Farm Life Agrees With The Devil Wears Prada
Recently, the Houston Press was lucky enough to catch The Devil Wears Prada front man Mike Hranica. Speaking over the phone about his busy life, Hranica opened up about a variety of topics everything from the metalcore veterans’ current tour, their new SPACE EP and his life as a writer. That’s right, when…
10 Most Satisfying Vegetarian Snacks & Where to Find Them in Houston
Carnivores everywhere often proclaim that they would never be able to give up meat because they love it too much. But even foregoing meat just once or twice a week can have far-reaching positive effects on both personal health and the environment. Here are ten delicious and satisfying vegetarian snacks…
The Set Design in The Other Place Is Everything the Play Should Have Been
The set up: One could argue that all theater, as in the act of watching it, is a slippery concept. No matter how clear or purposeful a playwright may try to make his or her work, its meaning changes according to the point of view of each member of the…
How to Create Ginormous Sandwiches at Central Market
Central Market’s Make-Your-Own Sandwich bar is one of the store’s loveliest features, with an amazingly diverse selection of breads, meats, cheeses, spreads, and fillings. Unsurprisingly, this spectrum of components gives rise to a rather startling range not only in the composition of sandwiches but also in their individual sizes. If…
100 Favorite Houston Dish 2015, No. 44: LH Gumbo at Holley’s Seafood Restaurant & Oyster Bar
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…
Macario Ramirez Keeps Day of the Dead Alive in the Heights
Macario Ramirez, co-owner with wife Chrissie of the Heights-area Casa Ramirez FOLKART Gallery, recalls the negative reactions Día de los Muertos altars and merchandise would get when they first opened the store. “We’d get hostile visitors here. They’d say, ‘What in the hell are you doing? What are those skulls…
100 Favorite Houston Dish 2015, No. 45: KG’s Double-Brined Cast Iron Chicken at Harold’s
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…
Political Correctness Applied to the Animal Kingdom
I came across an article on the Internet recently discussing whether or not calling the family cat or dog a “pet” should be considered politically incorrect. The article, “Journal of Animal Ethics: Banning Common Words That Describe Pets and Other Animals” is actually a few years old; it was published…
4 Easy Halloween Party Ideas to Make a Gathering Special
Halloween is coming up fast, and with many of us planning to throw or attend some sort of party, it’s a good time to consider the types of spookily themed snacks and treats that will be served. Sure, a party host could just fill up a few bowls with candy…
The Houston Symphony Celebrates Sinatra’s Centennial with Tony DeSare
Singer Tony DeSare was a teenager when his mom brought home a Frank Sinatra cassette. Out of curiosity, the young DeSare played it. That casual act changed the course of DeSare’s career. “I was completely enveloped by it,” the singer-songwriter performing Sinatra’s Centennial with the Houston Symphony this weekend tells…
Hey, Deflate-Gate Is Back! NFL Files Appeal to Brady Ruling
Sometimes you need a little jolt from the outside to realize just how dire your current situation is. As a Texans fan, it was bad enough falling behind 42-0 to Atlanta and then 41-0 in ONE HALF to a 2-3 Dolphins team, never mind that your backup quarterback was forced…
Whimsical, Figurative Works Reflect Changing Moods of Sculptor
Loes Berendschot, in her self-titled exhibit at 18 Hands Gallery, has created a family of sorts, a small village of creatures that she describes as self-portraits reflective of her changing moods. These feminine forms have a pour spout or sluice for a head, no arms, oversized feet and legs and,…
First Look at State of Grace, a New Ford Fry Restaurant in River Oaks
Stepping through the doors of State of Grace, the new River Oaks restaurant by hometown boy and Atlanta restaurateur Ford Fry, there’s a timeless quality about the ambiance that is immediately captivating. It feels stately, recalling the gilded dining rooms of a bygone era. Evocative of New Orlean’s iconic Antoine’s…
Don’t Reboot Rocky Horror. Reboot Its Sequel Shock Treatment
It’s been a big year for Rocky Horror. The BBC broadcasted a live stage show to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the movie version, and Fox announced that it wanted to reboot the classic cult film with Laverne Cox in the lead role of Dr. Frank-n-Furter, originally played by Tim…
AG Says Waco DA Violated Public Records Act in Request for Texts Regarding Biker Fiasco
We thought we’d heard the last of the rumors about prosecutors in Waco offering get-out-of-jail free cards to the bikers caught up in the Twin Peaks shooting fiasco in exchange for a signed waiver vowing not to sue McLennan County. But we were wrong: The Attorney General’s Office told DA…
NBA 2015-2016 Is Here! Five Season Win Total Best Bets
Okay, there’s no other way to put it — if you’re reading this in Houston, this NFL season has sucked so far. The Texans’ main storylines right now have virtually nothing to do with upcoming opponents or debatable in-game decisions. They have to do with the greatest running back in…
Ag Commissioner Sid Miller: Hands Off My Meat
For anyone who’s paid any attention at all to the growing scientific consensus about processed and red meat (that eating a lot of it is probably very bad for you), the World Health Organization’s announcement Monday should have been no shocker. But, then again, this is the country that proudly…
This Week in Houston Food Blogs: New Thai Eateries Almost Too Hot to Handle
This week, we’ve got a few reviews that will ignite your curry cravings, a post for seafood lovers and a few healthy but scrumptious recipes for you to savor. Hank on Food has the dish on Songkran Thai Kitchen at 2258 Texas in Sugar Land, where he enjoyed the industrial-meets-Thai…
Alley Theatre Switches Out Two Plays on Its 2015-16 Lineup
Houston’s Alley Theatre announced Monday that it was ditching The Night of the Iguana and Travesties for its 2015-16 season (“will move to future seasons”) and replacing them with Around the World in 80 Days and The Christians. Visiting director Mark Shanahan (Alfred Hitchcock’s The 39 Steps) is back to…
City and County Officials Celebrate New Jail
Celebrating the construction of a jail is not necessarily something that happens often, or ever. But today, Mayor Annise Parker, Sheriff Ron Hickman, and several other city and county officials will be doing so as they break ground on the new Joint Processing Center, which officials actually expect will do…
The Food at MF Sushi Is Superb, but the Experience Can Be Weird
MF Sushi offers some of the best sushi and sashimi in Houston, but it would be a tragedy to overlook the glorious hamachi kama, or grilled yellowtail collar. Collar, whether fish, lamb or beef, is a supple cut of meat too often overlooked by diners, so it’s good to see…
“Intersections” Presents Strikingly Spiritual Geometric Images
With only a lightbulb and a six-foot cube of laser-cut wood panels, Anila Quayyum Agha has commandeered Rice University Art Gallery. Her installation “Intersections” transforms the gallery into a haunting space of light, pattern and shadow. The geometric patterns cut out of the six sides of the cube were drawn…
Doctor Who: “The Woman Who Lived” Has a Few Problems
Any look at the critical reviews of this season of Doctor Who, mine included, will mostly agree this has been the best season in years. The two-parter format has given the show both space and time to develop new characters and grander stories while maintaining the faster pace introduced in…
Eat This: The “Maineiac” at Maine-ly Sandwiches
Maine-ly Sandwiches is generally known throughout Houston a purveyor of quality lobster rolls, though a handful of nay-sayers on certain online review sites regularly gripe about the “high” prices. If you are one of those people, you may want to stop reading now. Because if spending about $22 on a full-size…
Total Chaos: The Story of a Botched Sting, a Dead Informant and Friendly Fire
It is 1:33 p.m. on November 21, 2011, and Lawrence Chapa has a few more minutes left to live. The burly truck driver is sitting in the cluttered cabin of his red Kenworth T600, an 18-wheeler parked at the dead end of Hollister Street in suburban northwest Houston. There is…
Antique Objects Serve as Frames for Intricate Sand Dollar Formations
It has been argued that nature, with its divine proportions of the Golden ratio, offers up the purest form of beauty – think of the number of flower petals or the pattern of seed heads, the Golden spirals of nautilus shells and hurricanes, and the splitting of tree branches and…
First Look at Foreign Correspondents, Northern Thai Cuisine in The Heights
Approaching the newly opened, less than one-week-old Foreign Correspondents restaurant on a dreadfully rainy, Saturday evening, it was surprising to see the restaurant’s rainbow neon signage and modern gray facade. On the surface, the building looked like it could have housed a hip ’80s pop record label. But the surprise…
Terrible Halloween Costumes Available This Year, and Why to Skip Them
Halloween in America seems more popular than ever, being the one day out of the year that even the meek and mild at heart can let their inner weirdo out without feeling bad the next day. Adults are nearly as likely as children to have a variety of Halloween activities…
If Lawson Gets It Together and They Stay Healthy, the Rockets Could Have a Heck of a Year
For James Harden, his final scene of the 2015 NBA postseason was as ironic as it was disappointing. For all of his transcendent greatness throughout 2014-2015, a season in which he willingly piled onto his shoulders every cross the Houston Rockets had to bear, from Dwight Howard’s balky knees to…
Upcoming: Blues For Food, Dandy Warhols, Muse, Naughty by Nature, Nik Turner, OBNIIIs, Scott Weiland, etc.
40 oz to Freedom — A Tribute to Sublime: With Tydings, the Weeds., Fri., November 13, 9:30 p.m., $10. Scout Bar, 18307 Egret Bay Blvd., Houston, 281-335-0002. 5 Seconds of Summer: Sun., September 18, 6:30 p.m., $25 to $79.95. Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, 2005 Lake Robbins Dr., The Woodlands, 281-363-3300…
20 Easy Tips for a Better Local Music Scene
Houston is a great place to be if you’re a musician, fan or venue owner. We have a thriving scene, more venues, festivals and bands than we’ve ever had. Best of all, Houston can boast that we are a city that loves live music. If you’re hammering away with your…
Catch a Sneak Peek of the Numbers Documentary Tonight
The makers of the in-progress Numbers documentary will screen about six minutes of footage tonight at the brand-new MATCH arts center in Midtown, part of a showcase of new projects sponsored by the Southwest Alternate Media Project. The film, officially titled Friday I’m In Love, has been accepted into SWAMP’s…
Sounds of the City: How to Properly Appreciate Jack Freeman
Sounds of the City highlights the best of Houston that isn’t attached to its strong, always-noted and talked-about-ad nauseum rap scene. Brief confession time. For those of you who’ve been following me writing about Houston rap and also sending me tons of emails about even more undiscovered Houston rap,…
NASA’s Spots “Death Star” Cannibalizing Planet
They called Star Wars science fiction, but it turns out there’s a real live “death star” working its mojo in the Virgo constellation. Astronomers announced Wednesday that they’ve discovered a rocky object spinning apart in a death spiral around a white dwarf star. This discovery could back up a long-held theory…
Jackson Browne Goes Deep in Latest Swing Through Houston
Jackson Browne Revention Music Center October 23, 2015 Jackson Browne has always straddled the line between what Janet Maslin once called “West Coast casualness and East Coast paranoia.” Few singer-songwriters, especially those as enduring as he, have such an effective command of both tender ballads and angry polemics which —…
Owls De-Arm Army
The Rice Owls did not play a perfect game this weekend. There were the ubiquitous missed tackles, the killer turnovers, the head-scratching plays. But none of that mattered this weekend because despite the rain and the wind and the occasional sloppiness on the field, the Owls defeated Army for the…
Dave Wilson Wants to Probe Sylvester Turner
Proud homophobe and Houston Community College Trustee Dave Wilson issued a very Wilson-eseque press release Oct. 23, calling for the Harris County District Attorney’s Office to investigate whether or not mayoral candidate Sylvester Turner is gay. Wilson’s insane release is based on a 1991 affidavit by Turner’s wife, in which she suspected…
100 Favorite Houston Dishes 2015, No. 46: Ceviche at Andes Café
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…
This Week in Houston Food Events: Clearly, It’s Halloween
All Week Long Choose Cheddar at Central Market 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, you’ll take…
College Football, Week 8 — 4 Winners, 4 Losers
As we head toward Halloween weekend, we are getting down to the part of the college football calendar where we can somewhat definitively identify the teams that still have a chance at playing in the College Football Playoff. Heading into this weekend, the number ranged anywhere from 19 (according to…
Sex and Violence at HGO in Tosca
The set-up: It’s easy to hear why Giacomo Puccini’s verismo-fueled Tosca (1900) has always been an international hit among opera lovers. It’s primal, with themes etched in capital letters: Love, Lust, Jealousy, Revolutionary Fervor, Religiosity, while its music is elemental, overflowing with ethereal lyricism, earthy passion, hellish sadism. Condensed to…
Even a Hurricane Couldn’t Stop the Something Wicked Afterparty
Thousands of people were understandably disappointed as the cancellation announcement was made for the first day of Something Wicked, and the official afterparty became the hottest event of the weekend. Fans scrambled to come up with other plans as Saturday’s afterparty quickly sold out; social media was crammed with people…
How a Small-Time Pot Possession Charge Can Ruin Your Life in 24 Hours
Rebecca Kennedy wasn’t expecting to be surrounded by police when she stopped at her storage unit to change into comfy clothes before work. She and her fiancé, Trevon Chapman, had just been evicted from their apartment two days earlier, on September 15, when they could no longer pay the $2,000-per-month…
Queensbury Theatre Has a New Take on the Thriller Wait Until Dark
You may think that you’ve seen the thriller Wait Until Dark (originally a 1966 Broadway play starring Lee Remick and later a movie starring Audrey Hepburn) but you haven’t seen the version Queensbury Theatre is presenting. This is the Houston premiere of playwright Jeffrey Hatcher’s updated version of Frederick Knott’s…
Jenni Rebecca Stephenson Abruptly Leaves Fresh Arts
Jenni Rebecca Stephenson, the longtime executive director of Fresh Arts, quit her post suddenly last Tuesday. “After seven years, I’m taking a moment to breathe,” Stephenson tells Houston Press by phone. She wouldn’t elaborate on the reason for her departure, though she did say that she doesn’t have another gig…
Winning Whiskey and Food Pairings
Learning how to pair food and wine is part of most epicures’ life curriculums, even if only on a rudimentary level. Whiskey (or “whisky” when referring to Scotch), though, can be a stumper. Scotch has varying levels of peaty smokiness to contend with. Bourbon is aged in new, charred oak…
NFL Week 7: Dolphins 44, Texans 26 — 4 Winners, 4 Losers
Anger has subsided, and at this point, numbness has set in. The Texans’ routine in their five losses, the manner in which they embarrass themselves and the city, at this point, is really the only reliable thing remaining about this team. You can set your watch to it — when…
I’m More Worried About Anti-HERO Activists in Bathrooms Than Trans People
This is the scenario people opposed to the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance want me to believe is going to happen: my little girl, all pink eyeglasses, blond curls, and a sass level over 9,000, will need to use a public restroom at the park or a restaurant. Once in there…
The 10 Funniest Texans-Dolphins Rapper/Comedian 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…
Heavy Rains Force Something Wicked’s Sunday Cancellation
After the rains that forced the cancellation of Something Wicked’s first day also soaked the Houston area into Sunday’s overnight hours, the annual Halloween dance-music festival has decided to cancel today’s activities as well. Promising to contact ticket holders about refunds tomorrow, organizers posted the following statement on the festival’s…
Something Wicked Cancels Day 1 Due to Weather
Earlier this afternoon, Something Wicked canceled the festival’s first day with the following statement on their Web site: Dear fans, With a heavy heart, we are sorry to announce Day 1 (Saturday Oct 24) of Something Wicked 2015 will not take place due to threatening weather conditions. The decision is…
Texans Owner Bob McNair Rescinds Anti-HERO Donation
Houston Texans owner Bob McNair has been a busy man. So busy, in fact, that he was unaware, until very recently, that a group campaigning against the HERO anti-discrimination ordinance has for the last year relied on fearmongering to attempt to shut the bill down. The ordinance received significant local…
Would-be Patrons Will File Lawsuit Against Gaslamp, Alleging Racist Door Policy
Attorneys Brandon Ball, Dan Scarborough and Ken Piggee, along with their own attorney, Brian Tagtmeier, have outlined their plans to file a federal lawsuit against Gaslamp next week. The announcement came about 10:30 a.m. today at a press conference set up across the street from the nightclub. The Midtown establishment…
Ex-Cop Sentenced for Bizarre Foot-Fetish Traffic Stop
A former Cy-Fair ISD police officer pleaded guilty Wednesday to one count of official oppression, which is a less icky way of saying that he pulled a woman over in and said he’d let her go if he could sniff her feet and underwear. Patrick Quinn was sentenced to…
The Weather Doesn’t Give a Shit About Your Weekend Plans (or Mexico, Apparently)
If you have any plans this weekend that are scheduled to take place outside, chances are they’re either going to suck or get canceled. After more than a month of relatively dry weather, forecasters early this week started saying we were finally in store for a rain-soaked weekend. At first,…
Reviews For The Easily Distracted: The Last Witch Hunter
Title The Last Witch Hunter Describe This Movie In One Simpsons Quote: Chief Wiggum: “Well, hear me out, if you’re innocent, you will fall to an honorable Christian death. If you are, however, the bride of Satan, you will surely fly your broom to safety. At that point, you will report back…
Katy ISD Watch Out; You’re Being Shadowed
Local education researcher, journalist and provocateur George Scott has pulled together what he’s calling a Shadow School Board that will examine what Katy ISD is doing on a continuing basis and in the process develop a primer on how anyone can examine (challenge) the activities of his or her local…
Houston’s 5 Best Weekend Food Bets: WOOSTOCK & Bosta’s First Anniversary
Saturday Morning Bake Sale @ Fluff Bake Bar Saturday, 10 a.m. 314 Gray Pastry Chef Rebecca Masson – aka the sugar hooker – is known for her sweets. But her savory creations, like Butternut Squash Quiche or Croque Monsieur “Pop Tarts” are just as tasty. Check out this get ’em…
College and NFL Football: This Weekend’s Best Bets
Yeah, I know it was a sub-.500 week last week, but I think that was my first one all season. That will happen every now and then. The good news is that I’m still hitting at a 57 percent clip, good enough for a tidy profit. We’re starting to get…
Eat This: Seasonal Chicken Pot Pie at Kenny & Ziggy’s
Tired of waiting for fall to gorge on cold-weather comfort food? Wait no longer, because indulgence postponed, after all, is indulgence denied. Head to Kenny & Ziggy’s, where the air-conditioning is strong and the chicken pot pie is delicious and delivered piping hot to your table. (No joke, btw, about the welcome…
Upcoming Houston Food Events: Dine Out for a Cause
On Wednesday, October 28 at 7 p.m, Grotto Houston, 4715 Westheimer, is hosting a DaVinci Wine Dinner with wine educator and brand ambassador Filippo Volpi. Indulge in five wine-paired courses, including seafood agnolotti, roasted branzino, and ricotta-filled dark chocolate mousse. The cost is $75 per person (plus tax and gratuity)…
Texas Subpoenas Patient Records From Planned Parenthood Clinics
At the start of this week, state health officials began notifying Planned Parenthood clinics across Texas they’d soon be cut off from receiving any Medicaid money administered by the state. In his letters to clinics, the inspector general for the state’s Health and Human Services Commission wrote that their investigation…
Something Wicked’s Big Four, Simplified For EDM Newbs
Let’s face two very clear facts: 1) A healthy portion of the people who attend festivals, particularly EDM-based fests, have no idea what the hell they are listening to or who anyone actually is; and 2) It’s pretty effing hard to keep up with EDM acts since the popularity bubble…
5 Fun Ways to Celebrate Halloween Early in Houston [UPDATED]
Halloween falls on a Saturday night and if that’s not enough, the celebration gods have also given us an extra hour to party. Daylight Savings Time ends at 2 a.m. on November 1, so bars that normally stay open until then will be in business an extra hour. However, that…
Tom Herman’s Not Happy With UH Attendance
So University of Houston head coach Tom Herman went on the radio Wednesday night and shared a few thoughts about the problems with UH attendance: “To me,” he said, “we’re not selling out every home game. I would ask why? What more do you need to see? You need a…
Openings and Closings in Houston: A Highly Anticipated Trio Is Ready for Action
Ford Fry’s State of Grace at 3256 Westheimer is now full steam ahead, and his collaboration with chef Bobby Matos has produced a fine-dining approach to locally-beloved recipes, such as enchiladas, bone-in steak served in a pool of butter, shrimp toast and more. Fry says that many menu items were inspired…
10 ’90s Bands Who Deserved Better Than They Got
Last weekend, fans of radio-ready rock music were treated to their annual celebration, known in Houston as Buzzfest. Staples of 94.5 FM’s playlist like Papa Roach, P.O.D., and Our Lady Peace headlined, while other emerging bands like Bring Me the Horizon led the charge on the undercard. This weekend, Buzz…
The 5 Best Things to Do in Houston This Weekend: ScreamWorld 2015, Tosca & More
Get an early jump on your scared-silly fun with a Friday visit to Houston’s ScreamWorld 2015. The popular complex offers five attractions: The Swamp, Jake’s Slaughterhouse, Edge of Darkness, Clown Asylum Maze and Zombie Graveyard. And yes, they will all scare you. (We’re speaking from experience here.) Owner Jim Fetterly explains the ScreamWorld experience…
Houston’s 10 Most Haunted Bars
With Halloween fast approaching, it’s the time of year to visit these reportedly haunted bars in and near Houston. Of course, even if you don’t believe in ghosts, these places are fun to visit; if you do seriously believe in this stuff, take comfort in the fact that there are…
Brace Yourselves For a True Hellbilly Halloween Hoedown
Imagine a Beverly Hillbillies episode where Jed, Granny, Jethro and Ellie Mae perform a black mass and summon the Ancient Ones, right there in the Clampett mansion foyer. That might be the vibe at Union Tavern for Saturday’s Hellbilly Halloween Hoedown. A half-dozen bands of the same sinister, country-folk ilk…
#NewHoustonRap: DeLorean Paints His ‘Perfect Black’
Three key things have occurred in the last week that you need pay attention to. *** First, DeLorean not only made a guest appearance on Big K.R.I.T.’s really good new “album,” It’s Better This Way, he also dropped a surprise mixtape, Perfect Black. This is not to be confused with Perfect…
Congrats to Our Brand-New New York Times Best-Selling Author
We’re so proud we could burst. A few minutes ago Shea Serrano, author of the brand-new The Rap Year Book, emailed us to say the book has officially made The New York Times bestseller list. ICYMI, we interviewed Serrano about the book last week to advance his Cactus Music signing…
Fight Over STORM’s Lease Has Led to Restraining Orders
The fight over who controls the leases in Galveston Bay is still rolling along. Now it’s being duked out through restraining orders lobbed at both the state, which had planned to move some oysters out of privately leased waters in Galveston Bay and into the public reefs, and STORM, the…
Some Dudes in Leon County Allegedly Poached 68 Deer and Hacked a Cow to Death
If drivin’ ’round ‘n shootin’ stuff is wrong, there are four dudes in Leon County who don’t want to be right — or at least that’s what authorities there say. State game wardens say they closed the book on “one of the most egregious poaching cases on record” after the…
Defense: Victim Should Have Known She’d Been Drugged and Sexually Assaulted
FBI agents were waiting for Henri Morris when he got to Bush Intercontinental on February 27, 2012. By that time, agents had learned about the software company CEO’s out of town trips with younger female employees. They’d heard how Morris insisted on pouring the women drinks that tasted unusually, bitterly…
Austin Welcomes Blue Cat Cafe. Could Houston Have a Cat Cafe Soon?
Over the weekend, I heard the exciting news that a very special type of eatery had set up shop in Austin’s east side of town. Blue Cat Cafe opened on Saturday, bringing the longtime dreams of owners Rebecca Gary and Jacques Casimir to purring life, and bringing Austin’s cat lover…
5 Things You Find Out When Your Spouse Works the Night Shift
“My mommy is nocturnal,” is something my daughter says quite often to people in order to explain why it’s usually just me and her at events. My wife works in the night shift at one of the big Houston hospitals, and during the day she is either sleeping to prepare…
Houston Grand Opera Presents Eugene Onegin With Wonderful Tchaikovsky Music
A young Tatyana sees Eugene Onegin for the first time and falls in love. She declares her feelings in a letter to him and he rejects her. Onegin is visiting with his best friend Lensky who is engaged to Tatyana’s sister Olga. A birthday party follows where a jealous Lensky…
Texans-Dolphins — Four Things to Watch For
So, Texan fans, let’s assess the week so far — we had a division win over Jacksonville on Sunday, followed by the re-signing of Charles James on Monday, the J.J. Watt E:60 feature on Tuesday night, and finally DeAndre Hopkins honored as AFC Offensive Player of the Week on Wednesday…
Green as Emerald Punch Their Golden Ticket to Knotfest
Sitting down with front man Shelby Schwem and bassist Alvaro Lopez of Green as Emerald to discuss their curious, if not miraculous, traj ectory to success is a little like meeting someone before he or she becomes famous. Very famous. The Houston five-piece’s journey forward seems improbable, even impossible. Consider…
Experts Are Predicting There Will Be a Canned Pumpkin Shortage Soon. Grim Days Ahead for Pie Lovers.
Forget all of the failed apocalypse forecasts that have come and gone without destroying humanity, America faces a far more frightening (and possible) disaster this holiday season: There could very well be a shortage of canned pumpkin during the holiday season this year. This alarming news (actually this isn’t the first…
HISD Administrator Tells Its Audit Office It Had No Right to Look for Fraud
How dare they. Houston ISD’s Office of Internal Audit had no right to question how the district has been managing its 2012 bond funds, one of its chief administrators announced Wednesday. It was only supposed to check the administration’s math in verifying whether a projected $211 building shortfall was due…
10 Can’t-Miss Acts at Something Wicked 2015
Houston’s annual Halloween-themed festival combines more than 40 international acts along with insane fan costumes and elaborate stage setups to make it one of the premier EDM events of the year. However, this weekend’s weather forecast is threatening to ruin some costumes and affect some production elements. According to the…
Politics Are Ruining My Friendship. Help!
POLITICS ARE RUINING MY FRIENDSHIP Dear Willie D: I’m a 24-year-old female who recently found out that my friend and I have wildly different political views. She is a Democrat, and I’m Republican. I knew she was a Democrat, but she didn’t know I was a Republican until three nights…
Tacolandia Date Change: We’re Moving It to November Thanks to a Lousy Weather Forecast for This Weekend
With a forecast of heavy rains for this weekend and the prospect of miserably drenched people holding soggy tacos, the Houston Press has decided to move its inaugural Tacolandia event to November 14. When the weather report came out earlier this week, our marketing department began making Plan Bs right…
10 New Things We Learned From the J.J. Watt E:60 Episode (w/ VIDEO)
ESPN’s E: 60, a popular magazine style program that runs some solid features that are usually good for two or three tear jerking moments per episode, ran a feature Tuesday night on a topic that I thought had been covered from so many angles that there were no new angles…
Texans WR DeAndre Hopkins Named AFC Player of the Week
In a season where you’ve had to squint really, really hard to see even the slightest of bright spot with the Houston Texans, undoubtedly the team and the fans have to be thrilled with the progression of wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins. In 2014, Hopkins followed up a solid 800-yard rookie…
Retaliation Lawsuit Over Faulty DWI Testing Moves Forward, Officials to Testify Next Week
This summer, a federal appeals court revived a lawsuit filed by two former Houston Police Department crime lab supervisors who allege Harris County prosecutors retaliated against them for exposing serious flaws in how local police tested suspected drunk drivers. The case takes yet another major step next week, when according…
The Energy at Pippin May Wear You Out
The set-up: Why is it that director Diane Paulus’s circus-inspired revival (2013) of original director Bob Fosse’s Fellini-esque Pippin (1972) – so bursting with energy, so filled with the exuberance of putting on a show, so damned eager to please and show off – is rather listless by the end?…
A Taste of Chiang Mai in Houston: Hong Thaimee Cooks Up a Nine-Course Thai Feast
Visiting New York chef Hong Thaimee of Ngam in New York City is in Houston this week to promote her new cookbook, True Thai: Real Flavors for Every Table. In addition to an appearance on KHOU’s Great Day Houston with Deborah Duncan yesterday, she has already hosted two, sold-out pop-up…
Fitzgerald’s Will Be Just Fine, Says New Manager
Because the Internet would never jump to conclusions, many Houstonians may have interpreted Monday’s news of Lauren Oakes’ ouster at Fitzgerald’s as imminent doom for the venerable Heights music venue. While Oakes’ departure this past weekend seems to be a matter of “did she jump or was she pushed?”, according…
Explaining Grownup Music to Kids: The British Invasion & ’60s Rock
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. What’s happening, Fig? Ready to dive headlong into a decade that changed the face of rock music?…
Five Great Moments In Horror-Rock History
Halloween is around the corner, and while plenty of Halloween revelers will fire up “Monster Mash” as part of their holiday soundtrack, but rock history has seen some great theatrical moments that rival most scary movies for many decades now. Now is an opportune time to look back at some…
Texas Shows Everyone How Much It Hates Planned Parenthood. Again.
Citing a series of undercover videos an anti-abortion group released this summer, Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday announced that Texas would kick Planned Parenthood out of the state’s Medicaid program entirely. On Monday, Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast in Houston got a letter from state health officials saying claiming those videos…
The Worst Man on TV: Does The Affair Want Us to Detest Noah?
In his 2014 book Difficult Men, journalist Brett Martin identifies bad-boy antiheroes as the defining feature of our current “Golden Age” of television. Tony Soprano, Don Draper and The Wire’s Omar Little dazzle with their multifaceted complexity: How deep the furrow in Tony’s troubled brow! How pensive the trail of…
Rock the Kasbah Is Pretty Much Just Bill Murray in Kabul
Quick! Name the movie where Bill Murray plays a proudly shabby dude who acts like a prick for an hour and then, for reasons of narrative convention rather than character-based truth, shambles toward either heroism or some vague be-nicer enlightenment. Maybe a tougher challenge would be to name the Bill…
Experimenter Makes Urgent Art Out of Milgram’s Notorious Study
Completing a trifecta of recent cinema (after Masters of Sex and The Stanford Prison Experiment) suddenly fascinated with the social-science lab experiments of the Eisenhower-Nixon era, Experimenter is as cool as a grad student clamping electrodes onto a test monkey. One of our lowest-profile indie-film treasures, director Michael Almereyda never…
Labyrinth of Lies Pits One Prosecutor Against the Holocaust
Here’s a hair-raising assignment: Imagine you’re tasked with capturing the social and psychological complexities of a nation’s crackup within the framework of popular moviemaking. What if Gone With the Wind tried, in its swooning romance, to explicate Scarlett O’Hara’s slow-to-dawn realization of the hopeless immorality of the world she has…
Give Vin Diesel a Dungeons & Dragons Movie Already! The Last Witch Hunter, Reviewed, Somewhat Warmly
Critics lampoon him as a fast/furious lug nut, a hunk of well-oiled meat who doesn’t so much act as ka-thunk his face and body through its limited gears. To hell with them. Vin Diesel may not run smoothly, but he runs with purpose and conviction, and any line of dialogue…
