The Apple of Her Eye: Pimp C’s Sixth Grade Social Studies Teacher Remembers Chad Butler
League City resident and Deer Park teacher Susana Valdes never knew Pimp C. She did, however, know Chad Butler. In fact, she taught the Dirty South hip-hop legend sixth grade social studies back at Woodrow Wilson Junior High in Port Arthur. Here’s the Chad Butler she remembered:…
Judy’s Catalog Finally Available on CD
Houston punk and New Wave fans got a welcome surprise this morning when Wasted Talent Records announced that Pearland trio the Judy’s have remastered and are releasing their entire catalog on CD for the first time. 1981’s Washarama, including the band’s 1980 Wonderful World of Appliances EP; 1985’s The Moo…
Willie D Remembers Pimp C
Pimp C and Willie D at SXSW Willie D was very close to Pimp C. The Geto Boy and former boxer and radio host spoke with Houstoned Rocks earlier this afternoon about Pimp’s musical soulfulness, self-confidence, anger and influence, and threw in a mean Pimp C impersonation while he was…
Lil’ Flip Mourns Comrade Pimp C
Just like he did with April’s Virginia Tech shootings, Houston’s Lil’ Flip has posted a current-event song on his MySpace page before the ink on the newspaper headlines is even dry. This time, of course, it’s the unexpected death of his friend and fellow Houston rapper Pimp C, whose body…
Fuzzy Math: Bowie Kuhn, Marvin Miller and the Baseball Hall of Fame
There have been many shameful days in the history of the Baseball Hall of Fame. Like the day a bunch of pioneer Negro League Players were voted into the Hall, but the man most responsible for celebrating the Negro League, and one of its greatest players, Buck O’Neil, was left…
Special Report: Toxic Town
Raised less than two miles from the Houston Ship Channel, 49-year-old cancer specialist Dr. Peggy Connor for years had fantasized about chucking city life, and the industrial pollution that goes with it. “I wanted to move to a clean, safe place,” she says. In September 2006, Connor selected Burleson County,…
Drenched in Blog: Queens of the Stone Age in a Salt Mine
I have made no bones about wanting to get with Josh Homme, leader of Queens of the Stone Age. Trust me, this blogger is all man. I mean, I have been partially clothed around women that are not my mother and I have been known to kiss girls on the…
Reinventing Hanukkah at Luling City Market, Central Market and Cracker Barrel
Looks kosher to us. Get out your blotters, it’s time for plates of oil-filled food and candlelit evenings. As much as Hanukkah traditions hold a special place in my heart, when it comes to holidays, the Festival of Lights doesn’t even hit my top five. Sure, there are eight nights…
Fart Fest: Larry the Cable Guy Gives Houston Another Chance to Blow $43.75
Okay, just in case you needed any more proof that Houston is indeed Hick Central, Larry the Cable Guy has just announced that due to popular demand, he’s adding a third show to his stint next month at the Verizon. Now we have three opportunities to see the comic who’s…
So Long, Art Briles. Stay Away, Jack Pardee.
I’m a UH grad. I want my school to succeed in all endeavors. Including football. And while I hate to see Art Briles leave the school, I understand his reasoning and wish him well. But things are taking a turn for the bad, and I’m not very happy. First there’s…
Miss Pop Rocks: Cats Are Awesome
Okay, so I recognize that some of you out there may not be “cat people” per se, but how can you not love this story? A family in Tennessee rescued a feral cat who survived 19 days…with a peanut butter jar stuck on his head. I mean, honestly. I can’t…
Drenched In Blog: Noddin’ After Midnight
This picture of Amy Winehouse surfaced from across the pond yesterday:…
Last Night: Dame Julie Andrews at the Hobby Center
Dame Julie Andrews Hobby Center December 3, 2007 Better Than: The network TV broadcast of The Sound of Music Download: “Le Jazz Hot” from Victor/Victoria Monday night at the Hobby Center, Dame Julie Andrews gave an inspiring lecture about her experiences on stage and in film, her involvement in charities,…
This Just In: Pimp C Found Dead in a Sunset Strip Hotel
And the hits keep fucking coming. According to this TMZ report, Pimp C was found dead in his bed in a Sunset Strip hotel room this morning. The rapper, born Chad Butler, had just performed with Too Short at the LA House of Blues last Saturday. Watch this space for…
Sole of Houston: Bissonnet, from Synott Road to Montrose
In this episode of the Sole of Houston, David Beebe and I selected Bissonnet. We would catch the #65 bus at Bellaire transit center, ride it out to Synott Road, about 14.5 miles southwest of our intended terminus – Ernie’s on Banks, a few blocks north of Bissonnet off Montrose…
Dangerously Drunk Pedestrianism
So two more of those ubiquitous, specialized city rankings have come out this week. In one, the Brookings Institution ranked Houston 21st in walkabilty of the 30 largest metro areas in America, edging Dallas by four notches. In another, from Men’s Health, Houston did even better, coming in 20th place…
Slideshow: Dickens on The Strand
What’s a camel got to do with Charles Dickens? We have no idea. See if these photos from Dickens on The Strand provide any clue. — Keith Plocek…
Get Lit: For You: Original Stories and Photographs by Bruce Springsteen’s Legendary Fans, edited by Lawrence Kirsch
Even hipsters who detest the music and mythology of Bruce Springsteen will have to admit that the venerable rocker has one of the most dedicated and connected fan bases anywhere. These are people for whom simply listening to a studio CD is only the start of a very close journey…
Tom Brady Is One Sexy Lady
If there’s one lesson I’ve learned from the recent Erin Andrews posts, it’s that sex sells. Especially if the sex involves the words Erin Andrews, nude, and Playboy. Sadly, this should be the last mention of Erin Andrews, nude, and Playboy in this post, but it’s a good lead in…
Chris King Injured In Wreck
File this under Bad News That Could Be Worse… In the wee hours of Saturday morning, former Carolyn Wonderland bassist and Jug O’ Lightnin’ drummer and universally beloved local figure Chris King was involved in a serious one-car accident on West Alabama. King was taken to Memorial Hermann Hospital with…
Astros Sign Kaz Matsui, Corner the Market on Mediocre Middle Infielders
Wow. So the Astros have signed Kaz Matsui to a three-year, $16.5 million contract. Are you as under-whelmed by this deal as I am? But along with the Geoff Blum signing, it appears the Astros are doing everything possible to corner the market on mediocre middle infielders. Maybe the brass…
Blog in Drenched: Underwater Lives God
As long I’m on the whole “backwards” tip, I might as well post this 1998 video from God Lives Underwater. It’s three minutes of a Japanese guy pulling food out of his mouth. Just think of him as a confused version of Kobayashi, the champion eating-machine. Anyone can stuff food…
It’s Getting Hot in Here: The Kyoto Protocol, Ten Years Later
On the tenth anniversary of the Kyoto Protocol, the international agreement designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the Houston Press presents a package of stories commissioned by the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies. Author and environmentalist Bill McKibben takes a look at the past decade and asks, “Where are we now?”…
Get Lit: This Whole Anne Geddes Thing Ain’t So Tough
Photographer Anne Geddes will be at Brazos Bookstore today to sign her new autobiography, A Labor of Love. You know Geddes – she’s the one who takes pictures of tiny babies in all sorts of “Awww, isn’t that cute?” poses. We thought we’d try our hand at it and took…
Aeros Win Two in Overtime, Thanks to Nolan Schaefer, Maxim Noreau, Jon Awe and Alec Baldwin
Do you know why hockey’s like real estate? Because it’s all about closing. If you’re not closing in real estate, you’re not making the sale. If you’re not closing in hockey, you’re not winning the game. The Aeros had numerous opportunities to close out the game Friday night, including seven…
Miss Pop Rocks: Farewell, Evel Knievel
Miss Pop Rocks will admit she isn’t a huge fan of Evel Knievel. More of a child of the ‘80s than the ‘70s, she is too young to remember watching Evel attempt the jumps over Snake River Canyon or the fountains at Caesars Palace. But her significant other, Mr. Pop…
The College Football Review, Week 14: The BCS System Blows
Wow, Ohio State versus LSU for the BCS Title Game. Does anyone really believe that these are the two best college football teams in the country? I know I sure don’t. Now let me see if I understand this whole BCS selection process. If you fail to defeat a top…
Flash Mob: Walking Backwards in the Galleria
The MySpace post read like this: This Sunday at 2:22pm on the 2nd floor of the Galleria (around the skating rink) we are all going to start walking backwards! Get there early ….so you can start walking @ 2:22 COME DO IT!!! The message came from a very reliable source…
Texans vs. Titans: All I Want for Christmas Is an Offensive Line
Mark C. Austin Schaub could be out for the rest of the season I’ll keep today’s lesson short and sweet. I know you want the Texans to find a game-breaking running back in the 2008 draft. So do I. I know you want to see the team address major needs…
Over the Weekend: Texans, Titans and Chicken-Fried Steak
The weekend saw Matt Schaub winding up on his back and Robb Walsh searching for a late-night snack. The Texans lost to the Titans 28-20, with QB Schaub suffering what could be a season-ending injury, while our very own Walsh stayed up late, looking at pretty photos on his computer…
Slideshow: Chicken-Fried Porn
Sometimes — late at night when I can’t sleep — I sit at the computer and stare longingly at pretty pictures. – Robb Walsh Robb Walsh wrote about the Texas Chicken-Fried Steak Belt earlier this year in the feature “I Love CFS.”…
Coach Kevin Constantine Explains the Difference Between a Good Fight and a Bad Fight in Hockey
This is the conclusion of an interview I conducted with Houston Aeros head coach Kevin Constantine several weeks ago. You can find part one here, and part two here. Constantine weighs in on fighting in hockey, getting the proper mindset, his biggest surprise this season, the work done by the…
Macon Greyson’s 20th Century Accidents
Macon Greyson 20th Century Accidents www.macongreyson.com Macon Greyson has long been defined by their alt-country proclivities, which makes 20th Century Accidents an even more pleasant surprise that is also, for my money, their most promising effort. The latest from these rowdy-sounding Dallas gents has a sheen that’s more Big Star…
Last Night: The Black Angels at Warehouse Live
The Black Angels Warehouse Live November 29, 2007 Better Than: Sitting in a sauna at the gym, reading NME Download: “Black Grease” Austin natives the Black Angels are the kind of band you want playing behind as you drive to your soon-to-be ex’s house to render the relationship asunder. Or…
Into the Ashes: Cosmos Cafe, RIP
John Nova Lomax just did a column on the smoking ban’s effect on bars and music venues. The opinions of the musicians and bar owners he spoke with were decidedly mixed. Some loved the ban; some hated it; some didn’t care. But its effect on one Houston institution has been…
Jason Friedman’s NFL Picks, Week 13: Are There Not 32 Men in This Country Worthy of Being Starting QBs?
What a disaster. One week ago, I was living the prognosticator’s dream, with my eyes on an epic 50 games over .500 season. I wasn’t just living the good life, I was eating ambrosia with the gods. But today, I stand before you a broken man. My kingdom lies in…
The College Football Preview, Week 14: All These Bowls Are Making Us Groggy
The college football regular season ends this weekend. And all I can say is it’s about time. I mean, we’re looking at a BCS Championship Game of Missouri versus West Virginia. Yawn. There are two really important games this weekend, and they’re both going on at the same time on…
TV Ratings, Courtesy of Houstoned Guest Commentator Conchita Maria Guadalupe Maria Hortencia Juanita Maria Garcia Gomez Gonzalez de Smith
Just in case you had any doubt that Houston is quickly becoming a brown city, check out the latest Nielson ratings. The release from Telefutura – you didn’t even know we had a Telefutura channel, did you? – anyway, the latest release says that according to Nielsen Media Research, the…
Drenched in Blog: Happy 25th, Thriller
If you didn’t already have enough reasons to feel old, tomorrow is the 25th anniversary of Michael Jackson’s Thriller, released December 1, 1982. Thriller still holds or shares several of the music business’s most prestigious records: It’s the best-selling album of all time at more than 104 million copies sold,…
Erin Andrews Nude in Playboy? Sorry, Not Anytime Soon.
Yesterday I had the chance to speak to Sam Jemielity, senior editor for Playboy.com. And I’ve got some bad news. There are definitely no plans for Erin Andrews to appear in the buff for either Playboy or Playboy.com. So, even though she’s now the sexiest broadcaster in sports, she’s not…
Don’t Drink and Spell: Tony LaRussa’s DUI Video
It’s hard to imagine the world that existed before The Smoking Gun, but luckily we don’t have to. The Web site comes through in terrific fashion yet again today with video of the DUI arrest of St. Louis Cardinal manager and Astro nemesis Tony LaRussa. Our favorite part might be…
Last Night: Melt-Banana with Dizzy Pilot and Cop Warmth at Walter’s
Melt-Banana Melt-Banana with Dizzy Pilot and Cop Warmth Walter’s on Washington November 29, 2007 Better Than: Anything made in America. Download: “Chain Shot to Have Some Fun,” available free from the Melt-Banana Web site Melt-Banana, a Japanese band prone to covering Devo and the Beach Boys and fronted by a…
Miss Pop Rocks: Chinese Superman. Does Anyone Out There Know What I’m Talking About?
Not quite… One of the benefits of living with a nerd like Mr. Pop Rocks is I get to take advantage of his awareness of such under-the-radar television shows as IATV’s “Chinese Superman.” Never heard of it? Don’t worry, I hadn’t either until a few weeks ago when I overheard…
$13 at Fu’s Garden in Rice Village
Where: Fu’s Garden, 2539 University, 713-520-7422 What $13 gets you: Gen. Tso’s chicken, choice of soup, egg roll, and a shrimp toast appetizer The instructions were clear and simple: My friend demanded we eat lunch somewhere “good, yummy and cheap.” Before I could even say “Your mom is good, yummy…
Drenched in Blog Extra: Christina Preguilera
Pregnant chicks are cool, I guess, because they eat like stoners and can hold your beer on their stomach while you play Halo. But I still feel mildly weird about these pictures of Xtina trying to look all uber-slutty with a small human inside her stomach, I guess because a…
To Do: Watch Ron Livingston and Thuy Nguyen in Holly
There are some movies that are almost too hard to watch. Holly is one of those movies. It’s not what happens that makes Holly so difficult for viewers (well, at least this viewer), it’s what’s always just about to happen. The story of a 12-year-old Vietnamese girl, Holly (Thuy Nguyen),…
John Royal’s NFL Picks, Week 13: Rushing More Than Ricky Williams
I hate these Thursday night game weeks. It makes me rush to get my wrong predictions made. I don’t have as much time to do the necessary homework. And sure, I had a bad week last time out, but I did go 6-10 and I did predict the Eagles would…
Jason’s Friedman’s NFL Picks, Week 13: Packing It Up Early
No use wasting time. The bounce back from the worst prediction week of my life starts now. What can I say? Everything that could go wrong, did. Whether it was wacky endings, a monsoon in Pittsburgh, or A.J. Feeley playing the game of his life, nothing went the way of…
Gayle Fallon Named to Competitiveness Council, Whatever That Means
Governor Rick Perry announced some additions to his Competitiveness Council today, including Gayle Fallon, president of the Houston Federation of Teachers. Never heard of the Competitiveness Council? Yeah, neither had we. Seems it’s a group of ” industry leaders, public and higher education officials, and representatives of key state regulatory…
Drenched in Blog: Bindi Irwin, Rapper
So I’m thinking about starting another blog dedicated to people who should not rap. With the recent rash of rhyming math teachers comes the news that Bindi Irwin has entered the rap game. Yes, Bindi Irwin, the late Steve “Crocodile Hunter” Irwin’s daughter. Ever since Bindi’s dad’s unfortunate encounter with…
Not to Be Out-Douched by Todd Graham, Bobby Knight Pulls a Dick Cheney and Shoots at His Neighbors
Tulsa athletic director Bubba Cunningham recently let it be known that “we need to provide an environment where a student-athlete can participate and fans can enjoy college athletics in a very positive way.” Cunningham made this statement as he was filing a complaint about the Rice marching band, The MOB,…
Playboy, Erin Andrews and a Humble Request to See Jake Gyllenhaal Hit On His Sister
Well, the election results are in, and the winner is Erin Andrews. That’s right, according to the good folks at Playboy, it appears Erin Andrews is the hottest sportscaster babe of them all. But kids, don’t get your hopes up. There’s nothing to indicate that Ms. Andrews will grace the…
Rockets vs. Suns: Steve Francis at the Crossroads
Admit it. A few minutes past 10 p.m. CST, you were positively horrified. For two hours, you had watched the Rockets give a nearly flawless performance on the road against the match-up nightmare known as the Phoenix Suns. They played defense. They stroked the three. Yao dominated. And yet, come…
Get Lit: More Houston History in Handy Book Form
Judging by the table of contents, Dr. S. O. Young’s True Stories of Old Houston and Houstonians, a 1913 work that’s being reissued*, is pretty juicy. Sections include “Some Characters and Their Misadventures,” “Politics, Gambling and Other Sordid Miscellany,” “Wine, Women and Song,” and “Critters (Natural and Supernatural).” The book…
Drinking My Own Tex-Mex Apologist Kool-Aid
Now that’s cheesy! This week I complained about the lack of Velveeta in the cheese enchiladas at El Jardin. I take a lot of shit for my honesty on the subject of Velveeta. While I was researching recipes for The Tex-Mex Cookbook, I came to realize it’s an unavoidable part…
Anne Geddes
You’ve seen Anne Geddes’s photographs of angelic babies dressed up as sunflowers, or as water lilies seeming to float on a pond. Then there are the tiny babies sleeping, cradled safely in giant hands. Or row after row of pots, each with a baby nestled in it. These images and…
Bill Bellamy
While many comedians get material from being neurotic or overweight, Bill Bellamy stands out as a good-natured and good-looking guy (his own Web site even brags of his “charm and good looks”). Actually, it was Bellamy’s pretty face that ushered him into comedy — he got his first taste of…
Playback Theatre
An evening with Houston’s Playback Theatre might not change your life, but it sure can make your night. The often hysterically funny improvisational troupe takes stories, suggestions and phrases from the audience and then acts them out, often with laugh-till-you-cry results. The most banal of stories can become fodder for…
The Illumination Project
Houston’s brightest performers come together today to mark World AIDS Day with The Illumination Project. “AIDS is not going away,” says Project chairman Matt Harris, who hopes to draw attention to the health crisis via the arts. Local artists Kelly Myernick of the Houston Ballet and Ruddy Cravens of Stages…
HIWI (Houston. It’s Worth It.): The Party
Any proud Houstonian with friends in New York, L.A. or Portland can appreciate the “Houston. It’s Worth It.” campaign. After listening to an out-of-towner wax disrespectful of our lack of nice weather, culture, mountains, decent transit system and everything else that makes their town so superior, your fists are likely…
The Cool School
Walter Hopps and Ed Kienholz did for art what Miles Davis did for jazz: they created the cool school. See how they did it at today’s screening of The Cool School by filmmaker Morgan Neville. The Woodstock Film Festival’s best documentary winner looks at the time when Hopps, who later…
Noise for Toys
The 18th Annual Noise for Toys at McGon-igel’s Mucky Duck is a collision of honky-tonk rock and roll and a great cause, the Marine Corps’s Toys for Tots program. Admission to the show is one new, unwrapped kid’s toy. So, for the price of a Tonka truck or a Barbie…
The You Are Here
Are you an artist with subversive tendencies? Looking for a way to use your artistic sensibilities to uncover government secrets and rearrange ecological landscapes? Your symposium has arrived. Aurora Picture Show and the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts are co-presenting You Are Here, a two-day performance/conference subtitled “Contemporary…
Kyoto Protocol: You’re Getting Warmer
I remember so well the final morning hours of the Kyoto conference. The negotiations had gone on long past their scheduled evening close, and the convention-center management was frantic — a trade show for children’s clothing was about to begin, and every corner of the vast hall still was littered…
The Blank Tapes
The Blank Tapes may live out West, but their sound is straight from the South. The San Francisco group is influenced by Southern blues and rock and folk. “Smoke and Mirrors” starts off with a mean guitar riff that would have any Guitar Hero poised and ready for action, while…
Julie Andrews
She might come from modest English roots, but most of us think of Julie Andrews as true acting royalty. She started singing for her supper when she was just a girl, then went on to create some of the most iconic characters who ever crossed a silver screen, winning generations…
Kyoto Protocol: Chill Out
Ten years after the Kyoto Protocol first was introduced, the question remains: What can be done about global warming? For the 175 countries that have ratified it so far, the treaty goes into effect next year. While participants from the developing world have agreed to reduce anthropomorphic greenhouse gases by…
999 Eyes Freak Show
The 999 Eyes Freak Show features a lobster woman, scorpion man, sword swallowers, a two-headed pig (not in a jar), other creepy animals (in jars), an elephant man, a midget who walks on glass, a fire-eating clown and other things you likely had nightmares about when you were four years…
Dickens on the Strand
Last year, Dickens on the Strand, Galveston’s Victorian-themed holiday festival, was “set” in 1862, the year London hosted the annual World’s Fair (the only occasion the peoples of the globe came together back then unless there was a war) so that performers and re-enactors of every country and culture could…
Kyoto Protocol: The View from Kyoto
Ten years. In geological time, ten years is hardly noticed — a speck of dust. But for sentient beings, much happens in ten years. Children grow up, parents and friends pass away, wars start and end, presidents are elected and disgraced, political parties rise and fall. In the last ten…
Larry and His Flask
Larry and His Flask are not out to save the world. Larry and his Flask are out to start riots. This Oregon-based punk outfit calls its Web site the “home of Fucker Rock n’ Roll.” The group swears it will show up anytime, anywhere — as long as there’s beer…
Miracle 34th Street
Think back, way, way back, to when you were an innocent child who believed in Santa Claus and sugar plum fairies. You walked around blissfully ignorant of the dark truth — Christmas is a ploy by retailers to grab our money. Well, if just for an hour or two, Miracle…
Conduct of Life
The Conduct of Life, content-wise, is about as far as you can get from the saccharine offerings that dominate the holiday season. But its performance during this time (by local company Nova Arts Project) only serves to reinforce one of its points: that darkness in the human world exists, whether…
Alejandro Sanz
Fans can expect a healthy helping of Spanish singer/songwriter Alejandro Sanz’s latest release, El Tren de los Momentos: En vivo desde Buenos Aires (Live). The CD looks like it’s destined for the same best-selling status as his other releases and will probably add a few more trophies to Sanz’s award…
Two Star Symphony Musical Retrospective
Two Star Symphony Musical Retrospective may not feature any new songs by the string quartet, but you will definitely hear something different: the sound. “We’ve been trying to find the right venue to perform where it would do the instruments justice,” says violinist Debra Brown. The instruments she’s referring to…
Art of Beer
Who says Oktoberfest has to end in October? Certainly not us, and certainly not the Art Museum of Southeast Texas in Beaumont, which holds its Okto-like Art of Beer fund-raiser today. AMSET is promising “some of the world’s finest beers” along with hamburgers, bratwurst and German folk band Alpenfest. We’re…
Trash the Dress
At Trash the Dress, women roll around in dirt, climb trees and jump in the bayou — in their wedding dresses. More than 60 photographers will be roaming the Theater District today ready to snap brides destroying their sacred gowns. Women all over the U.S. are participating in similar events,…
Sushi Class
We thought the most common mistake people made when preparing sushi was cooking the fish. James McMillan, however, says it’s all in the rice. He says homemade sushi rice is usually not sticky enough, so the pieces don’t hold together. Novices can learn how to do it right at McMillan’s…
Voices in the Woodwork
Cynthia escaped a violent stepfather by entering into an equally horrific marriage. She escaped that by taking to the streets. Evelyn ran away from an emotionally abusive mother and eventually found herself “living in my truck, changing clothes in a park, walking the streets when my truck broke down.” Nena…
Apply Precision-Rinse. Repeat
Water, light and relationships: simple yet bountiful topics that are perfect for young artists to use as themes, while leaving plenty of room for creativity. Employing a variety of styles and techniques, students from the University of Houston’s School of Theatre & Dance explore these and others in today’s Apply…
Black Christmas
Domy Books’ Web site calls Black Christmas, screening today, “arguably the best out of the Christmas horror genre.” This is actually a rather expansive niche; there’s Jack Frost, Snow Beast; Christmas Evil; Silent Night, Bloody Night; and all five installments of Silent Night, Deadly Night. But Black Christmas stands above…
Space City Gamelan
It’s not The Gong Show, but it is a gong show. The Space City Gamelan is Houston’s only orchestra dedicated to gongs and wind chimes and the ancient music of Java and Bali. Now, we know what you’re thinking: Gong plus chimes plus music equals loud. Actually, although the initial…
Eraserhead
If you’re going to watch David Lynch’s Eraserhead at some point in your life (and you really should), see it at the River Oaks Theatre today. Though the eccentric director begrudgingly releases his films for home viewing, he insists they are best viewed in a single sitting, with your undivided…
Capsule Art Reviews: “Kirsten Hassenfeld: Dans la Lune,” “Monster Show 2,” “Perspectives 158: Kelly Nipper,” “Pompeo Batoni: Prince of Painters in Eighteenth-Century Rome,” “Devendra Banhart: Some Drawings”
“Kirsten Hassenfeld: Dans la Lune” Technically, Kirsten Hassenfeld’s ornate sculptures are impressive and fascinating to the eye. Made of different types of paper and connected by paper chains, the six large-scale works resemble chandelier versions of Fabergé eggs, encrusted with crystalline obelisks and forms that look like uncut quartz. Elegantly…
THE BISTRO MODERNE’S MANGO MOJITO
The Hotel Derek may have been sold, and the Bistro Moderne (2525 W. Loop S., 713-297-4383) menu may have gone from French to American, but the cocktails are still ooh-la-la, and so are the customers. In fact, on a recent night, as I was twirling the mint leaves in my…
Hot Rod, Waitress, Futurama: Bender’s Big Score, The Namesake
Hot Rod (Paramount) Andy Samberg, best known for stuffing his dick in a box on Saturday Night Live, is Rod Kimble, a wannabe stuntman with very little “man” in him. He lives with his mom (Sissy Spacek, not kidding) and a stepdad (Ian McShane) who needs a new heart at…
Pro Athlete Musicians
America hasn’t heard much from “Make ‘Em Say Uhhhh” man and former U of H basketballer Master P since his disastrous Dancing With the Stars turn, and now we know why: The erstwhile No Limit soldier has been grooming his son, teen rapper Lil’ Romeo, for a big-time basketball career…
One of Us Must Know
Something about that movie, though, well I just can’t get it out of my head/But I can’t remember why I was in it or what part I was supposed to play. — Bob Dylan, “Brownsville Girl” Bob Dylan isn’t “there” in Todd Haynes’ staggering mix tape of a biopic, I’m…
R. Kelly, Double Up
The most perverse moment on R. Kelly’s latest album is, surprisingly, neither “The Zoo” — a slow-jam full of animal noises that suggests he and his lady had some company in the sack — nor “Sex Planet,” which offers a particularly unfortunate metaphor for back-door action. It’s “Rise Up,” the…
Like a Complete Unknown
I’m Not There is the movie of the year — but to whom does Todd Haynes’s Bob Dylan biopic actually belong, and when was it really made? The great attention-grabber of last month’s New York Film Festival, I’m Not There is as notable for its stunt casting as its elusive…
Our top DVD picks scheduled for release this week:
Bratz (Lionsgate) Drunken Angel: The Criterion Collection (Criterion) Elvis: Blue Suede Collection (Warner Bros.) ESPNU Honor Roll: The Best of College Football Vol. 3 (ESPN) Happy Days: The Third Season (Paramount) Hot Fuzz: 3-Disc Collector’s Edition (Universal) The Land Before Time: The Wisdom of Friends (Universal) Laverne & Shirley: The…
Super Mario Galaxy
There’s no surer sign that a franchise is in trouble than when it blasts into outer space. So you were right to be nervous when Nintendo announced its plans to follow up the subpar game Super Mario Sunshine with something called Super Mario Galaxy, which promised to launch the mustachioed…
Pinball Machine and Pool Table Regulations
The Continental Club, along with its nearby little-sister club The Big Top, is a beloved Midtown spot that regularly draws hipsters (of the rock kind) to listen to music, play pool or try their luck at one of the vintage video or pinball machines. Except these days. If you’re looking…
Poor Boys, Ethiopian Tacos and Dynamo Fans
An online reader comments on “Poor Boy Paradise,” by Robb Walsh, November 15: Rooting for Café Orleans: The review didn’t mention the quality of the bread on the poor boys at Café Orleans Express, an issue for me. I’m happy to have found the bread is superior to the Wonder…
White Girls with Tattoos, Mexican Values
Dear Mexican, With a scant four weeks before I cram my mochila with a few clothes for me and a horde of presents (read: bribes) for my future cuñadas, sobrinas y mi mera suegra, I found myself terror-stricken tonight as mi novio and I watched a home video of his…
Priscilla Slade and the TSU Three
Texas Southern University sophomore Ashley Sloan was talking with friends in the parking lot of a university-owned apartment complex after a late-night party when suddenly a fight that had begun inside the bash erupted onto the streets in a blaze of gunfire. While many of Sloan’s friends scrambled to take…
“The Buffalo Hunters”
Eric Michael Jones should be applauded for thinking big. His digital photos, some printed as large as five feet tall, uphold my general thinking concerning photography exhibits: the bigger the better. Who wants to squint? Film grain should be viewed in blown-up proportions — it enhances the image. Digital photography,…
Stevie Wonder
Stevie Wonder knows what Kanye West is going through right now. Even as the 57-year-old pop, soul and R&B icon is going through a rejuvenation of sorts, hitting the road again after a 14-year absence from touring, his heart can’t help going out to one of his younger colleagues during…
Keyshia Cole
The heartbreak of a fractured romance that brought such intense emotion to Keyshia Cole’s 2005 debut, The Way It Is, remains much in evidence on her follow-up. “No one knew all the pain I went through,” the Oakland-bred, Atlanta-based soul singer confesses over a lush cushion of strings on the…
Blue Nile
To steak tartare, sashimi, ceviche, carpaccio and crudo, you can add gored gored ($10.50). When you order it at Blue Nile (9400 Richmond, 713-782-6882), the waitress is likely to say, “That’s raw beef, you know,” making sure she won’t have to take it back to the kitchen. Considered the national…
Capsule Stage Reviews: Christmas Tree-O, Diva, Over the River and Through the Woods
Christmas Tree-O In a world that seems overwhelmed by ever-encroaching secular progressiveness, it’s refreshing to find Christ plopped firmly back into Christmas at A.D. Players, now showing a triptych of one-act comedies by Jeannette Cliff George, who knows how to preach without being preachy. “The Littleboro Valley Story” is a…
The Brit Box: UK Indie, Shoegaze and Brit-Pop Gems of the Last Millennium
Fans of deafening reverb and swirling guitars rejoiced when enigmatic My Bloody Valentine frontman Kevin Shields announced two weeks ago that his band, dormant since 1995, was reactivating to release a new album and play a handful of gigs. This announcement came only a few weeks after another noisy, distortion-drenched…
Sigur Rós
Though they’ve been off the radar, Iceland’s Sigur Rós are no less majestic in 2007 than when they first broke worldwide a few years ago. They return with this month’s two-EP set Hvarf/Heim and concert/documentary DVD Heima, as essential as anything in their catalog. Hvarf unearths three songs lost in…
Melt Banana
Not everything that comes from Japan is cute. In fact, Melt Banana seems to be doing everything it can to deny the naturally adorable output of its birthplace. Formed 15 years ago, the band remains uncompromising in its ability to mess with audiences’ preconceptions by gouging a Hello Kitty-shaped hole…
Big Boobs
When well-known attorney and philanthropist Arthur Schechter first agreed to sue the makers of silicone breast implants, the future chairman of the board of the Greater Houston Metropolitan Transit Authority never guessed he’d be doing it more than a decade later. And he certainly never could have guessed that he’d…
Deer Tick
Deer Tick’s War Elephant, the maiden release from Houston’s Feow!, the label founded by itinerant chanteuse Jana Hunter and Bring Back the Guns frontman Matt Brownlie, is a vehicle for Baltimore singer and songwriter John McCauley. It plays interestingly with genre, approaching country from a freak-folk perspective, and its mix…
Black Angels, Strange Boys
“Turn on, tune in and drone out.” Stamped onto the cover of the Black Angels’ eponymous debut EP, this twist on the familiar ’60s mantra demonstrates the way this Austin six-piece reinterprets the past, drawing startling parallels between “The First Vietnamese War” and the current wartime hysteria through an arsenal…
Red Stick Ramblers
Hailing from the swamp country between Lafayette and Baton Rouge, the Red Stick Ramblers are leaders of the Cajun New Wave. The quintet can nail the Cajun classics and fill a dance floor faster than Grandpa can peel a crawfish, but they’re anything but bogged-down-in-tradition imitators. Along with bands like…
Mr. Pim Passes By
All the gentle souls who remember dear Christopher Robin and his forest full of furry friends will be thrilled to learn that Winnie the Pooh’s dapper creator A.A. Milne wrote for grownups, too. And one of the author’s more successful works for adults — his 1919 featherweight farce Mr. Pim…
Local Motion
Cactus Music 2110 Portsmouth 713-526-9272 1. Steve Earle, Washington Square Serenade 2. Chip Taylor & Carrie Rodriguez, Live From the Ruhr Triennale 3. Doug Sahm, Live From Austin, Texas 4. David Byrne, Live From Austin, Texas 5. Hayes Carll, Little Rock 6. Sir Douglas Quintet, Live From Austin, Texas 7…
Texas Sapphires
With last year’s debut, Valley So Steep (Lowe Farm), the Texas Sapphires hit honky-tonk gold, polishing a classic Bakersfield sound with a contemporary edge and garnering Best New Band honors at the Austin Music Awards. Fueled by the paired vocals of Billy Brent Malkus and Rebecca Lucille Cannon, the quintet’s…
Feature Photo
If looks could kill, the baleful eye of this piece of soon-to-be barbacoa would be watching you on the assembly line, instead of you watching him. Saturday is dead-head delivery day at Gerardo’s Drive-In Grocery on Patton Street. These heads are destined to be steam-cooked and made into taco meat…
Clipd Beaks
The members of Clipd Beaks grew up playing in prog-rock, art-core and jam-type bands in their native Minneapolis. Bassist Scott Ecklein and drummer Ray Benjamin have known each other since grade school; guitarist and synth player Greg Pritchard joined the fold soon after; singer Nic Barbeln rounded out the lineup…
El Jardin
We had to pick up our chips and salsa and move our margaritas to make room when the waiter tried to park the monstrous, sizzling comal on our tabletop. It was well worth the trouble. The parrillada especial at El Jardin on Harrisburg was a mountain of firm but tender…
Trae
Only one objective measuring stick truly matters when it comes to determining the validity of a rapper proclaiming his status as “real”: Does he make you feel like a badass? On his latest LP, Life Goes On, Houston’s Trae does exactly that. By the time I made it halfway through,…
The Smoking Ban
It’s safe to say that John Evans is no fan of the recently enacted smoking ban. To him, the municipal stubbing out of our collective ciggies is another step in a long process of pasteurization that is making Houston less, well, Houston. “This has always been a ‘Screw you we’re…
Rafael Espinal: Five Wines That Will Blow Your Mind
The “fruit forward” style associated with the “New World” wines of California, South America and Australia is gaining in popularity all over the world. These wines are great for drinking by themselves, but critics, like Rafael Espinal, the sommelier at Prego, contend that Old World wines go better with food…
Enchanted
Hard to believe that it’s been 20 years since the release of The Princess Bride, if only because it hasn’t aged a day — the mark of something truly, blessedly timeless. Bereft of the pop-culture gags that curdle the Shrek movies and absent the cynicism of most other kids’ films…
Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings
Retro soul’s got to be damn fine to justify its existence, since the stuff it’s modeled on is readily available for listening pleasure and embarrassing comparisons. Fortunately, the latest from Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings qualifies, thanks to vocal authenticity and musical settings that offer inventive takes on the old…