Still Awaiting the Keystone Decision, Oil Moves On
Oil industry types and environmentalists alike have been arguing about the Keystone XL Pipeline for years now. Oil people wanted the Transcanada line put in because it would tote barrels worth of bitumen, the sticky black tar sands crude, thousands of miles from Canada to the Gulf Coast. But now,…
This Week’s Cafe Review: Pho To-Go at Simply Pho (And That’s Not All You’ll Find at This Gem)
Pho is not a food you order to take away. Like crispy fried chicken or freshly stirred spaghetti carbonara, pho is something that tastes best when it’s served up in a bowl as soon as the protein and broth are ready. To get it to go is to do it…
Cover Story: Dreamcatchers
Photo by Daniel Kramer They live on a thick-forested stretch of land outside of Livingston, but the dull roar of traffic along Interstate 59 is audible on most of the reservation. However, inside the defunct casino of the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas reservation all you can hear is drumming. Sage…
Reality Bites: Vanderpump Rules
There are a million reality shows on the naked television. We’re going to watch them all, one at a time. When civilization finally collapses, thanks to (take your pick) climate change/overpopulation/civil unrest/alien invasion, life as we know it will devolve into a series of running battles waged against mutant bikers…
Josh Groban at Toyota Center, 11/12/2013
Josh Groban Toyota Center November 12, 2013 The scent of mothballs wafted over Josh Groban’s concert Wednesday night at Toyota Center: not from the music, just all the clothing returned from winter storage on Houston’s first truly cold evening since, what, February? The 32-year-old L.A. native may be an unusual…
Creative, Indulgent Risottos by Some of Houston’s Most Regarded Chefs Shine at 10th International Risotto Festival
The 10th International Risotto Festival held this past weekend at the Houston Design Center showcased the versatility of the beloved Italian grain. Fifteen chefs from Houston restaurants showcased their versions of risotto in a competition judged by both the public and a panel of judges that included The Honorable Consul…
Fashion Houston Kicks Off at the Wortham Center in Red Carpet Style
Now in its fourth year, Fashion Houston hosted the opening night of its four-night run at the Wortham Center last night. Doors opened at 6:30 p.m. for a full 90 minutes of red carpet arrivals; attendees walked the giant red carpet before entering the theater, where music thumped, guests mingled…
This Week in Food Blogs: 20 Cupcakes From One Batter & What Hangry Looks Like
The Pioneer Woman: I love pretty much every recipe from The Pioneer Woman. Even before she made it big on the Food Network, I frequently followed her blog posts, and though many of her recipes are not the healthiest things to eat, this week she has a recipe for roasted…
Zapruder Analysis of a Harlem Globetrotter’s Near Decapitation
There was a time, years ago, when the Harlem Globetrotters were a really big deal. During my formative years (child of the ’80s here), before Vince McMahon usurped the term “sports entertainment” for his World Wrestling Federation, the Globetrotters were the epitome of sports entertainment. It was basketball meets physical…
Slayer at Bayou Music Center, 11/12/2013
Slayer, Gojira, 4ARM Bayou Music Center November 12, 2013 2013 is likely a year that Slayer will be glad to see laid to rest. In February, the band split with original drummer Dave Lombardo in an ugly dispute over money. Even worse, the band’s militant rhythm guitarist/songwriter Jeff Hanneman died…
Kolache Factory Takes on Starbucks With Katz: We Drink Both, Just for You, Dear Reader
Local Kolache Factory takes on national Starbucks with a cup of coffee.
Chicago: Too Many Jazz Hands and Pelvic Thrusts
The set-up: Inky black and slick as an oil spill, Chicago needs to be put to bed for a while. I don’t mean the original 1975 “musical vaudeville” by John Kander (music), Fred Ebb (lyrics and book) and Bob Fosse (book, direction, and choreography), but this current version on tour…
Charges Dropped for Man in Party Shooting
Officials have dropped a criminal charge of deadly conduct against Willie John-Peters Young, 21, who had originally been accused of firing a gun at a Cypress-area house party where two teens were killed Saturday. Another man, 18-year-old Randy Stewart, remains in Harris County Jail, charged with aggravated assault. Harris County…
Property Tax Season: The Most Wonderful Time of the Year
Ah, it’s that time of year again. There’s a crisp chill in the air. The sound of Christmas music is gently echoing throughout malls around the city. There are smiles on all the children’s faces as they wait with great anticipation for that one special man to bring them something…Tax…
Rest of the Best 2013: Top Ten French Fries
Our 2013 Best of Houston® winners have been announced, but in many cases, picking the best item in any category was no easy task. In order to show off all the culinary greatness Houston has to offer, we’ll be rounding up the “rest of the best” in some of our…
Henry Kaiser, a Werner Herzog Film Producer and Experimental Guitarist, Screens and Plays Along to Crazy Beautiful Shots of Under-the-Ice Antarctica
Even though he’s played with the improvised music legends, appeared on more than 250 records, and lived in California all of his life, Henry Kaiser, whose under-the-Antarctic-ice shots can be seen in several Werner Herzog’s films, says that he’s 80 percent Antarctica research diver and 20 percent American experimental guitarist…
Prayer for Me, But Not for Thee: The Supreme Court Hears Argument on the New Legislative Prayer Case
Case Name: Town of Greece v. Galloway What this Case is About? The First Amendment, more specifically the Establishment Clause (the government cannot establish a state religion) in the First Amendment. The town Greece, New York is outside of Rochester and has a population of approximately 100,000. In 1999, Greece’s…
100 Creatives 2013: Jessica Wilbanks, Essayist and Pushcart Prize Winner
Essayist Jessica Wilbanks mixed thermo-dynamics with memory when she wrote her Pushcart Prize winning essay Father of Disorder. “I was thinking about thermo-dynamics and the relationships between heat and energy [when I wrote the essay],” Wilbanks tells us. “Heat doesn’t disappear, it’s just transferred and it always seeks to escape…
Head to Danton’s for Gulf Oysters and More
November is the perfect time of year to indulge in seafood. It’s warm enough that you can still sit outside if you want to, and cold oysters will still be refreshing, but it’s cool enough to make you crave a steaming bowl of gumbo or baked oysters Rockefeller. Oh yeah,…
Best of Houston® 2013: Rest of the Best – Houston Rockets Edition
Were you so inclined to look up the Best Rocket category from previous Best of Houston® issues, you would find these honorees for the past ten years: Yao Ming (2003-2004, 2006) Tracy McGrady (2005) Shane Battier (2007, 2009-2010) Rafer Alston (2008) Luis Scola (2011) Chuck Hayes (2012) Let’s start by…
My Fastest Favorites: Top Ten Fast Foods
A funny thing happened when I sat down to compile a list of my favorite fast-food items: I couldn’t think of that many that actually come from fast-food restaurants. Don’t get me wrong, there are a few — some burgers, and of course I included my go-to fast-food taco –…
Do You Want to Adopt an Adult? You Can!
In the new Vince Vaughn movie, Delivery Man, hitting theaters November 22, Vaughn’s character finds that he has fathered 533 children through the sperm donation process. It’s funny, ha-ha; imagine you found out that many little versions of you were running around the country? The film attacks this outlandish premise…
Do Genres Have an Expiration Date?
Whenever you buy a carton of milk, it comes with a lot of important information on the packaging. It tells you its nutritional facts, its location of origin, and, perhaps most importantly, its expiration date. Sure, you can usually tell just by the smell, but it’s generally a decent arbiter…
Steely Dan’s Fagen: Houston Hotel Was “Old and Ailing, Just Like Me”
Eminent Hipsters By Donald Fagen Viking Adult, 176 pp., $26.95 Fans of Steely Dan know that singer/keyboardist Donald Fagen usually dips a wry, sardonic, sarcastic, and sometimes poison pen into the pitch-black inkwell with his lyrics. And they cherish it. Many of his songs have become singalong radio mainstays. But…
Morrissey Delighted With Parody Charlie Brown Tumblr, Apparently
If you haven’t had an opportunity to check out the Tumblr “This Charming Charlie” — seriously, it should have been “You’re a Charming Man, Charlie Brown! — then do yourself a favor and head on over there to waste a couple of hours. The site posts classic Peanuts comic strips,…
Bun B For Mayor: Could This Ever Be a Thing?
Last week Houston voters re-elected Annise Parker as the city’s mayor by a wide enough margin that no runoff was necessary. According to the Los Angeles Times (which noticed), Parker defeated her main rival, attorney Ben Hall, by 57 percent to 27 percent, which even apolitical types recognize as an…
After Seven Straight Losses, the Ed Reed Era Is Over in Houston
“Arizona played their best ball. We played really well outside of certain situations. Certain situations, we just got outplayed and out-coached.” — Ed Reed, Sunday after the 27-24 loss to the Arizona Cardinals Back in the middle of March, Ed Reed was flying back and forth to Houston on owner…
A Serious Question: Why Is Everyone Still Obsessed With the Texans?
Earlier this season, some dude paid a fan $200 for his Matt Schaub jersey in the parking lot at Reliant Stadium after a loss. He then took the jersey and burned it. I can only assume that most of the participants were drunk because, if they weren’t, it would make…
A First Look at Allô French Rotisserie: Casual and Comforting French Food in Vintage Park
Wherever you go in Paris, you will find a multitude of cafes and bistros showcasing whole rotisserie chickens in their windows. Thankfully, you don’t have to spend much time scouring the streets in search of a hot, juicy chicken — your nose will lead you in the right direction. In…
When It’s George Clooney vs. Russell Crowe, We’re All Winners
There’s an interview with George Clooney in the latest issue of Esquire. I’ve read a few pieces on the guy and this one hits the usual talking points – his aunt Rosemary, his strong relationship with his father, his loyalty to his friends – but he also takes a few…
Oh No! Houstoric Project has been cloned! And an Edit Must Be Made
After receiving a few messages from friends over the weekend congratulating me on “my print piece,” I had to remind them that I worked for the Houston Press and that we don’t have a weekend print edition. Confused, I had to find out what they were messaging me about. (I…
Baked Goods: FM 903 Isn’t Opening Until 2014, But You Can Taste Its Wares Now at Triniti
FM 903 isn’t scheduled to open until the fall of 2014; in fact it, hasn’t even broken ground yet, but the restaurant/bakery is already generating quite the buzz. And you can sample what’s to come at the weekly pop-up bakery hosted by Pastry Chef Samantha Mendoza. Every Saturday from 10…
Weather Week: Ready or Not, Here Comes the Cold Weather
In Houston, the most important routine check-up you do for your home every year is the one that makes sure your air conditioning works every spring. If there is one thing you don’t want, it’s a broken a/c unit come June. This is the opposite of our northern neighbors, who…
Peace Out, Blockbuster; Karma’s a Bitch
When DISH president Joseph P. Clayton announced last week that the once video rental giant, Blockbuster, would be closing its doors for serious, no one was all that surprised. As it is, the company, which went bankrupt in 2010, was purchased by DISH Network in 2011 and immediately started shutting…
Latkes & Turkeys Unite: Eight Recipes for Your Thanksgivukkah Celebration
It’s a Hanukkah miracle! This year, for the first time since 1888 (and according to one calculation, the last time for another 77,798 years), the first full day of the eight-day Jewish Festival of Lights falls on Thanksgiving Day. It’s Thanksgivukkah, y’all! Challah! To honor this very special day, we’ve…
Richie Incognito Epilogue: Stephen Ross and Trent Dilfer Speak Out (w/ VIDEO)
Roughly 48 hours have now gone by since Richie Incognito’s ultra rehearsed image rehabilitation session interview with FOX’s Jay Glazer. We learned that Richie Incognito was able to recite some lines indicating that he is indeed contrite about his use of the n-word in a voicemail message to teammate Jonathan…
Let’s Help These People Make a Fun Fun Fun Fest Love Connection
With the possible exception of traffic, there is no easier and worse place to fall in love than at a concert. There you are, minding your own business, soaking in the sounds, when you see that one person who just takes your breath away. You don’t know anything about them…
Jack in the Box’s Late-Night “Munchie Meal” Ignores Entire Population of Wake-and-Bakers
In theory, you really can’t go wrong with the new Jack in the Box “Munchie Meal.” It’s a box full of junk food, available between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m., that is designed to crush even the most heinous case of the munchies. The ad campaign is pretty clearly targeting…
Marie and Bruce at Catastrophic Examines the Comedy and Pain of a Marriage
Catastrophic Theatre Director Jason Nodler used to think Wallace Shawn’s Marie and Bruce was, as another writer once put it: “about a terrible marriage that would probably last forever” That was in 1999 when Nodler and Infernal Bridegroom Productions first put on the play with actors Tamarie Cooper and Charlie…
Pop Rocks: Five Examples of How Men’s Hair Is Far Worse Than Women’s Hair
I’ve noticed lately that there has been an awful lot of hubub over Kate Middleton’s hair. Apparently, the young royal has developed a few gray hairs on top of her soon-to-be-crowned head and the British tabloids — like the New York Post, only sleazy — are freaked the hell out…
When Politicians Lie, Here’s How Journalists (and You) Should Correct Them
It is a commonplace that politicians will spin facts to their benefit. Indeed, politicians have been known to stretch the truth so far that it reaches into “that is simply false” territory. “Truthiness” it’s called. And it is not limited solely to politicians. Even more disconcerting is that social science…
Perry’s Steakhouse, Home of the Seven Finger Pork Chop, Expands to Chicago and Denver
Perry’s Steakhouse and Grille, the popular upscale eatery that’s been slinging impossibly tall pork chops and symphony kabobs in Houston since 1986, is opening new locations in Chicago and Denver. The restaurant first started as a meat market in 1979, later becoming a full-service restaurant famous for its meat. From…
The Rocks Off 200: Joe Ortiz, Clockpole’s Master of Nonsense
Welcome to The Rocks Off 200, our portrait gallery of the most compelling profiles and personalities in the far-flung Houston music community — a lot more than just musicians, but of course they’re in there too. See previous entries in the Rocks Off 100 at this link. Who? One of…
Perry’s Getting His Presidential Hair Ready Early, Railing Against Obamacare, Appearing in Iowa
He’s vacating the governor’s office after this term is up in January 2015, but it looks like Gov. Rick Perry has no intention of letting that perfect mop of political hair languish in retirement. Judging by the smoke signals from his most recent forays into media, Perry is looking at…
November Kickstarter Round-Up: Photobooth in a VW Bus and Sock Evangelism
Once a month we’ll be bringing you a look at some of the best local Kickstarter campaigns in order to let you know what’s getting ready to be unleashed through the help of small investors. The MABUA No show Socks: Do you remember that episode of Married… With Children where…
Spotlight on Thanksgiving Sides: Revival Market’s Erbazzone Should Be on Your Table
Looking for non-traditional (at least for your family) side options this Thanksgiving? This series highlights the unconventional, interesting twists on sides available for sale at Houston restaurants. Pick up some to add some variation to Turkey Day. Shame is not usually the first feeling I have when I learn about…
Your 2013-14 Noobs Guide to the Houston Rockets
Maybe you haven’t been watching the Rockets for a while. Maybe their abject mediocrity over the last, oh I don’t know, 15 years, has left you complacent. Maybe you grew up during a time when the Rockets weren’t winning titles and contending for championships. Or maybe you just didn’t care…
Upcoming: Miley Cyrus, American Fangs, Dropkick Murphys, Paul Simon & Sting, etc.
Abiotic: Thu., December 12, 7 p.m., $10 to $12. Fitzgerald’s, 2706 White Oak, Houston, 713-862-3838. AER: Word of Mouth Tour: With RDGLDGRN., Fri., March 14, 7:30 p.m., $15 to $23.99. Fitzgerald’s, 2706 White Oak, Houston, 713-862-3838. American Fangs: Thu., December 12, 8 p.m., $10. Walters, 1120 Naylor, Houston, 713-222-2679. American…
10 Tips on Making Your Thanksgiving Go Smoothly (We’re Not Talking Food Here)
Thanksgiving is perhaps the most counter-intuitive holiday in existence. The premise is simple; you and your closest family and friends get together and have a meal. Couldn’t be simpler, right? However, in practice you run up against a hoard of tiny little frictions that collectively (And hopefully metaphorically) threaten to…
The Great Debate: Do Casseroles Deserve a Place at Our Dining Tables? Here Are Two Takes
Photos by striaticAccording to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the word “casserole” was first used in 1708, but the origin of the word can be traced to a much earlier time. It comes from the French word for saucepan, which possibly has its roots in the Greek kyathos, which means ladle, bowl…
Five Metal Bands Who Overcame the Odds
The Slayer road show hits Bayou Music Center this evening, but don’t get your hopes up too high. This is Slayer practically in name only, thanks to the tragic passing of guitarist Jeff Hanneman in May and the firing of drummer Dave Lombardo. Frankly, I’d prefer if remaining members Kerry…
The Reissue Van Morrison Doesn’t Want You to Buy
What happens when a hotly anticipated new release comes out by an artist… and the artist encourages you not to buy it? On the rare occurrence this happens, it’s usually because the artist feels the material is either inferior, not in final form, bootlegged, or somehow fallen into the orbit…
Gojira Lives the Dream Tonight With Slayer
Still tempted to believe in 2013 that all metalheads are anti-intellectual lunks built only to destroy? Well, forget the decades of anecdotal evidence. You’d do well to remember, instead, that one of modern heavy metal’s biggest and best bands is comprised of four eco-conscious artistes from a small village in…
The Best Things We Overheard at Fun Fun Fun Fest
“This is keep-drinking food!” — A guy really excited that we both had pizza “He kind of looks like a Nazi. I find it oddly attractive.” “I wanna do something entertaining.” — An eight-year-old to her dad after about ten seconds of The Chromatics’ cover of “Into The Black.” Kids…
MLS Cup Playoffs: Tired Legs Prove Futile for Both Sides in Scoreless Draw
The Dynamo faced a familiar foe — Sporting Kansas City — in their first leg of the Eastern Conference Finals Saturday night. The sold-out crowd on hand at BBVA Compass Stadium got to witness a rousing 0-0 draw. Not that the match was devoid of intrigue. The tough, physical battle…
The Pumpkin(?) Spice Doughnut at Dunkin’ Donuts Fails to Live Up to Its Promise
Among the many things I admire about Dunkin’ Donuts is its steadfast commitment to using every holiday under the sun as an excuse to issue theme/specially decorated baked goods and drinks. Not that capitalizing on certain annual fetes is unheard of in the food world (hey there, M&M’s!), but Dunkin’…
Zapruder Analysis of Richie Incognito’s Interview With FOX’s Jay Glazer
It’s been quite a year for the NFL, and I’m not talking about on the field. Off the field, the soap opera has been depressingly interesting (or interestingly depressing, depending on how you look at it). For starters, you had an offseason crime spree by players (and even some front…
Hubbell & Hudson Wants to Cater Your Thanksgiving Dinner This Year
It’s not too early to start planning your Thanksgiving dinner, and if you are not going to cook everything yourself this year, restaurants and grocery stores around Houston and the surrounding neighborhoods can help you serve a traditional, comforting meal — you don’t have to cook in your home to…
Liberating the Imagination: CORE Performance Company Unleashes The Liberated Accident
The Set-Up: Atlanta and Houston-based CORE Performance Company presented The Liberated Accident, an evening in three chapters at the Barn on November 7-9. Accident is the work of guest artist Amanda K. Miller-Fasshauer whose recent return to the United States from Germany prompted the thematic and structural content of the…
The Not So Fun Side of Fun Fun Fun Fest 2013
Comedy = Good, Comedy Tent = Tragic It’s nice to see the festival taking comedy seriously and booking big names like Tenacious D, but the area they’ve designated for comedy performances is far too small and does a disservice to those names. Either give the big names time on a…
ENDA, Cruz/Cornyn and the Wrong Side of History
Yesterday, the Senate, in a rare show of bi-partisanship, passed ENDA (Employment Non-Discrimination Act) 64-32. The bill would ban anti-gay discrimination in the workplace. This highlights that a civil rights struggle we have all been watching slowly but surely come to an end. Of course, not everyone feels that way…
FDA, Calling Them Detrimental to Human Health, Moves to Ban Trans Fats in Food
On November 7, the Food and Drug Adminstration proposed that partially hydrogenated oils no longer be “generally recognized as safe” — a ruling that, if made final, would effectively mean companies could no longer use anything containing trans fats in their products. I asked Houstonians what they thought about this…
Boxing Gloves Plus Paint at the Zoya Tommy Gallery
Pinpointing Japanese art is tough. We tend to pigeonhole Japanese art into a select few categories: the woodblock/printmaking periods often depicted with landscapes and volcanoes, the architecture of pagodas and temples or the delicate calligraphy of the Buddhist influence. Contemporary Japanese art is frequently associated with anime, girls with big…
So Long, Farewell, RIP to the Astrodome
I have a memory of the Astrodome that I want to share. Of a Friday night in May of 1993, the Friday night before my law school graduation. I was working that night, handling the stats and graphics on the DiamondVision screen, something I did for most Astros games from…
The Best Things at Fun Fun Fun Fest 2013
It Combines So Many Different Things I Love Friday night I got to stand outside and watch professional wrestling while a reunited Quicksand played a set. It’s great to live in a world where that sentence is a thing that’s real. CORY GARCIA The Weather Friday night was a bit…
What’s Cooking This Week? Spicy Mussels, Roast Chicken and Lots of Chorizo
I love cooking for my fiancé and planning meals for us, but cooking for two often proves to be difficult. If I don’t make a plan, I end up running around in circles at the grocery store and wasting half the ingredients I’ve bought (and I hate wasting food). Enter…
Book Check: “The Circle” by Dave Eggers
Title: The Circle (a novel) Tell Me About the Author: Dave Eggers burst onto the literary scene in 2000 with a hilarious and heart-rending memior, A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genuis. Since that time, he has founded McSweeney’s and been a fairly prolific author — this is his fourth novel…
Gary Kubiak Is the Greatest Middle Manager of All Time
There’s an old saying in business that the measure of any manager’s (or, for our purposes, any head coach’s) true value is in how similarly, in his or her absence, the business (or team) runs to how it would with him or her present. In other words, if you’ve done…
100 Favorite Dishes 2013: No. 71, Lazy Lane Frites at Brasserie 19
This year, leading up to our annual Menu of Menus issue, Kaitlin Steinberg counts down her 100 favorite dishes as she eats her way through Houston. She’ll compile a collection of the dishes she thinks are the most awesome, most creative and, of course, most delicious in town. It’s a…
“The Wartime Escape” at Holocaust Museum Houston Illustrates the Daring Escape of the Creators of Curious George
The little brown monkey floats down the river on a plank of wood, his face set in its famously quizzical expression: eyes wide, eyebrows arched, mouth upturned at the corners. He and The Man in the Yellow Hat have been visiting friends in the country, but the monkey, wandering after…
Houstoric Project, Volume 7: The East End
For our seventh installment of the HoustoricProject, we bring you the East End. The East End covers a vast area that starts at the eastern edge of downtown and runs to the Port of Houston and south to Hobby Airport. The Eastwood Subdivision, one of Houston’s first master-planned communities, turned…
Carnival ‘Round the Central Figure: A Dying Man and a Cynical Televangelist
The set-up: A man lies dying in a hospital, comatose but kept company by his wife, as various visitors come and go, and a variety of methods of dealing with death are explored. This is not a drama, but rather a comedic take, exaggerating attitudes, and moving intentionally well past…
Spotlight on Thanksgiving Sides: Spinach Kugel Soufflé from Kenny & Ziggy’s…Mazel Tov!
Looking for non-traditional (at least for your family) side options this Thanksgiving? This series highlights the unconventional, interesting twists on sides available for sale at Houston restaurants. Pick up some to add some variation to Turkey Day. This year is very special. For the first time in 225 years, Thanksgiving…
Cardinals 27, Texans 24: Seven Painful Losses in a Row
As the losses continue to mount, it gets more and more difficult to predict how the Texans will lose. On Sunday, they seemed to play better on the whole, but mistakes on both sides of the ball cost them. It hasn’t helped that injuries continue to be a problem as…
Cut Copy at Warehouse Live, 11/9/2013
Cut Copy Warehouse Live November 9, 2013 It’s been a busy week in Houston for live music, but especially if you’re a fan of shaking your booty. While most of the area hipsters were busy getting their fun (fun fun) on in Austin, we benefited from the festival overflow in…
Cheap & Good Eats: Top 5 Budget Lunch Spots in the Galleria
We’ve been rounding up our favorite budget lunch spots in different neighborhoods around town. So far, we’ve covered Montrose, River Oaks, Midtown, Upper Kirby, EaDo, Rice Village and the East End. But we’re not done yet. This week, it’s the upscale Galleria neighborhood that gets a closer look. Here’s our…
Doctor Who: What is a Zygon?
Over the weekend Whovians finally got a chance to see the full trailer for “The Day of the Doctor,” and while yours truly thought it was a little underwhelming in light of how long they kept us dangling for the thing honestly, it’s still the first real look at the…
Could Slayer’s Bloody Reign Be Coming to an End?
For more than three decades now, any discussion of heavy metal’s fastest, heaviest and most influential bands has begun (and often ended) with Slayer, the Los Angeles foursome that has served as the genre’s raging, antisocial id since forming in the early 1980s. In the time since, the group has…
What’s Hot, Not at The Pastry War
Although it’s been open for less than three months, The Pastry War (310 Main), the Clumsy Butcher’s latest concept that focuses on mezcal and tequila, has already been listed by Zagat as one of the 19 hottest bars in 11 U.S. cities. Local accolades only confirm that The Pastry War…
Katy Perry’s “Roar” Is a Pretty Terrible Song
Note: In his column Serrano Time, award-winning Houston writer and alll-around goofball Shea Serrano writes about his life and times. History: Katy Perry was born in 1984, except back then people called her “Katy Hudson” because that’s her real name. In 2001, she was like, “You know what? I’m gonna…
The Best Concerts In Houston This Week: Josh Groban, Drake, Janelle Monae, Rihanna, etc.
Josh Groban Toyota Center, November 12 An all-American opera-singing pop star you can take home to Mom, Josh Groban almost doesn’t seem human: he’s smart, good-looking, self-deprecating, and his radiant baritone can thaw a glacier. It has no trouble filling sports arenas, that’s for sure, a good thing because Groban’s…
Raul Hernandez Case: Electricians Charged in Hilton Hotel Pool Death
Three months after 27-year-old Raul Hernandez was electrocuted in the pool of the Westchase Hilton Hotel, the Harris County District Attorney’s Office has charged two electricians who worked on the pool with criminally negligent homicide. Assistant District Attorney Bill Exley said he began looking into the case based on Houston…
App of the Week: Houston Developer Creates Interesting Weather App in Weather Line
App: Weather Line Platforms: iPhone Web site: Product Website Cost: $2.99 I love weather apps, so when given the opportunity to test out one released only a couple weeks ago from a local Houston developer, I obviously took it. Randy Jones worked in the oil industry, but decided to take…
Now You Can Find Out About the Ammonium Nitrate in Your Backyard. Sort Of.
In the wake of the West fertilizer plant explosion earlier this year, there were a lot of questions about how the facility was able to slip through the regulatory cracks while storing enough ammonium nitrate to make the small Texas town look like a crater on the moon. There was…
Weekend Highlights From the Houston Cinema Arts Festival
Argentine director Matias Pineiro is one of the media darlings at this year’s Houston Cinema Arts Festival. He’s got multiple films showing over week-long festival and is appearing at each screening. On Friday, it’s Viola and Rosalinda, both based on Shakespearean tales. Viola (shown above) reimagines Twelfth Night as a…
August: Osage County at Cinema Arts Festival Goes From Darkly Funny to Just Plain Sad
There’s a story, possibly apocryphal, that someone once asked the American playwright and actor Sam Shepard why he always writes about family, to which he replied, “What else is there?” This notion of family being everything, all-encompassing, greater than the sum of its parts (if only those parts could come…
We Talk With Astros Owner Jim Crane About the CSN Houston Debacle
There’s been much written about the CSN Houston debacle. Some straight and sober articles. Some opinionated pieces. But truthfully, except for the parties involved, nobody really knows why CSN Houston has yet to achieve carriage on Direct TV, Dish Network, U-verse, TimeWarner Cable or most other cable systems. Jim Crane…
Soul Brother Lee Fields: Singing “Brings On the Sweats”
Whatever you may be doing right now, Lee Fields is having more fun than you are. In January the sixtysomething New Jersey-based soul singer will perform in Australia, meaning his high-energy delivery (now backed by his airtight band the Expressions) will have thrilled audiences on every continent outside Antarctica. He’d…
Save at Bocca Deli, Mark’s American Cuisine, Line & Lariat and More
Welcome to Friday, everyone — we made it. In celebration, we present to you today’s Houston Press Voice Daily Deal: good for half-off ($7 for $14) at Bocca Deli. The 2013 “Best of Houston” winner for Best Cheap Sandwich features a full menu of signature panini grilled or deli-style sandwiches,…
Rice Stages its A Midsummer Night’s Dream Outdoors on Campus to Good Effect
The set-up: Rice University unleashes its drama department on William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, probably Shakespeare’s most produced play, a delightful comedy set largely in a forest, dealing with young love in its various forms. Its director, Christina Keefe, matches the production perfectly to the romantic mood by staging…
Pole Dancing, Playoff Soccer: Top Five Things to Do in Houston Sports This Weekend
“It’s the freakin’ weekend, baby, I’m about to have me some fun.” Oh, R. Kelly, how you cut to the core of me. The weekend is upon us again, kids and children of all ages. That can mean only two things: 1) It’s time to put on my expanding pants…
Project Runway All-Stars, Now With More Alyssa Milano
There is always this moment at the beginning of each season of Project Runway All-Stars when I ask myself, “Do I really want to invest an hour a week in a Klum-free, Gunn-free, knock-off Project Runway?” For the third time in a row, my answer has been, “Yes.” Two episodes…
Lupe Fiasco at Warehouse Live, 11/7/2013
“Man it feels good, when it happens like that / Two days from going back to selling crack, yessir!” Lupe Fiasco Warehouse Live November 7, 2013 As we walked into Warehouse Live on a chilly November night, all I could see was a titanic beard onstage rapping into a mike…
The Return of Cafe Piquet: Excellent Sangria and a Restaurant That Was Founded on Love
Cafe Piquet is back, better than ever.
This Weekend’s Best Bets: Aggies, Tigers and Utes (Oh My!)
Before we get to this week’s best bets (or, as they’re back to being called after last week’s 2-3-1 week, this week’s “best bets to fade Sean”), a moment of silence for Blockbuster Video’s retail store. DISH Corporation, the owner of the Blockbuster brand, announced that it’s shutting down its…
Top 5 Worst Thanksgiving Side Dishes: Please, Please, Do NOT Pass the Ambrosia Salad
Picture it: You’re sitting around the Thanksgiving table with your entire extended family, and everyone is dressed nicely, behaving themselves and getting along. It’s a Norman Rockwell holiday to the T. The turkey is perfectly browned, the gravy is thick, the biscuits are fluffy, the green beans are crisp and…
Start Stocking Up: A Guide to Stocking Stuffers
Does anyone else think that stocking stuffers are more fun to buy than big, expensive gifts? Maybe it’s because opening the stocking is so fun; pulling out treat after tiny treat, always hoping there’s just one more thing buried deep down at the toe. Thinking about the fun and anticipation…
UPDATED Sources: Michael Brown Is Dead
Multiple sources close to the case, including Rachel Brown’s divorce lawyer David Brown, are telling us that Michael Brown died after he was taken off life support Thursday. Will have more soon. A Brown obit: When defense attorney Dick DeGuerin told the jury in Michael Brown’s 2011 assault case, in…
Craft Brews, Music and Education: Houston Beer Week Is Here, and Here’s the Scoop
If you’re a beer lover in Houston, you’re in luck. Saturday, November 9, marks the kickoff of Houston Beer Week — a “holiday” that “encourages bars, restaurants, retail establishments, distributors and breweries to create unique craft beer-related events throughout the Houston metro [area],” according to the event’s Web site. Best…
Book Check: “Double Down: Game Change 2012”
Title: Double Down: Game Change 2012 Tell Me About the Author(s): Mark Halperin and John Heilemann. Both are dialed-in political journalists, who work in print and on TV. They are both the embodiment of the mainstream media. Note, this does not, Fox News’ best efforts aside, mean they are liberals…
Weekend Weather: Chilly Then Milder; Four Reasons You Should Finally Go Outside
After a long, hot summer — even a summer like this one that was, relatively speaking, on the mild side — the first real blast of cool air is like opening the freezer door at the grocery store. It’s bracing, but at least for me, really refreshing. I’ve seen a…
Is There a Link Between Gun Ownership and Racism? Yes, There Is
As you are doubtlessly aware, “active shooter” incidents — for example, the LAX TSA shooting — seem to have become commonplace in America; indeed, they “spiked sharply” over the past few years. (Yet, the violent crime rate continues to fall). After Newtown, it seemed sure that the political winds had…
Apparently Playing Organ 100 Years Ago Could Kill You
My day gig is as a clerk in pretty much Houston’s last full-service sheet music store, so if you ever want to come down and comment in person I’m there most days explaining to people the difference between a violin and a fiddle. The difference is no one gets mad…
The 5 Best Things to Eat or Drink This Weekend: Food Truck Fest, Phoenicia’s 30th Birthday & A Latte Art Throwdown
8th Annual Katy Wine Festival @ The Tuscany Villa Friday, 7-11 p.m. 3330 FM 1463, Katy Cinco Ranch Rotary hosts this year’s Katy Wine Festival, which features Italian wines from the Tuscany, Piedmont, Campania, Sicily, Veneto, Puglia and Umbria regions. Purchase an advanced general admission ticket for $60 and receive…
Fall Fashion: Five Must-Have Spend-Worthy Pieces
Let’s skip right past hot trends and “new” colors and all that clever marketing designed to make us fall in love with things most of us should never wear, like “lime green” and dropped-crotch pants. Instead, let’s talk about some classic pieces that you will use over and over again,…
Texas Abortion Case Might Be the Next Big Supreme Court Abortion Ruling
Planned Parenthood v. Abbott, a/k/a the “Texas Abortion Case,” might be the fodder for the Supreme Court’s latest pronouncement on abortion. Let’s start with the “might”: the Supreme Court only takes those cases that it wants to hear (granting a writ of certiorari, in the jargon), so there is the…
Upcoming Events: Do You Prefer Beer or Wine With Your Dinner? Take Your Pick This Week
On Tuesday, November 12, at 8 p.m., Revival Market invites you to say good-bye to its farm-driven cuisine of 2013 during A Fond Farewell feast in the Autumn Dinner series. The night includes a smorgasbord of dishes including pumpkin seed risotto with ricotta, saffron and crimini mushrooms, salted fish with…
100 Creatives 2013: David DeHoyos, Astronaut Photographer
What He Does: One of the best parts of the end of the recent government shutdown is that David DeHoyos got to go back to work as the Digital Imaging Specialist at NASA-Johnson Space Center. His work involves scanning NASA film imagery for archiving purposes as well as serving as…
The Rice Hotel Speakeasy: Houston Music During Prohibition
Note: This is Part 2 in a series that timelines through bits of the first century of Houston’s nightlife until about the start of what was found to be Houston’s oldest running bar. The Rice Hotel (now the Post Rice Lofts) is located where the first capital of the Republic…
BATTLE-DRINK, Week 10: Randy Bullock Bullies Your Liver
We are at the mathematical halfway point of the Texans season, and the team sits at 2-6. It’s funny how this weekly BATTLE-DRINK game, if you go back and look at each week, in an odd way sort of weaves the tapestry of the entire season. You can see how…
Openings & Closings: House of Pies Shutters Temporarily, Good Dog Preps For Brick-And-Mortar & A Look At 2014
There weren’t any permanent closure announcements this week, but two restaurants are now temporarily closed — one because of a fire, and the other because of a brick-and-mortar expansion. The roof of the House of Pies on Kirby caught on fire late on Wednesday night, forcing the pie shop to…
Top Five Things to Do in Houston This Weekend: The Liberated Accident, “Antonio Berni: Juanito and Ramona” and More
Choreographer Amanda K. Miller-Fasshauer has spent the past three decades living and working abroad, so it was a coup for the U.S.-based CORE Performance Company to commission a new work from her to be set on American dancers. Miller-Fasshauer tells us that the work, The Liberated Accident, An Evening in…
UPDATED: Is More Free Press Summer Fest a Good Idea?
UPDATE (Friday, 5 p.m.): According to Summer Fest’s Omar Afra, FPSF prices will not increase if the festival is approved for a third day. Earlier this week Free Press Summer Fest posted a video beseeching everyone who has enjoyed the two-day festival over the past five years to contact their…
Warren Haynes: This Mule Is a Real Workhorse
In another era, James Brown was the Hardest Working Man in Show Business. Today, that title crown might just fall upon the hirsute head of Warren Haynes, simply based on the sheer amount of musical projects currently on his plate. The 53-year-old is a singer/guitarist with the Allman Brothers Band,…
Houston’s Top 10 Hookup Bars
As does our sister blog Eating…Our Words, from time to time Rocks Off will be giving your our picks for the top taverns in various Houston-area neighborhoods. Of course, the lines can be porous, but here anything with a TABC license that cannot reasonably be considered either a restaurant, coffeehouse…
The Best Concerts in Houston This Weekend: Robert Glasper Experiment, Gov’t Mule, etc.
Robert Glasper Experiment Arena Theatre, November 9 If the praise surrounding Robert Glasper were any more glowing, he would be visible from space. The 35-year-old Missouri City native and proud HSPVA grad is already a 2013 Grammy winner, Best R&B Album for last year’s Black Radio, with the promise of…
UPDATED: KUHA Lays Off Local On-Air Staff; Classical Music to Come From Minnesota
Classical-music station KUHA-FM has axed almost all its local on-air personalities in favor of a service programmed from Minnesota, the University of Houston announced today. UH spokesman Richard Bonnin says the station, which along with KUHF Texas Southern University’s KTRU-FM is part of an entity called Houston Public Media, will…
Police: Michael Brown Attempted Suicide
Michael Brown’s hospitalization was the result of an attempted suicide, according to a Miami Beach Police Department offense report. Officers responding to a 911 call October 24 found Brown lying in a master bedroom closet and found a suicide note on the bedroom nightstand. A female witness who has “been…
The Power of Fox News: Republicans Are More Republican, and Democrats Are Too
We know that most people don’t watch partisan political cable TV news. But that’s not what I’m talking about here. I’m talking about the effect of Fox News on elected representatives, both Republican and Democratic. There has been some research that Fox News made GOP voters more conservative, but this…
Spotlight on Thanksgiving Sides: You’ll Want Some Mac N 5 Cheeses From Jonathan’s the Rub
Looking for non-traditional (at least for your family) side options this Thanksgiving? This series highlights the unconventional, interesting twists on sides available for sale at Houston restaurants. Pick up one or more to add some variation to your Turkey Day feast. Ah, the ignorance inherent in a regional upbringing. I…
Houston Traffic Hotspots: The Galleria
As we inch closer to Christmas and, more important, Black Friday, the areas surrounding Houston malls will gradually become clogged with murderous joyous holiday shoppers looking for deals and trying to buy their kids something they won’t hate this year (hint: no plaid shirts, mom!). Despite all the merriment and…
American Horror Story: Coven: All Blood, No Bite
If you follow horror franchise sequels you’ll notice that as they get longer the gore gets more out of control and gruesome. This is a side-effect of the desensitization. First you fear the killer, then you fear the kills, and finally all that’s left is to push the envelope so…
HISD Cop Shoots at Fleeing Suspects at Barbara Jordan High School
A Houston school district police officer fired shots at car burglars who tried to run him over this morning, HISD says. The incident happened about 8:30 a.m. at Barbara Jordan High School near the North Loop and the Eastex Freeway. “The campus officer was patrolling the parking lot when he…
MLS Cup Playoffs: Did You Ever Really Doubt The Dynamo? 2-1 Winners in NYC
The Houston Dynamo were heavy underdogs going into their second leg of the Eastern Conference Semifinals match against the New York Red Bulls. To make matters worse, Red Bull Arena, is a place where the Dynamo have yet to win — their last goal was during a 1-1 tie back…
Facebook Losing Teens; Where Have All the Teenagers Gone
In my spare time, I am a communication professor, and for the past few years I have been teaching a history of mass media course on the college level. Each semester, the students put together a media diary in which they monitor their media usage for three days. It’s usually…
100 Favorite Dishes 2013: No 72, Chicken Pot Pie at Kenny & Ziggy’s
This year, leading up to our annual Menu of Menus issue, Kaitlin Steinberg counts down her 100 favorite dishes as she eats her way through Houston. She’ll compile a collection of the dishes she thinks are the most awesome, most creative and, of course, most delicious in town. It’s a…
Late-Night Fire Shutters House of Pies; No Injuries Reported
A fire broke out at the popular and beloved House of Pies on Kirby last night around 10:45 as the result of an electrical fire that started in the ceiling. According to Khaled Khalaf, whose family has owned the eatery since 1992, there were about 70 or 80 customers in…
Kurt Vile & the Violators at Walters, 11/6/2013
Kurt Vile & the Violators Walters November 6, 2013 “I promise not to party… too hard,” sings Kurt Vile on his track “Too Hard.” Earlier this week, Vile spoke to us about the importance of maintaining his role as a responsible husband and father of two while on tour. This…
Larry Fessenden on Birth of the Living Dead: Zombie Movie as History Lesson
Birth of the Living Dead.The zombification of America got its start in 1968, when George A. Romero and a bunch of his friends and colleagues released Night of the Living Dead, the scrappy little horror movie that could not only serve as patient zero in the ongoing pop-cultural zombie apocalypse,…
H-E-B’s Holiday-Themed Sparkling Waters: Festive Tastes for Your Table at Two for $1
There’s nothing like a candy cane or a caramel apple to quench your thirst. So says H-E-B, which recently began offering a new line of zero-calorie sparkling water in holiday-inspired flavors such as cranberry apple, candy cane and caramel apple. I spotted this trio of festive beverages (there may be…
What Did Tuesday’s Elections Mean for the Tea Party?
Tuesday night was not a good night for the Tea Party. Virginia GOP gubernatorial candidate and Tea Partier, Ken Cuccinelli — the guy who wanted to outlaw sodomy and make women have ultrasounds before terminating a pregnancy – lost. Cuccinelli lost moderate voters by 18 percent. Joining him in ignominious…
The Astrodome Is Our Roman Colosseum and We’re Going to Tear It Down
When the Roman Colosseum was built, it was a sports stadium, the first of its kind and a spectacle like nothing seen before. It was iconic beyond what took place inside, but the atrocities and spectacular events that did occur inside the building added to its mystique. It became a…
Pop Rocks: Obamacare in Your Television?
Imagine you are watching an episode of Grey’s Anatomy, and there is a scene in which Dr. McDreamy tells one of his patients that he/she is lucky that their pre-existing condition is now covered due to the Affordable Care Act. Or if the Bravermans on NBC’s Parenthood just happen to…
Go Take-Out and Let Houston Restaurants Do the Work for You This Thanksgiving
The Thanksgiving holiday is all about spending time with family and eating entirely too much food. But how to maximize both of those goals? With take-out, of course! Many Houston restaurants are offering full Thanksgiving feasts to-go, so you don’t need to lift a finger (except maybe to do the…
The Rocks Off 200: Ryan Dickson, Laid-Back and Out Loud
Who? Earlier this year we took a look at Kevin Choate, the percussive half of The Snow Indian. Now we shine a light on his partner Ryan Dickson, who keeps the melody throbbing live and hard on guitar and vocals. He favors a ’90s alternative method that calls to mind…
Weddings for Dudes: How Crate and Barrel Saved My Life (and Our Wedding Gifts)
I recently got married, but before that I spent years working at them as a photographer, musician and DJ. I’ve seen almost everything there is to see from good to bad to downright ugly. Now, guys, you can get the benefit of my knowledge and mistakes to help you navigate…
Can a Good Bloody Mary Be Made From a Mix? Perhaps So, But Get Yourself Some Fatalii
A delicious Bloody Mary can indeed come from a mix.
JFK’ Rice Hotel Sailship Doodle: Yours for (at Least) $13,800
In case you hadn’t heard yet this month — and if not, you will hear it a lot in the next couple of weeks — John Kennedy was assassinated 50 years ago. The night before he met his fate in Dallas, he was in Houston and stayed at what was…
Les Miles: Zapruder Analysis of the LSU Head Coach Breaking Traffic Laws
Welcome to the most important weekend so far this college football season! Yes, I am welcoming you to the weekend on a Thursday morning! It’s an odd college football weekend in that the two most important games are actually going to be played tonight, with tenth-ranked Oklahoma traveling to Waco…
The Rest of the Best: Houston’s Top 10 Contemporary Dance Companies
Houston is a dance town, no doubt about it. With companies like the Houston Ballet performing year-round, festivals like Dance Salad (now a mecca for dancers and fans from around the world), a burgeoning crop of dance filmmakers and education programs like the University of Houston’s School of Theatre and…
Philippe Restaurant + Lounge’s New Menu Under Chef Manuel Pucha: A Promising Debut
Philippe Schmit’s sudden departure from his eponymous restaurant, Philippe Restaurant + Lounge, left many wondering: What is going to happen to a restaurant named Philippe when Philippe himself is not there? A recent media dinner to introduce executive chef Manuel Pucha and his new menu answered that question. Pucha, who…
Top Five Must-See Punk/Hardcore Bands at Fun Fun Fun Fest
This year’s Fun Fun Fun Fest lineup is arguably one of the better offerings since its induction, eight years ago — with a particularly keen sample of musical nostalgia for punk and hardcore lovers of the ’80s and ’90s. And since I am neither of those things but my talented…
Gov’t Mule’s Warren Haynes Has Plenty to Shout! About
According to Warren Haynes, singer-guitarist-songwriter for Gov’t Mule, it is the first time something like this ever been done by any band — and he’s probably right. Shout!, The group’s first studio album in four years and debut for a new label (Blue Note), is a two-CD set. The first…
Man 1 Bank 0
So here’s a story where the little guy kicks the big corporate giant in the balls: Man 1 Bank 0. The stageplay is based on the real-life experiences of playwright and actor Patrick Combs, who deposited a $95,000 junk-mail check into his bank account (as a joke), only to have…
Chicago
The leading ladies are lying con artists and murderers. Despite this, the audience is expected to root for them in the now-classic Fred Ebb/Bob Fosse/John Kander musical Chicago. Paige Davis plays Roxie, the homemaker and would-be nightclub dancer with a heart of cold, who kills her lover and hires a…
Carnival ’Round the Central Figure
People often have strange reactions when they’re standing next to someone’s deathbed. In Diana Amsterdam’s Carnival ’Round the Central Figure, making its Houston premiere with Mildred’s Umbrella Theater Company, some of those reactions are funny, some are sad, some are both — and all of them hit home. Jennifer Decker,…
I Want to Sue My Hairdresser. Help!
Welcome to Ask Willie D, Rocks Off’s advice column where the Geto Boys MC answers reader questions about matters, in his own words, “funny, serious or unpredictable.” Something on your mind? Ask Willie D! WHILE I WAS SERVING MY COUNTRY MY WIFE MOVED ANOTHER MAN INTO OUR HOUSE AND SERVED…
“Antonio Berni: Juanito and Ramona”
Argentine artist Antonio Berni hasn’t had an exhibit in an American museum for half a century, but “Antonio Berni: Juanito and Ramona” will give Houstonians a rare look at his strange and wonderful art. During the early part of his life, Berni established himself in Argentina as a master painter…
Music Films Come to Life at Houston Cinema Arts Festival
It’s not by design, but the fifth installment of the Houston Cinema Arts Festival is so packed with music-oriented films, both narrative and documentary, that it makes a pretty damn good music festival all by itself — complete with several live performances. Pairing music with films has always been an…
Capsule Stage Reviews: Aida, Avenue Q, The Crucible, Death and the Maiden, Venus in Fur
>Aida Filled with DeMille spectacle, scene-chewing passion and sublime music, Giuseppe Verdi’s Aida (1871), one of grand opera’s grandest, evokes the moonlit Nile, sumptuous palaces, gloomy temple sanctums, a split-level set that reveals claustrophobia below and splendor above (Verdi’s own design), and, most famous of all, a majestic triumphal scene…
The Law and Street Time
Dear Mexican, I’m a pocha immigration attorney. I have so many questions for you I’m thinking I should just hire you as a consultant. Why do Mexicans seem to want me to lie to them and steal their money, and tell them they can become residents even when it’s hopeless?…
Matthew McConaughey’s Body Does the Talking in Dallas Buyers Club
Weight-loss and weight-gain performances are tricky things. Robert De Niro’s heavily mannered turn in Raging Bull just has to be great — he gained 60 pounds for it, didn’t he? For his role in The Machinist, Christian Bale dropped to a sub-skeletal 122 pounds; he looked like a walking, talking…
The Dark Tale of the Porn Star, the Dead Millionaire and the Tortured Beauty Queen
The first thing Florida cops noticed was the footprints. They began near the entrance to the expensive Pompano Beach oceanfront townhouse: size-12 sneaker outlines, stamped in blood. They wound up a flight of stairs to the second floor, across smooth white marble tiles and around rich leather furniture. They led…
City Oven Is Fitting in Quite Well
Want a behind the scenes look at City Oven? Check out our slideshow. ‘How would you review Chili’s? Or T.G.I. Fridays?” My friend presented me with this hypothetical as we huddled in a booth over a bowl of steaming, creamy spinach and artichoke dip with a crispy bread-crumb crust. At…
Thor Returns to Slum It on Earth Instead of Reaching New Heights
Among the Avengers, Thor should reign supreme. Sure, Captain America is the de facto leader, but even he — like the others — is just a jacked-up human. Thor is a god. Or if not quite a god, as he demurs, he’s the next best thing: a flying titan with…
Bivalve Season Is Here
Sex, Death and Oysters ‘He first selected the smallest one…and then bowed his head as though he were saying grace. Opening his mouth very wide, he struggled for a moment, after which all was over. I shall never forget the comic look of despair he cast upon the other five…
Gunfights and Ragtime
Catfish Reef For the first century after Houston’s birth in 1837, happenings of music and revelry were advertised word-of-mouth. Music journalism generally consisted of classical reviews, and most of those who could chat about those times have passed, making it harder to find what’s left today. What’s left are library…
Schooled
“Making these films is a sport,” says veteran documentary filmmaker Frederick Wiseman, who at 83 years old remains at the top of his game. “You have to be on your feet, running around, carrying equipment, for 16 to 17 hours a day. It’s never easy.” Since the 1960s, Wiseman, a…
Bigot-Baiting Billboard
Whatever Green Pharmaceuticals is savvy when it comes to creating buzz — the California-based maker of a throat spray for snoring treatment got a lot of attention when it paid a dude in Omaha more than $37,000 to temporarily tattoo an ad on his forehead. It also paid a Chicago…
Capsule Art Reviews: “Calaveras Mexicanas: The Art and Influence of Jose Guadalupe Posada,” Hill Country Love Affair: Interpretations of a Texas Heartland, “Kermit Oliver: Tracing Our Pilgrimage,” “Wols: Retrospective”
“Calaveras Mexicanas: The Art and Influence of Jose Guadalupe Posada” The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, commemorates the 100th anniversary of Posada’s death with an exhibition titled “Calaveras Mexicanas: The Art and Influence of Jose Guadalupe Posada.” The exhibit decorates the white walls between the lower-level staircase of MFAH’s Caroline…
