UPDATE: Police Apprehend Second Suspect in Shooting Death of Taco Truck Owner
UPDATE: The second suspect in the shooting death of Lorenzo Juan Vasquez was apprehended at 5:30 this morning in Madisonville, Texas. The suspect, Adrian Gomez, was sitting outside of a closed business early in the morning when he attracted the attention of a local police officer. Upon running a background…
Divorced People More Likely to Die in (Lonely, We Assume) Preventable Accidents, Rice Study Says
If your image of a divorced person is closer to someone choking back lonely tears as he or she peruses the “healthy” single-serving aisle — as opposed to ballin’ on a singles cruise or in Midtown, say — there’s more bad news for you, via Rice University. Divorced people are…
The Crucible Brings the Salem Witch Trials to Life One More Time
The set-up: The Houston Family Arts Center tackles the K-2 of theater, Arthur Miller’s masterpiece The Crucible, where Miller re-creates the Salem witch trials of 1692 and 1693, when mass hysteria, groupthink, and deception led toward the imprisonment and execution of innocent citizens accused of witchcraft. The central character is…
Cover Story: Two Cozy Alternatives to Bothersome Nightclub Concerts
Houston audiences who grow weary of their concert neighbors’ incessant chatter and smartphone camerawork should absolutely check out this week’s Houston Press cover story that takes a look inside the cozy world of living-room concerts. Inspired by a favorite musician who would be passing through the area but had not…
Voting Is…Easier When You Do It Early
Planning on voting early in Houston? There are only two days left to do so and on November 5 you can ONLY vote in the precinct you are assigned to. When time is against you, waiting until the last minute to vote could be worse than trying to find this…
Reality Bites: My Dog Ate What?
There are a million reality shows on the naked television. We’re going to watch them all, one at a time. Dogs are pretty dumb. Don’t get me wrong; I love dogs. I mean, cats are dumb, too. So are most pets, as we refer to those recently (in a geologic…
This Week’s Cafe Review: Tasty Treats Come in Small Packages at Newcomer Coppa Osteria
I originally went to Coppa Osteria for the pizza. I stayed for the appetizers. And the desserts. And the wine. As you’ll read in this week’s review of the newest restaurant in the Clark Cooper Concepts family (that is, until Punk’s Simple Southern Food opens in the next few months),…
Reviews for the Lazy Gamer: Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures
Game: Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures Platform: PC, Xbox, PS3, Wii U Publisher/Developer: Namco Bandai Genre: 3D Adventure Describe This Game in Three Words: Weird, But Fun Plot: Tying in with the new cartoon series, Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures pits the legendary game icon against the evil Betrayus who…
Company Proud of Bigot-Baiting Billboard That’ll Hit Houston Soon
Green Pharmaceuticals is savvy when it comes to creating buzz — the California-based maker of a throat-spray for snoring treatment got a lot of attention when it paid a dude in Omaha more than $37,000 to temporarily tattoo an ad on his forehead. It also paid a Chicago man to…
UPDATED Video: Take a Look Inside Michael Brown’s Exotic Ranch
Update: The video was made private after this was posted. While ex-hand doc Michael “I Am Sorry For Fucking Your Mother Instead of Someone Else” lies incapacitated in a Miami hospital, a bankruptcy court trustee is working diligently to unload Brown’s beloved ostriches. Trustee Ronald Summers is trying to sell…
Up to the Task of Creating Houston Design Hub
Over the years, many have attempted to unite the Houston fashion, interiors and art industries under one umbrella. It’s been said that a lack of a centralized entity is one of the hindrances to the growth of the design industry in Houston. But, an organization with that type of universal…
Fleming’s Prime Previews Its Fall Menu With Dry-Aged Cuts and a Tomahawk Steak
With so many outstanding steakhouses in this town, how do you decide where to go when meat is on your mind? Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse just debuted some new fall menu items that will make your decision easier: The restaurant is now offering dry-aged rib eye and dry-aged New York strip,…
The Best Comics in October Part 2: Moneypenny Gets Metal and God-Piercing Bullets
Each month the staff at 8th Dimension Comics picks out the best book to review. Click here for Part 1. Marvel Now What?!: Look, I love the new Marvel Now! I really do… but there is always something painfully awkward about moving forward and Marvel is really taking that to…
Pro-Lifers Planning a Protest Outside Planned Parenthood Wednesday (They Like the State Abortion Law)
Not everyone was thrilled with U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel’s ruling on part of the Texas abortion law on Monday, and some of the displeased are showing it with a protest. Yeakel ruled on a section of the law requiring doctors administering abortions to obtain admitting rights to a hospital…
Vote or Die: The Last VJ’s Top 5 Videos of the Week
Welcome back to The Last VJ, music fans. It’s another week seeking high and low, in and out and in an out throughout the world for the last vestiges of truly groundbreaking and amazing music videos. Which of the five this week shall stalk the night as the invincible sprit…
The Week in Food Blogs: Halloween Costumes, Day of the Dead Recipes and Your Apple Type
Adventures in a New(ish) City: Finding a quality happy hour menu that doesn’t break the bank is always a day-maker. Cove inside Haven has a few delightfully scrumptious items on its Happy Hour menu — and most are only $6. Kim shared a few items with a friend, starting with…
One Minute Late to Check-In, Frontier Airlines Passenger Kept Off Flight
Forty-four minutes early was one minute too late for Michael Monroe Brown Tuesday when he tried to fly the low-cost carrier Frontier Airlines back to Indianapolis from a business trip to Houston Tuesday. The 22-year-old budding entrepreneur and recent Indiana University business major graduate says he arrived at the Frontier…
Some Comfort Food for Those Dastardly, No-Good, Very Bad Days (or Months)
Have you ever had one of those stretches in life where you just can’t seem to catch a break, or your breath? When everything is going wrong all at once? We’re coming off a month like that at our house — in fact, we’re feeling a little bit like a…
Neil Gaiman’s Sandman Finally Returns in a Monthly Series
Seventeen years after Neil Gaiman closed the final chapter in his epic comic saga Sandman, a new chapter is finally being written… and it’s fantastic. Gaiman’s comic often tops the list of best comics ever along with books like Watchmen, The Dark Knight Returns, and James Robison and Tony Harris’s…
Where You Live Might Determine Your Personality Type & Texas: We’re Ornery
According to some new research by psychologists, where you live might help explain your personality. (Or the relationship might run the other way, always a problem with “big” social science studies). But let’s not get bogged down in T-scores and Cohen’s kappa — this is a blog post, not a…
Top 5 Soul Food Restaurants in Houston
If I had to choose a single cuisine for my final meal, soul food would be a top contender. I don’t much care that the medical establishment says it’s not so great for my health, and actually, I don’t much believe them either. How can what makes my soul (and…
100 Creatives 2013: Patrick Peters, Architect and Professor
Architect and University of Houston professor of architecture Patrick Peters, recently named Educator of the Year by the American Institute of Architects’ Houston Chapter, creates work that’s meant to blend into the background. He’s designed an amphitheater for an elementary school and a solar shade tree at another school, both…
Gambling! NBA 2013-2014 Season Win Total Futures Bets!
In the wagering world, there’s a reason (well, several, but one big one) why football betting is so popular. Since 98 percent of the action occurs on Saturday and Sunday, there’s a built-in moderation and containment to football’s action where (a) it largely doesn’t infringe on the average Joe’s workweek…
10 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Luigi of Mario Brothers Fame
Poor Luigi… Mario gets all the credit and all the best games, and his brother is stuck hunting ghosts and dating the lesser princess who has A FREAKY THIRD EYE IN THE BACK OF HER HEAD! That’s not exactly the most auspicious career for a video game hero. For me,…
100 Favorite Dishes 2013: No. 75, ‘Date With a Pig’ at Sparrow Bar + Cookshop
This year, leading up to our annual Menu of Menus issue, Kaitlin Steinberg counts down her 100 favorite dishes as she eats her way through Houston. She’ll compile a collection of the dishes she thinks are the most awesome, most creative and, of course, most delicious in town. It’s a…
Gunfights and Ragtime: The Houston Music Scene of 100 Years Ago
Note: This is a two-part series that timelines through bits of the first century of Houston’s nightlife until about the start of what was found to be Houston’s oldest running bar. For the first century since Houston’s birth in 1837, happenings of music and revelry were advertised word-of-mouth. Music journalism…
Six Horror-Movie Soundtrack Essentials
Friends, the greatest time of year is upon us once again. It’s getting a little bit chilly outside (for Texas), the nights are getting just a little bit spookier, and the magic of Halloween is in the air! I don’t know about you, but I get excited for it every…
1973: The Year the Modern Rock Star Was Born
What You Want is in the Limo By Michael Walker Spiegel and Grau, 256 pp., $26 While many rock histories posit the theory that the ’60s “died” with the tragedy of the Altamont Festival in 1969, this gloriousy sleazy but ultimately enlightening tome suggests that the ’70s didn’t really begin…
Covering Townes Van Zandt Can Be a Tricky Proposition
Not all that long ago, Rocks Off saw some comment on a Facebook thread where a guy claiming to be a poet said he didn’t think Townes van Zandt was the great poet/lyricist so many seem to think. His complaint: he felt like in every Townes song there was some…
Sebelius Says Texas Politics Screwed Up Obamacare
The Affordable Care Act has been rolled out, the insurance enrollment website went live and it’s had a lot of snags in the process. Hair Balls will bet no one knows that better than U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. She’s been out on tour, promoting Obamacare while…
Privatization Everywhere: Public Universities Want to Go Private
Houston PressPrivatize It!Privatization — the other side of the deregulation coin — has long been a favorite watchword among economic conservatives. Indeed, we can go back all the way to 1981, when President Reagan warned us that government was the problem, not the solution. Thirty-plus years on, this rhetoric still…
Book Check: “Shadow Elite: How the World’s New Power Brokers Undermine Democracy, Government, and the Free Market”
Book Title: Shadow Elite: How the World’s New Power Brokers Undermine Democracy, Government, and the Free Market by Janine R. Weidel Rating Using Random Objects Related to the Book’s Subject: 4.25 “Flexians” out of 5. What’s a Flexian? A flexian and their networks — flex nets — are the new…
They Go in Threes: Reed, Needham and Wallace
The “In Memoriam” section of this year’s Oscars was already going to be a lengthy affair, given the passing of Roger Ebert, Ray Harryhausen and James Gandolfini, among others. Many more weekends like this last one, however, and they might as well scrap the awards entirely. Eh. I’ve heard worse…
Wendy Davis and Greg Abbott Agree on One Thing (Proposition 6)
You may not have the foggiest notion what Proposition 6 is — and/or you may not care — but the proposition to change the state constitution to allow funding of the state water plan has got a few fancy supporters, including Attorney Gen. Greg Abbott and Sen. Wendy Davis, the…
House of Pies Is the Perfect Place to Hit Up at 2 a.m. When You Need a Fine Slice of Goodness
I recently made a life-altering discovery. It’s awesome. It’s dangerous. It’s dangerously awesome. In a mere seven minutes, I can walk from my front door to the front door of House of Pies. In 20 minutes, tops, I can be snuggled up in bed in possession of far more pie…
Stark Naked Theater Stages a Reading of The War of the Worlds (Minus the Panic in the Street, We Hope)
It was 75 years ago this October 30 that the young (and surprisingly baby-faced) actor/director Orson Welles caused panic across America with the radio broadcast of H. G. Wells’ The War of the Worlds. Part of the Mercury Theatre on the Air series, the show chronicled, in an apparently much…
UH Reveals Special Football Uniforms for Halloween
The University of Houston has announced and revealed its special uniforms for its game against the University of South Florida on Halloween night this year. There will be black jerseys with red helmets and in a special fund-raising effort, the school is offering fans a chance to bid on the…
KFC’s Go Cups Mean Never Getting Out of Your Car to Eat, Ever Again (Just Watch the Sauce!)
As far as food goes, the new KFC “Go Cups” aren’t offering up anything new; the fried chicken, potato wedges and hot wings are all from the regular menu. What’s “new” about the Go Cups is the packaging and the price. All five Go Cup options cost less than $3,…
The Best Comics in October Part 1: …Then I Took an Arrow to the Tit
Each month the staff at 8th Dimension Comics picks out the best book to review. Look for Part 2 tomorrow. Rat Queens #2: If you ask me, there still has not been a comic that truly captures an MMORPG mind-set. Or at least there wasn’t until Kurtis J. Wiebe and…
Texas Is Still on Top in Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Across the nation, greenhouse gases actually declined last year, according to a federal report, but Texas still managed to stay on top. Even Texas decreased in carbon dioxide emissions, but the Lone Star State still produces double the carbon dioxide of any other state, according to Associated Press…
Honor the Dearly Departed by Celebrating Dia de los Muertos With Food and Drink
Every year in early October, chef Hugo Ortega begins decorating his restaurant, Hugo’s, for one of the most important holidays in Mexico: Día de los Muertos. Papier-mâché skeletons hang from the chandeliers in the dining room. Bright, fluffy tissue-paper flowers poke out from behind light fixtures and tools on the…
Happy Frankenstein Day: Top 10 Best Frankensteins
While searching around for Halloween fare, I came across an interesting, yet totally irrelevant – and surely made up – fact: October 29 is National Frankenstein Day. What does that mean to 99.9 percent of the public? Oh, nothing. But since our day of spook and scare is right around…
A First Look at Tiger Den: Fresh Noodles, a Fine Robata Grill and Long Lines at the Front Door
Houston has been waiting for a place like Tiger Den. A strip-mall restaurant in the popular Dun Huang Plaza at 9989 Bellaire Boulevard near the intersection of Beltway 8, the new ramen shop and izakaya debuted recently, and diners have had to endure waits of 30 minutes or more for…
The Rocks Off 200: Homegrown Cowboy Crooner Charles Peters
Welcome to The Rocks Off 200, our portrait gallery of the most compelling profiles and personalities in the far-flung Houston music community — a lot more than just musicians, but of course they’re in there too. See previous entries in the Rocks Off 100 at this link. Who? Charles Peters…
Case Keenum Named Texans Starting Quarterback Again This Sunday
“Obviously, Matt’s our starting quarterback. Case played this week because Matt wasn’t healthy. Case went in and played extremely well.” — Gary Kubiak, 10/21/13 “Case will start this week.” — Gary Kubiak, 10/28/13 Ostensibly, if you take Gary Kubiak’s quotes from his past two Monday press conferences at face value,…
British Book Dealer Discovers Rare Maps of Houston That Predate the City
When looking through old books, it is a good idea to pay attention and know something of cartography. In the case of Daniel Crouch, a book dealer in England, he was both attentive and knowledgeable when he found a handful of rare maps of Texas drawn by scientist Jean Louis…
There Was Pac-Man Land at Six Flags Over Texas
Your humble narrator had the opportunity to play the latest Pac-Man game, a 3D platform adventure that while weird as hell is actually pretty damned fun. The wave of nostalgia for the old yellow hero got me poking around into his history, and that’s when I discovered that for less…
El Big Bad Is Coming Soon: Divine Tequila Cocktails and a Chef-Driven Philosophy
Located on the prominent corner of Travis and Prairie in the building that used to house Cabo’s, El Big Bad, the offshoot of Lea McKinney and Steve Sharma’s wildly successful El Gran Malo, is almost ready to open. The gorgeous copper-topped bar is in place downstairs. The large, inviting patio…
Zapruder Analysis of Kuwaiti Soccer Ref Punching a Player
Fan scorn, player arguments, maybe even a little physicality. Those things are all, unfortunately, part of the officiating experience. Whether it’s an umpire in baseball, a referee in basketball or any of the various officiating positions on a football field, the whole thing can be a thankless gig. But there’s…
The Definitive Guide to Cheap and Easy Halloween Costumes
Not everyone is a procrastinator. We’re sure there’s a perfectly good reason that you need a costume 48 hours out from Halloween night. Maybe you got a last minute invite to a costume party. Maybe your original plans that didn’t involve costumes fell through and your backup plan involves you…
100 Favorite Dishes 2013: No. 76, The Heights Burger at Gratifi
This year, leading up to our annual Menu of Menus issue, Kaitlin Steinberg counts down her 100 favorite dishes as she eats her way through Houston. She’ll compile a collection of the dishes she thinks are the most awesome, most creative and, of course, most delicious in town. It’s a…
Beatles vs. Stones: The ’60s Rivalry or PR Stunt?
Beatles vs. Stones By John McMillian Simon & Schuster, 288 pp., $25 “The Beatles want to hold your hand, but the Stones want to burn down your town” — Tom Wolfe It was a simple question, really. But one that said (or supposedly said) a lot about your taste in…
Brrr! The 10 Skimpiest Costumes at Something Wicked
What is it about EDM that compels folks to walk around in their unmentionables? Houston’s second annual Halloween EDM festival, Something Wicked, took place over the weekend at Sam Houston Race Park, and boy did we ever get an eyeful. Both guys and gals chose to suffer through the somewhat…
10 Current Songs So Bad, They’re Practically Making Fun of You
Ever had the urge to make the world’s worst playlist? Perhaps you’re hell-bent on torturing the passengers on a ten-hour road trip to Florida, or you just want to drive your mother-in-law batty enough that she’ll jump ship and walk home. Well, just bust out these bad boys. Be careful,…
Three Days Before Halloween: The Perfect Time in Houston for Carving Your Jack-O-Lanterns
Growing up in south Texas, I learned quickly that if you carve a pumpkin too early, it will rot. Our hot, humid weather will invade all the delicate cuts we’ve made in our shiny, round pumpkins, and every inch of the exposed flesh will soon be covered in a fuzzy…
UPDATED: Federal Judge Blocked Part of Texas Abortion Law
UPDATE: Gov. Rick Perry and Sen. Ted Cruz have both issued statements about Yeakel’s decision and we’re shocked to report they’re both agin’ it. In other news, the world is round! Puppies are cute! There’s gambling in Casablanca! Anyways, Perry said he’ll continue the fight (or something John Wayne-ish like…
Houston FBI Could Furlough 600 Jobs, New FBI Director Says
James Comey, the new director for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, has been doing what new directors of powerful programs (and monarchs) do: touring the country checking out the field offices for the FBI. Comey made a point of stopping in Houston last week, because Houston is a key city…
Ted Cruz: Politician, Populist, Lover of The Princess Bride
Even after it seems that everything about the man has been said, Sen. Ted Cruz finds a way to restart the conversation. This time it’s thanks to a cuddly-soft interview with the Des Moines Register. There Houston’s own, the slightly Canadian Cruz let the veil fall a bit and showed…
Where to Eat on Halloween 2013: Decadent Dining, Wicked Good Sweets & Grape Ghoulade
Houston loves Halloween, and Houstonians love food, so if you are too old for trick-or-treating, why not reserve a table at a restaurant and spend the final night of October enjoying some spooky and delicious food? We’ve compiled a list of some of the area’s restaurants that will be offering…
Is a 91-0 Youth Football Beatdown Bullying or a Reality Check?
BbsrockYes, I’m Going to Work Pat Buchanan into a Post About Texas Youth Football Up in Fort Worth, there is a very good high school football team: the Aledo Bearcats. They have been crushing teams this season “outscor[ing] their opponents by an average of 77 points per game.” On October…
Death and the Maiden: A Taut Thriller Involving Kidnapping, Rape and Vengeance
The set-up: Ariel Dorfman’s Death and the Maiden won the Olivier award as Best New Play in its 1991 London production, and garnered a Tony Award as Best Actress for Glenn Close in the Broadway production in 1992. It is a taut three-hander involving a woman who had been blindfolded,…
What’s Cooking This Week? French Onion Soup, Roast Beef Sandwiches and Stuffed Shells
I love cooking for my fiancé and planning meals for us, but cooking for two often proves to be difficult. If I don’t make a plan, I end up running around in circles at the grocery store and wasting half the ingredients I’ve bought (and I hate wasting food). Enter…
What Does Your Texas Drought Look Like? Now You Can See Documentary Photos From Across the State
Amid all the harsh reality, there is a strange, eerie beauty to a new photo exhibit going up in Austin at the state capitol this week. Part of the “What does your Texas look like?” campaign, the photography exhibit shows the heavy toll the extended drought has taken across our…
The (Texas) Hills Are Alive at the William Reaves Gallery
Famed author John Steinbeck once said, “I have said that Texas is a state of mind, but I think it is more than that. It is a mystique closely approximating a religion.” Steinbeck goes on to comment on the core of Texas, which he considers to be its people. Although,…
Widespread Panic at Bayou Music Center, 10/27/2013
Widespread Panic Bayou Music Center October 27, 2013 There was once something in my life that was the best possible thing ever and was regularly available, but then I moved and it became much less regular. So I forgot about it, then I remembered it and I forgot how much…
Pumpkin Spice Latte Throwdown: Starbucks Versus McDonald’s
I have always been a fan of the Pumpkin Spice Latte, or PSL, from Starbucks. It’s the first seasonal beverage to arrive after a summer of iced coffees and frappuccinos, and it always gets me in the spirit of fall. However, this fall, another contender might be giving Starbucks a…
Blood Wedding at UH Presents a Complex Frederico Garcia Lorca Work
The set-up: Frederico Garcia Gabriel Lorca was a Spanish playwright, poet, theater director, and artist, born near the city of Grenada in 1898, and arrested and executed in 1936. He combined several theatrical genres in his works, and the University of Houston, in the current adaptation, has paid homage to…
Aggies, Arabs and Jews — A Recipe for Success!
For years, religious and political scholars have argued that a primary factor in the brutal Israel-Palestine strife has been the absence of a satellite Texas A&M campus. But now, A&M Chancellor John Sharp is stepping up to do something about it. The head of A&M told the Associated Press he…
Paramore at Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, 10/27/2013
Paramore, Metric, Hellogoodbye Cynthia Woods Pavilion October 27, 2013 Well, they’ve done it again. On the way to Cynthia Woods Pavilion Sunday night, I realized that it had been about six months to the day since I reviewed Paramore at Bayou Music Center in April. Back then, the band’s opener…
Dynamo Clinch Playoff Spot on Final Match Week
When the MLS regular season began back in March, the Dynamo couldn’t imagine their playoff aspirations coming down to the final match week. Yet that’s where the Dynamo sat Sunday afternoon; in a win-or-go-home scenario on the road in Washington DC. And as they’ve done time-and-time again throughout their seven…
In Die Fledermaus Marital Fidelity Gets Bashed, Surrounded by Beautiful Music
The set-up: If Houston Grand Opera’s sparkling production of Johann Strauss II’s Die Fledermaus (“The Bat”) isn’t the finest vintage grand cru champagne, it is nonetheless from a very good year. It looks great in the glass, the bubbles tickle your nose, and by the end you will be pleasantly…
How To: Make Your Own Almond Milk, and You’ll Never Buy It in a Store Again
Making almond milk at home is a lot easier than it sounds. I always use almond milk instead of regular milk for my cereal and in my coffee, because I think it adds more flavor and tastes better than ordinary milk. However, buying a gallon of almond milk from the…
BCS Roundup: Missouri Learns the “Kicker Lesson” the Hard Way
How fragile is a college football season? Well, let’s ask the University of Missouri. Heading into Saturday night’s home game against the 21st ranked South Carolina Gamecocks, the fifth-ranked Tigers were one of three teams that theoretically controlled their own destiny in getting to the BCS National Championship, Alabama and…
A Boy Gamer’s Guide to Dating Girls Without Being a Douchebag
I have a pathologically unhealthy obsession with misogynists in general and gamer misogynists in particular. I read their Reddit threads, click on their blogs, and just overall expose myself to such radioactive stupidity that I’m surprised I don’t turn into one when the moon is full. My favorite conceit out…
Sports Illustrated Cover Boys: The Rockets’ Dwight Howard, Kevin McHale & Hakeem Olajuwon
Seems like the Houston Press wasn’t the only media outlet to find the Houston Rockets cover-worthy this season. For its October 28 NBA Preview double edition, Sports Illustrated chose to focus on Dwight Howard and his place with the Houston Rockets for its cover story. Entitled: The Post Man Rings…
Baker Spotlight: Angela Rowley, of Blackbird Foods, Is Taking Meat Pies to Another Level
Just because it’s a pie doesn’t mean it has to be sweet. Angela Rowley, owner of Blackbird Foods, chose to focus her business on savory meat pies. Growing up in Port Arthur, Texas, introduced Rowley to the flavors and spices of Cajun cuisine at a young age. “I have always…
Brenner’s Has a Spooky Dinner for You, and We Take a Sneak Peek at It (Think Gnocchi)
This year, I plan to go to a kick-ass neighborhood Halloween party (on the 31st) at which I may or may not consume a formidable amount of pumpkin curry, cupcakes and red wine. When I heard, however, that Brenner’s on the Bayou was hosting a “spirits” dinner with cocktail pairings,…
Owls Mine UTEP To Earn Bowl Eligibility
The Rice Owls on Saturday went out and did to the UTEP Miners what other teams for years did to the Rice Owls. The Owls beat the crap out of UTEP, winning the game by a 45-7 score that was nowhere near as close as that score indicated. The Owls…
It’s Halloween. Big Boo.
I am a total Halloween Scrooge, and I don’t care who knows it. It’s hard to pinpoint exactly when I stopped liking Halloween. It was enjoyable right up until I was in high school; I remember dressing up and going out with my friends, and having tons of fun. But…
Sylvia’s Enchilada Kitchen Celebrates Lease Renewal with New Happy Hour Menu
For 18 years Sylvia Casares, a.k.a. “The Enchilada Queen,” has been dazzling Houston diners with her inventive takes on the enchilada, and recently she made the commitment to do so for another decade. Casares signed a ten-year extension to her lease at the Woodway location of Sylvia’s Enchilada Kitchen, which…
sNSFW PICS: SuicideGirls Brings Modern Burlesque to House of Blues
If you find the Burlesque revival a little too quaint, the Blackheart Burlesque Tour might be just for you. The production, put on by early-Internet alt-softcore-porn site SuicideGirls will take place November 2 at House of Blues and promises to offer tease-tastic performances with a decidedly modern twist, according to…
Native American Prisoner Wants Dead Parents’ Hair; Prison Officials Say it’s a Security Risk
Here’s what the Texas Department of Criminal Justice is terrible at keeping out of prisons: cell phones. Here’s what TDCJ is awesome at keeping out: dead people’s hair. Native American inmate William Chance serving 65 years for aggravated sexual assault has sued TDCJ to get 4-inch locks of his deceased…
Optimo Radio 4th Annual B-Day Bash at Last Concert Cafe, 10/26/2013
Optimo Radio 4th Annual B-Day Bash Last Concert Café October 26, 2013 For hip-hop heads looking to jam underground Houston records 24/7 in 2013, there’s only one radio station to turn to, and it damn sure ain’t 97.9 The Box. Optimo Radio, the streaming Internet radio station that has been…
Something Wicked at Sam Houston Race Park, 10/26/2013
Something Wicked Festival Sam Houston Race Park October 26, 2013 Committing yourself to throwing a yearly event means one thing: every year you’re going to have to find a way to top yourself. Your beginning may be a small, humble affair, but the next year people will expect more from…
Last Week’s TLC Movie Is Already a Damn Classic
[In his new column, Houston’s award-winning goofball Shea Serrano writes about his life and times. Better put on your shoes, because your socks are about to be blown off — ed.] TLC/Courtesy of VH1Last Monday night I watched the movie about TLC, the most important all-girl rap group of all…
Surfer Blood Looks to Squeeze More Success From Pythons
In 2010, Florida’s Surfer Blood made waves with their impressive hook-heavy debut album, Astro Coast. They were indie-rock’s instant media darlings. Three years later, and band is trying to re-earn that sweet favorable media attention. Last year, front man John Paul Pitts cast himself — and thus his band –…
The Best Concerts in Houston This Week: Phantogram, Roky Erickson, Zedd, etc.
Phantogram House of Blues, Monday 28 A duo from upstate New York, Phantogram will scratch that same after-hours electro-pop itch as School of Seven Bells’ enchanting 2012 LP Ghostory. On two albums for Barsuk Records and now a new eponymous EP on Republic Records, Josh Carter and Sarah Bechtel slide…
UPDATED Sources: Michael Brown in Miami Hospital
Update Monday 3:30 pm Michael Brown “went into cardiac arrest” October 24 and “remains hospitalized and incapacitated,” according to a notice one of his attorneys filed in a Houston bankruptcy court Monday. The notice also stated “The extent of the damage he has suffered is unknown; however, it appears to…
RIP Lou Reed: Streetwise Rock and Roll Icon Dies at 71
Lou Reed, the tragically hip, eternally cool songwriter and musician whose friendships, collaborations and rivalries with the likes of John Cale, David Bowie and Iggy Pop helped define, expand and elevate rock music from the mid-’60s to the present, has died. Reed’s death was confirmed to The New York Times…
#BeWell: Former Rocket Royce White Cut By The Philadelphia 76ers
About a month or so ago, ESPN.com put out their list of the top 500 players in the NBA. As the league in season has only 450 players cumulatively on all the rosters, to get to 500 you had to have some real scrubs on that list. And they did…
TV Club: Scrubs: “My Fallen Idol”
Hey everybody! It’s Jef With One F here, and this week I’ll be asking the questions because I’m the one who picked “My Fallen Idol” from the fifth season of Scrubs. I’m still going to make Abby load the story though because she’s the one who knows how to make…
Julieta Venegas at House of Blues, 10/24/2013
“Eres Para Mi….” Julieta Venegas House of Blues October 24, 2013 Its the way Julieta Venegas looked straight into my eyes in the “Eres Para Mi” video I first saw on MTV TR3S back in 2006. Or the effortless mode of expressing her feelings through her soft voice, so delicate,…
Today in Political Punditry: Ed Whelan Edition
Conservative legal pundit, Ed Whelan, who writes for the (once) venerable National Review, has a regular feature on his blog called “This Day in Liberal Judicial Activism.” Yesterday, his entry was short, sweet and silly: 1987–Culminating an unprecedented campaign of lies, distortions, and vilification, the Senate rejects, by a vote…
Of Course It’s Perfectly Fine to Build a Gingerbread House for Halloween
In case you can’t tell, I really like Halloween. Each year I love to try out Halloween projects (well, some of them are actually old, like bobbing for apples, but you get the point) as a way of vetting potentially permanent traditions. Such is how I came to discover that,…
GWAR at Warehouse Live, 10/24/2013
GWAR Warehouse Live October 24, 2013 When the history of this insignificant planet is written — haphazardly and on a discarded sanitary napkin, probably — it will likely note the key role played by our alien overlords GWAR, the Scumdogs of the Universe who were banished to Earth eons ago…
Podcast: Comparing the New Carrie to the Old and Bad Grandpa’s Emotional Terror
Photo by Michael Gibson – © 2012 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures Inc. and Screen Gems, Inc. All rights reservedKimberly Peirce and Chloë Grace Moretz in Carrie.On this week’s Voice Film Club podcast, Stephanie Zacharek of The Village Voice and Amy Nicholson of L.A. Weekly discuss Kimberly Peirce’s reimagining of Stephen King’s Carrie…
Veterans’ Group Will Spruce Up Jesuit School Campus This Weekend
More than 80 veterans from across the country will renovate the campus of Houston’s Cristo Rey Jesuit College Prep this weekend to kick off a six-month volunteer campaign for a group called The Mission Continues. Mayor Annise Parker will open the weekend with a special welcome for the veteran-volunteers, according…
The Winner of The Best Wings Cook-Off at Wingtoberfest 2013 Is …
Wingtoberfest went down Wednesday night at Social Junkie, and much fun and many wings were had by all. It was a difficult competition this year, with 2012’s champ, Little Bitty Burger Barn competing against other Houston bigwigs Goro & Gun, Boheme, Underbelly and Uchi. As is the tradition, each different…
Why Do Gamers Sit on the Floor?
The other day I was indulging my nightly wind down ritual of a drink and a few rounds of whatever video game I’m currently immersed in (At the moment it’s a replay of Final Fantasy XII because I find a contemplative peace in level grinding) when I realized that I…
Reviews for the Easily Distracted: 12 Years A Slave
Title: 12 Years a Slave Not Exactly a “Feel-Good” Movie, Then? Hey, there’s always Mandingo. Rating Using Random Objects Relevant to the Film: Five copies of the 13th Amendment out of five. Brief Plot Synopsis: Free man is kidnapped and sold into slavery. Hijinx do not ensue. Tagline: “The extraordinary…
The Law of Unintended Consequences: Texas’s Voter ID Law and Maiden Names
The spate of voter ID laws that have been churning out of conservative controlled legislatures and governors’ mansions over the past number of years — and especially since the Supreme Court’s ruling in Shelby County — are nakedly partisan in nature. Indeed, when the Bush DOJ spent five years trying…
The Pharcyde & K-OTIX at Fitzgerald’s, 10/24/2013
The Pharcyde, K-OTIX Fitzgerald’s October 24, 2013 Hip-hop has evolved over the years of its existence more than any type of music in the same time period. Since the late ’70s and early ’80s, has moved from the simplistic beats and rhymes of Slick Rick and Sugar Hill Gang to…
iBurn: The Best Little Hot Sauce Shop in Texas … Or Any Other State
If you are looking for a certain hot sauce, iBurn probably has it.
Our Image Film & Arts Festival Showcases Work By & About African Americans
Tey. It is a French-Senegalese word meaning “today,” as in the last 24 hours Satche spends alive: “No one must waste his time today,” says a woman to him on his last morning jaunt through his village. Directed by Alain Gomis, the foreign-language film is shot in a series of…
Is This The Weekend UH And Rice Clinch Bowl Spots?
The Texans season might just about be over, but there are still several reasons to care about football in Houston. That is if you don’t mind switching your attention to Saturday afternoons. Because with the college football season at the halfway mark, the Houston Cougars (5-1) and Rice Owls (5-2)…
Top 7 Chainsaw Killers Who Aren’t From Texas (With One NSFW Video)
My favorite horror film of all time is Texas Chainsaw Massacre for a variety of reasons. First of all, no film has ever had a better name. It’s just not possible. Second, it has the perfect formula for a nightmare. Our villains are utterly human and completely unearthly at the…
The 5 Best Things to Eat or Drink This Weekend: Halloween Parties, Montrose Crawl & More
Pub Night @ Saint Arnold Brewing Company Friday, 5-10 p.m. 2000 Lyons Ave. The tour hall at Saint Arnold Brewing Company is being transformed into a bar during Pub Night from 5 to 10 p.m. There’s no entry fee, but guests can purchase pretty much whatever beer they want –…
The Houston Press Moves to New Digs, From Downtown to Midtown
The Houston Press is moving offices this weekend. We’ve been located at 1621 Milam Suite #100 for the past 15 years and a lot has certainly changed. Moving from the Galleria area off of the West Loop to Downtown was a pretty big deal in 1998. Downtown Houston was just…
100 Creatives 2013: Jamie Kinosian, Drawing Geeks Together With Art
What She Does: If you visited Artist Alley at Comicpalooza earlier this year then you can’t have missed the amazing and oft-times adorable artwork of Jamie Kinosian. She shows up all over the place, wherever she can set up a spot to work, and crafts some really unbelievably cute watercolor…
Upcoming Events: Anniversary Dinner at Etoile, Pop-Up Bakery From Triniti, and Oysters
On Monday, October 28, The Oceanaire hosts Merroir et Terroir, a six-course wine and oyster dinner. Kevin Joseph of Blue Island Oyster Farm, Jennifer Lumley of Terlato Wines International, and Oceanaire’s executive chef, Abraham King, have collaborated on the evening’s menu to allow diners to discover novel wine and oyster…
This Weekend’s Best Bets: Sarlacc Pit On Star Wars Night Edition
In college football, it’s been a strange year in the SEC. The SEC West has gone pretty much according to form, save Auburn suddenly regaining their mojo about two years ahead of schedule under Gus Zalzahn. The SEC East, on the other hand, has been a circus, with last year’s…
The Top 5 Things to Do in Houston this Weekend: “Exile” at El Rincón Social, Comedian Kathleen Madigan and More
Some artists hope to show viewers beauty. Others aim to explore erosion and decay. “Exile,” a multidisciplinary exhibit on Friday, seeks to showcase the frayed edges of our society. On display will be a massive photographic work by David Salinas that features a man named Ed whom Salinas saw collecting…
Openings & Closings: Goodbye Zushi, Welcome Back MF Sushi, and Hello Allo
We heard of only one restaurant closing its doors this week (and it came without much of a shock). It wasn’t much longer after the Zushi on Memorial Drive at Westcott closed that the other Zushi location, in the Energy Corridor, shut its doors. Sushi Club of Houston President Carl…
10 Glaring Omissions From the Country Music Hall of Fame
This Sunday the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville will correct a grievous oversight when it inducts the late Jack Clement, who wrote an early hit for Johnny Cash (“Ballad of a Teenage Queen”), effectively desegregated country music by adopting Charley Pride as a protege, and produced…
Todd Snider: Danger, Sober Man at Work
When Rocks Off caught up with Todd Snider recently, the poster child for East Nashville’s bohemian songwriter underground was driving across Nashville to get a shot in his lower spine for recurring arthritis. “Yeah, I have to get a shot before every tour now,” he says. “I just can’t sit…
Houston’s Top 10 Places to Drink Alone
As our sister blog Eating…Our Words does, from time to time Rocks Off will be giving your our picks for the top taverns in various Houston-area neighborhoods. Of course, the lines can be porous, but here anything with a TABC license that cannot reasonably be considered either a restaurant, coffeehouse…
The Best Concerts In Houston This Weekend: Patty Griffin, Something Wicked, Maxwell, etc.
Patty Griffin Warehouse Live, October 25 Patty Griffin’s voice has a tendency to bring on a churchlike hush over any room the she’s singing in — Texas Monthly recently dubbed it the “Patty Griffin effect” — which could make for an interesting evening Friday, when the Austinite goes up against…
This Time Kanye’s Music Will Be Inside the Rothko Chapel
Surely one of Houston’s biggest music-related events of 2013 was really a non-event: the failed screenings of Kanye West’s “New Slaves” video, which was supposed to be projected onto three different local landmarks the evening of May 24. Technical difficulties scotched the events at the Houston Public Library and George…
Half-Off at “Best of Houston®” Winner Taqueria La Marco, Plus Deals at Angus Grill, VIN Bar at Hotel Derek, and Much More
If you haven’t yet tried the food at the 2013 “Best of Houston®” award-winning Taqueria La Marco, here’s your chance to do so — and save 50 percent. Today’s Houston Press Voice Daily Deal is good for half-off ($6 for $12) at Taqueria La Macro, the winner of the 2013…
CEO Beauty Contest: The Most Popular Head Honchos in America
Photo bywww.dts-nachrichtenagentur.deTell Me How Great I AmAs income inequality has loomed larger in Americans’ minds — especially since the Great Recession — CEOs and their pay has been a central example of what is wrong with our economy. But not everyone hates CEOs, some of them are quite popular …
British Horror Cult Classic Club: Rawhead Rex
As serious Anglophiles – that’s people who are heavily into British culture, not some kind of white power thing – Jef With One F and I are taking a look at some lesser-known British films this month. As the month happens to be October, they will all be horror films…
Assessing the Damage: Comparing Losing Streaks of the Gary Kubiak Era
Say what you will about Gary Kubiak the head coach, but Gary Kubiak the person seems to be a genuinely nice man. All stories behind the scenes point to that, and every player of his I’ve ever spoken with, past and present, seem to have a sincere admiration, if not…
American Horror Story: Coven: No, I Don’t Want to Love You
A very good friend of mine, who happens to be an extremely talented writer and critic herself, asked me if I was giving negative reviews to Coven because I had predicted it would be bad and wanted to be proven right. Now, I don’t think that’s true, but I’m as…
Biscuit or Croissant? Marie Callender’s Adds Breakfast Sandwiches to Its Frozen-Food Lineup
Fast food doesn’t get much faster than a frozen meal, straight from your freezer. Who needs a drive-thru when you have a walk-up? On a recent stroll through the frozen-food section at the grocery store, I spotted new breakfast items from Marie Callender’s — a brand with which I was…
Billy Currington Christens a New Mega-Honky-Tonk, Stampede Houston
“God is great, beer is good… And people are crazy!” Billy Currington Club Escapade 2001 October 23, 2013 There’s something about country music that polarizes people: they either love it or hate it. But when you sit down and think about it, most of the hate is a result of…
Weekend Weather: Pleasant Then Possibly Some Rain
I’ve been crossing my fingers for good weather this weekend for months. You see, I’m getting married and I’d prefer not to be soaked. The good news is that it appears I’ll get my wish, at least on Saturday. Friday should continue the beautiful weather from this week with highs…
Build-A-Bar Goes Non-Alcoholic and Gets Juicier With Pears and Parsnips
My wife is pregnant. It’s our third time in the barrel, and as unexpected a ride as the prior two. We (think) we know what we’re in for this time, though, so it should be smooth sailing. To help ensure pacific waters, I’m (mostly) teetotaling in sympathy with my wife…
K-OTIX Redux: Houston’s Legendary Anti-Gangstas Reunite
“We’ll do the pause, then when we’re ready…” – Russell “The ARE” Gonzalez What if I told you that Houston rap is much more than slow, loud, and bangin’, syrup-dripped, gangster, pimped-out, and/or trill? That a certain rap crew from Houston that headlined SXSW’s very first official hip-hop showcase in…
10 Voice Actors Who Are Sorely Missed: Orson Wells, Phil Hartman & More
I’m reasonably excited about the new player vs. player game set in Nosgoth, the realm made famous in the Legacy of Kain video games. Nosgoth is one of my favorite worlds of all time, full of a dark, gothic European imagery and deep mythology that set it apart from almost…
The Problem With Justice Scalia
Insofar as a member of the federal judiciary has a “rock star” it is almost certainly Justice Antonin Scalia. Scalia is feted at Federalist Society gatherings and he enjoys giving speeches at law schools and to civic organizations across the country. He is beloved by conservatives for his acid pen…
Finch at Warehouse Live, 10/23/2013
Finch Warehouse Live – Studio October 23, 2013 Nostalgia is a funny thing. As someone who writes about music, I’m inclined to believe that the trend of bands going out and playing their big records live is a bad one. Not that I don’t want fans to get what they…
Light Goodness: Snap Kitchen’s New Fall Menu Has Changed My Views On ‘Health Food’
I have a wedding coming up this weekend, and after what I can only describe as an all-day bad idea that ended in a late-night delivery of garlic cheesy bread this past Saturday, let’s just say I could use a little nutrition in my life. So when I had the…
Blithe Spirit Presents a Ghostly Good Noel Coward
The set-up: I don’t think I’m too far off target for this prediction: the light, frothy, entertaining works of Sir Noël Coward will continue to be performed many centuries into the future. (Anyway, who’ll still be around to prove me wrong?) The Art Deco equivalent to Restoration author Congreve, or…
Home Depot Foundation and Houston Volunteers Will Fix Houston Veteran’s Home
Courtesy Home Depot FoundationWe figure these dudes know from home repairs.When health problems forced U.S. Air Force veteran to retire from his post-military job, he was unable to afford repairs to his home, which was ravaged by Hurricane Ike in 2008. But on Thursday, volunteers with The Home Depot Foundation…
The Rocks Off 200: Adam Bricks, NYC Expat
Welcome to The Rocks Off 200, our portrait gallery of the most compelling profiles and personalities in the far-flung Houston music community — a lot more than just musicians, but of course they’re in there too. See previous entries in the Rocks Off 100 at this link. Who? In a…
Pop Rocks: Here’s Hoping That Anchorman Two Doesn’t Suck
How it came to be that the Anchorman 2 movie would become the most anticipated flick of the year is beyond even my comprehension, but it is, so it better be awesome. For fans of the first Anchorman, word that the 1970s San Diego nightly news team would reunite, which,…
Top 10 Best Chocolate Candies To Make Halloween Trick-or-Treaters Happy
Okay, time to get down to business. While it’s perfectly acceptable to give out candy devoid of cocoa at Halloween, we all know chocolate is the name of the game on October 31. Whether you’re being modest and giving out fun-size or miniature versions, or are going whole hog (probably…
Apollo 20 Figures Out How To Improve Math Scores, But Reading Remains an Unsolved Equation
Hire tutors, lengthen the school day, use data to check and double-check how your instruction is going and if you’re talking about the three-year-old Apollo 20 project in Houston ISD, you’ll be rewarded with significant improvements in math scores among elementary and secondary school students. In fact, using the math…
Ten Reasons To Go to Hubbell & Hudson Market & Bistro (Think Burgers and Dry-Aged Steaks)
The Woodlands restaurant scene is maturing quickly, and while there are several brand new restaurants and markets in the area, Hubbell & Hudson Market & Bistro is a place you can’t miss. Hubbell offers a multitude of options for you to satisfy your culinary needs – it’s not your typical…
Giving Fall the Boot: The Short, Medium and Tall Approaches
Today we’re going to talk about fall fashion, but not too loud–we don’t want to scare away the cooler temperatures, okay? So let’s not make too big a deal about the absolute, without-a-doubt, number one season of them all–autumn. No one wants to turn the air conditioning back on, do…
Houston Makes Top 10 Ugliest Cities List: Five Reasons it’s Not So
Houston has come a long way in the looks and self-esteem department. Back when it was just a hamlet of a thing in the 1830s, people were already regarding Houston as something of a hot mess — the lawlessness was legendary and draining off some of the swampland didn’t actually…
The Rest of the Best: Houston’s Top 10 Shopping Malls
We’ve watched as several of Houston’s shopping malls have withered and died over the years. Northwest Mall, once a bustling spot, lost its big names stores one after another, but it’s still hanging on – barely. These days it houses a giant antique mall and most of the eastern side…
Cheap & Good Eats: Top 5 Budget Lunch Spots in Greenway/Upper Kirby
We’ve been rounding up our favorite budget lunch spots in different neighborhoods around town. So far, we’ve covered Montrose, River Oaks, and Midtown. Today we’re diving into Greenway/Upper Kirby’s restaurant-packed ‘hood. Here’s our list of the best cheap (under $10) lunch spots that this area has to offer: Note: For…
Vote or Die: The Last VJ’s Top Five Videos of the Week
Welcome back to The Last VJ, music fans. It’s another week of plumbing through the depths of the Internet trying to find the true art of the music video hidden under the mainstream and ignored by the once-proud MTV. Your votes count, so let us know which of these five…
Aziz Ansari: Dudes, the Number of Dick Pics You Send is Startling
“Imagine if marriage didn’t exist, and you’re a guy and you ask someone to get married,” proposes comedian Aziz Ansari in his new Netflix stand-up special, Buried Alive, which premieres November 1. “Hey, so we’ve been hanging out all the time, spending a lot of time together. I want to…
“Disease Detectives”
Sniff out threats to our health at the Health Museum’s “Disease Detectives” exhibit. Kids can learn about the different types of germs that cause illness, how infections spread and ways to stop them with the help of Adam, Marcus and Yolanda, three new science exhibits who happen to be suffering…
“Leonardo da Vinci: Machines in Motion”
Leonardo da Vinci is unique. Renowned as both artist and visionary inventor, he’s a legendary figure without equal. As seen in the “Leonardo da Vinci: Machines in Motion” exhibit, many of his inventions were centuries before their time. Sparked by his war-torn 16th-century world, da Vinci envisioned several machines in…
My Vibrator Intimidates My Boyfriend. Help!
Welcome to Ask Willie D, Rocks Off’s advice column where the Geto Boys MC answers reader questions about matters, in his own words, “funny, serious or unpredictable.” Something on your mind? Ask Willie D! DRUG DEALING COLLEGE ROOMMATE Dear Willie D: I’m a sophomore in college and I have the…
Bad Grandpa’s Kid Actor Outshines Johnny Knoxville
Think Little Miss Sunshine could have used an elastic penis? Behold: Bad Grandpa, in which a widower and an eight-year-old drive across the country hitting on chicks, farting in diners, and getting granddad’s manhood stuck in a vending machine before sending the boy out in drag to perform a striptease…
Top Five Artists You Need to Stop Hating
Recently I addressed a subject close to my heart: bands I wish everybody would stop talking about for even five minutes. I even liked some of those bands, but I just can’t stand to listen to them anymore because of overexposure. Thanks, social media! Well folks, it’s time for another…
All Systems Go: The Rockets Are Young, Focused and Ready to Compete
Dwight Howard kept everyone waiting. Expectant reporters and camera operators sat patiently inside the Toyota Center on Rockets Media Day, September 27, 2013, while Howard stood within eyeshot. Moments earlier, he and his new teammates had moved quickly from makeshift photo booth to green screen set taking a variety of…
Down-Home Comfort: You’ll Feel Right at Home at Frank’s Americana Revival
Want a behind the scenes look at Frank’s Americana Revival? Check out this slideshow. I love going to mom-and-pop restaurants. Visit once, and the very next time you walk in the door you’ll be greeted by name and taken care of with warmth and smiles that make you feel properly…
Venus in Fur Is Not Your Father’s Sex Comedy
Kinky sex comes to the Alley Theatre via David Ives’s provocatively funny Venus in Fur (2010). Vanda (the amazing Nicole Rodenburg) arrives with a thunderclap. Almost materializes — the last one in a long line of actresses that harried director/writer Thomas (equally good Michael Bakkensen) is auditioning for the role…
In All Is Lost, Robert Redford Won’t Go Down Easily
The title All Is Lost promises despair, especially with Robert Redford looking so stolid and weathered and still-got-it golden on the poster. Could this near-silent, you-are-there survival story be another of Redford’s yawps of boomer gloom? Another complaint, like The Company You Keep, about the realization that the world we…
Houston Haunts: The 2013 Houston Halloween Guide
This year, Halloween falls into the awkward category of the almost-weekend, but you can make it work with help from some of your local museums, restaurants, parks and bars. Whether you’re going for the tried-and-true classics like zombies, vampires and superheroes; doing your best Miley at the VMAs; or bringing…
Ghosts In the Machine
Only in Houston Halloween is right around the corner, and once again it’s time to talk spooky stuff. Let’s look around the city to see which Houston music venues might be haunted. First, let’s define haunted, and to that I must defer to Poe, because her Haunted is one of…
Aida Features A-List Talent Backed by B-Movie Sets and Costumes
In the 1860s, the Khedive of Egypt was spending his country’s treasury like a drunken pharaoh. Heavily influenced by the West, he wanted to bring medieval Egypt up to speed, so he began an extensive — and expensive — public works overhaul, especially in Cairo. Swamps were drained, grand boulevards…
Cheap and Good Eats
Top Five Montrose has its fair share of fantastic dining, from upscale classicsMark’sandHugo’sto trendy new kids on the blockUchiandUnderbelly. But don’t be fooled; there are also plenty of amazing hole-in-the-wall eateries in this hood. Today we’re focusing on the small joints that offer the best bang for your buck. Here’s our…
Capsule Art Reviews: “Calaveras Mexicanas: The Art and Influence of Jose Guadalupe Posada,” “Kermit Oliver: Tracing Our Pilgrimage,” “MOVING/STILL: Recent Photography by Texas Artists,” “Nice. Luc Tuymans,” “Rachel Hecker: Group Show,” “SPRAWL”
“Calaveras Mexicanas: The Art and Influence of Jose Guadalupe Posada” The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, commemorates the 100th anniversary of Posada’s death with an exhibition titled “Calaveras Mexicanas: The Art and Influence of Jose Guadalupe Posada.” The exhibit decorates the white walls between the lower-level staircase of MFAH’s Caroline…
Packing Heat
Highlights from Hair Balls Political Animals Current Texas Land Commissioner and Lt. Governor hopeful Jerry Patterson has been a staunch supporter of conservative causes. He recently told reporters he thought liberal states like New York and California should be kicked out of the Union. He is also a proud concealed-gun…
Capsule Stage Reviews: All Girls, Saloon Songs, Veronica’s Room
All Girls Being a 13-year-old girl is so miserable! This distressing era is at the center of Stark Naked Theatre Company’s newest production, All Girls, written by up-and-coming playwright Anna Greenfield. Not much happens in All Girls, yet so much happens at the same time. The interchange between the characters is…
Dia de los Muertos and Jalapeno
Dear Mexican, I was surprised, on a trip to Mexico earlier this month, that I only ever found the holiday referred to as ‘Dia de Muertos”, whereas in the States, I’ve only ever heard it referred to as “Dia de los Muertos.” I’m really curious as to WHY there’s a…
