Carl Wilson: The Brother Who Kept the Beach Boys Together
Long Promised Road: Carl Wilson, Soul of the Beach Boys By Kent Crowley Jawbone Press, 288 pp., $19.95 Imagine being Carl Wilson. You are the youngest of three brothers who anchor one of the most successful rock bands in the world. Yet one of them is a tortured genius with mental issues…
Metal’s Problem With Women Is Not Going Away Anytime Soon
The realm of heavy metal has been virtually an all-boys club since, well, forever. From its glorious arrival with the doom-laden archetype of Black Sabbath, fans have flocked in droves to hear musical elements that have made metal both loved and hated: intricate guitar riffs, double-bass drum blastbeats, and lyrical…
Taste: The Awesome Power-Rock Trio You’ve Never Heard of
What’s Going On: Taste Live at the Isle of Wight Eagle Vision, 163 mins., $19.98 Blu-Ray/$14.98 DVD Interviewer: How does it feel to be the best guitarist in the world? Jimi Hendrix: I don’t know. Why don’t you go and ask Rory Gallagher? The ‘60s were a time of power trios: Cream,…
Feufollet: Cajun(ish) Envoys From the Red-Hot South Louisiana Scene
Louisiana roots band Feufollet has been busy in 2015 with the release of Two Universes, the six-piece band’s first studio record in five years, and several long tours in support of the album. While the band is identified as Cajun, the repertoire ranges from traditional south Louisiana string band tunes…
Houston’s Classical Theatre Bends Genders Mostly Successfully in Henry V
The set-up: Whenever I’m at a crossroads, theater-wise, and don’t know what to make of something, I go to my happy place and think, WWSD. What would Shakespeare do? When I heard that John Johnston’s Classical Theatre Company, in association with the University of Houston, would produce a gender-neutral Henry…
100 Favorite Houston Dish 2015, No. 47: Sunday Sauce at Liberty Kitchen & BRC
Phaedra Cook is eating her way through Houston and counting down her 100 favorite dishes of 2015. It’s a collection of personal favorites that is also indicative of Houston dining. It’s a scene where a vast range of dishes coexist: highbrow and lowbrow; local and international; cheap and expensive; modern…
Texas Central Picks Two Companies to Do Design Work for Houston-to-Dallas Bullet Train
Texas Central Partners has taken another step toward getting this Houston-to-Dallas bullet train project off the ground. On Tuesday morning company officials announced that they’ve selected two firms, Archer Western Construction and Ferrovial Agroman US Corp., to do about $130 million of engineering and pre-construction work on the project. If…
The Real Story Behind #BoycottStarWarsVII is About Normalizing Racism
Two things happened involving the upcoming seventh Star Wars film recently. One, a new trailer debuted and two, Twitter was flooded with a new hashtag: #BoycottStarWarsVII. The reasoning behind this was that the prominent position of a white woman and black man on the theatrical poster and as the apparent…
Gaslamp Does an About-Face on Cover Charge Policy as Lease Negotiations Continue
Last night, local television station KPRC aired the results of an undercover investigation that tested whether Midtown club Gaslamp which we have written about before has a racist cover charge policy. The policy has been alleged by dozens of people, including attorneys Brandon Ball, Dan Scarbrough and Ken Piggee, over the…
Another Day, Another Convicted Murderer Accusing Kelly Siegler of Hiding Evidence
Now that a judge has slammed former Harris County prosecutor Kelly Siegler for supposedly withholding evidence in the 2007 trial of convicted wife-killer David Temple, it makes sense for attorneys with other clients convicted by Siegler to raise similar claims. And that’s what’s happening in the case of Ronald Jeffrey…
Everything You Need to Know About the Final Star Wars: The Force Awakens Trailer
Like most Americans, you probably watched last night’s installment of Monday Night Football solely to see the premiere of the final trailer for Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Because come on: you certainly weren’t watching to see which mediocre NFC East squad gets the honor of Green Bat stomping a mudhole…
Houston Texans Re-Sign Hard Knocks Hero Charles James
Most of the time, when our favorite television characters are written out of our favorite television programs, that’s it. They’re done, and we never see them anymore. On the rare occasions that they are reprised in some form, it’s like found money. For Texans fans, Hard Knocks made our hometown football…
Religion Battles Science at Freud’s Last Session
The set-up: Book are everywhere. They pile around the desk, which is cluttered with statues of ancient gods and goddesses. They heap on the multiple shelves that ring the dark yet cozy room that’s dominated by a large round window to our right. They spill onto the floor. Books, books…
Theatrical Shadow-puppet Brilliance Bathed in Blood Red
All fairy tales begin with “Once upon a time,” but what happens after “The End?” In Houston Family Arts Center’s production of Stephen Sondheim’s Into the Woods, we follow favorite characters from Brothers Grimm and Charles Perrault as their stories intertwine with the unifying idiom: be careful what you wish…
Faulty Eyewitness ID Put the Wrong Man in Jail for Six Months
Tiffany Wilson was afraid to call her son and tell him that his baby just had his first haircut. It was yet another milestone that Jamario Wilson missed while he was sitting in the Harris County jail for a crime he did not commit. Already, he’d missed his baby’s first…
This Week in Houston Food Blogs: Helen’s Lamb Ribs Stack Up
This week, we’ve got a few savory recipes, restaurant reviews and the skinny on a newly-released beer from one of Houston’s favorite breweries. Now that the weather is almost committed to the calendar year, we’d like to share this seasonally-appropriate recipe for Santa Fe soup from Nishta of Blue Jean…
6 Great Places to Buy a Gift for Your Favorite Witch
With Halloween nearly upon us, many people are busy figuring out what costume they’ll be wearing to a party or to greet trick-or-treaters stopping by their homes. One of the classic costumes is the witch, usually depicted as a withered old crone wearing a distinctive hat and clutching a magical…
NASA Says Large Asteroid Will Have “Near Miss” With Earth on Halloween
On October 31, a 1.5-mile-wide asteroid will whip past Earth in a trajectory that’s almost too close for comfort. NASA officials say the asteroid will buzz by our planet in a “near miss” on Halloween. The space rock will be zipping past Earth while moving at about 78,000 mph and…
Arturo O’Farrill Keeps the Afro-Cuban Musical Dialogue Going
Brooklyn-based pianist Arturo O’Farrill, leader of the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra, is a Cuban-American whose family was forced from the island by the revolution and Castro’s regime. “My family lost lots holdings and lots of property with the revolution,” he tells us. “To this day, there are people in my…
Dash Cam Video and 9-1-1 Audio of Johnny Manziel Incident Surface
When Johnny Manziel went into rehab last spring for ten weeks, most right thinking football fans were happy that he was seeking the help that he needed to deal with his alcohol issues. However, most of us in the content generating business lamented the fact that a calmer, more sober…
The Rollin’ Kitchen: A Most Promising Debut
Cross your fingers that the Rollin’ Kitchen, the latest concept from GR8 Plate Hospitality Group, rolls into your neighborhood sometime soon. Or better yet, stalk them successfully yourself (via assistance from their scheduled posted weekly on Facebook), because there are some seriously delicious, one-of-a-kind (at least in Houston) dishes being…
Chef Randy Rucker Is Back and Looking Good at Bramble
Perfectly roasted chicken exemplifies the beauty found in simplicity, and it doesn’t get better than at Bramble. An order consisted of a hefty leg quarter and wing, and the crisp skin radiated from gold to dark mahogany. In places, the skin was translucent thanks to the patient roasting that had…
Doctor Who: “The Girl Who Died” Is Great, Hokey Fun
The ninth series of the revived Doctor Who continues to have an unbroken string of excellence that embodies both the classic show and the new. “The Girl Who Died” was probably the most anticipated episode due to its guest appearances by Game of Thrones actress Maisie Williams, and while it…
Unreasonable Doubt: Did Kelly Siegler Really Railroad an Innocent Man Eight Years Ago?
Three days before Christmas 2014, former Harris County prosecutor Kelly Siegler found herself on the witness stand in Houston, defending her work in one of the most high-profile murder cases in Texas history. A 21-year veteran of the Harris County Assistant District Attorney’s Office, and a one-time candidate for that…
Upcoming: Antemasque, Big K.R.I.T., Jonathan Richman, Judy Collins, Low, The Pharcyde, Shakey Graves, etc.
10 Years: With Spoken, Skytown Riots, Seldom., Fri., December 4, 8 p.m., $21 to $25. Scout Bar, 18307 Egret Bay Blvd., Houston, 281-335-0002. The Acacia Strain: With Counterparts, Glass Cloud, Fit For An Autopsy., Sun., November 29, 6:30 p.m., $15 to $18. Scout Bar, 18307 Egret Bay Blvd., Houston, 281-335-0002…
Continuing Selena’s Legacy Is More Important Than Music
I read Jaime-Paul Falcon’s blog the other day in the Dallas Observer, which made a bold statement about Selena’s family tarnishing her legacy, and it started an important dialogue within me. Later, the movie Selena came on and it was on the scene where she couldn’t answer a question posed…
UPDATED: Trouble at Fitzgerald’s as General Manager Departs
The future of Fitzgerald’s as one of Houston’s top mid-sized music venues, as well as one of its oldest and most historic, has suddenly clouded over. Formerly the venue’s longtime sound engineer, Lauren Oakes has now resigned as general manager, she told the Press in an email this afternoon. She…
Texas Cuts Planned Parenthood From Medicaid Over Videos
Well, it’s finally happened. Texas officials finally got around to using the controversial Planned Parenthood fetal tissue videos to actually defund Planned Parenthood. The Texas Office of the Inspector General announced Monday morning that Planned Parenthood affiliates will be excluded from the state’s Medicaid program because of alleged violations observed…
The Michigan Punt Blunder — 4 Winners, 4 Losers
Normally, I’d follow up the college football weekend with an extensive “4 Winners, 4 Losers” style analysis on the entire weekend that was, but sometimes there’s one game, one play, that is so historic in nature that it clearly overshadows everything else that happened during the weekend. Such is the…
Unido2 Tour: Marc Anthony and Carlos Vives Embrace Houston With Amor
“Unido2 Tour” Feat. Marc Anthony & Carlos Vives Toyota Center October 16, 2015 “I love Marc Anthony!” proclaimed a lovely young lady as I answered her inquiry concerning the particulars of my weekend. “He’s like the Latino Frank Sinatra of our generation!” Wow. I never really thought about him in…
State Can Still Deny Birth Certificates to Texas-Born Kids
On Friday, a federal judge ruled that Texas can continue to deny birth certificates to an untold number of Texas-born children because of their parents’ immigration status. In May more than a dozen undocumented women sued the Texas Department of State Health Services, saying workers at vital statistics offices in…
Fat Tony & Kyle Hubbard Hole Up at the Safehouse
Fat Tony, Kyle Hubbard The Safehouse October 16, 2015 I don’t mind admitting that I walked straight past the Safehouse on Friday night. I’d never been to the strange little venue before, and wasn’t quite sure where it was or what to expect. The place barely seems to exist online,…
Zine Fest Is Like All of Pop Culture History Happening at Once
Zine Fest can best be summed up by the $20 bill I brought with me as my allowance. I simply assumed that a gathering dedicated to selling printed pieces of paper often hand-stapled together would not be capable of running credit cards and would demand cash. In every case vendors…
Among the Juggalos, Discrimination and a Peculiar Kinship
Insane Clown Posse, DJ Paul, Young Wicked, Dope D.O.D., Downfall 2012 The Ballroom at Warehouse Live October 16, 2015 As a rule, it’s probably not the best idea to send a writer who is entirely unfamiliar with a band’s discography to cover that act’s live show. The credibility of the…
East End to Far East: Just Another Weekend In Houston
Houston’s festivalgoers set their compasses east this weekend for a pair of events that delivered precisely what they promised. At the East End Street Festival, the vibe was local and centered on the Houston neighborhoods and businesses that make up this burgeoning quadrant of the city. A little over a mile…
Stepping Out of the Shadows
For those who have traveled to the memorials at Neuengamme and Buchenwald in Germany, and to Poland’s Auschwitz, the magnitude of the atrocities weighs heavy on the heart. For one such pilgrim, Houston-born Michael Roque Collins, those memories have been channeled into works of art, on display now at the…
No, John McMullen Was Not a Worse Owner Than Bob McNair
Last week I offered up my thoughts on why Bob McNair is the worst owner in Houston sports history. I contrasted McNair with Bud Adams, the man who brought professional sports to Houston when he bought a AFL franchise and named it the Oilers. Many readers took exception, with several…
100 Favorite Houston Dishes 2015, No. 48: Tonkotsu Ramen at Tiger Den
Phaedra Cook is eating her way through Houston and counting down her 100 favorite dishes of 2015. It’s a collection of personal favorites that is also indicative of Houston dining. It’s a scene where a vast range of dishes coexist: highbrow and lowbrow; local and international; cheap and expensive; modern…
The D.O.C Presides Over a Historic Moment for Texas Hip-Hop
“Straight Outta Dallas” feat. The D.O.C, Scarface, DJ Erkyah Badu, etc. The Bomb Factory, Dallas October 17, 2015 Whether it was by divine intervention or a buoyancy of hysteria and research post-Straight Outta Compton, Dallas’ extensive hip-hop scene needed one particular night to shine brighter than any other hub in…
If HISD Isn’t Going to Expel the Little Bitties, Where’s it Going to Put Them?
It seemed a simple enough policy and one that school districts in other states across the country have recently adopted. Don’t throw out the youngest kids in elementary school just because they are sometimes, to put it mildly, jerks. Instead, recognize that when they misbehave it may be because they…
Dish of the Week: Tres Leches
From classic comfort foods to regional standouts and desserts, we’ll be sharing a new recipe with you each week. Find other dishes of the week here. This week, we’re taking a look at Tres Leches. Also known as pan tres leches, or “three milks bread” – tres leches is a…
No Girl Power Bite in This Smart and Satiric Dracula
The set up: Powerful and alluring vampire bites two unsuspecting young Victorian women who in turn come under his spell. The one gal who has had the audacity of flirting with no less than three suitors before making up her mind to let the bloodsucking count seduce her, gets a…
It’s Time to Admit the Whole Comments Section Thing Hasn’t Worked Out
These days the only words I anticipate more than “Errant Signal” when I check YouTube are “comments are disabled for this video.” The idea of a comment section has become so normal that we rarely stop and think how incredibly bizarre it actually is. It’s also clearly an experiment that…
This Week in Houston Food Events: Tacolandia Means Unlimited Tacos
All Week Long Choose Cheddar at Central Market From now until October 27, you can find specialty cheddar cheeses, cheddar items and cheddar recipes throughout Central Market at 3815 Westheimer. There will be international cheeses, cheddar pairing recommendations and new mac ‘n’ cheese samples around the store. If you’re sharp,…
NFL Week 6: Texans 31, Jaguars 20 — 4 Winners, 4 Losers
If indeed you believe that the Houston Texans still have a chance to salvage something resembling a relevant threat to make the postseason in 2015, then the logical way to assess their schedule is to view Weeks 6, 7, and 8 as their own sub-season, with them shooting to go…
The 10 Most Spiritual Texans-Jags Rapper Tweets
The Houston Texans’ 2015 season began with HBO’s Hard Knocks introducing the team to America at large. It took a month of filming and some fancy editing to present to the nation our sometimes thrilling and frequently frustrating NFL franchise. Home Box Office could have saved all that time and…
The American Dream, Dropkicked and Powerbombed in The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity
Meet Macedonio “The Mace” Guerro (Luis Galindo, in the role of a lifetime). Squat and a bit doughy, he sits on the top turnbuckle at a corner of the wrestling ring. He fits comfortably there; it’s home turf, it’s where he belongs. Although he’s not the star at THE Wrestling,…
Texas Could License Immigrant Lockups As “Family Residential Centers”
This summer a federal judge in California unambiguously condemned the current practice of jailing immigrant women and children in Texas detention centers run by for-profit prison corporations that contract with federal immigration authorities. In July and August rulings, U.S. District Judge Dolly Gee declared that federal detention centers in the…
Dosi Closes As a New Korean Concept Begins in the Witchcraft Space
Dosi Restaurant + Soju Bar at 2801 South Shepherd closed its doors on October 5. Owner An Vo says, “We are just going to focus our energy in the new restaurant in Midtown,” referring to Anju, the new concept going into the former West Gray Public House space at 510…
Workers Injured In Scaffolding Collapse Near Minute Maid Park
Officials fear some construction workers may still be trapped after a scaffolding collapsed downtown late Friday morning near Minute Maid Park. The Houston Fire Department reports that some 30 rescue units were sent out to the corner of Crawford and Congress, where a large scaffolding collapsed at about 11:10 a.m…
Does This Houston Chronicle-Bestowed Best Dressed Criminal Defendant Deserve a Break?
We’re glad the Houston Chronicle stepped up to the plate to call for sensible punishment for Katherine Le, a socialite jewelry designer and member of the paper’s “Best-Dressed List” accused of running three illegal game rooms. The Chron suggested in an October 10 editorial that, if found guilty, Le and other…
Reviews For The Easily Distracted: Steve Jobs
Title: Steve Jobs Describe This Movie In One Simpsons Quote: Homer: “The ‘US Festival!’ Geez! It was sponsored by the guy from Apple Computers. Clerk: “What computers?” Rating Using Random Objects Relevant To The Film: Three-and-a-half rainbow beach balls of death out of five. Brief Plot Synopsis: Visionary asshole finds humanity, success. Tagline: None. Try…
Beatboxing Contender KRNFX Puts Some Pop Into Korean Festival Houston
There’s a point during our discussion of Korean music and its current influence over pop culture where Terry Im – the musician popularly known as KRNFX – says Koreans are “pretty much like the cool Asians right now.” He says it jokingly, but the observation may ring true to those…
College and NFL Football: This Weekend’s Best Bets
To those of you who have relied on my picks to pay your mortgage this season (a pretty solid business plan, if you ask me), I apologize for the picks not getting posted last Friday. There was an administrative mix up, and they didn’t get posted. Unfortunately, it was another…
Houston’s 5 Best Weekend Food Bets: Hit Two Cultural Festivals in One Day
Karbachtoberfest Closing Weekend @ Karbach Brewing Co. Friday – Sunday 2032 Karbach Get yourself to the brewery for the last Oktoberfiesta of the season. You can expect awesome brews, live music, and great German fare, along with a commemorative glass mug and ceramic steins (available for small upcharge on the…
Texas Should Go Along With the EPA’s Clean Power Plan, EDF Report Says
When it comes to the environment, Texas has been officially and reliably against it for years. After all, Texas is state that you can almost always count on to oppose any rule that the federal Environmental Protection Agency tries to put in place to, you know, regulate the environment. But…
Amazon Prime Now Has Come to Houston, It’s Weird and Amazing
Living in the future is awesome. Years from now, humans will figure out a way to put computers in their brains and fly cars and defeat death, but I’m pretty content to live in the Golden Age of There’s an App For That. That I own a device that I…
Upcoming Houston Food Events: Oyster Season & Tacolandia
To celebrate oyster season, chef Hugo Ortega has introduced a new menu of seasonal oyster specials at Caracol, 2200 Post Oak. Indulge in Coctel de Ostiones, an oyster cocktail with onion, cilantro, cucumber, jalapeno, tomato, and lime, served in the shell ($12); Ostiones a Ia Lena, wood-smoked oysters wrapped in…
What’s It Going to Take to Destroy Tal’s Hill?
Do you have a thing that you irrationally hate? There’s no logic to that hatred, you’re in the minority, but nothing that anybody says or writes changes your mind. There’s no argument that you can hear or see that will suddenly make you see the light. I’ve got a couple…
The D.O.C.: A Show Worth Driving to Dallas For
The list of Texas rap artists who have released an album usually ranked with the very best of all time is pretty short, perhaps beginning and ending with the Geto Boys. But not so fast: there’s also No One Can Do It Better, the 1989 album by the Dallas-born rapper…
License Suspended for Doctor Accused of Raping Sedated Ben Taub Patient
The Texas Medical Board on Thursday took the somewhat rare step of swiftly suspending a Houston doctor’s medical license without notice, saying that allowing him to continue practicing medicine would pose “a continuing threat to public welfare.” The temporary suspension comes after authorities last week charged 43-year-old Shafeeq Sheikh with…
Openings and Closings in Houston: Get Lee’s Fried Chicken & Donuts While They’re Hot
Midtown restaurant Majorca Bistro & Tapas at 207 Gray is closed; we received a reader tip to that effect, and the latest Yelp reviews say the same. The website is still live, but the Facebook page and phone line are both out of service, so Midtown will have to find…
The 5 Best Things to Do in Houston This Weekend: Henry V, The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity and More
This is actually not a spoiler for our Friday pick: The actor who plays the title role in the Classical Theatre Company’s production of Henry V is a woman. It’s not a casting gimmick, Classical Theatre’s Executive Artistic Director John Johnston tells us. “We wanted to see how we could…
Will Eliminating Tipping Improve Restaurant and Bar Service or Make It Worse? [UPDATED]
This week, one of the best known restaurant groups in New York, Danny Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality Group, whose restaurants include highly-regarded The Modern and Gramercy Tavern, announced they are eliminating tipping at all 13 of their concepts. The change will take effect over the next year. Meyer literally wrote…
Where Was All the New Security in My Walk Across TSU’s Campus Wednesday Night?
Texas Southern University deputy police chief Remon Green assured a room full of students that their safety was his top priority roughly 17 times on Wednesday night. After four shootings on or near campus in six weeks, TSU officials held a two-hour panel to discuss how they plan to safely…
Houston Bars With the 10 Heaviest Pours
Sometimes we all need a break from the rat race and just need to go out and get a nice stiff drink; these Houston bars have got you covered in that department, no doubt about it. As always, please drink responsibly and even more so when consuming heavily poured drinks;…
The Dead Revolt Honor Fallen Bassist by Releasing What May Be Their Final Album
Short of your own death or that of a family member, there may not be a bigger nightmare for a musician than the senseless murder of one of your bandmates. But that hellish scenario played out earlier this year for the Dead Revolt, the Houston prog-rock trio whose bassist, Spencer…
Texas Central Says Houston-to-Dallas Bullet Train Will Bring $36 Billion in Economic Benefits [Updated]
Texas Central Partners came out with a “very important study” on Thursday morning that declared that the private company’s plan to build a Houston-to-Dallas bullet train will bring in big money to the entire Lone Star State. If things go according to plan, Texas Central Partners officials say that by…
The 2015 Texans Are Like Playboy’s “Hairy Armpit Madonna” Issue
If you’re looking for a quantifiable indicator that the Houston Texans are the dumpster fire that your human eyes seem to be telling you they are, look no further than this headline on ESPN.com previewing the upcoming game this weekend in Jacksonville: “Texans vs. Jaguars predicted to be the biggest…
Texans Owner Bob McNair Stands By Anti-HERO Bigots
If there’s one thing we can all agree on, it’s that the NFL and its franchises are shining examples of personal responsibility and integrity. The league’s no-tolerance stance on players caught abusing drugs, women, or gun laws ensure that these multi-millionaires are good role models. “We don’t care if it…
Five Pieces of Advice on IRS Extension Deadline Day
If you filed an extension with the IRS, the deadline for filing is Thursday. Perhaps not the nerve-wracking time that April 15 is for the majority of Americans, but no one likes paying taxes or having to fill out paperwork that is so complicated only a CPA and Pythagorus can…
TSU Officials Plan Campus Carry Roll-Out After 4 Shootings in 6 Weeks
Texas Southern University’s deputy police chief Remon Green has a message for students who might consider carrying concealed handguns once Texas’s new law permitting them on campus goes into effect: “Don’t try to be a hero.” Green and a panel of top TSU officials met Wednesday night during a campus…
Tosca Opens the 2015-16 Season for Houston Grand Opera: Violence, Lies and Death
Everybody dies. No, we’re not talking George R.R. Martin’s Game of Thrones, but a classic predecessor full of just as much intrigue, romance, violence and death, namely Giacomo Puccini’s Tosca. Set in Rome of 1800, the city’s residents are waiting to see what will happen with Napolean marching their way…
New York Chef Hong Thaimee Returns to Houston for a Thai Pop-Up Dinner and More
When Chiang Mai-raised New York City-based chef Hong Thaimee agreed to do a pop-up dinner at Paper Co. Cafe earlier this year, she had no idea how massive the turnout would be. Indeed, so hot were her pop-up dinners that they sold out to the tune of 180-plus people per…
Five Reasons to Visit the New HMart in Chinatown
For the last several months, the grocery store last known as AA Supermarket, located behind popular Chinatown restaurant Sinh Sinh, has been showing signs of transition. Inside, the produce was fresher, the products on the shelves looked more like that you’d find in a Korean store, and the in-house food…
A Video Tour of Houston’s Main Street Theater As It Nears Completion
It’s almost time for the big day. Main Street Theater will be unveiling its doors to show off what a year’s worth of renovations will do. The Houston Press took a tour of the almost-finished facility at 2540 Times Boulevard this week and while the transformation is remarkable, Artistic Director…
More Than 28,000 Have Been Laid Off From Energy Companies But Fracking Continues
Once upon a time, every oilman you talked to in Texas claimed that the fracking-fueled oil boom that had triggered a Texas oil renaissance that was never going to end. Sure, the wells being drilled in the Eagle Ford Shale in South Texas and the Permian Basin in West Texas…
Shea Serrano’s ‘Rap Year Book’ Is Pretty Dope, and You Should Probably Buy It
Shea Serrano is a fabulous human being. For a long time, he wrote regular features here like Artist of the Week, Five Spot and time-stamped stream-of-consciousness concert reviews that people would sometimes email us to say they couldn’t finish because they were laughing so hard. He has an author page…
Astros Exit the Playoffs With High Hopes for the Future
Had someone told fans in March that the Astros would come within one game of the American League Championship Series, after they stopped laughing and realized it was true, they would begin celebrating. Two years ago, the Astros ended the season with 111 losses and more questions than answers about…
We Ate Guinea Pig — and It’s Tasty
Chef David Guerrero of Andes Café has worked for months to bring a South American delicacy to Houston and it’s finally here. It’s called cuy, or guinea pig. When he invited us to come in and try it, we were skeptical (and maybe even a little squeamish) but full enough…
Chingo Bling Is Ready for Hollywood, Is Hollywood Ready for Him?
Right now entertainer Chingo Bling has more than a million fans on his social media accounts. What he doesn’t have is a major record deal. Or a big-studio film in production. He doesn’t have any endorsement deals, no Hollywood agent. Why not? Hollywood hasn’t been able to figure out what…
Chedda Da Connect Aims High On ‘Chedda World: The Album’
Courtney Milburn is an unlikely entry into the modern-day Houston rap ecosystem: a rap star who was on nobody’s’ radar until last fall. He used to write raps but never performed them or let anyone else hear them due to shyness. He went to Eisenhower High School on the Northside,…
I Gave My Boss a BJ. Help!
I’M JEALOUS OF MY DAUGHTER’S YOUTH & BEAUTY Dear Willie D: I’m a 47-year-old divorcee who used to be the center of attention. Whenever I entered a room, I was the girl who turned heads — not anymore. My 22-year-old daughter gets all the glory now. I know I shouldn’t…
One Family Settles With DuPont Over Fatal Chemical Spill
The family of Crystal Rae Wise, one of the workers killed at DuPont’s La Porte plant in November 2014, has reached a settlement with the company. The settlement came in the wake of a scathing set of recommendations issued by the U.S. Chemical Safety Board two weeks ago. The board…
Run The Jewels Run Almost Everything Else, Too
Run the Jewels House of Blues October 13, 2015 I would have fully expected Run the Jewels’ headlining set at House of Blues on Tuesday night to be something grand for all parties involved. Grand because we’re watching two meticulous rap heroes, El-P and Killer Mike, become the best rap…
Feds Drop Terroristic Threat Charge Against 83-Year-Old Vet
The prosecutor took one look at 83-year-old veteran John Garlington and, within minutes, agreed that he was probably not capable of carrying out the “terroristic threat” he stood accused of making. Garlington had not had a full night’s sleep in three months, kept awake thinking about this very court date…
Comicpalooza Cosplay Winners Wait a Long Time for Prizes
Houston’s largest geek culture convention, Comicpalooza, is having a rather rough year. Though the main convention itself was again a success bringing in tens of thousands of attendees their smaller follow-up FanFair drew a lackluster crowd and many celebrity guests cancelled their appearances. Now costume contest winners are saying they…
NASA and Congress and the Journey to Mars
NASA officials have been talking about sending astronauts to Mars for decades, but recently NASA upped the ante and came out with an actual plan to do so. And then, as soon as the plan was published Congress was ready and willing to pick it apart. Maybe that’s why NASA…
The Internet Kill Their Ego to Grow
One of the reasons Odd Future blew up was a keen ability to tap into the zeitgeist due to their youth. As quickly as pop culture moves today, it’s incredibly difficult for most mainstream artists to keep up. But Odd Future were all young enough to be used to that…
4 Things That May Happen Since Playboy Isn’t Printing Nude Photos Anymore.
In a world where the Internet has caused enormous and rapid changes in how people communicate and exchange information, it still came as a mild shock to many when Playboy recently announced that it would no longer be featuring photos of nude women in the print edition of its iconic…
Meghan Hendley-Lopez Knows Babies Go Better With Brian Eno
Adam P. Newton recently became a father for the first time, so he has decided to explain the entirety of post-WWII Western pop music to his new daughter, “FIg”…one genre at a time. Every other week, he also chats with child-rearing Houston musicians. How’s it going, Fig? This week, we’re…
University of Houston to Host a GOP Presidential Debate
We thought the University of Houston had truly outdone itself when UH officials managed to get Matthew McConaughey to speak at the school’s commencement earlier this year, but UH officials proved us wrong by getting in on the presidential campaign circuit. On Tuesday UH officials announced another big get for…
John Stone-Hoskins, Who Sued AG Ken Paxton Over Gay Marriage Rights, Dies at 37
John Stone-Hoskins knew he was dying when he decided to take the state of Texas to court. He had been fighting ever since the United States Supreme Court ruled that gay marriage was legal across the country. Within hours of the ruling he picked up the phone to call the…
Astros Fans, This Person Is the Reason There’s a Game 5 Wednesday Night
“I’m not superstitious, but I am a little stitious.” — Michael Scott, The Office If there’s a TV character whose lifestyle and social style I least want to emulate, it’s probably Michael Scott. Oddly enough, though, the sometimes bumbling, sometimes step-in-shit lucky boss of Dunder Mifflin’s Scranton branch pretty much…
Goosebumps, Like the Books That Inspired It, Is a Savvy Horror-Adventure Goof
Here’s a scary story for you. Somewhere in Hollywood, a cabal of producers are forever zombie-ing up the corpses of long-dead licensed properties, ever hopeful that you will continue to throw your money at familiar trademarked characters even as they eat your brains. Sometimes, when a silver moon shines just…
Lush and Mad, Crimson Peak Just Wasn’t Made for Times Like Ours
Mia Wasikowska is proof of reincarnation. The Australian actress must be possessed by the spirit of Lillian Gish. At 22 — the same age that Gish starred in Birth of a Nation — Wasikowska became a bankable name playing the lead in Tim Burton’s garish Alice in Wonderland. In the…
Steve Jobs Digs at the Heart of the Apple Icon
Aaron Sorkin opens up a new desktop icon with Steve Jobs, a briskly busy, talkative companion piece to the Newsroom and Moneyball writer’s Mark Zuckerberg-centric The Social Network. Adapting Walter Isaacson’s biography of the Apple innovator — and covering much of the same ground as Alex Gibney’s documentary Steve Jobs:…
We Come as Friends Lays Bare the Exploitative Horrors the World Visits on the Sudan
We Come as Friends might look at first like despair tourism. Hubert Sauper’s portrait of the Sudan’s cruel new colonialism opens with a vision of intense beauty: In the honeyed light just before evening, a young boy, nude but for a beaded necklace, dashes down a sun-baked path carrying a…
Austrian Horror Flick Goodnight Mommy Has Promise – but Cheats
Since 1963, the Austrian birthrate has halved. You can’t blame Severin Fiala and Veronika Franz’s new thriller, Goodnight Mommy, for the trend, but it sure isn’t helping. The quiet creepshow follows 11-year-old twins Lukas and Elias (Lukas and Elias Schwarz, great), who suspect their mom (Susanne Wuest) wishes they hadn’t…
Spielberg’s Bridge of Spies Finds Murk in Everyone’s Moral Certainty
Steven Spielberg’s true-story Cold War procedural Bridge of Spies has a wintry chill. The colors are gray and green, the skin tones pale as frozen fish, and the film stock fuzzed and snowy. Our protagonist, James Donovan (Tom Hanks), spends half the movie waylaid by a cold and takes his…
In Tab Hunter Confidential, The Star Who Almost Wasn’t Gets His Due
“Tab was a good movie star,” says John Waters near the beginning of the sprightly new documentary Tab Hunter Confidential. When I ask Hunter himself, on the phone from California, if he thinks he was a good movie star, he’s reluctant to share his friend’s enthusiasm. “I don’t know,” he…
