This Just In: Rap Summit at U of H Tonight
There should be some lively debate at U of H in a few hours as Pimp C, Lil Flip, Trae, M-1 of politically charged East Coast rappers Dead Prez and several others gather to discuss a subject broached recently by everyone from Don Imus to Tavis Smiley: “Is Hip-Hop Responsible…
Tunnel Mole Goes to the Polls
Tunnel Mole scurried out from the Beloved Downtown Houston Tunnel System last week to vote – as that’s one of the few services missing down below – and regrettably confirmed her fears about the polling place. Actually, a polling place. Ours was starting to get crowded and boisterous just before…
The Trial of the Galveston Cat Killer
If history is any indicator, there will be no justice for Mama Cat. Opening arguments started yesterday in the trial of 54-year-old bird-watching enthusiast James Stevenson, who last fall climbed below the toll bridge that links Galveston to the mainland and used a .22-caliber rifle to destroy the stray feline…
$13 at Goode’s Armadillo Palace on Kirby
Where: Goode’s Armadillo Palace, 5015 Kirby, 713-526-9700 What $13 gets you: A juicy burger cooked to your specifications and a Negro Modelo. We could debate burgers in Houston till the cows come home medium-rare with just a little pink in the middle. But Goode’s meat-loving empire has devised a burger…
Miss Pop Rocks: Things I Think Are Probably Worse Than Jessica Simpson’s Upcoming Movie
After viewing the trailer to Jessica Simpson’s upcoming “film” entitled Major Movie Star, I decided to compile a list of things that I think are probably worse than this soon-to-be-released cinematic event. It took a long time to think of ten things that are worse, but I did it. Here…
Guitar Center Gives the Drummers Some
Tonight’s contestants are going to have to keep some serious time if they expect to outdrum this guy. Here for your perusal are a few classic drummer jokes, courtesy of Ten Story Love. Enjoy. Q: What’s the difference between a drummer and a bag of garbage? A: The garbage gets…
Drenched In Blog: Kanye and Momma Donda Singing Together
I wish I could write a song for my mom. But alas, she has to settle for blogs about vaginas, drug use and my ever-increasing leather fetish. Watch this video and call your mommas. While they still love you. Donda West loved Kanye, even when he was the world’s biggest…
Aubrey Huff Loves the Ladies. Baltimore, Not So Much.
Daniel Kramer Click here for an (almost completely) unrelated slideshow. Some of you maybe remember Aubrey Huff’s brief time as a Houston Astro. He was another of Tim Purpura’s favorite type of players. That guy who could play first, third, and right field, but was good at none of them…
Ask an Expert: Devin the Dude Talks about the History of Marijuana
Daniel Kramer Props to alt-weekly Willamette Week in Portland for spotlighting Devin the Dude in an item called “Notable Moments in Weed History,” just before he sets out for Amsterdam to perform at the 20th annual Cannabis Cup festival. The H-Town rapper riffs on the film Reefer Madness, the 1937…
The Carnicería Connoisseur: Gerardo’s on Patton
I like the mollejas (sweetbreads) and carnitas tacos, but it’s hard to go wrong at Gerardo’s. The place started out as a grocery store, but slowly evolved into a carniceria, taqueria and take-out counter. It’s one of those old-fashioned Mexican meat markets that only sells carnitas and barbacoa on the…
Drenched In Blog: Remembering Ol’ Dirty Bastard
Today is the third anniversary of the untimely deaths of Ason Unique, The Bebop Specialist, Big Baby Jesus, Dirt Dog, Osirus, the Man of All Rainbows, Prince Delight, the Professor, Rain Man, Super Bastard, Peanut the Kidnapper, RJ tha Mad Specialist, Dirt McGirt, Freeloading Rusty and Joe Bananas. No, these…
Drenched In Blog: My Bloody Valentine Is Back
Finally, a band reunion (almost) we can (sorta) get behind: Kevin Shields, leader of influential shoegaze powerhouse My Bloody Valentine, has confirmed the band will release a new record by the end of the year, its first since 1991’s landmark Loveless. But don’t expect much in the way of new…
Hey Playboy, Forget Erin Andrews and Shana Hiatt. Suzy Kolber Is the Sexiest Sportscaster.
Back in 2000, the good folks at Playboy decided to find out who was the sexiest sportscaster. Though many of the women nominated didn’t want the title – they wanted to be known for their journalistic skills, not their boobs – a winner was determined, and it was said that…
Rick Smith, RIP
Rick “Rix Myth” Smith, 1968-2007 Rick Smith, the popular Houston artist, writer, DJ, musician and filmmaker sometimes known as Rix Myth, passed away November 8 at his Montrose apartment. He was 39 years old. The cause of death is unclear, although DJs on KPFT-FM, where Smith had co-hosted the overnight…
The College Football Review, Week 11: What Happened to the Coogs?
Before I get to the rest of college football, I’ve just got to ask: What in the hell happened to my Cougars? Sure, they had lost three games going into Saturday’s game. But those losses were to Oregon, the number 2 ranked team in the country, Alabama, a team which…
Two Nights Ago: Linus Pauling Quartet, the Jonx, Jenny Westbury at Proletariat
LP4 Linus Pauling Quartet, the Jonx, Jenny Westbury Proletariat November 10, 2007 Better Than: Tinnitus for any non-rock-related reason Download: “Invisible Type,” “Island,” “Linus Theme” I’ll come clean. For the nearly 15 years I’ve been living in this airless, bug-infested urban blight of a city, I have remained woefully (and…
Jay Francis, Food Explorer: Ethiopian Chili Tacos at Nazareth Cafe on Chimney Rock
Jay Francis prepares to wolf an Ethiopian chili taco. Misir wot is an extremely spicy dish that food explorer Jay Francis calls “Ethiopian chili.” It’s a vegetarian stew of split lentils simmered in red chile sauce with ginger and garlic. I watched Francis spread a huge serving of the stuff…
Aeros Beat the Sharks, Thanks to Outstanding Play by Barry Brust
The Houston Aeros started their Saturday morning by waking up in a Chicago hotel. They woke early, took a bus to the airport, and flew home to Houston, where they went directly to Toyota Center for a little practice and some lunch, and then they hit a downtown hotel for…
Miss Pop Rocks: Oh My God Oh My God Oh My God J. Lo IS Pregnant!
Did you know J. Lo is pregnant? Because she totally is! Because in case you were wondering, will J. Lo ever get pregnant? You can totally stop wondering. Because she is! I know what you’re thinking. `Cuz it’s what I’m thinking. I’m thinking: Thank you, Jesus, for making J. Lo…
Slideshow: Crowne Plaza Hotel Demolition
We just put some photos up from this morning’s demolition of the Crowne Plaza Hotel. It’s like you were there, except you didn’t actually get up at 6 a.m. on a Sunday and breathe in a bunch of concrete particles. You can see the photos over here. – Keith Plocek…
Q&A: Linus Pauling Quartet
Rosa Guerrero Editor’s note: this is an expanded version of Nicholas L. Hall’s interview with the Linus Pauling Quartet that appears as this week’s Music feature. The band releases their LP All Things are Light tonight at Proletariat with Mathletes, the Jonx and Jenny Westbury. Houston Press: I’ve always kind…
Racists, Pranksters and Copy Cats in High School
Earlier this week two Pearland High School students were arrested, charged with disorderly conduct and sent to alternative school for a month after being caught early Tuesday hanging a noose in the high school parking lot. On the very day that news was announced — Wednesday — in the next…
Now It’s Super Happy Moving Land
The Press just talked to Super Happy Fun Land owner Brian Arthur, who says the Heights music venue is actively seeking a new location. Arthur and company found out earlier this month the owners of the property are selling the space to make room for more fancy condos in the…
Your Weekend, Planned
Monotonix: “Oh! So that’s where our missing effects pedal went…” If you need a way to kill time before tonight’s big Ghostland Observatory (Warehouse Live) and Say Anything / Hellogoodbye (Verizon) shows, you’re in luck. At 6 p.m., DiverseWorks is hosting an opening reception for its exhibit of Houston-born cross-dressing…
Jason Friedman’s NFL Picks, Week Ten: Openly Defying the Gods Since October 2007
If a tree falls in the forest, does it make a sound? That’s one hell of a deep question. But if you really want to spark a philosophical debate, I’ve got an even better query for you: If the Texans go on their bye week, does anybody care? Judging from…
Drenched In Blog: Thom Yorke Presents WTF Friday
This is Radiohead, with Thom Yorke on keys, covering what appears to be a really heartrending Bjork song, “Unravel” from Homogenic. The lyrics deal with loss of a lover and the inevitable climb back to the top of the shit heap. They recorded the dirge during a recent live Internet…
Poor Substitute: MacGregor Middle School Teacher Does More Than Pass Out Worksheets
I suppose if I were a parent, I would also be enraged by the unorthodox teachings of the fifth-grade substitute at MacGregor Middle School who had her kids call her Sister Jessica. But as it is, she just seems like fun. I can imagine us at happy hour together. Her…
My Mother-in-Law Is America’s Worst Cook. No, Really.
When I moved to Houston a couple years ago, my gal and I lived with her mom for several months to save money. We all got on well, except that we were charged with doing all the cooking. Melissa’s mom never cooked, and sometimes we complained about it. Turns out,…
John Royal’s NFL Picks, Week Ten: Georgia (the Country, Not the State) Loves the Texans
Hey, guess what, I had a winning record last week. I went 8-6. That brings my record for the season to 55-75. Luckily, the Texans aren’t playing this week. They’re on the NFL open week – it’s not a bye week, people, I don’t care what the NFL calls it…
Last Night: The Straight to DVD Movie Premiere of Mike Jones’s The American Dream
Better than: The time I convinced my four-year-old sister that “god damn it” was just a fancy way to say “please.” The next day during breakfast she asked my dad to “pass the syrup, god damn it.” Download: “Mr. Jones,” from Mr. Jones’s new album, American Dream. 6:17: There are…
To Do: Devendra Banhart and Claude Wampler at DiverseWorks
As his fans already know, when Devendra Banhart isn’t singing his stark, eerily simple neo-folk music, he’s usually drawing. The Houston-born 26-year-old recalled in a recent interview that it has been that way since he was a kid, save for a few teenaged years when he took up skateboarding, reggae…
The College Football Preview, Week 11: Sorry, Charlize, I’m Just Not Feeling It…
I’ve got to confess, I’m not really up to the College Football Preview this week. I’m not up to trying to match the games to sexy women, or my favorite TV shows. And I’m not even sure if anyone besides my editor reads this. So, no cute stuff this week…
$13 at Original Napoli Flying Pizza on Beechnut
Where: Original Napoli Flying Pizza, 5266 Beechnut, 713-726-1166 What $13 gets you: No-nonsense Italian food. The wait staff at Original Napoli is as refreshingly unpretentious as the restaurant itself, a neighborhood favorite for families, cops and retirees. The place is airy and comfortable though somewhat kitschy with its murals of…
Friday Shreds
From the same surreal corner of the rock and roll psyche that gave us “Hoogie Boogie Land” comes this, the “…Shreds” series, in which rockin’ solos from the world’s rockin’-est guitar heroes are made still more, um, rockin’, through creative overdubbing. That, and the awesome power of shredding. Warning: These…
Miss Pop Rocks: Larry King Gets Schooled by Jerry Seinfeld
Maybe I’m weird for letting Larry King get under my skin so much, but the moronic host has been working my nerves for years now. His insipid questions, the fact that he never knows anything about the person he is interviewing, the way he barks at callers to hurry up…
Aeros Lose to Milwaukee Admirals, Get Ready for Quad City Flames
The Aeros dropped to 4-6-1-0 on the season after losing to the Milwaukee Admirals by a score of 3-1 in Milwaukee last night. The Aeros lone goal came on a power play in the first period when left wing Peter Olvecky scored. Goalie Nolan Schaefer was able to stop 24…
Over the Hills and Not That Far Away
Led Zeppelin rocked the Sam Houston Coliseum the night before this 1975 show in Baton Rouge. Led Zeppelin has been in the news so much lately it’s getting hard to remember they broke up 27 years ago. Of course there’s the big reunion show at London’s O3 Arena, with late…
Radio Houstoned: Clive Cussler and The Chase
Click the button below for Night & Day Editor Olivia Flores Alvarez’s interview with author Clive Cussler. New York Times bestselling author Clive Cussler is a lot like the men he writes about — he’s tough, weather-worn and always ready for an adventure. For his latest book, The Chase, Cussler…
Last Night: Regina Spektor at Warehouse Live
Regina Spektor November 7, 2007 Warehouse Live Better Than: Stolichnaya Download: “On the Radio” live video Last night, a sold-out crowd pissed off Regina Spektor. Early into her set, Spektor declared that holding the mic entitled her to one request: quiet. “I can’t even hear myself think,” she complained. The…
Starbucks Makes Nice with Holiday Cups
You know, up close, these things actually look kind of kinky. When I want to be kind to someone, there’s nothing like a practical joke to make him feel good. A buzzer on the hand, a plastic bug in the Chardonnay, a “kick me” sign…it just shows you care. Starbucks…
Drenched In Blog: Lily Allen = Lingerie Model
Lily Allen is going to be modeling underwear… Sometimes the Good Lord shines down on us such a glaring and exquisite light that we mortals can only sit and bask in its otherworldly glow. For thousands of years, we have attempted to convey the beauty of this gift through art…
High School Photo Contest: Back to School
The entries are in for the September-October round of our photo contest for Houston-area high school students. The theme was Back to School, and we got snaps of lockers, chemistry projects, cheerleaders and soccer players…
Super Happy Closed Land
It seems the condos have come for Houston’s favorite fun house. Super Happy Fun Land, winner of Best Place for Local Music in this year’s Best of Houston awards, announced today that it is currently looking for a new place to store all its sock monkeys, used couches, games, theater…
Last Night: King Khan & BBQ at Rudz
King Khan & BBQ Rudyard’s November 7, 2007 Better Than: Sitting home watching the CMAs. Download: “Treat Me Like a Dog” I’m sure the more sanctimonious members of our little burgh would find King Khan and BBQ another reason why we don’t need gun control, but after an hour of…
The Carnicería Connoisseur: A Glossary
Carniceria is the Spanish word for butcher shop or meat market. Most Houston carnicerias still sell raw meat. But they are best known for Mexican meat specialties that are already cooked. The Mexican tradition of buying cooked meat at the carniceria is partly a matter of convenience and partly because…
Out with Brad Lidge and Eric Bruntlett. In with Michael Bourn, Geoff Geary and Mike Costanzo.
Hey, did you hear the news? The Astros have a Bourn Identity. No, not that Bourne Identity. This Bourn Identity. Say hello to your new centerfielder. Bourn. Michael Bourn. Former outfielder for my UH Coogs. He was the Phillies fourth round draft pick in 2003. He started last season in…
Shackin’ Up
A girl never really knows her man until she starts living with him – at least that’s what Chastity Moore discovers in Je’Caryous Johnson’s Shackin’ Up, a cream-puff comedy starring a slew of heavyweight actors, including Billy Dee Williams. The story follows attorney Chastity Moore (played by the lovely Elise…
Danseparc’s Morrissey Tribute
What would November be without Danse-parc’s Morrissey Tribute (and look-alike contest)? Morrissey has been regarded as the patron saint of melodramatic teenagers since he formed British indie pop group The Smiths 25 years ago. Through that band’s celebrated tenure and his subsequent solo career, the author of “Last Night I…
“Painting or Object?”
Categorizing contemporary art can be a tricky proposition. What if a painting isn’t flat or framed, but three-dimensional — is it still just a painting? What if a sculptural object is painted — is it still just an object? Or has it crossed over into some non-object/quasi-painting territory? Gallery Sonja…
Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson
Clap your hands and believe! No, it’s not Tinker Bell who needs your applause; it’s the authors Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson, who are touring in support of their young adult novel Peter and the Secret of Rundoon. This reimagining of Peter Pan was set in motion when best-selling novelist…
Texas Filmmaker Showcase
The Texas Filmmaker’s Showcase, a screening of short films by locals, is all about freaky families. Houstonian Jim Spanos’s Maidenhead tells the Texas Chainsaw Massacre-meets-Twilight Zone story of Martin, a guy who really loves his dad and spends his Sundays scouting out a church to find “a nice girl” for…
15th Annual Blues for Food Drive
Unlike the genre it’s named for, the Blues for Food Drive revels in the positive, combining good food and good music for a good cause. Fans can munch on free barbeque while they dance all day to the music of such Houston blues luminaries as Sonny Boy Terry (Joe “Guitar”…
Pierrot Le Fou
Even those who don’t know what “Godardian” means should find something that strikes their interest in Jean-Luc Godard’s satirical adventure Pierrot Le Fou. The 1965 French New Wave flick follows bored husband Ferdinand, who ditches his snooty society wife and kids for a life of intrigue with Marianne, the babysitter…
Linda Hofheinz’s “What Lies Ahead”
One look at the paintings of Linda Hofheinz conjures opulent images of the Renaissance or the kind of portraiture afforded only by the wealthiest of patrons. But at second glance we realize there’s something else going on — something mysterious. Hofheinz’s “What Lies Ahead,” a collection of recent work, includes…
Leonard Nimoy’s The Full Body Project
Actor, photographer, director, poet, memoirist, singer and whale sound-recorder Leonard Nimoy would obviously like to be known for more than playing the ultra–logical Mr. Spock in the Star Trek franchise. Yet there is something Spock-like about his The Full Body Project, a photography book of nude women of various sizes…
The Mark of Zorro
Catch the film that was the first to put “swash” and “buckling” together — The Mark of Zorro! This is the 1920 silent-film version of the classic Latin-lover/undercover-hero-to-the-poor/audacious-enemy-to-the-rich action story. Back then, the character was still a newcomer — he was based on a 1919 story by Johnston McCulley, “The…
“Art on the Avenue”
Rather than watch another neighborhood transformed from deserted urban blight to cheese-ball urban fright, the Avenue Community Development Corporation decided to take action and provide affordable housing for near-downtown residents, including artists. The group’s annual fund-raiser, “Art on the Avenue” at Winter Street Studios, is a huge silent auction featuring…
Mr. Pim Passes By
A. A. Milne might have been most famous for his gentle, always-hungry bear, Winnie the Pooh, but Milne was also a prolific playwright. Admittedly less well-known than the bouncing Tigger or gloomy Eeyore, the title character in his comedy of manners Mr. Pim Passes By still causes quite a stir…
Monotonix
A Monotonix show is not just a rock concert. Mind you, there will be more than the usual amount of rocking involved, but there will also be so much more. Mono-tonix, a guitar-drums-vocals outfit from Tel Aviv, rocks hard, with a stripped-down, raw-power approach that worships at the altar of…
Clive Cussler’s The Chase
New York Times best-selling author Clive Cussler is a lot like the men he writes about — he’s tough, weatherworn and always ready for an adventure. For his latest book, The Chase, Cussler has left Dirk Pitt (the lead in 19 Cussler novels) at home and instead taken up the…
Thrift Store Cowboys
Thrift Store Cowboys take music fans back to the days before country was a white-trash pop star dressed up in sparkly cowboy shirts and boots (no, not Britney Spears, we’re talking about Gretchen Wilson). The sextet hails from Lubbock, the land that produced such legendary stars as Buddy Holly, The…
Manifesto
The minds behind Manifesto want to right some wrongs. The monthly dance night at The Mink, which showcases the latest avant-garde techno and house music, will give its proceeds to a good cause for a good reason. “To outsiders, dance music is often perceived as disposable and its following as…
Suzanne Banning: “Beyond Lolita”
Explore perversion in “Beyond Lolita.” Inspired by Vladimir Nabokov’s controversial book Lolita, artist Suzanne Banning took photos of herself. The images include her dancing around a studio — topless, dressed as a schoolgirl (complete with pigtails, but missing panties), in a polka-dot bikini or in a tight gingham dress. Banning…
UBS Verbier Festival Orchestra
For a preview of the musicians you’ll be seeing in the world’s top orchestras for the next 50 years, don’t miss tonight’s performance by the UBS Verbier Festival Orchestra. More than 100 of the planet’s finest young musicians, ages 17 to 29, have been selected from among thousands and are…
Other Cinema Digital: A Mediarchaeological Survey
Jerry vs. Jerry by TV Sheriff is just one of the offerings of Other Cinema Digital: A Mediarchaeological Survey. TV Sheriff, a video DJ of sorts, is a media whiz that mixes beats with television episodes for pieces like Jerry vs. Jerry, in which a dance beat drives a battle…
Elizabeth Alexander and Taha Muhammad Ali
Two of today’s leading poets share the stage when Elizabeth Alexander and Taha Muhammad Ali, appear at the latest Inprint Reading Series presentation. Elizabeth Alexander, a Pulitzer Prize finalist, is also a playwright and essayist. Her work centers on the African-American experience. She has published four collections of poems, including…
The Refuge
Houston Grand Opera embraces the immigrant communities of Houston with The Refuge. Written by composer Christopher Theofanidis and librettist Leah Lax, both native Houstonians, The Refuge tells the stories of the African, Mexican, Vietnamese, Indian, Pakistani and Soviet-era Jewish immigrants who have come to our city. Lax interviewed hundreds of…
Enso String Quartet
The Enso String Quartet is young enough to be tweaking its name (we’ve gotten press releases for the Ensÿ String Quartet, the Enso Quartet and the Ensÿ Quartet), but old — and talented — enough to have established a standing in classical music circles. The group, which formed at the…
Ben Ratliff and the Greg Osby Five
Taste a little bit of jazz heaven with a Ben Ratliff-Greg Osby Five doubleheader. At today’s Da Camera event, author Ben Ratliff will be discussing his book Coltrane: The Story of a Sound about legend John Coltrane, followed by a performance by the Greg Osby Five. Coltrane’s life was wrought…
The Houston Rockets vs. the L.A. Lakers
Hey kids, it’s a new Rockets season. But this isn’t the Jeff Van Gundy Rockets of years past. This is a new Houston Rocket team: a team that might run the fast break on occasion. A team that will resemble the Phoenix Suns of 2006 more than the New York…
The Evens
With his much-missed Fugazi on indefinite hiatus, perpetually outspoken frontman Ian MacKaye has plenty of other projects to cultivate. In addition to speaking engagements and running his legendary proto-indie label Dischord, MacKaye is back onstage with the Evens, his lo-fi, intense duo with Amy Farina, formerly of Washington D.C.’s the…
Invincible Czars
Mussorgsky or Mr. Bungle? The Nutcracker or The Number of the Beast? Austin’s Invincible Czars can provide whatever your band-geek heart desires. The group combines folk, classical, klezmer, rock, prog, metal and punk into a bizarre style that is less fusion than mad jumble, aggressively pursuing new opportunities for musical…
Local Motion
Sound Exchange 1846 Richmond, 713-666-5555 1. Linus Pauling Quartet, All Things Are Light 2. Beirut, The Flying Club Cup 3. Limbonic Art, Legacy of Evil 4. Wooden Shjips, “Loose Lips” 7″ 5. Octopus Project, Hello, Avalanche 6. Castanets, In the Vines 7. Robert Wyatt, Comicopera 8. Ghost, Overture: Live in…
Sesame Street: Old School Volume 2, Chinatown: Special Collector’s Edition, Sicko: Special Edition and Amazing Journey: The Story of the Who
Sesame Street: Old School Volume 2 (Genius) On the heels of the Electric Company boxed sets, which were at once educational and groovy as all get-out, comes the latest in greatest hits from Sesame Street before the neighborhood was gentrified for Elmo’s protection. Chief among the copious highlights in this triple-disc…
Darrell Scott
No less an icon than Guy Clark once scolded a Rockefeller’s audience for being rude to his opening act, who also happened to be his guitarist at the time. “You were complete assholes to Darrell,” Clark said. “You’ll live to regret that.” Now Darrell Scott has gone on to bigger…
Child Protective Services: Problems, Reforms and More Problems
Rafael Sierra smiles as he watches the face of his girlfriend, Maria Martinez, with their newborn son. It’s a July afternoon and sunlight pours into their hospital room at Bayshore Medical Center in Pasadena. It’s the couple’s second son in as many years. Rafael hasn’t slept in almost two days,…
Free for All
1906, Brant Rock, Massachusetts: Sailors off the coast of the Atlantic hear an eerie, otherworldly sound emanating from a box given to them by inventor Reginald Fessenden. On shore, Fessenden stands in front of a microphone attached to a synchronous rotary-spark transmitter, and sings and accompanies himself on violin on…
Down
More than a decade after the band’s appropriately titled debut, NOLA, Down emerges from the wreckage of Hurricane Katrina to reestablish itself as the voice of New Orleans metal on its self-released third album, Over the Under. Leader Philip Anselmo, still reeling from former Pantera mate Dimebag Darrell’s tragic 2004…
Zappa Plays Zappa
Dweezil Zappa can’t stop talking about his late father. “Frank’s music just needs to be heard,” he says. Alongside brother Ahmet and several of Frank’s former sidemen, Dweezil now re-creates his dad’s music on the Zappa Plays Zappa tour, featuring material from the elder Zappa’s mid-’70s heyday. “People tell me…
The Return of Cactus Music and Video
Early last year, with good reason, we called March 31 “a day that will live in Houston music infamy.” That was Cactus Music and Video’s last day of operation. Social scientists speak of “third places,” by which they mean informal anchors to community life. These places are neither home’s first…
Carrie Underwood, Carnival Ride
A more accurate title for Carrie Underwood’s latest effort would be Kiddie Coaster, because this is one boring carnival ride. The sophomore release from country music’s favorite American Idol provides few thrills as it mechanically runs around in circles, all the while showing just how little Underwood has matured as…
Aesop Rock, None Shall Pass
You can probably still classify Aesop Rock as “underground” hip-hop. Although by this point he has an established fan base far removed from anything “underground,” Aesop is still left of center, nowhere near what’s going on in “mainstream” hip-hop these days. On None Shall Pass, a lot of things that…
Paul Oakenfold, Greatest Hits & Remixes
If your musical career began in underground clubs, it’s safe to say you’ve jumped the shark when you release a mix CD of your own remixes. Oakenfold’s been filling stadiums for years, but that distance from the dance floor has resulted in some serious distance from the talent he’s displayed…
The Scene
Theresa Rebeck’s The Scene is a searing tragedy. The fact that the story, now playing at the Alley Theatre, is packaged up into a comedy only makes its darkness that much more frightening. Set in the New York City of today, a world bifurcated into a land of haves and…
Miss Cleo Looks Forward with Convicted for My Beliefs
Over the past five years, Miss Cleo (born Yourée Dell Harris) has gotten used to ridicule. The former TV psychic has been the butt of a million jokes stemming from her days as spokesperson for the Psychic Readers Network — where she was known as much for her questionable Jamaican…
Our top DVD picks scheduled for release this week
The Best of the Colbert Report (Paramount) Blame It on Fidel! (Koch Lorber) Blood Car (TLA) The Crown Prince (Koch) Deck the Halls (Fox) Election (Tartan) Flight of the Conchords: The Complete First Season (HBO) Help!: Deluxe Edition (Capitol) I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry (Universal) James Bond Ultimate…
“Pompeo Batoni: Prince of Painters in Eighteenth-Century Rome”
Among the portraits on view in “Pompeo Batoni: Prince of Painters in Eighteenth-Century Rome” at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston is one of a British tourist named Robert Clements. To commemorate his trip to Rome, the 21-year-old Clements posed casually, leaning against a pedestal that displayed a bust of…
Lions for Lambs
Less a war drama than a set of dueling position papers, Robert Redford’s Lions for Lambs may be the gabbiest movie ever made about American foreign policy — and it wasn’t even written by Aaron Sorkin. Hot young screenwriter Matthew Michael Carnahan is fresh off his alpha-male script for The…
Art Capsule Reviews: “Amy Sillman: Suitors and Strangers,” “Ken Little: Heavy Metal, Glow, Bucks & Dough,” “Michael Bise: Birthday,” “Perspectives 158: Kelly Nipper,” “Tom of Finland: Drawings from the ’70s and ’80s”
“Amy Sillman: Suitors and Strangers” Amy Sillman paints like she’s reincarnated from some squirrelly, third-tier 1950s abstractionist. But I mean that in a good way. Sillman’s colors — the turquoise blues, the deep oranges, the bright greens — all allude to fave color palettes from half a century ago and…
Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles
Castlevania, the vampire-hunting series that stretches over 20 years and as many games, has basically two kinds of fans. There are the traditionalists, who’ve followed the games since they were straight-up action titles with thumb-busting combat and infamously steep difficulty curves. Most agree that the best of the old-school Castlevanias…
Feature Photo
Here’s what Greg King (left) will be telling people for the rest of his life, now that this picture will live on forever in print and on the Web: “It was HALLOWEEN!! I swear!! That was a COSTUME!! And Lori (Muller, right) was NOT referring to any part of my…
Councilman Peter Brown, Astronaut Mike Fincke, Old Coach Jeff Van Gundy and New Coach Rick Adelman
Peter Brown is easily the richest member of City Council, taking luxurious summer vacations in France and…well, never, ever having to worry about money. Until the week of October 29, that is. For much of that week — for a harrowing four days — Brown attempted to live on the…
Stage Capsule Reviews: The Daughter of the Regiment, Dracula, Fools, Rough Night at the Remo Room
The Daughter of the Regiment Been a while since you laughed out loud at the opera? Then Houston Grand Opera’s The Daughter of the Regiment is just the ticket. The two-act (short) comic opera has been updated by director Emilio Sagi, reset at the end of WWII. The U.S. 21st…
Crooked Contractor
So you’re a contractor in Texas who likes to rip people off. Sure, sometimes you’ll do the job, but it’s much easier to take the money and run. In February 2006, a San Antonio judge found you guilty of theft and theft of an elderly individual, and they really threw…
Hannah Montana, Miley Cyrus, Jonas Brothers
Everyone knows the entertainment industry is supposed to prepackage role models for our children. Hell, suburban moms are just too busy running prostitution rings out of their houses and nursing crystal-meth addictions to concern themselves with ensuring their children are being entertained by wholesome, responsible and respectable teen and tween…
Fred Claus
Banking on the career choices of Vince Vaughn garners increasingly erratic returns, which is ironic, given that he has finally settled on (or surrendered to) a consistent onscreen persona: his own bad self. Uneasy from the beginning, Vaughn avoided the superstardom that seemed within reach after Swingers by trying on…
Kid Rock, Rock n Roll Jesus
Lucky for Kid Rock he’s an egomaniacal dipshit, because otherwise his music would be about as memorable as a Molly Hatchet eight-track sans “Flirtin’ with Disaster.” Still, the former Mr. Pamela Anderson’s good-humored salutes to his own cocksmanship — not to mention his skill at Xeroxing classic boogie — don’t…
Fucking Transmissions, Begin Transmission
All too often, rap-rock assumes the worst of both genres. Songs like “Fight for Your Right” and bands like Limp Bizkit blended rap’s lack of melody with punk and metal’s leaden beats, resulting in sludge. Happily, Tha Fucking Transmissions sound anything but muddled. Opening salvo “Boogie Woogie” and “Knock Em”…
West Oaks Hospital, Don Quixote and Galveston ISD
Bad experience: When I was 17, I attempted suicide and was institutionalized at the West Oaks Psychiatric Hospital. I honestly believed that if they just sent me home, I would have been perfectly fine. As soon as I got there, I was taken away from my crying mother and aunt…
Pulling Out the Beaner Card, Quoting Biblical Verses
Dear Mexican, I like to think that I’m an open-minded sorta guy for a teenager. I fervently oppose racial stereotypes, though I do think that they’re good for a laugh or two sometimes. I have several Mexican friends, and none of them live up to the “Mexican standard” of lawn…
Oporto Café
The sliced meat and cheese appetizer at Oporto Café on Richmond is charmingly presented on a little wooden cutting board. You choose from a list of six cured meats and salamis and eight imported cheeses. It’s four dollars for each serving, but the price goes down if you order three…
The Light Brigade
“I think we write what we do because we grew up near NASA, playing D&D, reading Tolkien and smoking a lot of fucking dope!” So says Linus Pauling Quartet guitarist Ramon Medina, explaining the longtime Houston group’s proclivity for penning songs whose lyrical content and stylistic cues can easily be…
Ninfa’s
Who wouldn’t want to try a dish called chilpanzingas? The dish ($9.25) has been around almost as long as the original Ninfa’s (2704 Navigation, 713-228-1175). It consists of lightly fried corn empanadas stuffed to overflowing with a finely chopped, delectable mixture of smoked ham, onions, mushrooms, cheese and chiles, and…
Polysics
Polysics are Japan’s Devo. The foursome stands proudly clad in orange jumpsuits and spacey spectacles on the cover of their latest album, Polysics or Die!!! Vista (a re-release from 2005 with some added tracks), further welcoming the comparison. They sound exactly how you’d think a Japanese Devo would, except now…
Fedora Lounge
Wondering what to wear for Halloween, I sought out liquid inspiration at the Fedora Lounge (2726 Bissonnet, 713-807-0152). Amidst the candlelit wooden bar, the built-in booths perfect for secret rendezvous and the piped-in bebop jazz, I contemplated life and costumes. Delighted by the drink menu, I had no trouble deciding…
