For Jeff Abrams, Home Is Where the Music Is
A local house party showcases a community’s dedication to and love of music.
Carlos Santana and Friends Stage a Sizzling Reunion
Santana IV: Live at the House of Blues, Las Vegas Eagle Rock Entertainment, DVD/2-CD, 151 mins. $29.98 (regular)/$34.98 (Blu-Ray) The Santana III album came out in 1971. Forty-five years later, Santana IV appeared. Of course, the band was hardly inactive in those ensuing decades, releasing some 20 studio records. But IV…
Houston Heights Voters Throw Out Century-Old Alcohol Sales Ban [UPDATED]
Houston Heights residents on Tuesday were leaning heavily toward tossing the neighborhood’s century-old prohibition on alcohol sales. As of 10 p.m. Tuesday evening, 65 percent of voters supported Proposition 1, with 60 percent of ballots tallied. The move paves the way for a new H-E-B store at 23rd and Shepherd…
Ten Things to Do in Houston for $10 or Less (All Free), November 3-9
As we limp to the finish line in this presidential election, and while we’re waiting to see if our battered and bruised country will be helmed by President Trump or President Clinton, let’s pass these last few days of indecision with some fabulous free events in the Bayou City. Creativity…
Music and the 2016 Election: Trump and Clinton
DONALD TRUMP Donald Trump has a tremendous love for music; his knowledge on the subject is bigly. Am I using that right? Who cares, it’s not a word. Regardless, like anything else, Trump in his own mind has impeccable musical taste, and honestly, it’s hard for me to disagree with…
Jersey Boys and Music From The Four Seasons Coming Back to the Hobby
When he was in fifth grade, Cory Jeacoma entered in his school’s talent show, singing “Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch, and a future star was born. He started doing musicals. “I realized there that you can develop these worlds and these characters and these people and live vicariously through them. Then…
Houston’s Stonework Are Ready to Do Some Heavy Lifting
Met up with Houston stoner band band Stonework at their practice space to discuss their music and aspirations for the future.
Fort Bend County Woman Says a Poll Worker Screwed up Her Vote
Finally, we have hard proof that GOP Presidential Candidate and Sentient Pumpkin Donald Trump’s allegations of a rigged election! Well, either that, or not every precinct volunteer in Fort Bend County knows the law and is unintentionally screwing up people’s votes. Those seem to be the possible explanations for the…
Terrence and Oscar: The Gone Home Story No One Talks About
Warning: Major Spoilers Since Gone Home made its way onto consoles and I finally got a chance to play it, it’s become one of my favorite video games of all time. It ranks up there with re-watching Harlem Nights or re-reading The Great Train Robbery as one of my go-to…
21 Best Things to Do in Houston This Week: Tommy Tune, Harleys and a Zombie Run
Tuesday, November 1 For self-described “Celtic, redhead white girl” Alecia Lawyer, founder and artistic director of River Oaks Chamber Orchestra, each ROCO-commissioned work that’s part of the group’s Musical and Literary Ofrenda is an opportunity to show “something that seems uniquely Mexican and very different” and which is actually quite…
Black Mirror‘s Third Season Probably Won’t Stop the Robot Uprising, and That’s OK
At what point do we stop looking at a show like Black Mirror as a sign of things to come and start acknowledging it as a reflection of where we already are? All the Terminators and 2001s in the world couldn’t prevent us from lusting after self-driving cars, asking Siri…
Why the Hell Is Hollywood Surprised Madea Movies Keep Making Money?
Boo! A Madea Halloween was the number-one movie over this past weekend, baffling Hollywood once again and making the Hotep crowd pissed that a movie starring a black guy in a dress made more money than alleged rapist Nate Parker’s still-struggling The Birth of a Nation. (Meanwhile, these woke brothas…
Honoring the Taco the El Topo Way
Blow torches in hand, the guys of El Topo Truck have mastered the hand-pressed tortilla-into-taco art in under one minute. Their personal best record is 180 from tortilla-to-plate in under two hours. Since February of this year, Mike Serva and Tony Luhrman operate a not-so-typical food truck that slings Mexican…
10 Iconic Movie and Television Cars That Dedicated Fans Can Own
Certain films and television shows feature automobiles that have become as famous or more so than the human actors that drive them. They often outlive the memory of the films they appeared in, and can inspire vehicular lust in generations of people who long to own them (Or a reasonable…
Meet the Karaoke Superstars of Houston, Vol. 1
Houston loves to karaoke. Find out why.
A Recap of All the Evidence Harris County Police Have Lost Track Of
On paper, it seems to be a simple process: Put pieces of evidence in individual boxes or bags, label them, store them in a dry place and keep meticulous records so detectives, prosecutors and defense attorneys can easily retrieve evidence needed for further examination or trial. Yet two separate Harris…
Best Houston Patios for You, With or Without Your Dogs, Your Kids
It’s blessedly cooler and time to hit the great restaurant patios of Houston. Yes, you can sit outside! In comfort and convenience and pretend you’re in a great European city. Or just enjoy what Houston has to offer for a few sparkling months of the year. Here’s our collection of…
Despite Uncertain Legal Status, Cannabis Has Medical Benefits
The schizophrenic federal government has left cannabis as a Schedule 1 drug on its forbidden list even though it actually applied for a medical patent for it in 2003 to explore potential medical uses for the drug. And few would or could deny some clear medical benefits of cannabis. The…
Houston’s 5 Best Weekend Food Bets: Get Ready for Halloweekend
From Halloween crawls to a farm-to-fork Sunday supper, here’s a look at this weekend’s best culinary happenings: King’s Kolache Pop-up # 3 at King’s Biergarten Saturday, 8 to 11 a.m. (or until sold out) King’s is taking its best wursts and turning them into kolache for the third kolache pop-up…
NFL Week 8: Lions-Texans — Four Things to Watch For
They say that when a person buys a boat, their two happiest days as a boat owner are the day they purchase the boat and the day they sell the boat, the obvious implication being that the boat-owning experience is far from what it’s cracked up to be. I’ve never…
Reviews For The Easily Distracted: Inferno
Title: Inferno Describe This Movie In One Simpsons Quote: Lisa: I like…Langdon Alger. Homer: I have no idea who that is. Lisa: Nobody does! He’s very quiet and enjoys puzzles. Brief Plot Synopsis: We’re all gonna die. Well, half of us anyway. Rating Using Random Objects Relevant To The Film: Two Dantes out…
Upcoming Houston Food Events: A Taste of the South
Mark your calendars, because you don’t want to miss these deliciously fun culinary happenings, from a “sweets cocktail hour” to an epic BBQ fundraiser: Michael’s Cookie Jar’s Michael Savino and Fluff Bake Bar’s Rebecca Masson are hosting Houston’s first ever “Sweet Week” from Sunday, November 6 through Sunday, November 13,…
The Five Best Things to Do in Houston This Weekend: Camels and Creepy Clowns
There’s nothing boring about living in Houston, and this weekend’s lineup should prove the point. We have a spectacular multimedia show inspired by aluminum, the clean lines of the AIA Houston Home Tour, a play about abortion (that’s not really about abortion) and a celebration of Egyptian culture over at Discovery…
Openings & Closings: Mo’s Is No More, Hello Night Market
Hubcap Grill & Cocktail Bar, 2021 Strand, opened on October 20 in Galveston. The restaurant moved into the space that formerly housed the Harborside Mercantile. Owner (of both Harborside and Hubcap), Ricky Craig told Phaedra Cook, then of the Houston Press that “the rigors of running and staffing a full-fledged…
Six Perfect Nights at Rockefeller’s: A Look Back
As Rockefeller’s comes roaring back to life, we recall some of our favorite shows from its first run as a Houston music venue.
Lafayette’s Blackpot Festival Is a Handy Halloween-Weekend Escape
The eleventh annual Blackpot Festival and Cookoff (October 28-29) is the ultimate antidote to Halloween-style hedonism and the ideal weekend destination for Houstonians looking to dodge the holiday fray. The festival, located about 3.5 hours east in Vermillionville, Louisiana, is a two-day celebration of southern Louisiana food, music and dance…
Maxo Kream and the Art of Keeping It Too Real
The scariest thing involving Houston rap to occur in the past week? We almost lost Maxo Kream for an extended period of time. The Kream Clicc leader is easily a favorite among the newer crop of Houston rap acts and it’s not a secret as to why: the razor-sharp double-time, the…
Houston Needs Something Wicked to Bounce Back
Having to cancel your entire event is not the worst thing that can happen to a music festival, but it’s pretty close. The only things that are worse are the types of things that get you kicked out of a venue forever — drug overdoses, riots, deaths, things of that…
Dress Your Dog up in Something Spooky and Help Raise Money for BARC!
Ordinarily, we try not to encourage hoary puns or dressing dogs in people clothes, but screw it: we’re excited for Rosemont’s October 29 Howl-O-Ween fundraiser for BARC, the city pound. All proceeds go toward helping BARC’s 90 For 90 Campaign, in which the shelter shoots for holding a 90 percent…
PETA Offers Reward in Houston Dog-Stabbing Case
The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is offering a reward of up to $5,000 for information leading to the arrest of a degenerate freak of nature caught on surveillance footage stabbing a dog in the face. The footage, from roughly 1:30 a.m. October 7, shows a man stabbing…
The Great “They’re Changing Muh Vote” Conspiracy
Look… There are a few viral Facebook posts going around claiming that voting machines in Harris County are somehow changing votes. It’s always someone’s friend of a friend, and yet, no matter how many time I offer to talk to one of these people as a reporter I never seem…
Best Bets for This Weekend’s College and NFL Games
Ok, before we get to going 5-1 again on my picks this week (See what I did there? TOTAL HUMBLEBRAG… two weeks in a row at 5-1, baby!), a quick note on the sagging NFL ratings, which I will manage to tie into a gambling angle. Watch and learn, kids!…
Find Your Warm and Fuzzy in New “Unlikely Friendships” Book
Last week was a bad week for animal lovers. First the Houston SPCA found a German Shepherd north of Greenspoint with her muzzle taped shut, punctured tumors and a crushed skull. Then BBC News circulated the X-ray of a dog buried alive with an enormous nail through its head. So…
Holiday Card Written by Convicted Texas Baby Killer Found For Sale Online
In the 15 years that Andy Kahan, victims’ rights advocate for the City of Houston, has closely monitored “murderabilia” from serial killers sold online, he has never seen anything for sale from convicted baby killer Genene Jones. Then he found a Christmas card Jones had written to someone from prison,…
Then and Now: Two Generations of Female Rock Icons
From Stevie Nicks to Taylor Momsen, old and new female singers find their counterparts in the past and present.
Five Tantalizing Tiki Drinks That Will Transport You From Houston to Paradise
Tiki drinks were made popular more than 80 years ago by Don the Beachcomber. Since then many places have tried to replicate those original recipes that were inspired by the tropics and the Tiki culture. In Houston, we have two full-fledged Tiki bars, Lei Low Rum & Tiki Lounge and…
Ten Things to Do in Houston for $10 or Less (Seven Free), October 27- November 3
We’ve got a hefty dose of Halloween flicks this week, including the camp Blacula from the ’70s, the silent-but-deadly classic Phantom of the Opera, the animated Hotel Transylvania and, of course, The Rocky Horror Picture Show. But it’s also a great week for ghost stories, a costumed beer crawl and a…
Houston’s 10 Worst Band Names
Because there must be balance in the universe, according to any number of Eastern and Western and Star Wars philosophies and religions, anything positive must eventually be met with its darker counterpart. Therefore, in light of Tuesday’s accounting of Houston’s 10 Best Band Names, in which a good time was…
Judge Accuses Harris County Public Defenders of Flouting Rules
It was by accident in 2012 that the Texas Department of Public Safety stumbled upon a troubling discovery affecting the validity of nearly 5,000 drug cases across Texas: One of its analysts at a Houston crime lab had intentionally falsified lab results. Soon, after further review of the analyst’s full…
Coming Soon: The 2016 Houston Press Music Awards
The curse of this city is that a vast majority of its people go about their lives not realizing what a wealth of musical resources there are in this town; the tragedy is that all too many of them don’t particularly care. Then there are the people who say, their…
This Election Is Rigged. Help!
Dear Willie D: Donald Trump has stated on numerous occasions that he believes the presidential election is rigged. I agree with him that the media is biased toward Hillary Clinton. They love to pounce on Trump for every little thing, while crooked Killary literally has been allowed to get away…
Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer Returns, Undiminished in Its Cruel Power
If you’re a vulnerable young woman who gets hit on by lecherous older men, you might think that you could do worse than having a guy like Henry at your side. He has a low tolerance for ass grabbers, for one; he’s known to take such bird dogs by their…
Live Deliciously with Tampopo, Still the Best Ramen Western There Is
Savor the delectable comedy Tampopo on a full stomach. Juzo Itami’s 1985 paean to the fastidious preparation and blissful consumption of food created an American hunger for Japanese cuisine, and can still be enjoyed solely as a satisfying feast. But the writer and director’s second film is also a biting…
In Zach Clark’s Moving Little Sister, a Future Nun Gets Down With GWAR
Writer/director Zach Clark is seemingly obsessed with goody-goody women who hide a darker side. In his breakout indie hit White Reindeer, a suburban real estate agent copes with her fiancé’s death with compulsive shopping, stripper friends and raunchy sex parties; in Modern Love Is Automatic, a woman leads a secret…
Flight of the Conchords Leads Woodlands Crowd on Merry, Ever So Gentle Chase
Flight of the Conchords, Demetri Martin Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion October 25, 2016 To recap, since this show was full of recaps, the Flight of the Conchords had a running gag about Houston’s neighborhoods, wherein they roll-called Sugar Land, The Woodlands, Montrose, the Museum District, even Galveston, going back to…
View a “Mini Me” of Ed Wilson’s $830,000 Mega-Sculpture at Moody Gallery
Houston artist Ed Wilson is just about finished with his monumental, mired-in-controversy, $830,000 “perforated steel bird and cloud forms” sculpture at George R. Brown Convention Center – a commission awarded by the Houston Arts Alliance – which will be unveiled to the public after a November 10 dedication. He survived a rocky start,…
See the Best From the Beatles’ Touring Years in Ron Howard Docu-Flick at MFAH
It was 50 years ago this August when the most influential act of the rock era said “no mas” to touring. The ranks of those lucky enough to see the Beatles live are dwindling, but true fans keep the flame going with mementos, books, photos and ticket stubs. Concert footage…
Beaumont Man Who Shot Two Whooping Cranes Won’t Pay Much for the Crime
In case anyone was wondering how much a dead whooping crane is worth, we now have a number to work with thanks to TreyFrederick’s sentencing on Tuesday for killing two whooping cranes in Jefferson County earlier this year. Back in January two whooping cranes were shot and killed. After…
LBJ & Lady Bird: A Marriage of Personal (and Political) Partnership
Since the first time Martha Washington strode into a Presidential abode (even before the White House existed), the role of the First Lady has been shaped by the women who held the title. Running the gamut from glorified arm candy and rabid re-decorator to cause supporter to practical co-president, there…
10 Things That Are No Longer My Problem Now That I’ve Voted
For my wife and I, the neverending dumpster fire of the 2016 presidential election is over. Like 67,000 other residents of Harris County, we took to the early voting polls the day they opened and put this mess behind us as we discharged our sacred civic obligation. All that’s left…
Cyclists Take to Houston City Hall to Urge Council to Pass Massive Bike Plan
More than 50 bicyclists took to City Hall Tuesday to rally support for the Houston Bike Plan as City Council prepares to vote on the proposal’s future in the coming weeks or months. The cyclists, some in spandex and even some in work clothes, rode together to City Hall from…
Smooth Sailing for Vietnam Coast After 30 Years in Houston
The honey-glistening chicken, onions and green peppers jump around while the hot oil and butter pop furiously as Que-Lan Duong flips her wok with the grace of an artist at her canvas. For more than 30 years, Duong, known as Linda to her regular customers, has poured her heart and…
More Than Jupiter Exploration Could Be Riding on NASA’s Juno Probe
NASA officials are being extremely cautious about Juno, the probe they’re using to remotely explore Jupiter, and, all things considered, that seems like a good idea. Last week, NASA officials announced they were delaying putting the spacecraft into shorter orbit because Juno’s main engine was acting up. Instead they decided…
White Oak Music Hall Gets a Permanent Outdoor Stage. Now What?
White Oak Music Hall finally has an answer about its outdoor stage, one that seems bound to raise still more questions. Tuesday, the City of Houston’s Department of Public Works & Engineering confirmed to the Houston Chronicle that it has issued a permit allowing the venue’s owners, W2 Development Partners,…
Houston’s 10 Best Music Venues for Newcomers
For those new to Houston and looking for live music, our city doesn’t lack for options.
Fire at Sea Reveals Parallel Lives as the Refugee Crisis Hits Italy
There are two distinct movies in Gianfranco Rosi’s Fire at Sea, and you could say that somewhere in between them lies the real one. The director, an Italian documentarian whose observational films demonstrate a formal rigor that often brings them close to experimental cinema and installation work, has trained his…
A Defense of Oasis, on the Occasion of the Riotous Documentary Supersonic
America never understood the hugeness of Oasis. By that I don’t just mean the band’s epochal mid-’90s global popularity or the nationalistic fervor it stirred in the U.K. I mean, simply, its hugeness of sound. In the States, only the ballads connected, the glorious/meaningless Beatle raptures “Wonderwall,” “Live Forever” and…
Fire at Sea‘s Gianfranco Rosi on the Art of Finding What Matters
The entire time Gianfranco Rosi is talking, he’s drawing. Using a graphite pencil against an unlined notebook, the Italian documentary filmmaker instinctively makes quick sketches to illustrate his ideas and anecdotes. Counting off the number of windows on a ship, he draws three little squares. Talking about the deathly Mediterranean…
Werner Herzog Takes a Scattershot Look Into the Inferno
An archeologist, a North Korean dictator, a Norse god, two photographers, the people of Indonesia and a tribal chief who believes Jesus is actually black American WWII soldier John Frum all look into a volcano and see their fates. That’s not the beginning of a joke; it’s the premise of…
White Oak Music Hall Finally Gets Permit for Permanent Outdoor Stage
White Oak Music Hall has obtained a permit to build a permanent outdoor stage just days before its next outdoor show is scheduled, Public Works confirmed Tuesday according to the Houston Chronicle. The permit comes just after White Oak Music Hall got slapped on the wrist for beginning construction on…
The Degas Exhibit at the MFAH Is Powerful Indeed
As an art reviewer I know that I ought to be impartial, at least at first, but sometimes I fail. As regards “Degas: A New Vision,” which recently opened at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, curated by Henri Loyrette, former director of the Musée du Louvre in Paris, and…
Lil Dicky’s Hip-Hop Comedy Keeps a Sold-Out House of Blues in Stitches
Lil Dicky House of Blues October 24, 2016 At 9:45 p.m. Monday night, Z-Ro’s “Mo City Don” began booming through the House of Blues speakers. The crowd, filled with rap fans of every ilk, began to chant along in unison. The DJ onstage then played verses from Chance The Rapper’s…
The Rocky Horror Show Comes to TUTS in the Flesh
For the last two months, Pierre Alexandre says he’s adopted a vegan diet to get in shape for the demands of playing Dr. Frank-N-Furter in the upcoming Theatre Under the Stars production of The Rocky Horror Show. Alexandre admits to being a little anxious. He’ll be making his debut in the…
Why We Need Donald Trump To Run — And Lose
We need Donald Trump to run and lose to show how America is strong.
20 Trumpkins to Make Your Halloween Great Again
He already had the deep tan, so when America began eyeballing pumpkins and seeing something more, Trumpkin-mania took off. So that’s a thing now. Here are 20 #Trumpkins to help make this Halloween season huuuuuuuuuge again. [page] With Halloween and Election Day so close together, this was a natural. There’s…
Here’s Why Louie Gohmert Shouldn’t Replace Paul Ryan As House Speaker
We get it, Republicans are mad about their looming defeat in the presidential election, but that still doesn’t seem like a good reason to try and put Rep. Louie Gohmert in a leadership position in Congress. And yet. As the fiasco otherwise known as Donald Trump’s presidential campaign begins to…
Jack Chick Has Died — a Look Back at His Religious Comic Legacy
On Sunday, October 23, the world lost a creative individual – A man who built an empire on weird comic art combined with an extreme form of fundamental Christian beliefs. That man was Jack Chick. After undergoing a religious transformation, Chick began writing and drawing his crude comic tracts in…
The Day the Web Went Dark: How Could Amazon, Twitter and Netflix All Go Down?
Last Friday, a whole bunch of big name websites including Amazon, Twitter, Netflix, Etsy and Reddit had service outages thanks to a huge attack on network provider Dyn. That company provides managed web traffic for quite a number of large companies. A series of Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks…
Kuma Burgers Enters Houston’s Burger Ecosystem With Something to Spare
At first blush, Kuma Burgers seems a little improbable: a burger counter tucked into a business center food court, run by a chef who cut his teeth in the kitchen at Oxheart, the James Beard Award-winning restaurant best known for sophisticated, vegetable-forward and painterly plates. Of course, Houston has always…
The Ike Dike is Gaining Support, But Will It Really Save Us?
As water rushed through the streets of downtown Galveston, Bill Merrell, a marine scientist at Texas A&M University at Galveston and an island resident for more than 30 years, glanced around the second-story room of the 19th-century office building — it survived the 1900 hurricane with the roof intact —…
Upcoming: Atlantic Starr, Blue Healer, Jeezy, John Waters, Taylor Dayne, etc.
ACAcon: With The Philharmonics, The Nocturnals, Rhapsody, Dhun A Cappella, A Cappella Choir. Sun., November 13, 7 p.m., Free. Last Concert Cafe, 1403 Nance, Houston, 713-226-8563. Alejandro Escovedo: Fri., December 30, 7 & 9:30 p.m., $30 to $33. McGonigel’s Mucky Duck, 2425 Norfolk, Houston, 713-528-5999. Angwish: With Los Vertigos. Tue.,…
21 Best Things to Do in Houston This Week: Big Cats, Who Dat & the Aluminum Show
Tuesday, October 25 Award-winning conservation photographer Steve Winter kicks off a new lecture series with the Houston Symphony. This time the musicians are taking a break, allowing the photographers and their images to take center stage. Winter will tell stories of his time in the trenches. (His biography references being “attacked by…
Harris County Early Voters Storm the Polls in Record-Breaking Fashion
Harris County voters came out to the polls in record-breaking fashion on the first day of early voting Monday, with more than 67,000 voters casting a ballot from 8 a.m. until after 6 p.m, when lines were closed off. The turnout shatters the 2012 early-voting record, when 47,000 voters turned…
Houston’s 10 Best Band Names
The landfill of discarded band names is nearly as ripe as an actual trash heap. While The Quarrymen had a certain backcountry charm, Radiohead was never going to take over the world as On a Friday, nor U2 as The Hype, nor Coldplay as Pectoralz (times ten). As Detour, The…
Netflix’s I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House Is the Best of Gothic Horror
Writer/director Osgood Perkins has been peeking at my Shirley Jackson book collection, and he’s already read through my favorites: The Haunting of Hill House and We Have Always Lived in the Castle. Jackson, who penned chilling ghost stories and moral tales in the ‘40s, ’50s and ’60s — like her…
Tom Cruise is Good, but Jack Reacher‘s Gone Soft
Before we get into the matter of Jack Reacher: Never Go Back, we must first address the issue of the man actually playing Jack Reacher. Resolved: Tom Cruise has absolutely nothing in common physically with author Lee Child’s crime-solving ex-military drifter. Cruise is famously diminutive; Reacher is famously tall and…
Hulu’s Mystery Chance Finds Hugh Laurie as — Yes — an Antihero Doctor
Between The Night Manager, Veep and now Chance, a new Hulu series adapted from a nasty Kem Nunn novel, Hugh Laurie has had an exceptional year in television. The Hulu program stands out slightly above the rest, considering its resonant dialogue with the Oxford-born Laurie’s most famous role. Like House,…
Ask a Stoner: Is a Vaporizer or One-Hitter Better for Stretching Your Stash?
Dear Stoner: Some people say vaporizers will make your weed last longer, but others swear that the old “one-hitter” or “dugout” is the best way to stretch your stash. What are your thoughts on this? Eric Dear Eric: Size, quality and temperature are the most important variables for vaporizers. I…
Wolf Creek Became a First-Rate Horror Series Only When It Made the Jump to TV
It’s rare for a franchise, especially in the horror genre, to actually get better as it progresses — doubly so if the final part of said progression is a TV series. Yet in six-part miniseries form, currently airing on the you-didn’t-know-you-had-it Pop network following a broadcast in Australia earlier this…
Michael Moore Skips the Easy Trump Jokes for a Challenge: Championing Clinton
Michael Moore has mellowed — and mostly stopped playing dumb. His new film, a present-tense rah-rah-Hillary insta-job put together on the schedule of an episode of South Park, seems from its title to promise the provocations of his early work, another round of the prankish lefty everyschlub wandering a red…
End Hip End It Music Festival Rocks Old Town Spring
Psychedelic music fans descended on Old Town Spring on October 22 for the inaugural End Hip End It music festival. For more than 13 hours, fans listened to acts like Ghostland Observatory, Radio Moscow, Black Tusk and Ruby the Hatchet. The festival’s unusual name is a play on the word “independent,” organizer and Houston…
Down in the Polls, DA Devon Anderson Oddly Notes Her Opponent Is Gay
Republican incumbent Harris County District Attorney Devon Anderson is facing criticism in both conservative and liberal circles after making comments invoking Democratic opponent Kim Ogg’s sexual orientation and personal beliefs. The comments came during an interview on the American Chronicle podcast last week, in which Anderson answered some questions from…
The Devil Is in the Details in Faust at Houston Grand Opera
Luca Pisaroni confesses, semi-solemnly — that as an adolescent in Italy he was unpopular. “I was the only one who liked opera.” Raised on a diet of his grandfather’s opera collection, he says, he knew early on that was the art form for him. The bass-baritone who speaks English, French,…
The Rice Owls Get a Win, But Is that Enough to Save the Season?
The worst thing to happen to Rice Owls head coach David Bailiff is also probably the best thing to happen to David Bailiff. That thing was Rice defeating Marshall 42-24 on December 7, 2013 to win the Conference USA title. That win appeared to show that Rice had finally turned…
Dish of the Week: Caldo Verde
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 sharing a recipe perfect for a “cold front”: caldo verde. Caldo verde—or “green” soup or broth—is a traditional Portuguese soup made with…
Could Texas Follow Mexico’s Lead in Curbing Unintended Pregnancies?
For seven years in Mexico, one 39-year-old mother used an intrauterine device (IUD) as an effective contraceptive, until she removed it when she wanted to get pregnant after immigrating to the United States. The IUD has been a common method of birth control in Mexico — so common, in fact,…
Wolf Hall Roils With Power Plays and a King’s Passions
I’m a sucker for period plays, those set in olden tymes. Modern, angst-filled dramas replete with deep-dish secrets oft times leave me chilled, but clothe that dysfunctional family in damask farthingale, gabled headdress, slashed sleeve, furred collar, and felt shoe, and I’m in hog heaven. Main Street Theater’s thoroughly intriguing,…
Johnny Dang & Paul Wall Launch Largest Jewelry Shop Yet
“New album, new store — boy, we unstoppable today!” Paul Wall told the crowd at Johnny Dang & Co. on Saturday afternoon. He was in mid-boast, flashing a diamond-studded grin while adorned in what seemed like 10 pounds of jewelry from his neck. Any man who proudly sports a Warren…
This Week in Houston Food Events: Trick or TrEAT
From Halloween treats to whisky chats, here’s a look at this week’s hottest culinary happenings: All week long Halloween treats at Ooh La La Dessert Boutique Ooh La La Dessert Boutique has a whole mess of adorable festive Halloween treats available in the bakery cases at all three locations and…
The Five Best Things I Ate at Tacolandia
Entering Tacolandia on Saturday afternoon, I naively didn’t know what to expect. I knew it was a taco fest. I knew there would be a lot of food. I had no idea how great a fest it would be or how much I would enjoy it, but it quickly became…
Music, But Not Beer, Comes Up a Little Short at Untapped’s Latest Houston Round
Untapped Festival Feat. Dr. Dog, Neon Indian, etc. October 23, Discovery Green Untapped Fest bills itself as a celebration of music and Texas beer, and that’s true to an extent. Untapped, which hosts festivals in Austin, Fort Worth, Dallas, and San Antonio, made its annual Houston stop on Saturday night…
Transgender Man Sues Houston Officers Who Hurled Insults During Arrest
Neither Kris Smith nor his attorney understand how talking on the phone on a sidewalk next to a fast-food restaurant parking lot ever became a punishable crime, but one night this past December, Smith found himself in jail because of it. Smith was walking along Westheimer in Montrose, on the…
How to Actually Move to Canada (and Other Countries) If Trump Wins
It’s a phrase we hear nearly every election cycle: “If [insert politician’s name here] wins, I’m moving to Canada!” But it looks like this time, when it comes to fears of a Donald Trump presidency, Americans might really mean it. During Super Tuesday, when Trump swept several states, Google searches…
ICE Extends Controversial Contract for Privately Run Texas Detention Center
Immigration and Customs Enforcement has extended its contract to keep the controversial South Texas Family Residential Center, an immigrant detention facility that houses families as they await processing, privately run. The contract renewal was announced last week – months after the Department of Justice said that it would phrase out…
Megadeth Singer Goes From Thrashing Guitars to Threshing Wheat
In this unprecedented and pretty bizarre period of U.S. Presidential politics, pundits still pull out the hoary old line that goes “which candidate would you prefer to have a beer with?” Well, if Megadeth founder/front man Dave Mustaine had the opportunity to share a brew with both Donald Trump and…
Shows of the Week: Saucy Pop Singer Takes Right Turn Towards Country
ELLE KING House of Blues, October 26 Remember what a great Elvis impression Rob Schneider used to do on Saturday Night Live? Elle King, his 27-year-old daughter, hasn’t fallen too far from that particular tree. Otherwise as bouncy and bright as anyone else on pop radio, King’s sound is rootsy…
Dry Land Sets the Bar for Portraying Teenage Girls On Stage
The set up: When is a play about teen abortion not really about abortion? Or more accurately, when is a play about teen abortion more interested in female friendships and navigating messy coming of age gymnastics than it is about actual teenage abortion? Ruby Ray Spiegel’s thrillingly authentic Dry Land…
SMU’s Mustangs Run Over the Coogs
The University of Houston Cougars will go to a bowl game this season. It just won’t be one of the College Football Playoff bowl games. And it won’t be one of the New Years six bowls. Not after getting whomped on by the SMU Mustangs last night. SMU (3-4) defeated…
Elixir of Love A Bel Canto Treat From Houston Grand Opera
The set-up: The latest issue of Opera News heralds the return of Kathleen Battle, that supernaturally gifted American soprano who raised the fine art of singing into the ether in the ’70s and ’80s. With dazzling technique, crystalline plush voice, and radiant stage presence, Battle embodied all true aspects of…
Tacolandia Update on Ticketing Problems
Turns out Ticketfly.com, just like scores of other websites across the country, was hit by hackers today taking them out of commission for hours. This has, among other things, affected our sale of Tacolandia tickets for our second annual event on Saturday. So if you are experiencing difficulties on Ticketfly.com, you…
Zest in the West a Showcase for West Houston Culinary Talent
When it comes to Houston food, the spotlight is often focused on inner loop establishments, but this week, it was all about west Houston chefs and restaurants at the ninth annual Zest in the West. Presented by the Houston West Chamber of Commerce in conjunction with event producer Food &…
Harris County Sues Another Smoke Shop in War on Kush
Looks like no more happy hippies will be browsing the Happie Hippie Smoke Shop, which closed earlier this year after its owners were arrested for selling kush, police say (the drug is also known as synthetic cannabinoid, K-2 or spice, and the substance that has plagued Houston streets and can…
Luke Bryan — Gulp — Delights a Packed House in The Woodlands
Luke Bryan, Little Big Town Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion October 20, 2016 I’m not a fan of the bro-country movement. I far prefer the likes of Sturgill Simpson and Cody Jinks to the likes of Hunter Hayes and Sam Hunt. I’m not sure rap and country, despite being a fan…
Ted Cruz Works the Angles on Trump’s “Rigged Election” Claims
Sen. Ted Cruz has figured out a crafty way to walk the line on Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s “rigged election” claims. As you may have heard — unless you live under a rock or something — Trump is polling badly and appears likely to lose the election. And since Trump…
Christian Varas wins Houston’s prestigious Iron Sommelier Competition 2016
Christian Varas, wine director for the River Oaks Country Club, is the winner of the 2016 Iron Sommelier prize, a competition and gala tasting event organized each year by the charitable Periwinkle Foundation. Competing against last year’s winner, Evan Turner of Helen Greek Food and Wine, who took home the…
Democrats Hillary Clinton, Kim Ogg Lead in Harris County, Poll Shows
If the latest University of Houston poll is any indication, Harris County is looking a lot more like the big blue bubble of Austin these days — well, at the polls, that is. According to the latest poll, Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton leads her Republican counterpart Donald Trump by seven…
Offstage, Music-Makers Do More Than Just Melt Into the Scenery
Here’s a hypothetical for you, where do musicians go when you’re not listening? In between the tours and studio sentences, there must be places for musicians. After all, they are not simply willed into being by hungry ears. Growing up where I did, when I did, as I did, I…
If UH Basketball Wants to Build Fan Base, the Cougars Need Some Decent Opponents
Tuesday night’s Phi Slama Jama 30-for-30 was something long overdue for UH fans. It celebrated one of the great basketball teams of all time, highlighted the importance of Guy V. Lewis to college basketball, and recounted the story of how Hakeem Olajuwon wound up in Houston. More importantly, it answered…
The Five Best Things to Do in Houston This Weekend: Scary Cars, Tacos and Pyro
A smitten worker takes a chance on a magic potion and ends up drunk? Sounds like HGO’s off to a great season with The Elixir of Love. Also in the stars is a dance piece inspired by NASA that begins with an astronaut’s prologue as audience members are seated. And…
Americana’s Big Sales Week Is Still Only Half the Battle
Country music traditionalists were practically frothing at the recent news that, for the first time ever, the Americana category outsold every other genre except rock music on the Billboard 200. In some respects, Americana’s big week represents a trend that many (yours truly included) have observed throughout the past three…
Houston Is $1 Million Closer to Housing Every Homeless Person Stuck on the Streets
For five years, Jay Jeanjaquet was stubborn — but so were Houston’s homeless outreach teams. It was a while before the outreach teams could convince Jeanjaquet to accept permanent housing and aid from the city, he told the Houston Press. Years earlier, Jeanjaquet, an Army veteran, began suffering bad bouts…
Perfect Musical Matches for Eight Houston Beers
Beer and music go together like, well, beer and many other things go together. But Untapped has turned the two into a cottage industry. The annual festival, which features stops in Houston, Dallas, Fort Worth, San Antonio, and Austin, returns for its fourth year in Houston Saturday at Discovery Green. Musical…
Wicked Music Showcase Could Be East End’s Coming-Out Party
Mario Rodriguez has seen a lot of changes come to his old neighborhood. The historically working-class, heavily Hispanic East End has steadily seen lofts and townhomes sprout up among the warehouses and industrial plots for about a decade now, a pace too slow for the neighborhood to go full-on gentrified,…
2nd Ward – A Bicycle Opera: Ride a Sonic Bike, Hear Crazy Amazing Sounds
The Kaffe Matthews-produced bicycle opera in 2014 – the first of its kind in Houston that allowed folks to ride “sonic bicycles” that create path-dependent musical compositions via speakers, a digitally programmed score, a computer and GPS receiver – coaxed some interesting responses from participants. Some comments in the guestbook…
Sprinkler Malfunction Soaks Evidence in Houston Police Property Room
Harris County police agencies apparently just can’t get enough of those property-room screw-ups lately. The Houston Police Department announced on Wednesday that a sprinkler “malfunctioned” — in the property room freezer. And so now, the department, with help from the Houston Forensic Science Center, has to go through all the…
Protect Your Cat’s Right to Bear Arms With How to Talk to Your Cat About Gun Safety
As we inch our way through an election season that only grows crazier by the day, we must help our greatest allies stay strong: We need to talk to our cats. At least, that’s what we should do according to the recently released book How to Talk to Your Cat…
The Highs and Lows of the Last Presidential Debate
And now we’re through it, glory be. That’s right folks, the final presidential debate took place on Wednesday night in Las Vegas, and if you are reading this, then we are now officially on the other side of the final debate between Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and Democratic nominee…
Abigail McCoy Doesn’t Understand Why People Enjoy Watching Horror Movies – A Rebuttal
Last week, an article began making the rounds on social media, that seemed like it had to either be a joke, or engineered entirely as a troll piece to generate outrage-fueled page views. The author, Abigail McCoy, is a writer for Glamour, and Ms. McCoy apparently has issues with horror…
Houston Shuts Down Illegal Stage Construction at White Oak Music Hall
In the latest chapter of the continuing drama over the outdoor stage at White Oak Music Hall, Houston’s Public Works Department this week issued a notice of violation to the venue after inspectors discovered crews building an outdoor stage without a permit, the city said. “It looks like they had begun some…
Precinct 6 Constable Candidate Silvia Trevino Accused of Gambling Habit
Three years after being fired from Precinct 7 for insubordination — and two years after her husband, former Precinct 6 constable Victor Trevino, was convicted of a felony related to using charity money for gambling — Silvia Trevino is apparently asking Harris County voters to forget all that and vote…
10 (Mostly) Cheesy Songs From Classic Horror Films
It’s finally October, and we’re getting close to our spookiest holiday, inspiring a lot of people to watch old horror films to get into the spirit of things. The late ’70s and 1980s are rightfully considered to be a certain kind of “golden age” for scary movies, but those decades…
Woman Beaten in River Oaks Parking Lot Over Alleged Affair, Guard Says
Houston police say they are continuing to investigate an assault that occurred at a high-profile River Oaks attorney’s office building Saturday night, sending a woman to the hospital with lacerations and possible broken ribs. Although the security guard at the offices says the victim told him her attacker was the…
I Found Out My Daughter Is Doing Porn. Help!
Dear Willie D: A female friend of my daughter’s called me up, and said I needed to look at her Instagram page. She had hundreds of pictures on there with a link to a private member’s only website. I joined the site to educate myself before confronting her, and found…
