Last Night: Holly Golightly at Rudyard’s
Holly Golightly and the Brokeoffs October 17, 2007 Rudyard’s Better Than: The Melvins, because Tuesday is a bad night to be wrong, and I’m feeling lucky. Download: Bill Childish and Holly Golightly, “In Blood,” for an idea of who you’re dealing with. It’s a travesty that Holly Golightly hasn’t yet…
Q&A: Craig Robinson, a.k.a. Darryl from The Office, Talks about Standup, Singing for Booty and Making Fun of Michael Scott
Dinkin’ flicka! Primetime fans know Craig Robinson as Darryl, the deadpan warehouse worker from NBC’s The Office who hilariously misleads and mocks Michael Scott (Steve Carell). Robinson has also made appearances in recent films such as Knocked Up and the upcoming Pineapple Express. He’s also breached into the online world…
God’s Team, Jobu, Matt Holliday and Drayton McLane
Here are a few baseball notes I thought I’d share. Leading off: 21 of 22. No, that’s not the number of Frank TV commercials aired an hour during the TBS playoff games. That’s now the number of games the Rockies have won in the past month, including a stretch of…
Drenched In Blog: Tantric Metal at Meridian
Seeing Big Business is like watching your own house being demolished by a bulldozer. It’s not always graceful, but it has intermittent beauty as you see your pipes burst and your chimney fall to the ground…
Radio Houstoned: Black Pearl Sings at Stages Repertory Theatre
Click the button below to listen to a podcast with Night & Day Editor Olivia Flores Alvarez and playwright Frank Higgins. Black Pearl Sings by Frank Higgins makes its world premiere at Stages Repertory Theatre this week. The story follows Susannah, an ambitious song collector for the Library of Congress…
The New NHL Uniforms Are Hot. Damn Hot.
Like New Coke replacing Coke, MMP replacing the Dome, or Jake Gyllenhaal replacing Vincent Chase on Aquaman 2, there are just some things that shouldn’t be done. Just things that, once they’ve been done, you wonder, did anybody doing any product testing in advance? The newest “better and improved” product…
Miss Pop Rocks: I Think Babies Need to Grow a Pair
Can I rant for a minute? Okay, so I’m at the Kroger the other day, and I see this mother pushing her kid in a grocery cart, and the cart had this weird fabric protector over the seat part. After a little detective work, I discovered from my friends with…
Madonna to Warner Bros.: “Sorry”
In another blow to the beleaguered major labels, already rendered effectively obsolete last week when Radiohead allowed fans to download new album In Rainbows directly from the band’s Web site, Madonna announced today she has struck a multimillion-dollar deal with Houston-based concert giant Live Nation that will, among other things,…
From the Barrio to Billy Joe: A Former Skarnal Signs Up with the Ol’ Chunk o’ Coal
Former Los Skarnales bassist (and multiple Houston Press Music Awards winner) Nick Gaitan has a new gig – thumping out the bottom for Billy Joe Shaver. Reached at a Dallas-area Cracker Barrel on tour, Gaitan reports that he will be out on the road with the Texas legend until the…
Get Lit: 501 Movie Directors, including Peter Greenaway
Not for the first time, I recently felt like an ignoramus. I felt like an ignoramus because I hadn’t heard of someone. There are so many people out there, and I seem to have heard of so few of them. The person I hadn’t heard of was esteemed film director…
Why Stop at Suspension When You Can Throw in a Porn Star?
So you’re in a metal band no one’s heard of . You claim Hollywood as your hometown, but your ties to the porn industry mean you probably play most gigs at abandoned bowling alleys around Van Nuys. Your dark, brooding, vaguely Satanic band believes in “opposing the norm and existing…
Drenched In Blog: Broing Down with the Hives
In further proof that record-release dates no longer matter, the Hives’ new album The Black and White Album leaked from Europe the other day on the usual illicit sites we all troll on. It sounds like Devo had a baby with Some Girls. Sure, I downloaded it, but I will…
Super Bowl in London? Does It Even Matter?
“London calling to the faraway towns. Now war is declared, and battle come down.” — The Clash Citing a great deal of interest, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell announced yesterday that the Super Bowl may someday be played overseas, most likely in London. I would say that this is wrong, that…
Jesus, Willie Taveras Just Isn’t That Good
I know I shouldn’t do it, but I was bored yesterday, so I just kind of migrated over to the Chron to check out the latest sports. I clicked on the link to my buddy Jose de Jesus Ortiz’s blog and it was there I discovered something very important. Do…
Hot Tamales at Gerardo’s on Patton
This week in Café, we visit the legendary Mexican breakfast scene at Gerardo’s on Patton, where the some of the best carnitas and barbacoa in the city are sold on Friday, Saturday and Sunday mornings. When you go, remember that Gerardo’s also has hot fresh-made tamales for sale on the…
Hot Tamales at Gerardo’s on Patton
This week in Café, we visit the legendary Mexican breakfast scene at Gerardo’s on Patton, where the some of the best carnitas and barbacoa in the city are sold on Friday, Saturday and Sunday mornings. When you go, remember that Gerardo’s also has hot fresh-made tamales for sale on the…
Cheeseburgers Al Fresco: The Fondue Monks’ Speeding Van vs. a Herd of Cattle
Bands have van wrecks on the road all the time. Most are just expensive and time-consuming pains in the ass. Few, however, are as strange as the one that Houston’s own Fondue Monks were just involved in over the weekend…
Big Moe, RIP
Local legend and Screwed Up Click founding member Big Moe passed away yesterday, about ten days after suffering a heart attack. The hefty rapper, born Kenneth Moore, was 33 years old. A graduate of Yates High School and a former football star, Moore’s hits included “Purple Stuff,” “Mann!,” “Barre Baby,”…
The College Football Review, Week Seven: Plenty of Reasons to Get Upset
Okay, I was wrong. I thought this weekend of college football was going to be rather boring. Boy, was I wrong. No. 1 LSU lost in three overtimes to Kentucky, and No. 2 Cal was upset by Oregon State. This was the first time in 11 years that the one…
Drenched In Blog: Gold at the End of Radiohead’s Rainbows?
Just like any other elitist music writer out there, I like Radiohead. I bought OK Computer in ninth grade and listened to it a week straight while I was sick from school. I loved it, as did pretty much all of us. Each album since has been a resounding triumph…
Kimchee Spree
Julia Walsh Whether you bury your kimchee in the backyard to cure, or just ferment it in a bowl in the fridge, fall is the season to put up your pickled cabbage. Why not make a shopping spree out of the deal with a bibimbap lunch thrown in? Down at…
Kimchee Spree
Julia Walsh Whether you bury your kimchee in the backyard to cure, or just ferment it in a bowl in the fridge, fall is the season to put up your pickled cabbage. Why not make a shopping spree out of the deal with a bibimbap lunch thrown in? Down at…
Aeros Start Out Cold. Roman Voloshenko Goes AWOL.
It would be tempting to say that so far, after three games, the Houston Aeros are off to a disappointing start. But seeing as how the Astros and Texans have played this season, the Aeros seem to be copying those teams. The Aeros lost both games over the weekend to…
Drenched In Blog: Blog Action Day
Today has been heralded as Blog Action Day, a day for blogs everywhere to raise awareness about the environment and how we can make subtle changes to positively affect it. Pish-posh. I do protest, hippie…
The Axiom Lives (for a Weekend)
By anyone’s yardstick (or any other measuring instrument), this weekend’s Axiom reunion at Fitzgerald’s was a rousing success. The 600-capacity club was packed both nights – I stood in line for 15 minutes waiting to get in Friday – with people old enough to remember the legendary Warehouse District rock…
Last Night: Arrowfest at the Woodlands Pavilion
Arrowfest Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, The Woodlands October 14, 2007 Better Than: A Sunday with Matt Schaub, Jesus Christ or mainstream commercial radio. Download: “Good Girls Don’t” (the Knack); “Cities on Flame with Rock and Roll” (Blue Öyster Cult); “This Ol’ Cowboy” (Marshall Tucker Band); “Jane” (Jefferson Starship); “The Kid…
Halloween Comes Early for Texans Fans
Still stumped in your efforts to find a hellacious Halloween costume? Why not try dressing up like a Texan this year? Just slip on the jersey of your favorite defensive lineman and enjoy a laugh while your friends shriek in horror at your extraordinary disappearing act. Or simply wear a…
Miss Pop Rocks: The IKEA Catalog Gives Me a Complex
Oh great, the 2008 IKEA catalog is out…just in time to remind me how hideously tacky, uncoordinated, and non-Swedish the Pop Rocks’ house is. Seriously, am I the only one who feels woefully inadequate whenever she looks at the IKEA advertisements, full of their bright rugs, multicolored plates, and other…
This Just In: Mistrial for Priscilla Slade
After deliberating for five straight days, jurors in the trial of former Texas Southern University president Priscilla Slade just could not come to a decision. So, on Friday afternoon the judge granted the defense a mistrial For three days in a row, the jury wrote in notes to the court…
Big State, Big Ideas
Just when those blisters from the Austin City Limits festival have finally gone away, here’s another nearby multi-day, multi-stage musical happening. Saturday and Sunday’s Big State Festival at College Station’s Texas World Speedway (plenty of tickets available) is aimed squarely at the big-hat, big-hair honky-tonk crowd. Performers include Tim McGraw,…
Jason Friedman’s NFL Picks, Week Six: Forget Dog Fighting. Parity Is the League’s Biggest Problem.
Talk about a bizarro version of before and after. Before I begin, let me make one thing abundantly clear: I heart the NFL. I love watching the games, I love playing as my favorite teams on Madden and I love, love, love fantasy football. But the NFL has a problem…
John Royal’s Pigheaded Pigskin Picks, Week Six: Loving and Hating the Cowboys
Man, do I suck at picking football games or what? But I’m nothing if not pigheaded. After last week’s debacle, I stand at 30-46 on the season. I don’t give up easily though. So let’s give it another shot, shall we… 1. The Texans are 6.5 points underdogs to the…
Paul Rodgers: All Right Now
With one of the most soulful and distinctive voices in rock history, Paul Rodgers has fronted not one but two of the genre’s great bands in Free and Bad Company. He also helmed a short-lived collaboration with Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page as the Firm. But when it was announced a…
Radio Houstoned: Jennifer Egan and The Keep
To listen to a podcast with Jennifer Egan, click the button below. Author Jennifer Egan isn’t afraid of a little complication, like, oh, say, a plot that is a story within a story within a story. It’s that circular, involved plotline that Egan gave readers with The Keep. “This is…
The College Football Preview, Week Seven: Babes. Lots and Lots of Babes.
Okay, I admit it. I want readers. And if linking to photos of beautiful women is going to trick people to coming over, so be it. That said, there aren’t really that many great football games on tap for this weekend. So, to keep your attention on this rundown of…
Harris County Leads the Nation in Polluting Facilities. So We’ve Got That Going for Us.
A report released earlier this week lists Harris County as one of the top ten water polluters in the nation. It also reveals a dirty secret about our beloved city. The report – Troubled Waters – comes out just before the 35th anniversary of the federal Clean Water Act, which…
Paging Jason Lane
The Astros picked up a new player yesterday, one Reggie Abercrombie, from the Florida Marlins. Abercrombie, an outfielder, hit .197 with 2 HR, 5 RBI, and 7 steals in 35 games for the Marlins this just ended season. Excuse me, didn’t the Astros just trade this guy to the Padres?…
Last Night: Jesu at Walter’s
Jesu, Wolves in the Throne Room, AWAKE October 11, 2007 Walter’s on Washington Better Than: Metal Church; also, regular church Download: “Old Year,” from Jesu’s 2007 album Conqueror Justin Broadrick of Jesu (usually pronounced YAY-zu) is quite possibly the most important man in underground metal. Ever. After helping to get…
Houston Aeros Face Off Against the Stars and the Rivermen
The Aeros will be playing back-to-back games this weekend. First off will be the game tonight in Des Moines against the Iowa Stars, the developmental squad of the Dallas Stars. Saturday night will find the Aeros returning to Houston and the Toyota Center to take on the Peoria Rivermen, the…
Miss Pop Rocks: Tartlet Alert (a.k.a. The Last Britney Spears Blog Ever)
Should this blog be about Lindsay Lohan leaving rehab or Britney Spears reuniting with her mom or Nicole Richie’s baby or Paris Hilton being all Parisy or whatever. Hmm…decisions, decisions. Let’s try Eenie Meenie Miny Moe…around and around where will she go…and the winner is…Who Gives a Shit? Actually, the…
Radio Houstoned: Laurie Perry and Drunk, Divorced & Covered in Cat Hair
Click the LISTEN button below for Houston Press Editor Margaret Downing’s interview with author Laurie Perry. Laurie Perry, author of Drunk, Divorced & Covered in Cat Hair: The True-Life Misadventures of a 30-Something Who Learned to Knit After He Split (which has to be one of the greatest titles ever)…
This Just In: Priscilla Slade Jury Still Deadlocked
Jurors charged with deciding the fate of former Texas Southern University president Priscilla Slade will give it another whack tomorrow as they remained deadlocked by a vote of 7-5 following a full day of deliberation Thursday. On Wednesday, the jury said their vote was 8-4. No word on whether the…
The Top Five Reasons You Need Mexicans
To further educate our reading audience about important national issues like immigration, the economy and race relations, we have again asked guest columnist Conchita Maria Guadalupe Maria Hortencia Juanita Maria Garcia Gomez Gonzles de Smith to comment on America’s need for an immigrant work force. The United States would be…
Long Snaps with Bryan Pittman: Cat Fights and Celebrity Crushes
Houston Texans’ long-snapper Bryan Pittman returns for more thoughts on life both on and off the gridiron. This week, while going one-on-one with Ballz columnist Jason Friedman, Pittman dishes on his celebrity crush, trash-talking Jags and his fascination with aging NFL running backs. JCF: So there’s finally some good news…
Gee, Drayton, Couldn’t You Have Waited A Couple of Weeks?
Nice work, Drayton. I told you not to rush with hiring Ed Wade. I told you to take some time, and to make well-thought out decision. I said that there was no rush. To wait until after the World Series and to see who became available. I begged you to…
This Just In: Anna Nicole Smith’s Mom Files Suit Against Howard K. Stern, CBS Studios and KPRC Houston
She’s baaaack …. It’s been quite a while since Anna Nicole Smith’s name was last mentioned in the news, but once again, the former Playboy centerfold and reality TV show star is front and center, thanks to a lawsuit filed by her mother in Harris County. On Tuesday, Virgie Arthur,…
Parish Predators: Trial Set in Molestation Case Against the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston
After three years of legal wrangling, a trial has been set in the case of four men who sued the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston for alleged negligence related to sexual abuse they suffered at a diocesan parish in the mid-1990s. The trial has been set for February 25, 2008, in U.S…
John Royal’s Championship Series Predictions: Jobu and the Flying Spaghetti Monster Shall Emerge Victorious!!!
Well, I blew it with my regular season predictions, but I’m 4-0 for this postseason. And now the fun series should be starting. The National League Championship Series features two teams from the National League West. The Arizona D-Backs, who finished with the best record in the NL, and the…
Drenched In Blog: Some Boys Are Bigger Than Others
Seeing how it’s National Coming Out Day, we all know the world is getting more extraordinarily fabulous as we speak. All across America, teen boys are turning off High School Musical and turning towards Dad, starting awkward conversations that begin “Well, here goes nothing…” Perhaps a few ladies out there…
Jan Baldee and Jan Brady. Both Enigmas.
Okay, I give up. There’s just no way that I’m ever going to be able to figure out what the Astros are doing. I know there must be a plan. But I don’t see it. And I’m not going to try anymore because it’s just driving me crazy. Overreacting, you…
An Open Letter on National Coming Out Day
To: John and Tom From: Your pal Craig Re: National Coming Out Day Hey guys, I know you get razzed a lot, and I know you have the right to stay in the closet the rest of your lives if you so choose, but if you’ve ever thought about taking…
Cover Story: The Heimlich Maneuver, Drowning and Potsie
Until a couple months ago, I had no clue that the guy who invented the Heimlich maneuver was still alive. Dr. Henry Heimlich – known as Hank to friends and family – is 87 and lives outside Cincinnati, Ohio. I also didn’t know that his son Peter Heimlich has been…
Hentai Lacerator
“Hentai Lacerator create the type of hardcore Slimer would create if Slimer could do such a thing. It’s not thrash, it’s not grindcore and it’s not noisecore. But it’s definitely all three.” After reading this sentence on Cincinnati threesome’s Web site, we realized we couldn’t do a better job of…
for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf
It was a defining moment in African-American theater when Ntozake Shange’s choreopoem for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf hit Broadway in the late 1970s. A lyrical collection of narrative, poetry and music performed by seven women, colored girls was unlike anything most theater audiences had…
Sinatra Sings Sinatra
If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em. This seems to be the approach Frank Sinatra, Jr. has taken with his career. Throughout his adult life, others have considered Sinatra an extension of his dad’s legacy (either favorably or condescendingly), and now Junior, who’s reached the ripe age of 62, is…
Festa Italiana
Now that The Sopranos is over and they’re demolishing Satriale’s, where can you get a big plate of gabagool, or a nice, overstuffed canoli to have with your espresso? Houston’s 29th annual Festa Italiana is a celebration of Italian culture, music and — of course — food. Entertainment will include…
Silver Screams Film Festival
Cynthia Neely and Jolene McMaster like to sit in the dark — and scream! The co-directors of the Silver Screams Film Festival, Neely and McMaster have been fans of horror films for years. Like other fans, they were dismayed that they could only see their favorite flicks on television at…
Black Pearl Sings
Black Pearl Sings by Frank Higgins makes its world premiere at Stages Repertory Theatre this week. The story follows Susannah, an ambitious song collector for the Library of Congress in the 1930s. Susannah finds Pearl, a descendant of slaves, in a Texas prison. Impressed with Pearl’s vast knowledge of otherwise…
“Also Known As: A Bandana Art Show.”
Cover your mouth — in art, courtesy of Bomit. The local graffiti artist recently sent out a call to the art community for “Also Known As: A Bandana Art Show.” The show features local, national and international artists including Shepard Fairey, Emily Strange, Logan Hicks, GONZO247, Dual, Christian Azul, YAR!,…
MFAH hosts an East German film festival
University of Houston professor Sandra Friedan says there’s a funny thing about East German cinema — some of it is actually, well, funny. The films included in the Museum of Fine Art, Houston’s Rebels with a Cause Film Festival aren’t all humorous, of course, but Heiner Carow’s 1972 The Legend…
Chocolate Festival of Texas
Selina Shadd had a simple reason to start the Chocolate Festival of Texas: “Everybody loves chocolate!” And she’s right, we do. Sumptuous, decadent, sinful, indulgent chocolate — yum, yum, it’s good. Today, the Humble Civic Center hosts the inaugural fest with a two-part event. “There will be a tasting early…
Inprint Brown Reading Series
Author Jennifer Egan isn’t afraid of a little complication, like, oh, say, a plot that is a story within a story within a story. It’s that circular, involved plotline that Egan gave readers with The Keep. “This is the story about a guy who comes to a castle and begins…
Articulate of Bangalore, India: Panchavaktram
Most people would say the impressive thing about dance troupe Articulate of Bangalore, India’s ballet Panchavaktram, is the fact that five of the 12 dancers are blind or visually impaired. They learned to dance by a method known as “touch and feel,” which involves feeling an instructor’s feet, legs, arms…
Westheimer Block Party
As always, the Westheimer Block Party offers up one of the best surveys of local music. And we’re not just talking quantity. The organizers have lined up six stages worth of Who’s Who for a schedule that will having you thinking, “Well, if I see this, I’ll have to miss…
Nights on Blue Bayou: City Soundscapes
Producer, musician and beatboxer Taylor McFerrin will kick off the new outdoor concert series Nights on Blue Bayou: City Soundscapes today. The son of vocalist Bobby McFerrin, Taylor melds hip-hop with jazz and neo-soul, and there’s a smooth, ambient vibe to his sound. Rooted in 1960s R&B, Taylor is a…
Bayou City Art Festival
It’s been more than ten years now since the Bayou City Art Festival busted out of Montrose (when it was known as the Fall Westheimer Arts Festival) and landed downtown, where it attracts more and more visitors every year. It’s now ranked in the top 50 of the 200 Best…
Boy-Cott Magazine
A local hip-hop happening wouldn’t be complete without a Black Mamba sighting. No, we’re not talking about the venomous reptile, but the scenester who always comes out to snap some pics and find the latest talent to feature in his zine-turned-magazine, Boy-Cott. He’ll celebrate the latest daily, monthly, bimonthly, whenever-he-feels-like-ly…
Johnny Winter
Houston has been a favorite haunt for blues guitar hero Johnny Winter for years. Back when the Beaumont native was just starting out with his equally talented brother Edgar, Johnny frequently honed his skills on Houston stages. He was no stranger to Houston recording studios either, recording for local label…
Danscape 2007
With a blend of seasoned veterans and young upstarts, show tunes and hip-hop, Danscape 2007 truly lives up to its name as it brings together several local troupes today. Longtime followers of Houston dance will be thrilled to hear that the lithe and lovely Lauren Anderson will once again grace…
“Homecoming: The 3rd Biennial TSU Art Alumni Invitational”
“Homecoming: The 3rd Biennial TSU Art Alumni Invitational” features more than the 40 works from past and present students of Texas Southern University, which has quite the list of distinguished artistic alumni. The university was the meeting ground for the collective Otabenga Jones and Associates, who were featured at the…
Feast with the Beasts
Nothing says “Mmm, these ribs sure are tender” like being surrounded by endangered species. At the second annual Feast with the Beasts, lions, tigers and African wild dogs — bet you thought we were going to say bears — will be feasting on their own treats alongside humans. Catering for…
Deborah Colton Gallery: “Chemical City”
Marianne Vitale sneaked into a refinery to steal crude oil for her aptly named Crude Oil on Silk series for “Chemical City” at Deborah Colton Gallery. We’re not sure if this puts Vitale on a terror watch list, but it does make for some of the best toxic art we’ve…
Howe Gelb
Howe Gelb has recorded some of the most curious American music of the last 20 years. Whether solo, with his band Giant Sand or with collaborators that have included PJ Harvey and Neko Case, Gelb has been a master of the unpredictable, offering up everything from tinkling piano rags to…
“I Land”
When we think of Hawaii and hula, we think of curvaceous women, lilting music and the total pleasure of paradise. Tonight, performance artist Keo Woolford might alter your impression of Hawaii by offering a new brand of island entertainment. In his solo work “I Land,” he describes his quest for…
Walter Mosley
New York Times best-selling crime novelist Walter Mosley will be at Murder by the Book for a lunchtime reading. The author of ten thrillers staring Easy Rawlings, Mosley’s newest novel, Blonde Faith, hit store shelves this week. Easy Rawlings breaks the tragic loner mold of sleuths — instead he’s a…
Gabriel Iglesias
Comedian Gabriel Iglesias likes to explain that there are five levels of fatness, and he’s only at number four. “There’s big, healthy, husky, fluffy and DAMN!” In addition to his weight, which gives him lots of material, the Long Beach native likes to joke about his personal shenanigans. He talks…
The Houston Record Convention
So you’ve been looking for an original copy of the Beatles’ White Album for years now, but can never find it, right? Or digging for that elusive Joy Division 12-inch single that’s been out of print since 1978? Well, here’s your big shot to possibly get your hands on those…
Michael Clayton
It will no doubt be said time and again of Michael Clayton: best John Grisham adaptation ever. Only, of course, it did not spring from the billion-dollar mind of the attorney turned franchise, but from Tony Gilroy, who made his big-screen bow 15 years ago as the screenwriter of the ice-skating…
The Donnas
The Donnas are back, bitches. After stumbling a bit on 2004’s inexplicably downcast, unfocused Gold Medal, the Bay Area quartet returns to vintage Turn 21 form on sixth LP Bitchin’. They’re in an especially randy mood this time out, too. Several songs (“Wasted,” “What Do I Have to Do,” “Like…
The Bubble
Had Israeli director Eytan Fox’s new film, about a passionate affair between two men on opposite sides of the Israeli-Arab conflict, been released in the early 1970s (when I was the same age as its twentysomething hipsters and living in Tel Aviv), the movie would have attracted a smattering of…
David Rice
In the beleaguered mid-1990s Houston rock scene, David Rice seemed like a rare mainstream success story. In just a few years, the folk-tinged pop-rocker rose through the ranks from naive cover singer fresh out of Katy to Montrose club headliner to Justice Records artist, then the pinnacle of Houston musicdom…
Lust, Caution
“Beautiful” and “cruel” — that’s how director Ang Lee describes Eileen Chang’s 1979 short story about obsessive love and effortless betrayal in Japanese-occupied Shanghai, a tale upon which Lee has based his epic-length Lust, Caution. Writing in the afterward to a recently republished version of the 54-page story, which took…
The Gougers, A Long Day for the Weathervane
Note: The following artist performs Saturday or Sunday during the Big State Festival at Texas World Speedway, 17529 State Highway 6, College Station. Besides music, events include stock-car racing, a barbecue cook-off, mechanical bull riding, camping and more. Visit www.bigstatefestival.com or call 512-888-7469 for tickets and/or further information. The first…
Halo 3
What’s left to say about Halo 3? How about this: All the pomp and circumstance surrounding its launch sure have been distracting. Commercials that look like clips from a Hollywood movie, extravagant collectors’ sets that sell for $130, limited-edition Xbox 360s with a green-and-gold Halo-inspired color scheme and a midnight…
Lyle Lovett, It’s Not Big It’s Large
Lyle Lovett’s definitive work with his aptly named Large Band is 1999’s Live in Texas, which beautifully showcases the Klein native’s range, pathos and delicious sense of irony set to the brash, wild sounds of a massive country-swing band. It’s Not Big It’s Large, name notwithstanding, is, in a way, a…
Random Checks at the Bolivar Ferry, Up Close Communications, Ted Poe, Gene Green and Mac Haik
Everyone in the Houston area can breathe easier. The random car checks at the Bolivar Ferry — to use the official name, The Pointless, Aggravating, Waste of Time & Money Program — are back. For one bleak night, however, the ferry was — gasp! — unguarded. It was, apparently, only…
Kevin Fowler, Bring It On
Note: The following artist performs Saturday or Sunday during the Big State Festival at Texas World Speedway, 17529 State Highway 6, College Station. Besides music, events include stock-car racing, a barbecue cook-off, mechanical bull riding, camping and more. Visit www.bigstatefestival.com or call 512-888-7469 for tickets and/or further information. First off,…
Billy Joe Shaver, Everybody’s Brother
Note: The following artist performs Saturday or Sunday during the Big State Festival at Texas World Speedway, 17529 State Highway 6, College Station. Besides music, events include stock-car racing, a barbecue cook-off, mechanical bull riding, camping and more. Visit www.bigstatefestival.com or call 512-888-7469 for tickets and/or further information. They say…
Local Motion
Sig’s Lagoon 3710 Main, 713-533-9525 1. Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings, 100 Days, 100 Nights 2. Budos Band, Budos Band II 3. Steve Earle, Washington Square Serenade 4. Turbonegro, Retox 5. Derailers, Under the Influence of Buck 6. Gourds, Noble Creatures 7. Bettye LaVette, Scene of the Crime 8. Red…
Bettye LaVette, The Scene of the Crime
Note: The following artist performs Saturday or Sunday during the Big State Festival at Texas World Speedway, 17529 State Highway 6, College Station. Besides music, events include stock-car racing, a barbecue cook-off, mechanical bull riding, camping and more. Visit www.bigstatefestival.com or call 512-888-7469 for tickets and/or further information. The bar…
Conroe Cajun Catfish Festival
Most Texans can appreciate a good fish fry. A typically family-oriented event, this weekend’s Conroe Cajun Catfish Festival features arts and crafts, a petting zoo and even a wine-tasting. Oh yeah, one more thing, they also got Texas psych-rock godfather Roky Erickson to play. We’re not sure how or why…
The Busy World Is Hushed
Religious faith, domineering mothers and gay love all play a role in Keith Bunin’s play with the lovely title — The Busy World Is Hushed — now running at Main Street Theater. Poetic and smart, the work asks us to consider such fundamental questions as what real love and real…
Paul Rodgers, Blue Oyster Cult, Kansas, Marshall Tucker Band, the Knack, Loverboy, Mickey Thomas with Starship
Arrowfest is the one day a year when Houston classic-rock fans really cream their denim, and for its tenth edition under the auspices of 93.7 FM, organizers have gathered their strongest, broadest lineup in years. There’s heavy ümlaut rock (Blue Öyster Cult), prog (Kansas), country-rock (Marshall Tucker Band), pop-rock (the…
“To 25!” and “David McGee: El Soñador Elegante,”
Taken together, DiverseWorks’ two current shows, “To 25!” and “David McGee: El Soñador Elegante,” are one part historical document and one part folktale. They represent DiverseWorks’ 25th anniversary as an organization, both literally and symbolically. Sometimes it’s hard to throw a rock and hit someone who hasn’t performed, shown work,…
Feature Photo
Gawd, it is SO tedious getting your picture taken. Cowgirl Victoria Heaven (left) has just taken home the “Best Hair” prize at the Sunburst Model Search at Greenspoint Mall, and can barely be bothered to pose again. Halee Soto is a little more enthusiastic, having won “Best Eyes.” To view…
Doña Tere Mexican Restaurant
The bright red hot sauce that they smother the fried eggs with at Doña Tere Mexican Restaurant on Beechnut looked like your average ordinary ranchero sauce. I was hungry, so I took an extra big bite. The wave of molten heat moving south down my gullet widened my eyes way…
Capsule Art Reviews: “City Glow,” “Ellen Orseck,” “Nexus Texas,” “RED HOT” and “Sawing Logs”
City Glow Self-styled Pop Art star Chiho Aoshima emerged out of the “factory” art group founded in Tokyo in the late ’90s by Takashi Murakami. Her computer-generated images reference manga comics and anime cartoons, with wide-eyed characters and line drawings. Like Murakami, Aoshima believes in the contributions pop genres have…
Fighting for Air: Drowning and the Heimlich Maneuver
The first time John Hunsucker performed CPR was on some poor schmuck who dropped dead in his driveway. The young college professor was driving home from work late one evening back in the early 1970s when he spotted a middle-aged man lying motionless beneath a bicycle. He hopped out of…
El Matador Mexican Bar & Grill
They say the mark of a good Mexican place is the enchiladas (the others, of course, are the salsa and the margs). By that measure, El Matador Mexican Bar & Grill (12797 Westheimer, 281-759-9100) is a good place indeed. El Matador’s spinach chicken enchiladas ($8.99) consist of burrito-size, handmade flour…
Capsule Stage Reviews: Blue, Jeannette Clift George Onstage, Musical of Musicals, the Musical! and Sordid Lives
Blue Playwright Charles Randolph-Wright creates an indomitable character in his black family drama from 2001. Elegant Peggy Clark (Detria Marie Ward), a former supermodel, doesn’t belong in the small mill town of Kent, South Carolina, where she moved with her husband many years ago. Successful, upper-middle-class and well-off, they’re the…
Tribute Bands Struggle for Respect
The very concept of a tribute band might seem absurd and abhorrent to some. It’s a group of performers making money, sometimes a lot of money — one Houston venue can pay upwards of $1,000 for a tribute act’s first gig — for a show where, guaranteed, absolutely nothing new…
Trails to Terror
Don’t look now, but sloppy Britney costumes might be all the rage this Halloween. Who doesn’t like their festivities decked with little clothes (and shame), lots of drink and lots of candy? Whether you’re tethered to kids or tired of wearing undies, we have an activity for everyone. There’s no…
The Axiom
If someone ever makes a movie based on Michael Azerrad’s 2001 book Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground, the venues onscreen will no doubt look a lot like the Axiom. The former liquor warehouse at 2524 McKinney (just east of Dowling) wasn’t much to…
Refried Beans, Pecking Order and Minimum Wage
Dear Mexican, We were in a restaurant the other day eating some refried beans and green chile, when I overheard some gringos in the next booth making fun of Mexicans. One thing they said which really made me mad was, “Why do Mexicans REFRY their beans? Stupid Mexicans! Don’t they…
Elizabeth: The Golden Age
Will you leave your kingdom to a heretic?” That was the question posed to a dying Queen Mary in 1998’s Elizabeth, director Shekhar Kapur’s grim and dingy film now viewed in retrospect as the origin story of a superhero: The Armored Virgin Queen, faster than a speeding lead pellet, more…
The Melvins
More than two decades into the Melvins’ career — Kurt Cobain, a close friend of drummer Dale Crover, acted as sometime roadie and even once tried out for the bass slot — one looming question still abounds about the Seattle group: What are they? Punk? Grunge? Alternative? Metal? Avant-garde? Or…
The Meridian
Gin and soda,” I tell the waiting bartender. “Gin and tonic?” she smirks. “Nope,” I repeat. “Gin and soda.” I’m killing time at the Meridian (1503 Chartres), waiting for 2007 Warped Tour co-headliners and pseudobilly superstars Tiger Army. Imperative Reaction just finished and Boston’s Street Dogs are setting up. Like most everyone…
Top Houston Songs, High-Tech Turntables, Dave Matthews
What? How could you fail to include “On My Block” by Scarface, “from the south side of Houston Texas”? [“The H-Town 20,” by John Nova Lomax and Chris Gray, September 27.] I am white, female and AARP-eligible, but that is one of my iPod top choices. Sheila Sorvari Houston Online…
Our top DVD picks scheduled for release this week
Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Season Three (Universal) Black Sheep Unrated (Genius) Bob Mould: Circle of Friends (Granary) Bruce Springsteen: Under Review-1978-82: Tales of the Working Man (Sexy Intellectual) Concert for Diana (Universal) CSI New York: The Third Season (Paramount) Man Push Cart (Koch Lorber) The Marx Brothers Collection (Passport) Meerkat Manor:…
Black Math Experiment, La Sed, MK Ultra
There seem to be two Black Math Experiments, at least according to the local New Wave quintet’s new EP All You Need Is Blood. There’s the goofy pop pranksters of straight-ahead rocker “Dirty,” Devo/Pixies mash-up “Everyone Is Gay” and the unlisted cover of Nine Inch Nails’ “Closer,” which gives a…
Pappas Bros. Steakhouse
After a soul-sucking, mind-numbing day generating spreadsheets in corporate land, I was once again stuck in traffic. Between the dickwad cutting me off and my new Elvis Costello CD stuck in my player, I was building up to a spectacular bit of road rage. Not wanting to harm my fellow…
You Kill Me, Evan Almighty, American Silent Horror Collection and Mala Noche: The Criterion Collection
You Kill Me (Genius) Funny thing seeing Philip Baker Hall in You Kill Me, as he’s already played the role of a drunken hit man’s boss in The Matador, to which this feels like a slapshtick-noir sequel. It’s also the photonegative of Sexy Beast: Once more Ben Kingsley plays a…
Charlie Louvin
Charlie Louvin is true country music royalty, one of the last surviving members of the generation that dominated Nashville in the years following WWII: Chet Atkins, Bill Anderson, Lefty Frizzell, Roger Miller and Hank Williams, to name a few. In the 1950s and early ’60s, Louvin and his brother Ira,…