be covering the Houston Mayoral Election Debate Round 1 (if both parties actually show up this time). Stay tuned as our live coverage commences below at 8 p.m. Houston Mayoral Election Debate Round 1…
Attention Houston-Area High School Musicians: Want to Win $500?
Hey, kids! Put down those damn Rock Band controllers for a second and listen up. Then go pick up some real instruments. Rocks Off is proud to announce that, alongside Fuse and Sonic Bids, we are co-sponsoring the first annual Texas High School Rock Off, set for Friday, January 8,…
El Pinto Green Chile Sauce
Believe it or not, there are some foods you can’t get in Houston. I’m told Santa Fe Flats (21542 Hwy. 249) is pretty much the only place in town where you can get true New Mexican-style food (with the exception of a few dishes at Chuy’s). The second-best option, recommended…
For TDCJ: How To Tell If That Child Molester In A Wheelchair Is Faking And About To Escape
The reward has gone up to $15,000 for tips leading to the arrest of the child molester who escaped from TDCJ by hiding a gun and pretending to be wheelchair-bound. (Trenchant analysis by a TDCJ spokeswoman: “[Arcade Joseph] Comeaux was in a wheelchair, which he claimed was necessary for his…
Perky Jerky: A Caffeinated Snack
I got a couple packages of Perky Jerky in the mail from somebody trying to promote the stuff. It tastes like your average ordinary beef jerky, but it sure makes your coffee more potent — that’s because the stuff contains caffeine. Sounds like road trip food to me. The enormous…
Brew Blog: Breckenridge Brewery’s Agave Wheat
In honor of the Colorado Department of Tourism’s decision to extend the deadline for its “Snow-Less” contest, a search for those who have never experienced snow, we’ve picked a beer from the Rockies to review this week. But like we feel about the contest, which somehow assumes warm-blooded people will…
The VY Guys Are Smiling Now
Like a great many former Oilers fans with a concurrent Longhorn allegiance, I am no Houston Texans fan. I tried for a few years, right up until the 2006 draft. The selection of Mario Williams was it for me. I took a solemn vow then to never support the Texans…
My Table Has A Big Black Penis On It
You don’t exactly have to be George Lois to design an effective food magazine cover; just slap a close-up of something delicious on there and call it a day. That’s why we’re giving extra props to the staff of My Table for the adventurous cover of their December-January issue, which…
Aftermath: Metric’s New Wave Coming-Out Party at Warehouse Live
[Ed note: Yes, we stayed for the entire show this time, but then… oh, never mind.] When Aftermath first walked into Warehouse Live Monday night, we figured there must be some sort of secret Canada-to-Houston information pipeline we’d never heard about. We didn’t think Toronto-born quartet Metric was all that…
Wild Duck Gumbo Recipe: Part One
The first step in making a great wild duck gumbo is to go shoot some ducks. And this is the time of year for it. That’s why I climbed into an airboat last Saturday morning at 5:30 a.m. and set out across the mudflats of South Bay near Aransas Pass…
My Table Has A Big Black Penis On It
You don’t exactly have to be George Lois to design an effective food magazine cover; just slap a close-up of something delicious on there and call it a day. That’s why we’re giving extra props to the staff of My Table for the adventurous cover of their December-January issue, which…
Cold and Flu Season Beware
As if we didn’t have enough to worry about with the H1N1 virus, now we have to watch out for the common cold. And, let’s face it, Houstonians are not meant for winter. Our magic cure – kimchi. It’s good for colds and the occasional holiday hangover. You will just…
The Gnarly Musical Ingredients That Make Up Skinny Puppy
Tonight Canadian industrial legends Skinny Puppy take the stage at Warehouse Live, and Rocks Off will be there to cover every single corpse-paint and blood-spotted inch of the show. We snagged a few videos of bands that who paved the way for cEvin Key and Nivek Ogre to make Puppy’s…
Game Time: Tiger Woods And John Daly Role Reversal…Oh, This Is Gonna Be Good
I have to admit, I love a good train wreck. When you’re driving down the freeway, and traffic is at a standstill because there’s a five-car pile up on the OTHER side of the interstate, I’m the guy who’s slowing everything down, taking it all in. My top two priorities…
For World AIDS Day: U2’s “One” and Some Pretty Sobering Statistics
Rocks Off knows it’s all about the H1N1 these days, but according to the World Health Organization, only 42 percent of the estimated 9.5 million people worldwide who need antiretroviral therapy are currently receiving treatment. Please remember the HIV/AIDS charity or support group of your choice today. We now return…
The Shameless Chef: Wiener Soup
This week’s entry is pretty easy. In fact, it’s so easy that, quite against character, I’m going to ask you to use a spice that’s… well, it’s pretty rare. But it’ll be worth the trouble (more on that later). You will need: 1 can of chili1 pack of 4 hot…
Here’s Some Help In Winning A Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince DVD
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince comes out in DVD a week from today, and we are giving away three of them to only the most devoted Potter fans.We’ve asked a local expert to work up a 20-question quiz. Now, we’ve read all the books and seen all the movies,…
Hodad’s: Nation’s Best Burger?
Some say Hodad’s in San Diego has the best hamburger in the country. Just before I flew out to California, I was watching the Jay Leno show. That night Leno did a Top 10 list with Guy Fieri, the spiky-haired star of Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. Leno asked Fieri to…
Get Lit: Miss O’Dell: My Hard Days and Long Nights with The Beatles, The Stones, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, and the Women They Loved by Chris O’Dell with Katherine Ketcham
In one of the most rollicking and enjoyable classic rock memoirs of recent years, Chris O’Dell offers scores of interesting first-hand experiences with a who’s who of icons, as well as her own keen observations on their personalities even hardcore fans will find fresh. But just who, you might ask,…
Sonoma For the Holidays: Join Us At Our Holiday Wine Tasting
Over at Eating Our Words, we’re ringing in the holidays in style…by hosting our very first event for you, our readers. We’ll be at Sonoma Wine Bar on December 19 from 6 to 11 p.m. for a holiday wine tasting with so much more than just wine — and we hope…
Nerd Alert!! National Geographic Garage Sale Coming To Town
In this day and age, when it is absolutely impossible to find any decent pictures of bare breasts, National Geographic continues to serve a noble purpose. It no longer involves luring young boys into reading about far-away countries and cultures as they feverishly look for topless native women, but it…
Lonesome Onry and Mean: Between Darius Rucker and Charley Pride, There Was Otis Williams
Darius Rucker’s award as the Academy of Country Music’s New Artist of the Year recently made him the first black artist to take a significant country award since Charley Pride ruled Nashville in the early ’80s. Rucker’s “Don’t Think I Don’t Think About It” marked the first time a black…
Parker And Locke Tussle Over Cops And Trust
Who do you trust on Public Safety?The Annise Parker and Gene Locke campaigns released their initial runoff ads this week. In Parker’s “Leader” ad she proudly acknowledges that the Houston Chronicle has endorsed her and decides to concentrate on public safety as the theme for her message.The ad comes with some…
King of Clear Lake
888 Bistro (16744 El Camino Real) looks like a giant castle. While it was going up, we wondered what the hell it was, until the protective golden lions planted themselves in the parking lot. Ah, 888 Bistro! We couldn’t believe the classy build-out of this rendition of the popular foodie…
Ask A Rapper: Jett I Masstyr, or hasHBrown, or What’s His Name, on Rap Nomenclature and Phonetics
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…
Flashback: Taking Back Sunday at House of Blues
Long Island emo veterans Taking Back Sunday brought the reborn sounds of their latest album New Again to House of Blues Monday night with uplifting Floridians Anberlin in tow. Stay tuned for a review…
All I Want For Christmas Is A Football Coach
Dear Santa Claus:I haven’t asked much from you in the past few years. So since I’ve tried to be a good person, I’m hoping that you’ll do me a solid and fulfill my wishes this Christmas. Especially since I’m not asking for Ashley Judd, like in the past, but since…
Where Are We Drinking?
This landmark should be instantly recognizable to any true Houston bar connoisseur. Can you figure out where we’re drinking this week? Leave your best guess in the comments section below…
Distant Early Warning: The Appleseed Cast, Cut Chemist, Norah Jones, Sondre Lerche, Torche, etc.
Abacabb, Upon A Burning Body, Molotov Solution, Dr. Acula: Fri., Jan. 29. Meridian. Al Di Meola: Sat., Feb. 13. Dosey Doe Coffee Company. Alpha Rev, The Fox Derby, Tyagaraja, The Language Room: Fri., Jan. 8. Warehouse Live. The Appleseed Cast: Fri., Feb. 26. Rudyard’s. The Bellamy Brothers: Fri., Dec. 18…
Pop Rocks: Tiger By The Tail
With apologies to William Blake:Tiger! Tiger! Feeling lowIn the forests of OrlandoWhat errant hydrant (or 5-wood)Put that dent in your Caddy’s hood?That silliness out of the way, here are some thoughts on the whole Eldrick Woods…thing.1. The instantaneous news cycle really is something to behold. Early reports on Friday –…
The Music of True Blood, Episode 1.7: Getting Crispy With Johnny Cash’s “The Fourth Man In the Fire”
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,…
Architecture Gone Awry: Houston’s 8 Ugliest Buildings
The old HISD Central Services building on Richmond — called the Taj Mahal by HISD employees, both for its massive size and the massive budget that went into building it — was torn down in 2007. One of the few examples of Brutalist architecture in Houston — the Alley Theater…
Last Call For Art: Two Christmas Shows Already Ending
We’re not even into December yet, and two holiday productions are already ending their runs. Not to worry, there’s lots, and lots, and — we’re not kidding — lots of other Christmas-themed entertainment on the schedule, some going on until after the new year. Still, these two shows are well…
This Week In Deliciousness
Welcome back to the weekly roundup here at Eating Our Words, where we can never remember whether or not you’re supposed to hyphenate the word “roundup.” Perhaps we should call this installment “This Week In Thanksgiving,” because boy oh boy, did we ever get into the holiday spirit. Well, what…
Buyer Beware: Bands With Different Lead Singers Are Almost Never Up to the Original Standards
A few Saturdays ago, Rocks Off was in the grocery store a few blocks from our house, slumming around Oak Forest wearing sandals and an old Misfits T-shirt when a group of junior-high punk rockers approached and applauded us for our good taste. We got to talking about the band,…
Openings and Closings
Despite the brief interruption of Thanksgiving, several restaurants opened this week just in time for the holidays. Especially busy are downtown’s Houston Pavilions, where Lucky Strike Lanes and Pete’s Dueling Piano Bar have been hosting healthy crowds while several restaurants have opened. Among those are III Forks (1201 Fannin) — which…
November 2009: The Month in Photos
A month full of festivities, festivals and feasts comes to a close on Monday. Check out our favorite photos from the month in our slideshow…
Five Spot: Where’s Johnny? For That Matter, Who’s Johnny?
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. We came up with a new game. It’s called “Where’s Johnny?” The premise is…
Happy Hour Scene: Little Woodrow’s
You made it. Thanksgiving is over. You politely ate your aunt’s casserole, and you even helped your mom clean the dishes. Now, it’s time to celebrate an extra day off from work, and Little Woodrow’s is here to help. From noon to 7 p.m. today, Little Woodrow’s in Midtown (2306…
Skip Black Friday IRL, And Do It Online
Hark, singing herald angels! Do you hear what we hear? Could it be the carols of pure bliss lyrically carousing through the annals of our fair city this fine Black Friday? Yes, indeed, ’tis the season for joy to our world! It’s the sound of freedom, we reckon. Freedom from…
Rocks Off’s YouTube Video Explosion 2009: U2, Steve Earle, 10th Grade Cutie and Everything In Between
This year Rocks Off added a few Flip cameras to our devastatingly amazing blogatory weapons. We have been taking as many live videos at shows as we possibly can, and what better way to show our thanks to the Flip this Thanksgiving weekend than by showcasing its powers? From Ghostland…
Bernard Says “Hi” and “Pass the Dumplings”
We met Bernard Brunon for dim sum at Empress Pavillion restaurant in Los Angeles Chinatown last week. After 18 years in Houston, the French artist accepted a job offer in Tinseltown a couple of years ago. Bernard was a familiar fixture on the Houston arts scene, and he told me…
Game Time: Thanksgiving Leftovers — Longhorns Vs, Aggies, Sports-Talk Shuffle, Best Bets
I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I want to belatedly thank everyone who listens to my show (3-7 weekdays on 1560 The Game, just in case), thank everyone who takes the time to read my posts here on Hair Balls, and thank all of the athletes, coaches, and fellow…
Wondering What Tonight’s Puscifer Show Might Be Like? Check This Out…
Well, well, well. This promises to be most interesting indeed. My my, Maynard, my my. 8 p.m. at Jones Hall, 615 Louisiana, 713-227-3974 or www.livenation.com…
More Turmoil on the Sports Radio Dial: Jackson, Wexler Jump Ship From 610
Longtime SportsRadio 610 hosts Adam Wexler and Matt Jackson have jumped ship to rival AM-790, the Sports Animal. Houston Chronicle sports-media columnist David Barron believes the duo is destined to host a morning show on 790. The Wexler-Jackson team is notable for two things: each is more or less a…
Information on Tomorrow’s Lee Powers Benefit Featuring Devin the Dude and Lots More
Tomorrow afternoon, the friends of late Free Press Houston staff member Lee Powers will be holding a benefit for his family to cover their bills. The event is sure to bring in plenty of money, and every bit of the proceeds will be going directly to the Powers family. A…
Crawfish Ravioli at D’Amico’s
When we first heard about the crawfish ravioli at D’Amico’s Italian Market Café, we weren’t sure what to think other than, “That’s worth a try.” But watching the dish (and other homemade ravioli) being made in the cafe kitchen last week turned that thought into, “When do we eat?” The…
Great Place For A Water Main Break
You know what’s a great place to have a water main break on Black Friday?The corner of Westheimer and Hillcroft.That’s what happened early this morning; the water has stopped gushing out, but local businesses are without services and one southbound lane of Hillcroft has buckled and is closed to traffic.Just…
Grab a Bag of Oysters
I stopped by Louisiana Foods on Wednesday and bought a sack of oysters. I went for the giant-size super selects. These were harvested a couple of days ago in Matagorda Bay, and thanks to the sandy bottom, the oysters are much cleaner than the usual Galveston Bay catch. I served…
Lonesome Onry and Mean: That Sucking Sound You Hear? It’s KILT’s Upcoming “Ten Man Jam”
What a something-for-everyone mish-mash local radio station KILT’s annual “Ten Man Jam,” its tenth, is this year. For one thing, the two performers that Lonesome, Onry and Mean would most like to see are women: Miranda Lambert and young Nashville phenom Michelle Branch. KILT might want to consider a name…
Double Secret Hangover Cure
The holiday season is upon us. How well are you prepared? Oh, we’re not talking about stocking stuffers, travel tips, Christmas sweaters, and place settings. Let’s take a minute to consider the oft-overlooked holiday thorn: the hangover. Holidays are for hugs, happiness, and that low-down dirty shame that follows a…
A Free Way To Get Around Downtown This Christmas Season
If ever there was a day to come downtown, it would be today — there’s no freaking traffic, the stores aren’t packed with the Black Friday madness of a Pearland Target, and you can get around for free.The Houston Downtown Management District is reviving the free trolley that used to…
Hiding on the Backstreets, Part 3: Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band’s Last (and Final?) Four Houston Shows
[Ed. Note: This is the final installment of our series reminiscing on Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band’s long history in Houston. See here for the ’70s, and here for the ’80s and ’90s.] April 18, 2000: E Street Band Reunion Tour, Compaq Center (the Summit) “It was on…
The Week In Photos
With street festivals and Thanksgiving in the air, our talented Flickr photographers had plenty of ripe subject matter the past week. Want to see your own work featured here each week? Then jump into the Houston Press Flickr pool. For more information on any of the photos below, including photographer…
For Black Friday, The Top 5 Videos Set In Shopping Malls
We at Rocks Off are a bit puzzled by the continued practice of cramming ourselves into local malls on “Black Friday,” or whatever we’re calling the day after Thanksgiving this year (we perfer to remember it as a Megadeth song). Wasn’t online shopping supposed to eliminate the need for wading…
Thanksgiving Recipe: Leftover Turkey and Mole Enchiladas
Turkey and mole is a classic Mexican combination. I tried to serve it for Thanksgiving dinner one year, but it got vetoed. Everybody in my family insists on traditional roast turkey for the big dinner. But leftovers are a different story. You get tired of eating turkey with stuffing and…
Bayou Body Count: Who Says Mothers And Daughters Can’t Work Together?
It’s not often that Bayou Body Count kicks off with a story that doesn’t include a dead body, but then again, it’s not often that we see a story about a mother-daughter team allegedly trying to hire an assassin to kill their husband/father.Needless to say, then, but Mr. David Shamp…
Traditional Brew at the Renaissance Fest
Most people know there was a time when beer was safer to drink than water. Fewer know what beer tasted like when that was true. Alan Ward, brewmaster of Pasadena-based Brigadoon Brewery, is working to change that, striving for historical accuracy in several 15th- or 16th-century ales. And in Ward’s…
Adopt Yourself A Cat This Weekend
If you’re in the market for cute, cuddly cats and kittens, then you’re in luck: No Kill Houston and Frisky Paws Rescue are organizing an adoption drive Friday-Sunday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., at 11173 Westheimer. (It’s in the Whole Foods shopping center, by the Houston Cat Hospital). “No Kill Houston organized…
He Said She Said: Songs We Are Least Thankful For, Part 2
This was the first year that He Said made a conscious effort to listen to what was going on outside his self-imposed protective bubble of metal and proto-punk. We sort of took it as one of the facets of our job to actually pay attention to the stuff that was…
The Pig Place
Baker’s Ribs, like the Wendy’s-turned-carwash-turned-abandoned-dry-cleaner it neighbors on Voss just north of Westheimer, looks like it should have gone out of business long ago. The crowd is sparse even at peak mealtimes, and rarely does anyone stay to dine at a vinyl cow print-covered table surrounded by clay molded pig…
Sports Things To Be Thankful For, And Not Thankful For
It’s that time of year when we start to look back at the events that have happened. And since it’s Thanksgiving, I thought I would give a list of sports things for which I’m thankful, as well as listing a few of the turkeys of the year. So…1. I’m thankful…
Bartender Chat: Natalie Hollon of Taps House of Beers
It’s no surprise to find mostly guys at Taps House of Beers (5120 Washington Ave.), and who could blame them? Beer, football and cute bartenders who know about beer and football: It’s like a Bud Light commercial but with better beer. Natalie Hollon has been bartending for more than seven…
Announcing Our Musical Turkey of the Year: You, the Concert-Going “Fans” of Houston
Rocks Off was looking at tour schedules recently when we realized that two artists we love, Danish band Mew and Swedish songstress El Perro Del Mar were planning trips to Texas. Trips that included stops in Austin, of course, and Dallas, and even San Antonio. But not Houston. Sometimes our…
When Black Friday Comes, I’ll Stand Down By The Door: Tips On Surviving
If the excessive Black Friday advertising has you overwhelmed, don’t fret, we’re here to help. We’ve been scrutinizing the quadrillion press releases and ads that have been bombarding us in e-mails, on TV, in last Sunday’s paper and in any other existing media form you can think of to come…
The H-Town Countdown, No. 9: E.S.G.’s Ocean of Funk
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. In last week’s feature we wrote about E.S.G., we mentioned briefly that, for the influence…
Black Friday Beat: 5 Best Mall Foods
Yesterday, we told you about the five biggest mistakes that shoppers make in the mall food court during Black Friday and the holiday season. Fat, empty calories, sodium, mounds of sugar — all the things that give you a temporary boost but bring you crashing down only an hour later. Christmas…
Glee: Rachel Goes Sad Clown Hooker
There were some great, brutally honest moments in last night’s Glee, “Hairography,” but it also felt like padding for the main event. We finally got to see the other two schools that the McKinley High glee club will compete against at sectionals, though they were first referenced weeks ago. Plus…
Pop Rocks: For Thanksgiving, Best Over-Eating Scenes In The Movies
Thanksgiving is weird. I understand the concept of wanting to show gratitude for the good things in our lives, and that preparing a family meal continues a tradition (allegedly) dating back to colonial times, but when did the “family meal” became an excuse to stuff ourselves until we have to…
Turkey Frying Pyrotechnics
Every Thanksgiving, a few dozen Bubbas burn their houses down trying to fry turkeys. If you are planning to fry a turkey, check out this safety video from UL. It illustrates the three classic turkey fryer mistakes–too much oil, runaway temperature, and failure to thaw the bird completely…
He Said She Said: Songs We Are Least Thankful For
She Said heard her first holiday song Monday, at around 9 p.m. in the Montrose Walgreens, and suddenly she was transported to her own personal hell – one filled solely with late-night pharmacy shoppers and Mariah Carey’s Christmas album on repeat. It’s that time of the year when all Americans…
The Ice at Discovery Green
A Discovery Green spokesperson confirmed that this event will proceed as planed. So what if Houston isn’t exactly prone to having white Christmases? We can still have an outdoor ice rink during the holiday season with The Ice at Discovery Green. Talking about the success of last year’s Ice, Discovery…
A Little Day Music: Sam Dinkins Holiday Jazz Concert
Houston percussionist and music educator Sam Dinkins III does his bit in sharing the sentiments of the season at today’s A Little Day Music: Sam Dinkins Holiday Jazz Concert. Expect swinging versions of Christmas carols and other holiday music. (Can you imagine “Jingle Bells” with a blistering sax solo?) After…
The Nutcracker
The Nutcracker is the classic Christmas story of a girl’s journey through a winter wonderland – but it’s not all sugar and spice. “We do the cannon fires and the big battle scene…we have a lot of pyrotechnics,” says Houston Dance Theatre Director Angela Jackson. “Parents tell me a lot,…
Santaland Diaries
David Sedaris’s Santaland Diaries is the world-renowned author/humorist’s tale of working as an elf in the Christmas wonderland display at Macy’s New York. So as you can guess, it’s a stocking filled with sarcasm and biting wit. Sedaris’s plastic wonderland is filled with stilted Santas, crying children and reason-for-the-season-forgetting parents…
The Producers
Mousy accountant Leo and failed Broadway producer Max have a plan: put on the worst play in the history of the world (a musical called Springtime for Hitler, in which the Germans win the war), watch it immediately fold and then abscond with all the investors’ money. It sounds like…
“Moonlight Towers”
(Editor’s note: In the following preview of “Moonlight Towers,” we mistakenly identified the artist as Austin Kleon. In fact, the artist is Andy Mattern. The Houston Press regrets the error.) Artist Austin Kleon calls himself “a writer who draws.” Well, for “Moonlight Towers,” his new exhibit at Lawndale Art Center,…
Cosmic Celluloid: 2001: A Space Odyssey
What if early on, human evolution had gotten a little nudge from some alien race? Say, in the form of a black monolith? That’s the premise of Stanley Kubrick’s landmark science-fiction film 2001: A Space Odyssey. The story begins when a group of cavemen discover the monolith, which sparks the…
Uptown Holiday Lighting
Department stores setting up wreaths and nutcrackers before freakin’ Halloween aside, Houston has no official start to the Christmas season, but the annual Uptown Holiday Lighting is a good marker. Thousands of Houstonians will attend this year’s event, which features half a million twinkling lights on 80 brilliantly lit trees…
17th Annual Turkey Trot
Thousands of hardy Houstonians will start Thanksgiving Day at the 17th Annual Turkey Trot. Races include 5K and 10K walks and runs for adults, and a Kids K. All proceeds once again benefit Sheltering Arms Senior Services. “By running in the Trot, you’re not only taking strides toward good health…
60th Annual H-E-B Holiday Parade
It doesn’t matter if you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, or Kwanzaa, get in the mood for the upcoming festivities at the 60th Annual H-E-B Holiday Parade. In addition to the usual balloon characters, marching bands and drill teams, this year’s incarnation features the Budweiser Clydesdales, Pancho Claus and his lowriders, and…
Adam Richman
This event has been cancelled. Please visit www.houseofblues.com for information about ticket refunds. Though he probably didn’t foresee a career path that would force him to pig out on a 72-ounce steak or an 11-pound, 30-inch meat-covered pizza for a national audience after graduating from the Yale School of Drama,…
Jackson Browne
Jackson Browne has been one of the great songwriters of the modern era. With his amazing and varied hits – “Doctor My Eyes,” “The Pretender,” “Running On Empty,” “Somebody’s Baby,” “Rock Me On the Water,” “Lawyers In Love” and Glenn Frey co-write “Take It Easy” – the man was a…
Christmas with Great Aunt
Fresh from their other raise-the-roof, packed-house collaborations for Ensemble Theatre – The Wiz, The Twelve Ways of Christmas and Ain’t Misbehavin’ – director/choreographer Patdro Harris and musical director Carlton Leake join their considerable theatrical forces with Houston writer Thomas Melancon for a world-premiere holiday musical at Ensemble, Christmas with Great…
Christmas Cruise on Buffalo Bayou
Get a different view of the holiday lights and decorations downtown on a Christmas Cruise on Buffalo Bayou aboard a festive pontoon boat (thanks to Houston’s warm weather and the Buffalo Bayou Partnership). The 30-minute rides start at the Sabine Promenade and loops around the downtown area before returning to…
Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas
Jim Carrey calls on his inner spoilsport for his performance in Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas, the movie about a happy, magical little town called Whoville and its ongoing battle with the Grinch, who hates all things yuletide. Their only hope is one little girl, Cindy Lou Who,…
Mud Tacos! with Mario Lopez and Marissa Lopez-Wong
Sure, to us Mario Lopez is that tall, dark and handsome guy on television, but to Houstonian Marissa Lopez-Wong, he’s just her big brother. Together the pair have written the children’s book Mud Tacos! The story follows a pair of kids named Mario and Marissa (what a coincidence!) having fun…
Thanksgiving with Santa
Turn Black Friday into something a little more fun. Try Thanksgiving with Santa at the Children’s Museum of Houston. Kids can start off filling a cornucopia with pretend fruits and vegetables, then create a make-and-take paper bag turkey. They’ll use their artistic talent in the float-making workshop, and proudly march…
Frosty the Snowman
Company OnStage’s contribution to the Christmas crush is Frosty the Snowman by Rob Howard. Frosty, the magical snowman who can walk, talk and dance, is happy spending time with his group of loving friends made up of local kids. But Magnificent Max throws a wrench into things when he tries…
Movies Houstonians Love: Meals on Reels: Big Night
You’ll be kissing the cook after Big Night, a tasty little movie from Joseph Tropiano and actor/director/writer Stanley Tucci (ER, The Devil Wears Prada, Julie & Julia). It’s the 1950s and two Italian brothers, Primo (Tony Shalhoub, TV’s Monk) and Secondo (Tucci), run a second-rate restaurant in New Jersey. Primo’s…
The Sound of Music Sing-a-Long
Theatre Under the Stars is presenting The Sound of Music a little later in the season, but to get everyone in the mood, there’s The Sound of Music Sing-a-Long. (Don’t bother pretending that you don’t know the words – you know you’re a closet Julie Andrews freak.) There’ll be prop-bags…
Middle-of-the-Road
The Road, Cormac McCarthy’s Pulitzer Prize-winning, Oprah-endorsed postapocalyptic survivalist prose poem — in which a father and his ten-year-old son traverse a despoiled landscape of unspeakable horror — was a quick, lacerating read. John Hillcoat’s literal adaptation, which arrives one Thanksgiving past its original release date is, by contrast, a…
What’s Wrong with Wes Anderson?
If we were back in Wes Anderson’s native Texas, the plate of food he’s showing little mercy might be called the Morning Roundup or the Wildcatter’s Special. Unfortunately for my wallet, we’re in a booth at Kate Mantilini on Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills and here it’s called Barry’s Breakfast…
Lightnin’ Hopkins may finally get his marker
Spaced City Lightnin’ Hopkins May Get His Marker Local seeks to honor bluesman By Chris Gray The Houston Press has written in the past about what a travesty it is that there is no official marker honoring perhaps the most famous and influential musician ever to call Houston home, country-blues…
SPECIAL LONG-LETTER EDITION
Dear Mexican, I live in a little village in England in a house that’s two hundred years old, just down the hill from a tiny church that’s so old that it was actually built before God said “Let there be light,” thus proving that Stephen Hawking is a blowhard. The…
CHARBAR’S MANHATTAN
Back in 1936, the year Duke’s of Hollywood Tailors opened downtown, there were no such things as woo-girls, light beer or house music. Going for a drink meant staking out a stool at a dimly lit bar and ordering a proper cocktail from a man with a white towel draped…
The Diary
In October 2008, I watched one of the most important people in my life die a horrible, prolonged death. Cancer, they said, was eating her insides. Nothing could be done. Metastasized, they told us. I never hated a word so much in my life. The last few weeks were the…
Dr. Strangelove
Maynard James Keenan wants to make it perfectly clear that his latest project isn’t a grab for any sort of brass ring. “People will say to me, ‘You should get back to doing Tool and A Perfect Circle, but I know you’re probably just going for the money with Puscifer,'”…
No Turkeys Allowed
Of the several periodic roundups of local releases we’ve done, our Fall ’09 crop is the best thus far. We’ve been impressed by what we’ve heard from newcomers and old hands alike, and it gives Noise great pleasure to offer the following holiday stocking-stuffer suggestions for that special Houston music…
What a Fox
Given his preference for static, symmetrical, scrupulously color-coordinated and art-directed compositions, it’s less surprising that Wes Anderson has gotten around to directing an animated feature than that it took him this long to do it. Likewise, if Anderson — a nostalgia merchant whose ostensibly contemporary films always seem to be…
J. Tillman
There is an undeniable spiritual element to J. Tillman’s latest record, Year in the Kingdom. The album’s opener and title track tells of a man beginning a journey toward something larger, something beyond the physical dimension. Tillman’s soulful yet relaxed voice quivers over a chord progression that is dragged and…
Back in Action
John Woo spent a decade navigating the big-studio minefield — longer than most foreign auteurs last in Hollywood before throwing in the towel. Beginning in earnest with an above-average Jean-Claude Van Damme programmer (Hard Target), Woo then produced one decent facsimile of his hyperkinetic Hong Kong neo-noirs (Face/Off), rose to…
Taking Back Sunday
Amityville, New York, emo-rockers Taking Back Sunday have gone through more lineup changes than Destiny’s Child over the years, and the consistency of the band’s music has suffered because of it. It’s been quite some time since TBS created an album as memorable as vitriolic debut Tell All Your Friends,…
Sleeping Hit
Fun family outings to the theater are as rare as snow in Houston. Most shows billed for the entire clan are as hackneyed as a TV rerun — how much Dickens can a body take in a lifetime? Happily, Stages Repertory Theatre’s Panto Sleeping Beauty is that special “family musical”…
Cursive
Listening to Cursive’s newest release, Mama, I’m Swollen, it’s hard to remember what the Omaha-based band sounded like a decade ago. Back then, Cursive was a near-emocore band: Singer Tim Kasher would occasionally break into screams over guitar breakdowns, while drums slowly pounded in the background. A few years later,…
Skinny Puppy
Skinny Puppy started in 1982 as a side project of cEvin Key’s old band, Images in Vogue. With Puppy becoming a full-time concern in 1986, Key and collaborators Nivek Ogre, Dwayne Goettel and Dave Oglivie spent the next several years putting out seven landmark releases, including Rabies and Too Dark…
Jackson Browne
Jackson Browne has been one of the great songwriters of the modern era. With his amazing and varied hits — “Doctor My Eyes,” “The Pretender,” “Running On Empty,” “Somebody’s Baby,” “Rock Me On the Water,” “Lawyers in Love” and Glenn Frey co-write “Take It Easy” — the man was a…
Turkeys of the Year
Ah, the halcyon days of 2003. George W. Bush still had an approval rating over 50 percent (barely, once the bump he got with the Saddam Hussein arrest vanished), the Texans still looked like they were improving instead of imploding and hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Ike were still a mere…
Mussel Mania
The Broken Spoke Café is known for its moules marinière, which is listed on the menu as “La Complet Belge”: moules frites, a glass of Stella Artois and all the homemade mayonnaise your heart desires for $24. Not bad! The mussels are served seven different ways. “Marinière,” or “in the…
Charcuterie at Frank’s Chop House
Whether it’s curing your own meats or butchering your own pig, artisanal preparations are making a comeback nationwide. At Frank’s Chop House (3736 Westheimer, 713-572-8600), the cold cuts ($19.95) are made in-house, and they’re superb. The platter comes with three thin slices of mortadella, a thick slice of pork-and-veal pâté…
Capsule Art Reviews: “A Room of Her Own”, “Howard Sherman: When gorillas shoot pigs”, “Tierney Malone: Third Ward Is My Harlem”
“A Room of Her Own” Group shows of women artists are exceptionally patronizing when the only connection between the works presented is that they were all made by someone with a vagina. That’s the organizing principle behind “A Room of Her Own” at McClain Gallery. The title is pretty awful…
Meat of the Matter
Back to Jail Concerned: Concerning “Jail Misery” [by Randall Patterson, November 18], our hearts go out to Monte Killian. We read that before he was jailed this fall, he had HIV, hepatitis C, a rock of crack in his mouth and a private physician who apparently missed signs of cancer…
Onion Patch Restaurant
“Iam from Iquitos, in the rain forest of Peru, where I was a schoolteacher,” says Dalia Longwell, who recently opened the Onion Patch Restaurant (10111 Hammerly, 713-722-0666). “I love to cook with onions, so when I was thinking about a name, my daughter told me to use ‘onion’ in the…
Red Blooded Fans
The fact that you’re unable to name, without Google’s help, one single football player of consequence who has ever come from the University of Central Florida seems like it would bode well for the University of Houston’s chances against them. Not to bog you down with sports analysis or anything,…
Capsule Stage Reviews: A Christmas Carol, the Musical, Miracle on 34th Street, The Nerd, The Story of My Life
A Christmas Carol, the Musical You’d be quite a Scrooge if you didn’t warm to this new musical version of Dickens’s classic little ghost story from Masquerade Theatre. Since its premiere in 1994, this tuneful adaptation has played on Broadway during the holiday season, and it was filmed in 2004…
