4 Thoughts on the Houston Texan Fan with Crazy Tattoo Courage
Anytime I post about tattoos, I always feel the need to preface the post by saying that I don’t dislike tattoos, and most certainly don’t judge nor dislike people with tattoos. I really just don’t understand them. I mean, when you get a tattoo you either a) have it for…
Our Top Ten Picks For Fun Fun Fun Fest 2011
This weekend the Rocks Off team will cover their third Fun Fun Fun Fest in Austin, at the festival’s new home Auditorium Shores. Each year this fest seems to get bigger and better, without losing it’s grimy luster. Is it the Austin City Limits Music Festival for the tattooed set,…
Comment of the Day: Marco’s Taco Hell
Here on Eating Our Words, the commenters absolutely make the blog, and our Comment of the Day honors the best of the bunch. Every day, we read you guys and pick the commenter, or commenters, who made us laugh, cry, salivate over something delicious, or think about things in a…
Top 20 Throwback TV Theme Songs Part 1
We grew up on television. Whether it was Saturday morning cartoons, afternoon re-runs, Sunday Disney and Wild Kingdom or Thursday night “must see” TV, we saw it. We noticed that on November 2, 1985, the Miami Vice soundtrack went to number one on the Billboard charts where it would stay for…
Top 12 Wines Under $15 for the Holidays
Last night, Whole Foods Market introduced its Top 10 wines for the holidays — except that this year, like the days of Christmas, there are actually 12. Historically, some of the recommended wines have been held up at customs or in shipping, and WFM didn’t want to run the risk…
This Dude Caused Some of Two Shell Plaza to be Evacuated
A guy who robbed a branch bank in downtown’s Two Shell Plaza caused police to evacuate some of the building by leaving behind a bag he said contained a bomb. The incident happened around 11:15 a.m., the FBI says. The man walked up to tellers and asked for money, saying…
Dig This Vol. VII With Western Standards, Dead Mineral & The End Of Young Girls?
The current volume of local music is staggering. New Houston bands are born daily, and all too often pass away just as quickly. Rocks Off wants to help you (and ourselves) keep up. Stay seated smugly at that desk and continue tossing that half-priced Halloween candy (purchased yesterday like the…
Tasting Notes: This Week in Wine Blogs
Wine Thoughts: One of the things that we love about Sandra Crittenden’s blog Wine Thoughts is how she seamlessly alternates between a big, boisterous Chilean red that she picked up at the Tasting Room for “approximately $100,” and a California quaffer she snagged at H-E-B for $12. And she writes…
Full Frontal Opera: Opera Vista’s Powder Her Face
Opera Vista Artistic Director Viswa Subbaraman recently spent some time sound testing fishing reels. The reels are among the 33 items the percussionist needs for the upcoming production of Powder Her Face. (Other percussion instruments needed for the show include a pop gun, electric bells and a tub of water.)…
Bike Nazis at the Texas Medical Center
Before going to the office this morning, I cycled over to the Texas Medical Center to visit Chris Gray, the Press’s whiz-bang music editor who is recovering from an apparent heart attack. I greatly enjoyed sharing laughs with Chris during my visit, which lasted about 20 minutes. (He’s doing much…
Artist of the Week: Six Questions With B L A C K I E
Each Wednesday, Rocks Off arbitrarily appoints one lucky local performer or group “Artist of the Week,” bestowing upon them all the fame and grandeur such a lofty title implies. Know a band or artist that isn’t awful? Email their particulars to sheaserrano@gmail.com. This is unprecendented. We’ve had people end up…
Chef Chat, Part 1: David Guerrero of Samba Grille, On His Fight with Brain Cancer at 27
When I asked to interview Executive Chef David Guerrero of Samba Grille, I knew very little about him. I didn’t know that he’d been diagnosed with brain cancer at the young age of 27, that he’d lost his job, his health insurance, his credit, his hair, his taste buds, his…
Janet Jackson’s Nipple Just Fine to View, Federal Judges Rule
You may not remember who played in the 2004 Super Bowl here in Houston, but you no doubt recall the earthshaking fallout from a brief glimpse of Janet Jackson’s covered-up nipple at halftime. Justin Timberlake, the cad, ripped open Jackson’s shirt to reveal the nip, thus dooming millions of impressionable…
Sexy or Silly? We Can’t Decide with Majorca
The subject of this week’s cafe review, Majorca Bistro & Tapas, had every single one of my dining companions at odds over one thing: its striking red and black decor. We couldn’t ultimately decide whether it was sexy or just silly. In one dining room, the walls are dark black…
The Rolling Stones On Ed Sullivan Collected In New DVD Package
The Rolling Stones are literally our favorite band of all-time. Yeah, the title of this here music blog should have already given that away, but watching a decade or so of vital Stones history fly by over six episodes on the new The Ed Sullivan Show Starring The Rolling Stones…
An Interview with Art League Houston Executive Director Glenn Weiss
Glenn Weiss is just a few hours into his new gig as Art League Houston’s executive director, and he already has somebody breathing down his neck. Specifically, Art Attack. “I’m excited to be in Houston,” says Weiss at 11 in the morning on his first day on the job. “I’m…
Some Actual Sex-Trafficking Numbers, Instead of Myths
There has been much discussion of sex trafficking, and much doling out of federal dollars to groups pledged to fight it. What there hasn’t been a lot of is a close determination of the actual extent of the phenomenon, as opposed to widely accepted tales of countless girls coerced into…
Brunch in the ‘Burbs: Crab Cake Benedict at Merche in Cypress
I pass Merche, which specializes in Spanish-Italian fusion and is located on the campus of the North Cypress Medical Center, every time I drive out to my parents’ house in Fairfield, but had never stopped in until this past Sunday. I had heard Dana Tyson talk about it on Sunny…
Galas Are a Bunch of Bullshit
There’s a billboard on 59 that advertises a free iPad 2 when you buy new windows. The iPad 2 is great. You can e-mail from it, and surf the Web. You can listen to music! I thought for a second that it would be really sweet to have a new…
Jeremy Myhres: Genius Turns Simple Beer Wahoo Mission into Felony
According to Nacogdoches cops, 25-year-old Jeremy Myhres walked into an area Chevron Monday night, picked up an unspecified quantity of bottled beer and attempted to leave without paying. When the clerk gave chase to the gold-grilled brew-heister, Myhres turned and hurled one of the bottles at the clerk, striking him…
Last Night: Yngwie Malmsteen At House Of Blues
Two months ago, if someone were to ask us about Yngwie Malmsteen, Aftermath would have most likely responded, “Gesundheit,” and continued about our day. Yngwie who? Yngwie fucking Malmsteen, that’s who! (We saw this very phrase on a shirt at the merch booth.) Flipping his hair and guitar around his…
Dia de los Muertos: The 10 Hottest Dead Chicks (Semi-NSFW)
Today is day two of Día de los Muertos, the Day of the Dead, when all are supposed to clean up the cemeteries, visit their deceased relatives and just in general show some respect to those who have passed beyond the mortal coil. We on the other hand would like…
Garden Fresh: A Lettuce Patch
The reason I grow lettuce in cool weather is not because I eat a lot of salads, but rather I don’t eat a lot of salads. Lettuce doesn’t store well in the refrigerator; worse, it becomes unappetizing before it looks, smells, or tastes bad, but after a salad has been…
Ledisi Finds Success and Confidence in Pieces of Me
Grammy-nominated singer Ledisi is currently on her first nationwide tour in support of her sixth album Pieces of Me. The tour has already sold out venues in New York, Philadelphia and Washington, DC.; and she pulls into Houston Thursday. “I feel great about this tour we have been selling out…
Texas Judge William Adams Allegedly Beating Daughter: Horrifying Video (UPDATED)
The Internet is blowing up with a video allegedly posted by the daughter of an Aransas County judge that she says shows him beating her. Someone who says she is the daughter of Judge William Adams posted the 2004 video only recently. The hard-to-take clip shows a man whipping her…
Brew Blog: Fischer Biere d’ Alsace, Tradition Amber
I’ve been feeling a bit nostalgic, lately. Perhaps it’s the onset of the holiday season, and the attendant traditions, or perhaps it’s the rosy-glassed glimpse of my own past I offered in a recent Brew Blog. Either way, I’ve been thinking a lot about my childhood, and recently gave another…
Texas Filmmakers Showcase on the Big Screen
You might not think of Texas as a mecca for aspiring filmmakers. If you want to break into the biz, you will probably find yourself in Los Angeles or New York. The upcoming 2011 Texas Filmmakers Showcase intends to disprove this perception, with its seven carefully chosen short films, all…
Welcome To The Bungle: The Top 5 Guns N’ Roses Riots
“The World’s Most Dangerous Band.” That was the tag applied to Guns N’ Roses in their late ’80s heyday, and though the smacked-out bad boys of Appetite for Destruction have largely mellowed into comfortable, safe middle age, Axl’s crew can still lay a claim as legit as any to the…
Operation “No Tacos” – A 30 Day Challenge
That’s me up there with my dad, eating a plate full of tacos, the happiest 4-year-old ever. It was there in that one-bedroom duplex in the East End where my love of tacos and all things Mexican originated. Menudo for breakfast? Yes, please. Tamales for lunch? Of course! What about…
Generation Wa Da Tai: Happy 10th Anniversary, Pootie Tang!
June 29, 2001: a great day in the history of cinema. Opening simultaneously at the multiplex, two movies pushed at the outer limit of big-studio weirdness, each in its own way an epistemological essay on the impossibility of communication and stubbornly committed to techniques of estrangement. Both were greeted, to…
Comment of the Day: Trying to Comprehend Infant Porn
We have some great commenters here on Hair Balls, and it’s time we paid some damn attention to them. So we’ll be highlighting a Comment of the Day each morning, from the previous day’s work. Maybe two comments, even. This will all be determined by a highly rigorous scientific formula…
Nominate Your 2011 Turkeys of the Year
It’s November, and that can mean a couple of things: Optimism still reigns about the Texans, the weather’s bearable and it’s time to start thinking about which local eminences should be named a Houston Press Turkey of the Year. Once again we’ll be anointing a chosen few to win the…
The Kim Kardashian Fantasy Relationship Draft 2011
The dream of a new Camelot died this week as Kim Kardashian and hubby Kris Humphries called their 72-day marriage off on Monday. From the start everyone on the outside just assumed this was a business partnership to sell ad space on E!, while everyone involved feigned happiness and tears…
Connie Shaukat: Fugitive at Center of Two Home Invasions; Three Bullet Wounds Didn’t Stop Her from Wedding While on Lam
Okay, this is a weird one. A really weird one, involving accusations of parents smoking weed with children, divorce and remarriage, divided families, indestructible young women, hand grenades, garden hoes, machetes, and other assorted weaponry, a Pakistani immigrant, and vengeance. Got all that? No? Read on and we will attempt…
Marcus Manchild Puts on a Show at KFC
Houston rapper Marcus Manchild and his label partners at AMG (Authentik Music Group), George, Chad and Wodie, are currently traveling the country as part of the Smoker’s Club Tour, headlined by Method Man, Curren$y and Big K.R.I.T. The Smoker’s Club tour comes to Warehouse Live November 11, and Marcus agreed…
Sampler Plate: This Week in Food Blogs
Voracious: Up in Seattle at our sister paper, food critic Hanna Raskin interviews one of the city’s four contestants in the upcoming Top Chef: Texas season, and finds that the chef — Colin Patterson, in case you want to watch for him tonight — has some pretty asinine ideas about…
100 Creatives for 2011
All 100 Creatives for 2011 are lined up in a slideshow for your viewing pleasure. When we started the project for 100 Creatives, highlighting the people we thought were among the most creative in Houston in 2011, it was slow going at first. How would we find them all? We…
The Motor Courts & Motels of Texas: 10 Uninviting or Odd Postcards
Motor courts were all the rage in Texas back before the days where chain motels became as common as Starbucks in a city. You were never quite sure what you were going to get — tiny rooms with paper-thin walls and barely functioning a/c and plumbing, or nice-enough-for-the-price places to…
Comment of the Day: A Reader Both Normal and Healthy
Here on Eating Our Words, the commenters absolutely make the blog, and our Comment of the Day honors the best of the bunch. Every day, we read you guys and pick the commenter, or commenters, who made us laugh, cry, salivate over something delicious, or think about things in a…
(Drunk?) Rick Perry Somehow Provides an Opportunity to Update Our Dumb-Quote Random Generator
Rick Perry has finally found a way to overshadow the “Rick Perry gay” google searches, which yield about 5 million results. In just one day, “Rick Perry drunk” has rocketed to 12.9 million results. Yay? Anyway, Perry’s now-legendary speech in New Hampshire provided an opportunity to update our random generator…
Lyle Lovett Writes Song for KHOU Channel 11 (with video)
Around here, we love us some Lyle Lovett. The home-grown country singer-songwriter has always held a special place in our hearts and we’ve followed his career from the early days at Anderson Fair through his multiple-Grammy-award-winning success as a quirky, Texas troubadour, which is why a commercial for KHOU’s morning…
The $36 Jar of Bœuf Bourguignon at Foody’s Gourmet
Foody’s Gourmet is the newest addition to the ever-expanding Le Mistral empire out on the west side of town. The French restaurant — run by brothers Sylvain and David Denis — once operated out of a tiny strip center space on Eldridge. These days, it occupies a large building next…
Music Editor Chris Gray Getting Even Better
Houston Press Music Editor Chris Gray who has been hospitalized since Friday when he collapsed at a Metro light rail station on his way to work, suffering an apparent heart attack, has improved enough that doctors are talking about sending him to a rehab facility in a few days for…
Music Editor Chris Gray Getting Even Better
Houston Press Music Editor Chris Gray, who has been hospitalized since Friday when he collapsed at a Metro light rail station on his way to work, suffering an apparent heart attack, has improved enough that doctors are talking about sending him to a rehab facility in a few days for…
Holiday Events This Week at Whole Foods Markets
Whole Foods Market’s Houston and Sugar Land stores are gearing up for the holidays with two in-store events this week: One to get you drunk (a holiday wine tasting) and one to keep you shrunk (a holiday healthy tips event) . On Wednesday, November 2, from 7-7:30 pm., all Houston…
Eyewitness Testimony & Police Lineups: Have Your Voice Heard
Texas is trying to develop a model statewide policy on eyewitness testimony and the use of police lineups — like, you know, the cop in charge can’t point out a suspect to the witness with his eyes and subtle pointing, that kind of thing. And they want your input. The…
Distant Early Warning: The Civil Wars, Briokids, Otenki, The Kills, Titan Blood
August Burns Red, Silverstein: Wed., Jan. 25. House of Blues. B L A C K I E, LIMB: Fri., Nov. 18. Notsuoh. Better Than Ezra, Dash Rip Rock: Thu., Dec. 29. House of Blues. Blue October: Sat., Dec. 31. House of Blues. Bob Schneider: Sat., Nov. 26. House of Blues…
Tuesday November 1, 2011 Deals of the Day
Today’s VOICE Daily Deal from the Houston Press is good for 50 percent off ($25 for $50) gourmet steaks and more at Prime Time Steakhouse. The menu features aged prime beef that you can pair with a variety of succulent sides; order up a flaming dessert and impress your date…
Being Ringo Starr for Almost 30 Years: Ralph Castelli
At age six, so the story goes, Ralph Castelli saw the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show (February 1964) and decided what he wanted to do for the rest of his life — namely, play drums. But for the past 27 years, Castelli has gone beyond that with even more…
Ask A Rapper: Discussing the Six Worse Rap Collaborations Ever
The hip-hop world is a less than sensible place — lots of times, you’re even required to clarify when bad means bad and when bad means good — so once a week we’re going to get with a rapper and ask them to explain things. Something you always wanted to…
Tony Giannakis: A Mad Check-Walker’s Reign of Terror Possibly Brought to Close
Antonis (or possibly Antonio) Lee Giannakis appears to like fine food. Unfortunately for local restaurants and himself, it looks like he doesn’t like to pay for it. On September 20, Giannakis, 47, appropriated a meal valued at more than $50 and was caught slipping out the door without paying. After…
National Sandwich Day Is Thursday, November 3!
Fact: We love sandwiches. PB&J, BLT, grilled cheese, po-boy, Cuban, Reuben, cheese steak in Philly or muffaletta in New Orleans, single or multi-tiered, we can’t get enough. We love them simple and oh so complicated, hot and cold, for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Some would even risk their lives for…
Vamp Candy: Rachel Caine
If you think paranormal-fiction writer Rachel Caine has ever written you into one of her books, you’re wrong. “People say that to me all the time,” laughs the Fort Worth-based Caine. “I have to tell them, ‘No, but no, you’re not in the book.” I don’t think I convince most…
This Just In: SXSW Announces First Round Of 2012 Showcasing Bands, Including Fat Tony and Something Fierce
Sweet lord, it’s not even Thanksgiving yet and South By Southwest is making us excited for March in Austin already. Today the industry festival announced a few bands coming to the capitol city next year, and a few Houston names and Rocks Off faves have made the early cut. Locals…
John Lennon’s Imagine Turns 40: Ten Facts About The Album
Forty years ago this past week, John Lennon’s second solo LP away from the Beatles, Imagine, hit number one on the UK album charts. The album was released on October 8, 1971 in England and September 9, 1971 here in the States. The album was seen as a commercial answer…
Welcome to the Nabi-hood: Montrose Gets a New Asian Fusion Restaurant
Another table-turning restaurant is making Montrose its home: Say sayonara, Tomo and irashaimase to its new incarnation, Nabi. The Asian fusion restaurant is taking over the sushi joint, which had been a fixture on Lower Westheimer since 2007. Prior to Tomo, the building at 1517 Westheimer was the location of…
Spielberg, Williams Discuss Magic of Music in Movies on TCM
In thinking of great movies, we remember the actors and directors who made the films stellar. But rarely do we delve into the more technical aspects that bring them authenticity and trigger our emotions, especially the musical portion. To discuss the importance of music to films, Steven Spielberg and his…
Great News, Texas: Robert Caro’s Newest LBJ Volume Comes Out in May
It’s been — as always — a long wait between volumes of Robert Caro’s masterful, majestic and compulsively readable biography of Lyndon Johnson. News has finally come of the new volume, and even better news is that it won’t be the last. The new book, Passage to Power, will only…
Houston-Area Represent!! We’ve Got the Most Wanted Fugitive and the Most Wanted Sex Offender!!
The Houston area has racked up a rare double honor from the Department of Public Safety: Not only do we have the Most Wanted Fugitive from the agency’s top 10 list, we have the Most Wanted Sex Offender too. We’re just a bunch of very wanted people around here. Javier…
Still Corners: If You’re Not Mad, You’re Not in Love
This week in our music video column we continue our exchange program with the unbeatable Mick Cullen of Subterranean Radio who keeps his finger so tightly on the pulse of stellar underground tunes that we always ask him for new ones whenever our supply runs low. He suggested an incredible…
10 Pumpkin Dishes to Try in Houston: #6 Pumpkin & Cream Cheese Bread from Sinfull Bakery
In 2010, I had a grand ol’ time scouring Houston for outstanding pumpkin dishes. One year later I’m older, definitely not wiser, and still in love with orange squash. So from now until Thanksgiving I’ll be counting down (again) 10 Pumpkin Dishes to Try in Houston. Forks at the ready!…
DVDs & Blu-rays: Snow Flower and the Secret Fan and An Invisible Sign
Art Attack simply refuses to discuss any Christmas-related DVD or Blu-ray releases at least until after Thanksgiving. That cut our choices down by something like 90 percent, but we still found a couple of chick flicks worth your attention. First up is Wayne Wang’s Snow Flower and the Secret Fan…
Comment of the Day: Drink More, Rick Perry
We have some great commenters here on Hair Balls, and it’s time we paid some damn attention to them. So we’ll be highlighting a Comment of the Day each morning, from the previous day’s work. Maybe two comments, even. This will all be determined by a highly rigorous scientific formula…
Last Night: Beirut at Warehouse Live
Last night, the line of people waiting to enter Warehouse Live for the Beirut show was an opening act of its own. Alongside Captain America, Waldo, Aladdin, and The Situation, we made our way into the suddenly festive confines of Warehouse Live to see Sante Fe, New Mexico native Zach…
Wine of the Week: A Wine with “No Detectable Sulfites”
One of the chief complaints often expressed by advocates, champions, and militants of Natural wine (with a capital N) is that overly ambitious marketers of organic and biodynamic wines often mislead consumers when plying their wares, touting them erroneously as “Natural.” And their Jeremiads are not unwarranted: Now more than…
Michelle White Promoted to Menil Curator
Michelle White was so thrilled with her internal promotion at The Menil Collection that she pretty much left Houston right away. The future Menil curator won’t return for two weeks. That’s because she got married over the weekend and is currently honeymooning. When she returns in mid-November, White will take…
Rap Round Table: Which is the Best Halloween-y Rap Song?
Some rappers happen to be thoughtful, intelligent people. Every Monday Rocks Off will have some of them here discussing issues relevant to their culture. This Week’s Panel: Slim Thug, Mug, Yung Redd, Delo, Preemo, Chane, Brad Gilmore, Herney the Great, Mic Skills, more. Not Invited: Rick Perry. This Week’s Prompt:…
Liquor Treat: Using Leftover Halloween Sweets for Six Candy Cocktails
Once Halloween has come and gone, I’m always left with a giant pile of Halloween candy. I have eaten it, tortured people by bringing it in to work, and baked it into all kinds of cakes and desserts. But this year, I plan on trying something new. I call it…
Prepare for a More Stylish Life! Macy’s Launches MBLOG Lifestyles Web site
Have you been getting too much done at work? Perhaps you have been especially responsible with your money lately. Don’t fret! Macy’s has provided the antidote with their new MBLOG: an insider’s guide to fashion, beauty, home and lifestyles trends. Macy’s experts will contribute with their favorite picks in each…
Peter Kingman Lindsley: Infant Porn, for When Child Porn Isn’t Sick Enough
A Montrose man has entered a guilty plea to possession of child pornography, and he’s taken the “child” part of it to extremes. Peter Kingman Lindsley, 49, was found to have on his computer “3,805 digital images and 860 video files that depicted children engaging in lewd exhibitions of the…
Pop Rocks: Five Things That Ended More Quickly Than Kim Kardashian’s Marriage
If you had the 73-day “under” on the length of Kim Kardashian’s marriage to Kris Humphries (a.k.a. The Most Blatant Gambit to Maintain Consecutive Gossip Mag Covers Since Paris Hilton Exited A Car Sans Panties), you just doubled your money. Yes, Kim Kardashian has issued a statement confirming that her…
Pop Rocks: Hey, Plenty of Things Didn’t Last 73 Days, Kim Kardashian Haters
If you had the 73-day “under” on the length of Kim Kardashian’s marriage to Kris Humphries (a.k.a. The Most Blatant Gambit to Maintain Consecutive Gossip Mag Covers Since Paris Hilton Exited A Car Sans Panties), you just doubled your money. Yes, Kim Kardashian has issued a statement confirming that her…
Roger Waters And The Wall Return To Houston May 1
Now that the Halloween season is officially over, all of you rock nerds can throw this show on your Christmas wish list. Former Pink Floyd bassist Roger Waters is bringing his big-budget concert production of the band’s concept album The Wall back to Houston and the Toyota Center on May…
Five Unbelievable Anti-Drug Ads That We Doubt Ever Worked
Television public-service announcements are to fighting drugs what abstinence-only education is to preventing teenage sex: In theory it should work, but the presentation often falls very, very short. That hasn’t stopped people from trying, of course. Here are five of the classics. Decide for yourself if they did more harm…
Houston’s Wicked Poseur Teams With The Room Star Tommy Wiseau For New Clip
This morning we got an HD look at the Tommy Wiseau-starring video for Wicked Poseur’s “Hideous Things”. The simple production, with the star of cult-hit The Room turning into a werewolf over the course of the two-minute song, was directed by Funwunce director Rick Darge and Mark Armes. Armes previously…
Where Are We Drinking?
Here’s a slightly different Where Are We Drinking for this week, in celebration of the upcoming Houston Beer Week and all of its fantastic festivities. The growler in question below arguably came from Whole Foods — but what’s inside? Here are your hints: It’s a local beer with a punny…
4 Terrible Lessons Children’s TV Is Teaching Our Kids
We’ve mentioned many times in the past that we are the proud father of an inexplicable little daughter who owns our TV and occasionally deigns to allow us to watch it. She’s two now, and that means that Nick Jr. and Sprout logos have burned themselves permanently into the screen…
The Eight Toughest Soldiers Texas Ever Produced (Featuring Heroism, Betrayal & Many Dead Bodies)
Our war heroes are presented to us in different varieties. There are those we create for ourselves, in the mold of what we think a hero should be: David Crockett (nobody but Walt Disney called him Davy), astride the ramparts at the Alamo going to a hero’s death while clubbing…
Comment of the Day: Et Tu, Marquis II?
Here on Eating Our Words, the commenters absolutely make the blog, and our Comment of the Day honors the best of the bunch. Every day, we read you guys and pick the commenter, or commenters, who made us laugh, cry, salivate over something delicious, or think about things in a…
Texans/Jaguars — 4 Winners, 4 Losers
“I still don’t like them, and I have no respect for them at all. It was just the dirty stuff they were doing. I don’t want to get into specifics; I just don’t like them. . . . I’m not going to get into names or anything like that, but…
Mario Williams to Help HPD Hand Out More Speeding Tickets
Mario Williams isn’t helping the Houston Texans out much this year, being injured and all, but he’s still helping Houstonians!! He’s helping them get traffic tickets, that is. Then again, if you’re going so fast the cops need a 2011 police-package Chevrolet Camaro to catch up, you may not be…
Gothic Council Rules on Halloween Costumes
There’s a pretty sharp divide between goths over Halloween. While all of us can agree on the sanctity of the holiday, and many can trace our current interests back to an obsession with the 31st of October and all the hoopla that surrounds it, the actual mode of celebration is…
What Kind of Coffee Do You Unwittingly Resemble?
This weekend, I stopped into Inversion for a caffeine infusion in my preferred format: a cortado, which is a shot of espresso cut with an equal amount of steamed milk. No foam on top, nothing fancy, no flavorings — just the facts, ma’am. When it was my turn, I stepped…
10 Pumpkin Dishes to Try in Houston: #7 Pumpkin Cheesecake at The Chocolate Bar
In 2010, I had a grand ol’ time scouring Houston for outstanding pumpkin dishes. One year later I’m older, definitely not wiser, and still in love with orange squash. So from now until Thanksgiving I’ll be counting down (again) 10 Pumpkin Dishes to Try in Houston. Forks at the ready!…
Your 2011 HPMA Showcase Schedule Is Here
The 2011 Houston Press Music Awards Showcase is a little over a week away, and we are very excited. On November 12, venues across downtown Houston will come to life with the some of the best bands in the city. We have lined up over 50 bands to play over…
Terry Dale Carnes: Serial Child Rapist Gets at Least 30 Years
Talk about getting scum off the streets — a Montgomery County man tied to at least five attempted or actual child rapes was sentenced to four life sentences, and won’t be eligible for parole for 30 years. The Montgomery County DA’s office says they will include paperwork in his file…
Last Night: Boots Electric At Fitzgerald’s
Nearly three years ago we wrote a breathless, hungover review of the Eagles Of Death Metal’s last show at the Meridian. It was late November and the show had already been postponed due to Hurricane Ike and we had a gaggle of friends and girls with us who also saw…
Once Upon a Time: That’s Two Strikes So far
Thus far we are underwhelmed with ABC’s Once Upon a Time. The show remains s Moreau-esque mixture of modern paranormal mystery and fantasy epic, and frankly neither one is really panning out. The second episode mostly deals with Emma (Jennifer Morrison) attempting to stay in the town of Storybrooke in…
Fast Times: Chik-Fil-A Chargrilled Chicken Club
Lately I’m not sure which came first, the chicken or the egg–in which “the chicken” is my insatiable craving for hamburgers and “the egg” is Fast Times. Either way, I had to give myself a break this week and actually eat, uh, chicken. A girl can only eat so many…
UPDATED: Music Editor Chris Gray is Holding His Own
Photo by Ramon MedinaChris Gray, on the right, with musician Benjamin Wesley.UPDATE:On Monday afternoon, Chris Gray’s dad said his son has his eyes open, is responsive to sounds and has moved around. It is still too early to determine what all has happened to him, however, because doctors still can’t…
UPDATED: Music Editor Chris Gray Is Holding His Own
Photo by Ramon MedinaChris Gray, on the right, with musician Benjamin Wesley.UPDATE: On Monday afternoon, Chris Gray’s dad said his son has his eyes open, is responsive to sounds and has moved around. It is still too early to determine what all has happened to him, however, because doctors still…
Friday Night: DJ Erick Rincón and 3BallMty at El Chaparral
[jump] The undisputed king of Tribal Guarachero is a shaggy haired 18-year-old DJ named Erick Rincon. He and his fellow tribaleros DJ Otto and DJ Sheeqo Beat form the Colectivo 3Ball Monterry (3BallMty for short), an energetic trio of young producers and remixers who were just signed to Universal Music…
What’s Cooking This Week?
Last week, I spiced up my menu with a punch of fall flavor. This week, inspiration came in the form of my favorite four-letter word: sale. You can put pretty much anything on discount and I’ll buy it; I say this as I look at the giant rooster that I…
A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Family Arts Center Shows Flashes of Brilliance
The set-up: William Shakespeare’s most-popular play is re-set in The Roaring Twenties and is tackled by a teenage cast. The execution: There is ample plot, its essence being that the young lovers are in love with the wrong person, and the magical adults Oberon and Titania are having a marital…
The Oh-So-Charming (Alleged) Sexual Slurs at a Bonham Car Dealer
A veteran salesperson at a Bonham car dealer has sued the company, saying a supervisor there regularly used sexually abusive language in dealing with her. The plaintiff worked for the dealership for almost ten years; the last five of those, she says in her suit, were under a supervisor who…
Kawaii Weekend at Oni-Con
Check out our slideshow of the sexiest costumes at Oni-Con. Oni-Con, Houston’s annual appreciation of all things Japanese pop culture and anime, moved to the beach this year with a stunning setting at the Galveston Island Convention Center, giving costume-clad superheroes and manga fans the perfect backdrop for their photos…
Last Night: Concrete Blonde At Fitzgerald’s
Concrete Blonde, Girl In a Coma Fitzgerald’s October 30, 2011 Aftermath was as bummed as anyone when Concrete Blonde, after a few fits and starts, apparently called it quits back in 2006. We also kicked ourselves repeatedly when we were unable to make any of the dates of last year’s…
Tea Time at the New Marquis II
Seeing people smoking outside of the newly renovated Marquis II is strange enough to distract you from the other changes, like the exterior coat of dark paint and the windows that make the place seem less like the strip club it used to be. (Supposedly the Bunny Club, 1970s; Google…
5 Video Game Films We Wish They’d Make And Our Pick of Directors
We were just moseying along down the sidewalk of the Internet window shopping and fending off the advances of hookers when the above image appeared. That’s the first released shot from the Japanese film adaptation of the Ace Attorney games featuring the greatest pointer/lawyer in the world, Phoenix Wright. If…
Unidentified Male Drive-By Victim, 18, Bayou Body Count No. 169
A drive-by shooting at a far westside nightclub left an 18-year-old man dead early Saturday morning, police say. The man, whose identity has not been released pending notification of family members, was walking in the parking lot of the Royal Palace party hall in the 11900 block of Bissonnet about…
Last Night: Zac Brown Band at the Woodlands
Aftermath has heard a decent amount of entertaining segues at concerts. Most concert segues are awkward and some are funny, but this one from Zac Brown’s last night was the most country shit we’ve ever heard: “Sometimes you have to fight the chicken when you’re a man.” At first we…
Zombie Prom at UH: Funny and Perfect for Halloween
The set-up: Relationships are tested when a rejected teenage swain turns to nuclear suicide, but returns as a radioactive toxic avenger to reclaim his true love. The execution: Romance blossoms between Jonny (Philip Orazio) and Toffee (Jenna Simmons), and their acting and vocal skills let us believe in and savor…
Happy Halloween: The 10 Most Disturbing Food-Related Scenes in Horror Movies
Note: This is a repost of a popular Halloween post from last year. Trick or treat… There are a lot of taboos around what we eat as human beings, and even taboos around how we eat what we do. Eating human flesh to survive because you’re trapped in the Andes?…
Halloween Wine: Zeller Schwarze Katz
You’ll find Zeller Schwarze Katz (Black Cat Cellars) wines from the Mosel River Valley, Germany at Spec’s…
Michael Brown’s Letters to Sophie, Volume IV: Just a Reminder to Bang Your Husband a Lot, and Draw an Occasional Pampering Bath
With it being Michael Brown week here, we thought we’d bring you another installment of the good doctor’s archived, hallowed letters to his then-newborn daughter. This week’s installment continues on the theme of how important it is for a wife to rock her husband’s world in bed, thus ensuring a…
Last Night: Anthrax & Testament At Warehouse Live
You can’t stand still at an Anthrax show. It’s not that it isn’t allowed; it’s that it isn’t possible. The floor shakes, your ears and chest pound in rhythm with the bass and percussion, and you’re inevitably swept up into the heavy, fast-paced music as your head spins. Depending on…
Nevermore: 5 Bizarre Deaths of Famous Authors
Last week Sylvia Plath turned 79, well she would have if she was still alive. Plath took her own life at the ripe age of 30 by sticking her head into the oven and gassing herself. Authors and suicide go together like peanut butter and jelly. Some of the greatest…
So How Much Do You Really Know About the Astros and the DH?
There has been a strange uproar over the Astros’ possible move to the American League. There’s been whining over start times, bitching about Bud Selig and much, much discussion about the designated hitter not being real baseball. And while people are upset, it needs to be noted that the Astros…
Friday Night: Bassnectar At Verizon Wireless Theater
Check out Bassnectar and the many babes in costume in our slideshow. Womp womp is an unstoppable force. You can try to fight it, hide from it even, but it will find you or someone you care about, and the almighty power of dub step will eventually suck you in,…
The Week in TV: NBC Just Going to Give Up Already
Happy Halloween from TV Land, where the costumes are always better than yours: • In renewal news: Showtime has given a second season to Homeland, which stars Damian Lewis as a returned POW who might actually be a sleeper Al Qaeda agent and Claire Danes as the emotionally unstable CIA…
French-Toasted Tortilla
When Joseph French, an innkeeper in Albany, New York, invented French toast in 1724, he became an early practitioner of the American affinity to dip food in batter and fry it in fat. The oil has gotten deeper since then, the food more exotic, leading inevitably to the Texas State…
10 Rappers As Movie Villains
Cunning criminals, violent geniuses, charismatic characters. Villains give us chills and keep us on the edge of our seats. With more rappers now dabbling in acting, we decided to cast some of your favorite hip-hoppers as movie villains. Here are ten rappers and their evil alter-egos…
DEFCON Dining: Spanish Village
For a long time, Spanish Flowers was my family’s go-to Tex-Mex joint. It was one of the first Houston restaurants (of any variety) that my parents visited while house-hunting from South Bend, IN nearly 20 years ago. When my older brother went off to college, it became a holiday tradition…
Comment of the Day: Lots of Love for Chris Gray
We have some great commenters here on Hair Balls, and it’s time we paid some damn attention to them. So we’ll be highlighting a Comment of the Day each morning, from the previous day’s work. Maybe two comments, even. This will all be determined by a highly rigorous scientific formula…
Fidelio from Houston Grand Opera: Thrilling Theater
The setup: Beethoven’s only opera (1805, revised 1814) is a mighty ode to joy, political freedom and conjugal bliss. Houston Grand Opera’s production, anchored by radiant performances from international superstar soprano Karita Mattila and majestic tenor Simon O’Neill, bursts forth with thrilling theater and approaches, at times, true grandeur. For…
Rick Perry, Not at All Drunk in New Hampshire
Live free or die, man. This video was first highlighted by Mother Jones, whose Tim Murphy called it “the strangest Rick Perry video I have ever seen (which is a pretty long list).” Weird? Our man Rick is just enjoying the Friday flow, baby. Especially after the 2:20 mark. Is…
Station Museum’s Crude Installation Is Rather Refined
Last week, Art Attack was lucky enough to get a sneak peek at the upcoming installation by Russian-born artist Andrei Molodkin, as he and the staff of the Station Museum of Contemporary Art were still loading in. The exhibition, which opens November 5, is entitled Crude and aptly so. One…
Five Terrible Halloween Handouts That the Desperate Resort to
We’ve all been there: settling in at home after a night’s work when the doorbell rings and you all of a sudden realize — oh shit, it’s Halloween. No one wants to disappoint dewy-eyed innocent youngsters excitedly dressed as Disney characters you don’t recognize. But there are mistakes to be…
Static Jacks: Floating Approximately 3ft Off the Ground for No Reason
It’s a well-known fact that most band names are essentially gobbledygook, but here at Rocks Off we’re trying hard to find meaning in the oddest monikers. Originally this week’s What’s in a Name column was to be a breakdown of the Radio Dept.’s name. Oh it would’ve been glorious, but…
5 Worst Video Game Bosses…to Work for
Anybody can put together a list of video game bosses that are lame, and if we did we’re pretty sure it would be 1,500 words and how incredibly messed up it is for Kirby to beat up on a tree. Not a Lord of the Rings walking tree that stomps…
Where Are We Eating?
If you’ve never had crawfish bread at this Cajun favorite, you’re missing out on one of Houston’s best appetizers: French bread, buttered and spread with garlic, then topped with crawfish tails and melted cheese. Eat your heart out. Think you know where we’re eating this week?…
Texans 24, Jaguars 14: It Wasn’t Pretty. Thankfully, It Doesn’t Have to Be Anymore
See more photos from the Texans’ romping of the Jaguars in our slideshow. To know the Houston Texans is to know drama, at least from a historical standpoint. Offensive explosions — both from the Texans and their opponents — fueled both spectacular wins and crushing collapses in 2009 and 2010…
Comment of the Day: A Late-Night Favorite
Here on Eating Our Words, the commenters absolutely make the blog, and our Comment of the Day honors the best of the bunch. Every day, we read you guys and pick the commenter, or commenters, who made us laugh, cry, salivate over something delicious, or think about things in a…
6 Videos to Mentally Prepare You for Game 7 of the World Series
You can debate all you want about which sport is the best or most fun to watch, but one thing most sports fans can agree on — regardless of the sport, there is nothing quite like a Game 7. Sometimes it’s not about the amount of true action, nor about…
Return of the King: Willie D is Back
Last night, we had a meeting re: an upcoming story. Betwixt the foot rubs from the barely clothed supermodels that HP employs (both male and female because attractive is attractive, yo) and taking dips in the massive in-office swimming pool (which, personally, I don’t enjoy; it’s filled with that European…
Upcoming Events: Eat Noodles, Help the Homeless
Still haven’t made Halloween plans? Head to RA Sushi in Highland Village or at CityCentre, where the restaurant will be hosting its annual Boo Bash this Monday, October 31, from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. Boo Bites (appetizers) and Potent Potions (booze) will be on special all night, and guests…
Yodani Cruz-Rojas, 29, Shot at Work By Her Children’s Father, Bayou Body Count No. 168
Photo by HPDNoel Sosa-Ruiz: On the run with a CHL.A domestic dispute ended in murder when a man gunned down a woman at her dentist-office job Thursday evening, Houston police say. Yodani Cruz-Rojas, 29, was killed in a flurry of gunshots from Noel Sosa-Ruiz, 41, with whom police say she…
Warren Haynes, A “Man In Motion”
Warren Haynes has one of the ultimate guitar player resumes, having played for years with the Allman Brothers, many tours with the Grateful Dead and offshoot Bob Weir and Friends as well as his own wildly popular jam band Govt. Mule. He’s also toured with Dave Matthews. Haynes comes to…
Bartender Chat: Ava of The Fairview
The Fairview, formerly Dean’s Credit Clothing in Montrose, is a great all-are-welcome kind of neighborhood bar that actually supports the neighborhood. On any given night, you could happen upon an art exhibition, a film screening, a DJ spinning, a belly dance show or a live music performance. The space is…
Steven Christopher Willis, 23: The Girlfriend Who Said He Accidentally Stabbed Himself Faces Murder Charges; Bayou Body Count No. 167
Photo by HPDAngel Rankin: Wanted for murder after story fails to hold up.When the story of Steven Christopher Willis’s September 16 death first came out, we noted it raised a few questions. His girlfriend, Angel Lee Rankin, 34, said she had called Willis to come help her with her stalled…
Concrete Blonde’s Johnette Napolitano (Part 2) On Social Media & Peter Criss
Today Rocks Off continues our discussion with Concrete Blonde’s bassist/lead vocalist Johnette Napolitano. Part One of our interview can be found here. The band will perform at Fitzgerald’s this Sunday, October 30, with Girl In a Coma. RO: In talking about cultural differences between America and many other places I’m…
Contemporary Art Show Urges You to ‘Go West’
The organizers behind “Go West I” use phrases like “bridging worlds,” “bilateral exhibit” and “stimulating dialogue” to make you want to go to a new show of contemporary art from Parisian and Texan artists. It’s a gimmick — all shows can be, on some level, as a result of their…
Chef Chat, Part 3: Kaiser Lashkari of Himalaya Restaurant
This week we have been talking with Chef Kaiser Lashkari of Himalaya Restaurant (see the rest of our chat here and here). served up the special: a cafeteria tray-sized portion of several entrées…
Michael Lund: Cop Arrested for DWI after Driving Through Accident Scene
A veteran Sugar Land police captain was arrested for DWI early this morning after cops say he drove through a blocked-off accident scene. Michael Lund was arrested shortly after midnight near the scene of a large accident at Dairy Ashford and Highway 90A. The Stafford police, who are handling the…
Person of Interest: “The Fix” Is In
If it felt like this week’s installment of PoI was treading water, that’s because it pretty much was. No further illumination of Reese or Finch’s pasts (though Finch apparently has some experience in the investment trenches), and not much in the way of development for either character (correction: Reese apparently…
TV Party: Beavis & Butt-head Return with “Werewolves Of Highland/Crying”
Rocks Off has always championed the arts, and Beavis & Butt-head are no different. We’ve shown you the bands that we got into because of the shows ’90s run, and last year we listed our favorite music videos from the series. So earlier this year, when Beavis & Butt-head creator…
Openings & Closings: Wie Sagt Man “Remodeling” auf Deutsch?
Earlier this week, we received an email from a concerned customer of Old Heidelberg: “I recently relocated back to Houston from Dallas. One place I have fond memories of is called The Heidelberg on Fountain View. I drove passed it recently and it appeared to be closed or under remodeling…
Last Night: Mastodon At Fitzgerald’s
Mastodon and Wild Flag filled the room at Fitz. Check out our pics. Mastodon, Black Tusk, Venomous Maximus Fitzgerald’s October 27, 2011 Mastodon on the stage upstairs at Fitzgerald’s is like a bull in a china closet, an anaconda in a cage full of mice, or at least John Travolta…
Football! This Weekend’s Best Bets
So I said last weekend that we were in the midst of one of the most dominant, and in turn most predictable streaks in college football. The top ten teams each week were crushing the books to the tune of covering the number about 80 percent of their games. Two…
Mike Kelley Leaves Numbers
Eight months ago Rocks Off ran a profile of promoter Mike Kelley, whose OnStage Events company seemed to be bringing about a renaissance for Numbers night club that we could not contain our excitement over. Kelley was behind the long-needed renovation of the Numbers live sound system, something that was…
Beavis & Butt-head: “Werewolves of Highland/Crying”
Earlier this year, Beavis & Butt-head creator Mike Judge and MTV announced that the animated pair of metal-loving, non-scoring, fire-obsessed teens was returning to the cable channel to take aim at the second decade of the 21st century. An appearance at San Diego Comic-Con this summer delighted those of us…
Brain-Eating Bands and Songs for the Walking Dead
Zombies or vampires? It’s a classic debate along the line of The Beatles vs. The Rolling Stones. We’re not sure the Fab Four qualifies as either monster, but with The Glimmer Twins’ propensity to remain upright and touring despite advanced age, decay, and a million other complications that should have…
Abraham Moses Fisch: Made a Million Convincing Defendants He Could Bribe Their Cases Away, Feds Say
Houston criminal defense attorney Abraham Moses Fisch is facing a slew of federal charges this morning: conspiracy, obstruction of justice, money laundering, conspiracy to commit money laundering and failure to file tax returns. They all stem from what the U.S. Attorney’s Office describes as a scheme to convince criminal defendants…
In the Window: The Week in Photos
It’s time again to check out the Houston Press Flickr Pool and see what kinds of art shots our talented photographers have added. We love street art, unique perspectives and beautiful photos of Houston’s creative community. If you think you’ve got a good eye, drop your pictures in the pool…
(Not So) Odd Pair: Wine and Sex
The publication, last week, of the first English-language translation of the Japanese manga comic Drops of God by Tadashi Agi (a pseudonym for brother and sister Shin and Yuko Kibayashi) aroused my, ahem, curiosity. I have not yet read it but am dying to. The editors of the prestigious British…
Nolan Ryan….Or Old Man Potter From It’s A Wonderful Life?
Watching the terrific ending of Game Six last night, we kept getting shown shots of Rangers president Nolan Ryan looking extremely annoyed in the stands. Something about it felt familiar. And then we realized:…
Encyclopedia Gothica: Liisa Ladouceur Explains It All
We knew that we were going to like this book from the very first page. Ask a Goth person, “What is Goth?” and they’ll likely tell you, “I’m not Goth.” Which is a sure sign that they are, in fact, 666 percent Goth. Amen, sister. As head of the prestigious…
Project Runway Finale: Tears, Fears and Arrears
This week on Project Runway: Anya drapes and flows her way to three new, last minute looks; Joshua makes women everywhere covet neoprene and molded plastic; Viktor stays cool, calm, and collected; Kimberly’s urban girl wears beaded, backless gowns to the grocery store. Designer, and tall drink of water L’Wren…
Oh Yeah, and the Cougars Win Back the Bayou Bucket
Check out our slideshow of last night’s rainy Bayou Bucket game. Houston’s Tyron Carrier took the opening kickoff 100 yards for the touchdown to quickly put the Cougars up 7-0. Then the rain hit and the Rice Owls came out in the wildcat offense, with Turner Petersen and Tyler Smith…
Community: Cabin in the Woods
I found myself wondering the other day if Community had become too reliant on gimmicks. NBC’s programming schedule meant that its Thursday comedies were in reruns last week, which gave me more time to process “Remedial Chaos Theory.” That was a smart, funny episode, but it also left me feeling…
Dinner Party Dos & Don’ts
With the weather finally cooling down and the holidays fast approaching, I find myself longing for a warm and cozy gathering with family and friends. Oddly enough, I actually feel like cooking for these psychos. I’m thinking a roaring fireplace, flowing wine, great food and even better times. Since I…
Reviews for the Easily Distracted: Puss in Boots
Title: Puss in Boots Dude, Really? Hey, I had a chance to take my kids to a preview screening. Sue me. Rating Using Random Objects Relevant To The Film: Three magic beans out of five. Tagline: “Looking good never looked so good.” Better Tagline: “For everyone who’s ever wanted a…
7 Movies That Are Good Reasons to Still Own VCRs
It’s likely that the only person you know who is still using a VCR is your grandfather, and even that’s becoming very unlikely. Between Blu-ray and HD streaming downloads, we’re getting to the point that the only way you’re going to get a better viewing experience is to take enough…
Charlie Benante Keeps The Beat Steady For Anthrax
After a tumultuous few years both musically and memberwise, New York thrash metal pioneers Anthrax will be able to close out 2011 on a pretty high note. In addition to releasing the critically and commercially acclaimed Worship Music – their first studio album in eight years, and first with classic-lineup…
Not Your Typical Combo Platter at Nam Giao Restaurant & Bakery
It is very common for Vietnamese restaurants to be known for one or two specialties, and in some cases that’s all they’ll serve, like Bun Bo Hue, a place Mai Pham recently wrote about. A couple of weeks ago when I made plans with my dad for dinner and he…
Comment of the Day: The Longhorn Network, Unloved & Unneeded
We have some great commenters here on Hair Balls, and it’s time we paid some damn attention to them. So we’ll be highlighting a Comment of the Day each morning, from the previous day’s work. Maybe two comments, even. This will all be determined by a highly rigorous scientific formula…
Week in Photos: Curves
Each week, we take a dip into the Houston Press Flickr pool and see what our talented photographers have been up to. We’re looking for pictures that represent the best of Houston, from food to art to events, to secret hidden spots of beauty. Just drop them in our Flickr…
The Best in Candy-Made Art — Just in Time for Halloween
This art is pretty sweet. In honor of the sugar-fueled tradition that is Halloween, we bring you the best in art that uses candy as its primary source of material. Where you may just see a handful of jelly beans or gummy bears that are meant to be in your…
Dig This: Peloton, Coxcombs, Titan Blood, Papaya & Football, Etc.
The current volume of local music is staggering. New Houston bands are born daily, and all too often pass away just as quickly. Rocks Off wants to help you (and ourselves) keep up. Houston’s got a plethora of musical acts, and whether yours is layered loops of Gregorian chant accompanied…
The Price Is Right, Dr. Brown Style
In honor of this week’s feature story on former hand surgeon and all-around weird dude Michael Brown, and seeing as how it’s Friday, we thought we’d have some fun with a Price Is Right-style walk through the inventory of belongings in Brown’s 2005 bankruptcy filing. We must point out, though,…
100 Creatives: Stanton Welch
What he does: It seems Australian choreographer Stanton Welch has been on the fast track from the very beginning. He started formal training in 1986 at age 17, joined the Australian Ballet in 1989 and was given his first choreographic commission just a year later. He created his first work…
The Rest of the Best: Houston’s Top 5 Late-Night Eats
For the next 20 weeks, we’ll be rounding up the runners-up to our 2011 Best of Houston® winners. In many categories, picking each year’s winner is no easy task. We’ll be spotlighting 20 of those categories, in which the winner had hefty competition from other Houston bars and restaurants…
Hippie Costumes, the Awful Scourge of Halloween: Seven Telling Examples
Hippies. Proof that anything can become nostalgic. We’re not sure kids in the `60s dressed up like Roaring Twenties flappers — although, judging from what we posted recently, it would be an improvement — but people today apparently try to dress up like hippies. Why, we’re not sure. And, it…
Comment of the Day: The 72-Gallon Pint Glass
Here on Eating Our Words, the commenters absolutely make the blog, and our Comment of the Day honors the best of the bunch. Every day, we read you guys and pick the commenter, or commenters, who made us laugh, cry, salivate over something delicious, or think about things in a…
C-SPAN Geeks Unite! The Bus Is Coming to Town!
It takes a certain kind of nerd to admit it, but we will — C-SPAN is on our regular, limited weeknight channel-clicking rotation. First, see if there’s breaking news on CNN, then see if there’s even a low-rent college football game, and then on to the glories of House and…
Houston-Area Dude Tries to Walk $737,000 of Liquid Meth Across Border in Beer Bottles
John Derrick Phelps, 23, was acting like any other tourist coming back from Mexico with a little souvenir cerveza. A 12-pack of brew, nothing to look at, officer — no really, nothing to look — GODDAMMIT don’t look at it!! It’s just beer!! That was probably his thought process as…
King Tut: Perfume in This Life and the Next
Today’s most iconic perfumes couldn’t hold a scented candle to the fragrances produced during King Tut’s time. That’s right, Chanel No. 5. Smell your heart out. Scent aficionados need not worry, however. This Friday, archaeologist (and Texas A&M alum) Cheryl Ward will connect the olfactory luxuries of ancient Egyptians and…
Your Biggest Fan: When Rockers Get Stalkers
This past week a statement by pop institution Madonna helped put away one of her newest stalkers, Polish citizen Grzegorz Matlok, who broke into Madge’s London home and the residence of her ex-hubby Guy Ritchie. Madonna submitted the statement to Southwark Crown Court officials detailing the terror of Matlok’s intrusions…
First Look at Chatter’s Cafe on Eldridge
Confession time: Although I drive by it nearly every day — sometimes as often as four times a day, even — I’ve never eaten at the Chatter’s off Washington Avenue. I freely confess that nothing about the place has ever seemed intriguing or appealing to me, from its bland blue…
Astro History: What’s Wrong with This Picture?
Notice anything wrong with this picture? There are two things. One was noticed by the inestimable contributors to the Uni Watch blog, the destination Web site for everyone fascinated by the minutiae of sports-uniforms tweaks throughout the years. The other thing that was very wrong, we discovered with some googling…
Health Department Roundup
You never know where a job as a city health inspector is going to take you – a fine-dining restaurant, a seedy game room, a family-run taqueria or maybe a strip club. It’s a tough job. Except for the strip club part. The most recent strip club the city inspected…
Five Reasons to Love Downtown’s New Sundance Cinemas
The Angelika Theater was a lot like our favorite dive bar — it was worn and weird and smelled a little funny, but the people were good and we saw things there we couldn’t see anywhere else. Upon learning the indie theater had unexpectedly closed its doors last August, Art…
Houston Rappers Freak Out Indiana KFC Diners
Hopefully you’ve been keeping up with the exploits of Patron-loving Houston MC Marcus Manchild as he winds his way toward Warehouse Live with Method Man, Big K.R.I.T. and a bunch of others on the Smoker’s Club 2011 tour. Marcus will be filing his usual report Monday, but this was just…
Annise Parker Strongly Urges (Probably in Vain) NASA to Get Going on Its Next Manned Mission
Mayor Annise Parker joined today with the mayor of Huntsville, Alabama — do we really need to tell you his name is Tommy Battle? No, really, it is — to inform NASA and all politicians who vote on it that they better get going on NASA’s new project. The two…
Remember Mookie Jones’ P.A.N.?
Houston’s history is dotted with albums that, fairly or not, have been swept aside. We’ll examine them here. Have an album that you think nobody knows about but should? Email sheaserrano@gmail.com. Mookie Jones P.A.N. (Self-released, 2011) Mookie Jones, as it were, is perfectly quixotic. He floats through the troposphere, helium-light,…
Memphis the Musical Sings and Dances with Abandon at the Hobby Center
The setup: In Memphis the Musical, now running at the Hobby Center courtesy of Gexa Energy Broadway Across America, hick cracker Huey (Bryan Fenkart) comes alive when hearing black rhythm and blues in the (literally) underground black clubs of 1950s Memphis, especially when sung by hot singer Felicia (Felicia Boswell)…
Brew Blog: Real Ale 15th Anniversary Ale
I think it’s become pretty clear that I’m not exactly Mr. Dependable when it comes to timely reviews of special edition beers. I just don’t have the time or inclination to run around town chasing a bottle, especially when I have absolutely no baseline from which to estimate its deliciousness…
Chef Chat, Part 2: Kaiser Lashkari of Himalaya Restaurant
Between disappearing into the kitchen and answering phone calls at his prominent desk, owner and chef Kaiser Lashkari continues our chat from yesterday about Himalaya Restaurant. EOW: When you go home, do you cook?…
Natalie MacLean’s Unquenchable Search for the Best Cheap Wines
To research her new book Unquenchable: A Tipsy Quest for the World’s Best Bargain Wines, Natalie MacLean traveled to wineries in eight countries including Australia and Italy over a five-year period. Each chapter in Unquenchable pairs a wine with a day of the week and a meal. While the book…
DJ EQUE: “Bad Azz Red Gurl” Etches Her Name In Wax
DJ EQUE has been making her mark in the industry for more than 10 years, but it was never something that came easy for her. The Houston-bred beauty had a lot to prove before she was taken seriously as a female DJ. It all started in college, when EQUE attended…
See The Exorcist Saturday Night at the Alamo West Oaks
Hey, we all love Halloween, but don’t try to deny it’s becoming more and more of a pain in the ass: buying candy for hordes of ungrateful anklebiters, combing through your own children’s haul for razor blades and *shudder* Good & Plenty, and those costume parties can be a real…
The Longhorn Network’s Sad, Defensive Twitter Account
College football fans all across the nation are eagerly awaiting the biggest game of the decade: LSU-Alabama Texas-Kansas. Unfortunately for those (very few) fans, the game is being broadcast on the Longhorn Network, an operation with all the reach of the DuMont Network airing the 1951 World Series. The Longhorn…
If Nickelback’s Studio Walls Could Talk…
Late Wednesday night, Nickelback tweeted a picture of a dry-erase board in their studio, with the line “If these walls could talk…” alluding to the bedevilment that a party-hard platinum-selling Canadian rock band must get into while making new music. The band is readying their newest album, Here And Now,…
Gas Station Sushi: 8 Fine Foods in Funky Places
I read yesterday’s Bon Appetit article on “Undercover Grub: Great Food in Surprising Places” with interest, hoping to catch a glimpse of a Houston restaurant in amongst the soda fountains and airport terminals. I was disappointed to find, however, that of the eight restaurants listed, most were in places where…
Drugstore Halloween: Cheap Last-Minute Costumes Without the Crowd
Have you tried going to Frankel’s yet? If not, you’re pretty much screwed. I mean, Halloween is only a few days away, the best stuff is probably already cleaned out and if you try going before the weekend is up, you’ll be like every other asshole who waits until Christmas…
Unidentified Male Drive-By Shooting Victim, Bayou Body Count No. 166
A man sitting inside his mobile home on the southwest side was killed in a drive-by shooting early this morning, police say. The man, whose identity has not been released, was shot around 3 a.m. in the 7300 block of Ashcroft. Another man was injured. Neighbors reported hearing a flurry…
Free for All: The Halloween Edition
The Bad Seed stars Patty McCormack, Nancy Kelly, Henry Jones and Eileen Keckart; Mervyn LeRoy directs. There will be lots of scary things out there this weekend, but the price of admission won’t have to be one of them. You can get all of your Halloween thrills for free. On…
Concrete Blonde’s Johnette Napolitano On Halloween & The Pressures Of Bloodletting
Concrete Blonde emerged from the crucible of 1980s post-punk L.A., fueled by Jim Mankey’s signature guitar riffs and the introspective lyrics and distinctive wail of singer/bassist Johnette Napolitano. Their early history is well known, down to the oft-repeated story of how Michael Stipe gave the band their name (it’s not…
Mark Douglas Robison: MIT Alum Had Kiddy Porn on Computer, Cops Say
Photo via Harris County Constable Precinct 4 Mark Robison: Proud MIT grad.After a raid on his home yesterday, Harris County Precinct 4 Constables have arrested 59-year-old Mark Robison and charged him with three counts of possession of child pornography. According to his Facebook and LinkedIn pages, Robison studied at Duke’s…
Last Night: Das Racist At Fitzgerald’s
Das Racist, Danny Brown, Despot, Fat Tony, Hollywood F.L.O.S.S. Fitzgerald’s October 26, 2011 Boss man assigned us this review conditionally: since we previously reviewed a Das Racist show a few months ago, he told us to be sure and compare the two shows. Initially we thought to ourselves, “That’ll be…
A New Place for Soup Dumplings and Shanghai Noodles
Just when I think I’ve found my favorite dumpling house, a new one pops up and I have to give it a try. New entrant Shanghai Restaurant (9888 Bellaire Blvd # 106; Tel: 713-771-8825), in the same shopping complex as Arco Seafood, has been under new ownership for about a…
Best Comics of October Part 2
Here’s where we continue our mini-series look at the best comics to come out in October courtesy of 8th Dimension Comics. Nightwing #2 Is it weird that we like Dick Grayson but that we’ve always considered Nightwing kind of a tool? If we were hoping to have some light shed…
“Bela Lugosi”: Town Monster’s Unapologetic Festival Of Sin
Rocks Off has done lot of playlists over the course of our writing career, but last week’s birthday tribute to the one and only Bela Lugosi may be our favorite. Finding songs about the beloved horror icon not written by Bauhaus wasn’t easy, and one of the deeper tracks we…
Five Cocktails You May Prefer to Mix at Home
Classic cocktails are called that, not because they’re old, but because they are delicious. Most of them can be ordered at any well-stocked bar, and some of them–such as a Negroni, Sazerac, or Martini–can be ordered with swagger. However, there’s some classic cocktails that should be left unordered, or better,…
Festival of Contemporary Films from India: First of Its Kind in Multiple Ways
Don’t feel bad if you haven’t heard of Mani Kaul. You’re probably not the only one, especially if you grew up in the States or even in India, where the late filmmaker broke new ground in India’s relatively unknown avant-garde scene. “I don’t think a Mani Kaul film has been…
Comment of the Day: Vince Young Non-Mania
We have some great commenters here on Hair Balls, and it’s time we paid some damn attention to them. So we’ll be highlighting a Comment of the Day each morning, from the previous day’s work. Maybe two comments, even. This will all be determined by a highly rigorous scientific formula…
Pop Rocks: (Another) Ten Disturbing Films
It’s Halloween, that magical time of year when (increasingly obscure) jack o’lanterns start making their appearance on front porches, when every possible costume now appears to have a “sexy” variant (and we do mean every), when parents beseech the weather gods for a cold snap so they won’t look like…
Pop Rocks: Ten (More) Disturbing Films
It’s Halloween, that magical time of year when (increasingly obscure) jack o’lanterns start making their appearance on front porches, when every possible costume now appears to have a “sexy” variant (and we do mean every), when parents beseech the weather gods for a cold snap so they won’t look like…
5 “Action” Figures No One Has Ever Played With
We’d like to apologize to the children of the world for ruining toys. See, our generation made a very bad mistake. They wanted to keep playing with action figures, but instead of just doing it quietly by yourself in the shameful dark like our parents we demanded that toymakers develop…
Dead Rock Stars & Dia De Los Muertos Album Covers
According to a recent Associated Press article picked up by everyone from The Huffington Post to Fox News, Day of the Dead celebrations are on the upswing, a trend attributed in part to the growing Latino population and Hispanic influence on the culture, as well as changing attitudes towards death…
Terrell Owens’s Downward Spiral (w/ VIDEO of his workout)
Finding fitness, if not a job.”I definitely feel there are some teams out there that are interested.” — Terrell Owens after his workout on Tuesday “Just because they weren’t there doesn’t mean they weren’t interested. I can guarantee that all 32 teams were interested.” — Owens’s agent Drew Rosenhaus after…
Houston Beer Week 2011: Bigger, Better, Beer-ier
The second annual Houston Beer Week kicks off this year on an auspicious date: 11/11/11. That’s when the big craft beer festival will celebrate its sophomore year with a kick-off happy hour at Ziggy’s Downtown, from 5 to 7 p.m. The restaurant will be offering $2 appetizers and $1.75 Lone…
100 Creatives: Lynn Lane
What He Does: If you read any of the arts publications that circulate in this town, chances are you’ve seen Lynn Lane’s work. As the main photographer for Karen Stokes Dance and NobleMotion Dance, the Montrose resident is a regular in CultureMap, Dance Source Houston, the Houston Chronicle and, of…
Ten Tunnels of Texas: Some Pretty, Some Odd, Some Bat-Infested
A while back we presented a dozen of the most beautiful bridges in Texas, a state most people don’t normally associate with bridges. They associate it even less with tunnels. Texas isn’t exactly a mountainous state, and wherever there’s a big outcropping there’s generally room enough to go around it…
Moulin Rouge
Edward Sanchez and Americás River Oaks will host the 2011 Moulin Rouge All Hallows Eve celebration, a fundraising event that helps worthy non-profit organizations within the Houston Community. This year Bering Omega Community Services, which provides health care, specialized dental care, and social services to men and women living with…
Butterfinger the 13th/Jack the Ripper: The Definitive Story
We admit, we never watched Friday the 13th and thought,”What this really needs less gore and more Butterfinger candy bars.” Fortunately, someone did and the fan-created/Rob Lowe directed horror featurette, Butterfinger the 13th was born. The plot focuses on several college students hired as counselors at a camp where 13…
Houston 175 Historic Cemetery Crawl
Founders Memorial Park Cemetery, started in 1837, is just one stop on the Houston 175 Historic Cemetery Crawl. The afternoon features living history tours of four cemeteries altogether, representing a variety of groups that settled in Houston during the city’s early days. See the graves of some of our earliest…
Houston Press Halloween Bash and Costume Contest
Trick or treat with us at the Houston Press Halloween Bash and Costume Contest. We’ve got the Lucky DareDevil Thrillshow (think of an outrageous Las Vegas magic show, only with some skin and stunts thrown in) and DJ David Cruz and Notorious of the Bum Squad for entertainment. As if…
Dia De Los Muertos: Honoring our Past, Celebrating Our Future
From 7 p.m. opening night on October 28, followed by events on October 29 and 30 from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., respectively, MECA will present Dia De Los Muertos: Honoring our Past, Celebrating Our Future. This event features Dia de los Muertos celebrations…
5th Annual Russian Documentary Film Festival Showcase in Texas: Images of Russia
The Russian Cultural Center Our Texas presents its 5th Annual Russian Documentary Film Festival Showcase in Texas: Images of Russia. Acclaimed director Valery Balayan will be on hand to present Window Pane Nostalgia, a look at the life of philosopher Merab Mamardaschvili, and Love Me, Please. Love Me, Please, the…
Ghostly Gardens
Have a spooktacular time at the Ghostly Gardens, an afternoon of trick-or-treating throughout the various Moody Gardens attractions, with prizes for the best costume and lots of Halloween crafts and games. 2 to 4 p.m. Moody Gardens, One Hope Boulevard, Galveston. For information, call 800-582-4673 or visit www.moodygardens.com. Free with…
Flying Karamazov Brothers
We deeply miss the Flaming Idiots, but since we can’t have them, a great alternative is the comedy juggling act the Flying Karamazov Brothers. The group has been a smash success on Broadway, and has performed on Ellen and Seinfeld. The Karamazovs’ juggling show is nonstop entertainment, including a famous…
Tommy Davidson
We’ve seen just about every film that Tommy Davidson has done. He wowed us in Woo, blew us away in Booty Call and even managed to pull off some great gags in Juwanna Man. He cut his teeth as a stand-up act opening for musical legends such as Patti LaBelle,…
The 15th Annual Pimp & Prostitute Ball
Starting at 8 p.m. and going until 2 a.m., the annual Pimp and Prostitute Ball will be in full swing with multiple DJs, costume contests with a $3,000 in cash and prizes for Pimp of the Year, Classiest Ho, and Best Overall Costume. Participants must sign up by 10 p.m…
37th Annual International Quilt Festival/Houston
The real story about the 37th Annual International Quilt Festival/Houston is in the numbers. Here’s the breakdown: Fifty-thousand people from around the world will descend on the George R. Brown Convention Center for five days to enjoy 1,500 quilts and fiber art works and 35 exhibits, take 435 classes and…
Thrill The World Houston
As part a worldwide effort to simultaneously dance Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” along with hundreds of cities on five continents, SSQQ Dance Studio will be hosting Thrill The World Houston with both a 9 a.m. and a 9 p.m. performance of the piece. Participants are advised to arrive at least one…
How Many Puppets Can Fit into a Phone Booth?: Three New Works for the Puppet Stage
BooTown uses art to discuss the important issues in life, such as its latest effort, How Many Puppets Can You Fit into a Phone Booth? Two puppet plays and a new play by Bobbindoctrin master puppeteer Canella Clements make up the program. A Bloody Puppet Show, which takes place during…
Saengerfest Mini Monster Bash
Haunted Mayfield Manor, along with Mitchell Historic Properties, will be hosting a special family-friendly Halloween carnival, The Saengerfest Mini Monster Bash, from 2 to 4 p.m. at Saengerfest Park. It will include a costume contest at 3 p.m., assorted games with prizes, and trick or treating at various downtown businesses…
Zombie Prom
No matter how bad your senior prom was, it’s nothing compared to what Toffee goes through in the musical comedy Zombie Prom, directed by Paul Hope. Toffee breaks up with her no-good boyfriend Jonny. Heartbroken, he rides his motorcycle to the Francis Gary Powers Nuclear Power Plant and jumps into…
Halloween Bash Benefiting Easter Seals of Greater Houston
Halloween Bash Benefiting Easter Seals of Greater Houston will be held at the Corinthian from 8 p.m. to 1 a.m. The celebration will include raffle prizes such as trips to Beaver Creek and Mexico along with items from Baccarat, Persona Med Spa and Chrysalis Spa, as well as a costume…
Día de los Muertos
Celebrate Día de los Muertos — Day of the Dead the Casa Ramirez way with free classes, an altar exhibit and an opening reception. Okay, reception might be too mild a word, Casa Ramirez actually throws a hell of a celebration with Aztec dancers, a procession and traditional Día de…
By a Committee of Style — 10 Choreographers from TX, OH, MO, NY, WA, MS
The work of ten dancers, choreographers and performers comes together for By a Committee of Style — 10 Choreographers from TX, OH, MO, NY, WA, MS in Concert in a three-day run. Dancemaker Leslie Scates gathered nine of her collaborators and friends from across the country, with each contributing pieces…
39th Annual Jewish Book & Arts Fair: Local Literati
There will be plenty of celebrities at the 39th Annual Jewish Book & Arts Fair, with more than 40 readings, films and performances planned. Among the most popular events is sure to be Local Literati, a presentation of Houston writers including Judith Groudine Finkel, the author of the novel Where…
Galveston Island Witches’ Ball
Celebrate this spooky time of year with the Galveston Island Witches’ Ball—a Halloween fundraiser party for the Galveston Island Humane Society. Only 150 tickets will be sold at $50 per person or $90 per couple. Only adults may attend, and should dress in costume or evening wear. There will be…
“International Discoveries III”
Photographer Louis Palu’s depiction of U.S. Marine Corporal Philip Pepper is stark. The 22-year-old is seen in a close-up, helmet on, his face dirty from the dusty roads his convoy has been on. The black-and-white portrait, U.S. Marine Cpl. Philip Pepper, Age 22, Garmsir, Helmand, Afghanistan (seen below), shows Pepper’s…
Haunted Harbor Tour
Pay special attention when the Haunted Harbor Tour gets close to the old University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston – there’s a ghostly face on the side of the building – said to be of the local man who lived on the site before the center was constructed. The…
Let It Bleed
On a warm late-summer afternoon, Pete Dexter trudges across the living room of his home perched high above Puget Sound on Whidbey Island, Diet Coke in hand, and steels himself to tell the story of how he was once beaten half to death by a pack of drunken thugs in…
The Retreat from Moscow
William Nicholson’s The Retreat from Moscow has nothing to do with Russian history and everything to do with Alice and Edward’s 34-year marriage. Edward is withdrawn and unfeeling, while Alice is all dramatic, over-the-top emotion. When she finds out that he’s been planning to leave her for a long time…
Ghostly Apparitions: Kuroneko and The Strange Case of Angelica
What would Halloween be without a few ghost stories? Two of the best will be part of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston’s Ghostly Apparitions film screenings. First up is Kuroneko (Yabu no nka no kuroneko). Director Kaneto Shindô’s 1968 thriller is set in medieval Japan, a time when the…
Oni-Con 2011
Anime and Japanese pop culture lovers rejoice, Oni-Con 2011 is here. For the first time in the expo’s seven-year history, the event will move out of Houston, over to Galveston. The multi-genre fan convention features comic books, martial arts, arcade games, celebrity appearances and j-rock concerts. Anime voice actors and…
Capsule Art Reviews: “Book Report” “Building Arts: Alexander Apostol, Dias & Riedweg, Thomas Glassford, Marco Maggi and Clarissa Tossin” “Insperity Golf Experience” “Katja Loher: Multiverse” “Mary McCleary: A Survey 1996-2011” “Oil Sketches by
“Book Report” As the electronic word slowly usurps the printed word, books are becoming increasingly fetishized. “Book Report,” organized by Kinzelman Art Consulting in the lobby of the Bank of America building, brings together a host of book-related works. Given all the recent bank bailouts (and my personal animosity towards…
A Scary Good Time
It’s time once again to don a costume and head over to your favorite haunt for a chance at cheap drinks and expensive prizes. But be warned: You’ll have to get your partying out of the way before the big day actually arrives. With the holiday falling on a Monday,…
Hot Diggity
It’s long been said that good artists borrow, and great artists steal. When Sammy’s Wild Game Grill announced its opening many months back, the word on the street was that the men behind Moon Tower Inn were none too pleased to hear the news: The idea that two places in…
Chicken Fried
A band with a No. 1 hit song called “Chicken Fried” couldn’t be anything but country, perhaps. But even after a string of chart-topping singles and two Grammys, Atlanta’s Zac Brown Band plays a more eclectic — even exotic — strain than Nashville’s usual me-and-my-pickup-truck odes. The six-piece group’s musical…
Capsule Stage Reviews: Evil Dead: the Musical, Oliver Twist, The Retreat from Moscow, There Is a Happiness That Morning Is, Wait Until Dark
Evil Dead: the Musical Sam Raimi’s 1981 cult film The Evil Dead has been reincarnated as a stage musical, with all its gore and rich, take-no-prisoners humor. Audience members are greeted by zombies as they enter the theater, including a plant recognized as “undead” only when it springs to startling…
Out of Hand
In the hallway on the fifteenth floor of the Harris County Criminal Justice Center, attorney Dick DeGuerin is cutting a GPS ankle bracelet off Michael Glyn Brown. A jury of six men and six women has just found the former hand surgeon, who lost his medical license after testing positive…
The Ghost of Hunter Thompson
Written and directed by Bruce Robinson, The Rum Diary is what the Brits might call a rum movie — an oddly inoffensive piece and a personal project for its disconcertingly unengaged star Johnny Depp. The movie adapts a novel Hunter S. Thompson began in the early ’60s and published, under…
Much Ado About Very Little
Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, is the close-second candidate to be attributed authorship of the 37 plays of William Shakespeare, the glover’s son-turned-actor from Stratford-upon-Avon, who, due to the troublesome existence of evidence, remains the general favorite. De Vere is the protagonist of Anonymous, a work of speculative…
Sex & the Coach
CRIME Sex & the Coach Cops say she raped, sexted 14-year-old girl By Richard Connelly For eight months beginning last fall, Rebecca Rose Delagarza, 26, a Pasadena middle-school coach, had numerous sexual encounters in her office or a locker-room storage room with a 14-year-old female student, court documents allege. Delagarza…
Is “Mexican” an Offensive Word?
Dear Mexican, There’s something I concerned about, or bothered by. I was born and raised in Mexico, but I’ve been here for eight years. All the talk about 9/11 is too much, because every single year brings a rehash of the tragedy. I really think that remembering the event for…
Soul Power
When the Houston Press spoke with Huey Lewis over the phone recently, he hit us with a daunting figure about his band’s latest album, 2010 R&B covers project Soulsville. “We have sold [fewer] total copies of Soulsville than what we used to sell daily of Sports at its most successful,”…
Night of the Living Dead
Since opening in July, posh River Oaks nightclub Roak (3320 Kirby) has grown more and more popular. At barely past 11 p.m. on a recent Saturday, the crowd is already swelling into a mass of mostly attractive, mostly thin people. Out front, a Porsche, Ferrari, another Porsche, Range Rover and…
Mia Borders
Artists like Mia Borders are what makes festivals like iFest worth going to — walk up to the stage with no idea who this person is and walk away a fan. In this case, Borders is a young woman who has captured the heart of her hometown New Orleans with…
Mastodon
Mastodon’s news LP, The Hunter, is easily the most commercially accessible disc in the Atlanta metal beasts’ 12-year career. The band’s last album, 2009’s seven-track Crack the Skye, came complete with two ten-minute long-form jams, elaborate artwork and a trippy, conceptual film about Rasputin and Tsarist Russia that played behind…
Wild Flag
As Mastodon calls down the thunder upstairs, one of the hottest new bands of 2011 fires back from down below with a lethal dose of punk rock girl power. Newly formed if not exactly new, Wild Flag came together late last year in a lineup that reads like an all-star…
Boots Electric
When asked what his new Boots Electric project would sound like, Jesse “The Devil” Hughes laid this image on the Internet’s virtual ears: “George Clinton raped by Gary Numan, using Little Richard as a dick.” Welp, he’s not totally off, even if his choice of phrasing is a little blue…
Occupy Paris
Paris: Life and Luxury in the Eighteenth Century is an oddly timely exhibition. It’s filled with over-the-top objects and art — ornate furniture, silver dressing table accessories, gilded clocks, highly ornamented serving pieces, self-aggrandizing portraits of aristocracy — the kinds of things that Francophile hedge fund managers decorate their homes…
Concrete Blonde
Besides the Pixies’ Kim Deal, no woman sparked more crushes in the ’80s/’90s U.S. college-rock scene than Concrete Blonde’s Johnette Napolitano. Tough yet vulnerable, the Hollywood native was the epitome of the L.A. rocker chick, someone who could snarl any man under the table (“Still in Hollywood,” “The Sky Is…
