Houston’s “Techno Mom” & Her Wildly Inventive Defunkt Collective
Is the whole greater than the sum of its parts? In the last century, celebrity worship culture emerged. What came to pass helped to cultivate rivalries in the art world, especially between musicians. At the ripe old age of 257 years old, Keith Richards still waxes pretentiously about artists today…
Will People Still Be Listening to Led Zeppelin 30 Years From Now?
According to a little online research, Houston’s KRBE radio was the first station in the nation to use the term “Classic Rock” to describe the music it was playing on the air. That was in 1983, and KRBE exclusively played rock music from the 1960s through the early ’70s, responding…
This Week in Houston Food Events: Take a Holiday Cooking Class
All Week Long benjy’s Goes Back In Time In celebration of its 20th anniversary, benjy’s at 2424 Dunstan in The Village will be throwing things back to 1995, starting December 1. Waitstaff will be decked out in ’90s haute couture, and we expect to see plenty of plaid, ill-fitting clothing…
Doctor Who: Becoming a Burnt-Out Tear Junkie
Warning: Spoilers. Lots and lots of spoilers. We all knew that Jenna Coleman was making her exit from Doctor Who this season after a long and impressive performance as Clara Oswald that spanned the lives of two Doctors. The only question was how was she going to exit the Tardis,…
Despite the Last Explosion, Orbital Is Set to Launch Again
Orbital ATK obviously isn’t a company to let one (major) setback hold it back. Just over a year after Orbital’s Antares rocket thundered majestically off a launch pad at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in eastern Virginia and then rather unceremoniously exploded six seconds later, Orbital is about to launch another rocket…
Dish of the Week: Eggs Sardou
From classic comfort foods to regional standouts and desserts, we’ll be sharing a new recipe with you each week. Find other dishes of the week here. The week, we’re covering a New Orleans staple, Eggs Sardou. We’re sure you’ve heard of Eggs Benedict. Well, consider Eggs Sardou Benedict’s Creole cousin…
Houston’s 5 Best Weekend Food Bets: Black Friday, But For Beer
Craft Beer Black Friday: Declare Your Independence @ The Hay Merchant Friday, 10 a.m. (kitchen opens at 11 a.m.) to close 1100 Westheimer The Hay Merchant will be offering a killer selection of stouts—hand-picked from the cellar by Kevin Floyd—at ridiculously low prices (full list is available online). Floyd has also…
Watch These Two Young Stars in A Christmas Story the Musical
Based on the 1983 movie that’s achieved Christmas time cult film status, A Christmas Story the Musical is coming to the Hobby Center for the holiday season courtesy of Theatre Under the Stars. The 2-1/2 hour show (with intermission) tells the story of Ralphie Parker whose only wish for a…
Upcoming Houston Food Events: Sip Your Way Through Greece
Join Helen Greek Food and Wine, 2429 Rice, for a special Greek Wine 101 class on Monday, November 30 at 7 p.m. Award-winning sommelier Evan Turner will guide you through a history of wine making in Greece and offer an overview of the regions and varietals as you taste seven…
Art League Houston Breaks Through Walls to Give Indebted Artists a Voice
At the outset of Occupy Wall Street in 2011, a group of artists – seeing the connection between the corruption of high finance and “high culture” – began to occupy museums in New York City. The group, calling themselves Occupy Museums, called attention to the fact that members sat on…
The 5 Best Things to Do in Houston This Weekend: Romeo & Juliet, Slade Ham and More
Start your weekend on a romantic note with Romeo & Juliet at the Houston Symphony on Friday. A rising young conductor Perry So makes his debut with the Houston Symphony as guest conductor for an internationally themed event that begins with the Chinese folk melodies of Li Huanzhi’s Spring Festival…
Openings and Closings: Dim Sum Delights Coming Next Year
Hakkasan Group, an international restaurant and nightclub group, is teaming up with the Simon Property Group to bring a Yauatcha location to the Galleria area. This Chinese dim sum restaurant has a Michelin star and six locations overseas; a new Honolulu location next year will be the first in the…
A Clear-Headed Blue October Looks to the Future
Last week, Texas rockers Blue October released their second live concert film. The DVD, Things We Do At Night (Live in Texas), highlights the band’s recent stability amid lead vocalist Justin Furstenfeld’s sobriety and positivity. It also gives fans a taste of what the group has in store with its…
The Ballad of Quicksticks Gosey [VIDEO]
D’Andre Gosey has been a drummer since he was banging on pots and pans as a toddler. Now in his mid-twenties, he teaches music (including the drumline) at Hines Caldwell Elementary School in Southwest Houston. “I really enjoy doing that,” he says. “It’s a chance to give back, and impart…
Houston’s 10 Best Bars to Bring Visiting Relatives
You’ve scrubbed toilets for them, washed linen for them and fed them enough tryptophan to put a baby elephant into a week-long coma. By now, you and your visiting relatives could all use something stronger than your Aunt Martha’s weak iced tea (get it right, Aunt Martha!) to refresh your…
100 Favorite Houston Dishes 2015, No. 34: Jumbo Lump Crab Cake at Vic & Anthony’s
Phaedra Cook is eating her way through Houston and counting down her 100 favorite dishes of 2015. It’s a collection of personal favorites that is also indicative of Houston dining. It’s a scene where a vast range of dishes coexist: highbrow and lowbrow; local and international; cheap and expensive; modern…
10 Reasons to Give Thanks For Houston Music
CACTUS MUSIC’S THANKSGIVING WEEKEND Of course it’s always better to not wait until Black Friday to do your record-store shopping, but Cactus is a hell a lot more enjoyable than fighting the hordes at Kohl’s or Best Buy. This year the store is putting out choice Record Store Day-related swag…
I Want to Strip But Not Sell My Body. Help!
I WANT TO BE A STRIPPER BUT I DON’T WANT TO SELL MY BODY Dear Willie D: Three days ago I auditioned to be a stripper. I was told by the manager that I have a nice body, but that I need to work on my dancing and eye contact…
The 10 Best Things About the Holidays in Houston
Despite the Norman Rockwell/Charles Dickens themes that permeate commercials and movies around the holidays, a huge swath of the country (and the world) celebrates in varied ways and Houston is absolutely no exception. We are still in the midst of “fall foliage” around the same time our neighbors to the…
What Would Francis Think? The Peanuts Gang Celebrates 50 Years of That ‘Big Eastern Syndicate’
In a 2001 interview, producer Lee Mendelson recalled the reaction of a CBS executive who attended a screening of “A Charlie Brown Christmas” shortly before it was scheduled to premiere, on December 9, 1965: “Well, it’s in the TV Guide logs — we gotta put it on the air. Nice…
Prosecutors: Paxton’s Hollow Outrage at “DEFCON 1”
This week, we are most thankful for the gigantic turducken we will stuff into our face-hole with the vigor of an Olympic athlete. The second thing we are most thankful for is the latest motion filed by the special prosecutors in the securities fraud case against State Attorney General Ken “Brother,…
Big KRIT Is About a Lot More Than Just “Country Shit” at Warehouse Live
Kritically Acclaimed Tour Feat. Big KRIT, Delorean,Scotty ATL, & BJ the Chicago Kid Warehouse Live November 24, 2015 In the pack of supremely talented young rappers to emerge in the last few years, including but not limited to A$AP Rocky, Kendrick Lamar, J.Cole, and Chance the Rapper, Big KRIT is…
It’s Either Triumph or Disappointment for UH and Rice This Weekend
So what happens to a season if a tackle is missed? Or a pass falls incomplete? There are so many plays in every football game that plenty of little moments that can go wrong do go wrong—moments that mean the difference between winning or losing the game, going to a…
The “No Guns” Signs Are Back Up at the Houston Zoo
More than three months after the Houston Zoo removed its signs prohibiting weapons at the request of a local gun rights advocate, the signs are now back up, the Houston Chronicle reported yesterday. Back in September, the Houston Zoo removed its signs almost immediately after Houston attorney T. Edwin Walker…
Winning Wines to Look Forward to at The 2016 Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo
A group of over 100 wine experts and sommeliers gathered at NRG Park the weekend of November 14 to decide which wines were the best of the best in several different categories for the 2016 Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo International Wine Competition. These will be the top wines featured…
Feds Give St. Joseph Another Lifeline
The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on Tuesday again granted St. Joseph Medical Center a reprieve, giving parties until January 15 to work out a plan to avoid catastrophic funding cuts that threaten to shutter the downtown hospital. Hospital staff and supporters, including Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, gathered…
Shawn Artis: Putting Together Some Via Colori Artwork [VIDEO]
As a most colorful lead-in to Thanksgiving week, Houston’s annual Via Colori Street Painting Festival attracted thousands of visitors who watched artists deliver amazing on the spot art on the ground. The festical is a fundraiser for The Center for Hearing and Speech, paying for health and educational services for…
Houston Bands Gather to Celebrate “Megsgiving” & Fight MS
I promised Meg Cambern I’d not write an oversentimental piece about her recent multiple sclerosis diagnosis and the difficulties of learning to live with MS. For one, I respect her too much. I’ve called on her for help in past blogs. When I wanted to talk rock and roll fashion,…
A New Pro-HERO Ad Arrives, Not a Moment Too Soon, But a Few Moments Late
A new pro-HERO ad is blowing up the internets — and it’s only three weeks too late! Produced by a group calling itself HOUTruth, the ad boldly and mysteriously proclaims the HERO fight is not over, and attacks Campaign for Houston Spokesman Jared Woodfill and pastors Kendall Baker and Ed…
Is It Okay for Westerners to Practice Yoga? The Murky Waters of Cultural Appropriation.
Several days ago, a story about a yoga class at University of Ottawa that got cancelled due to concerns over “cultural issues” swept the Internet in a tidal wave of outrage. Original reports were that the free class for students with disabilities had been scrapped because some students and volunteers…
Texas May Call Them Childcare Centers, Critics Say They’re Prisons
Last week a Travis County judge ruled that Texas cannot fast-track the process of licensing for-profit immigration lockups for women and children as childcare facilities, opening a window for public comment and scrutiny over a proposal that has made immigrant rights advocates and social workers cringe. The ruling comes as…
Charges Filed Against Mom, Boyfriend Who Found Baby Burned in Oven
Charges have been filed against a mother and her boyfriend after a child was burned alive inside an oven while the couple was out for pizza. Police say 25-year-old Racqual Thompson and 21-year-old Cornell Malone, who is not the deceased child’s father, left 19-month old J’zyra Thompson alone with her…
Hou Hsiao-hsien’s The Assassin Is a Film of Rare Beauty
Hou Hsiao-hsien’s The Assassin is the Taiwanese director’s first foray into the martial-arts genre. It may also be his most resplendent film yet: Watching it is like floating along on a sumptuous gold-and-lacquer cloud. Hou favorite Shu Qi (who also starred in Millennium Mambo and Three Times) plays Nie Yinniang,…
Creed Wants Rocky’s Drama but None of Its Smarts
The heads of the City Dionysia, the Grecian playwriting competition that pitted Aeschylus against Sophocles and can be considered the original Oscars, had a rule: no original characters. Instead, the best creative minds of a generation — or really, a millennium — exhausted themselves finding new spins on, say, Medea…
The Good Dinosaur: Pixar’s Latest Has Good Ideas but the World’s Oldest Story
Maybe Cars and the Hot Wheels-ification of Pixar has been a good thing. Now that the storied studio has, like its rivals, puked onto our screens indifferent kid-distracting junk, its new movies come un-freighted from expectations of genius. Miserable as it was, Planes: Fire and Rescue (from corporate parent Disney…
