League City Man Offers His Own Special Twist On The Child-Porno Thing
Michael Sadowski, a 51-year-old League City resident, was charged with possession of child pornography today and held without bond, the U.S. Attorney’s office announced.Sadowski set up a correspondence with the owner of a kiddie porn website who, darn the luck, turned out to be a federal agent.But even if Sadowski…
Branch Water Tavern: The Best New Restaurant Not Open Yet?
Branch Water Tavern at 510 Shepherd will be a new American tavern with outstanding whiskeys, microbrewery beers and one of the hottest chefs in the city behind the stove. CIA grad David Grossman used to cook at Gravitas and Reef. Before that, he worked with the legendary Alfred Portale at…
“Invisible” Billboards To Induce Double-Takes in Houston
Karyn Olivier, visiting artist at the University of Houston’s Mitchell Center for the Arts, is doing what lots of Houstonians wish they could — erasing billboards. Actually, for her exhibit “Inbound: Houston,” she’s replacing the images on more than a dozen billboards around the city with life-size images of what’s…
One Last Bit of U2 – Sort Of – Before We See Y’all at Reliant
This has been making us laugh since 1992. Enjoy… and remember, God loves ’em, so you should too!…
Bayou Body Count: Cop Catches Attempted Murderer In Action
It was just before midnight on Friday when Houston police officer M.J. Marin looked up toward a second-floor balcony at the Cobblestone Apartments at 8435 Winkler. And what he saw was savage: a man plunging a knife into a woman.Marin raced up to the apartment, police say, where he saw…
Wangsday Wings
Jason Clark, the manager of The Social, recently told me that he isn’t making any money on chicken wings, but for the time being he is planning on continuing the “Wangsday” 25¢ wing special at the Washington Avenue Bar. I asked him about it because there was a story about…
Rocks Off’s Self-Guided Tour of U2’s Stage Setup, and Other Fun Stuff We Learned About the Most Gargantuan Tour In Rock History
“At a certain point, the only thing you can compare it to is the Stones. I’ve done the Stones. This is bigger.” That’s Jake Berry, Production Director for U2’s 360 Tour, talking about the gargantuan “Claw” configuration stagehands were in the final, well, stages of completing at Reliant Stadium Tuesday…
Sam Rayburn Reservoir Gets Hit With A Killer Weed
A little over 10 years ago, we wrote about a “Killer Weed” that had been mistakenly introduced to some Texas lakes and was quickly covering them with a thick blanket of vegetation.Salvinia molesta, also known as Giant Salvinia, reproduces itself faster than the Octomom and is a dire threat to…
The Best U2 Songs Not Actually Written by U2
U2 is one of the biggest, most influential rock bands of all time. Their sound has changed over the years, yet remains unique. Thanks mostly to The Edge’s signature guitar playing, they’ve invented entire chunks of pop-rock along the way, and you know what that means: they’ve been ripped off…
How to Review a Restaurant When You’re Quarantined
[jump] My friend Jay Francis was kind enough to drop off a big box full of Casa Grande take-out items so I could sample more of the menu. Francis stealthily knocked on my kitchen window, then left the box on my back porch. I offered to give him cash or…
Frank Rich And Stephen Sondheim, Coming To Houston
When he’s not busy being one of the most astute critics of today’s political culture for The New York Times, Frank Rich is part of an occasional Q&A road show where he interviews Stephen Sondheim for appreciative audiences.The two are coming to Houston October 25 for An Evening With Stephen…
With or Without You: Memoirs of a U2 Adolescence and Young Adulthood
…I may regret this. So there was a time, not long ago by geological reckoning, that I was a U2 fan. Growing up during the pre-Internet late 70s/early 80s in a town where the only place to buy music was a Camelot Music in the mall limited your options somewhat…
Dive Bar Eats: At Best, A Mixed Bag
This week’s feature is all about Houston’s best dive bars. Dive bar food in Houston is a pretty hit-and-miss affair. If you lump icehouses in with the overall class of dive bars, as you must in Houston, you know what to expect: average to great backyard grill fare like hot…
Listology: Honky-Tonk Man Mike Stinson Chooses His Favorite Drinking Songs
Honky-tonk man and recent Houston transplant Mike Stinson knows a thing or two about a bottle. Lonesome Onry and Mean asked him to list his all-time favorite drinking songs, many of which you will no doubt hear this evening at Under the Volcano. “So many classic drinking songs, I could…
Dive Bar-ology 101: What A Dive Bar Is Not
These days, there are a lot of misconceptions about what constitutes a dive bar. Going by lists on sites like Yelp and Citysearch, and especially this laughable list from the Houston Chronicle, apparently any drinking establishment that does not sport bottle service, valet parking and a velvet rope is a…
Donut Patrol: The Depths of the Heights
When you walk in the front door of Bakery Donut at 1203 11th St. in the Heights, you are overwhelmed with all the choices. There are lots of kolaches, twisters, filled bars and all sorts of breakfast food. The bacon sandwich on a whole wheat English muffin looks awesome. And…
Artist of the Week: LEAF, Veteran Rockers Who Are Not Afraid to Wrestle a Bear
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.introducingliston@gmail.com In high school there was this kid named Eric…
East Texas School District Takes Bold Stand Against Helping Cancer Survivors
On one side: A 16-year-old kid who a) actually a solid-enough citizen to have a job already, and b) loves the memory of his grandma who died from cancer, and c) would like to grow his hair long enough to donate it to Locks of Love, which helps cancer patients…
Rocks Off Loves Muse – So What If Idiot-Arguer Glenn Beck Does Too?
It’s easy to forget that tonight another band is actually playing before U2 at Reliant Stadium. But Bono and the boys couldn’t have found a better band to heat up their adoring throngs than space-rock overlords Muse. Hell, even conservative hand-wringer Glenn Beck likes them. We swear that that’s not…
Coogs Try To Actually Win One In Conference USA
Way back in August, way back when the Houston Cougars were just starting to practice, way back when the temperature was in the 100s instead of the 90s, way back then, at Media Day, head coach Kevin Sumlin and the players met with the media.They didn’t care about the rankings,…
Stirred and Shaken: Front Porch Pub’s Poison Girl
“I’d hate to own a bar,” says Sergeant B. “I’d have to deal with people like me.” He’s talking about agitated drinkers, and in this case, the source of the agitation is a Monday Night Football bingo game at Front Porch Pub (217 Gray, 713-571-9571). Bingo and anger normally go…
Aftermath: Maxwell Loves All the Single Ladies, Who Definitely Love Him Back, at Toyota Center
Maxwell sure knows his audience. And not just all the single ladies – many of whom were up and dancing to Beyonce’s ubiquitous hit the prince of neo-soul used as his intro music Tuesday at Toyota Center – but the men who love them, or at least want to get…
Dancing With the Stars: Bad Luck, Chuck
The arrival of another Dancing With the Stars results show always fills me with a queasy mix of relief and dread. Relief, because it’s only an hour long instead of two, and another couple will be eliminated, bringing us all that much closer to the end of the season and,…
First Look: Eddie V’s Prime Seafood
The first thing you notice at Eddie V’s Prime Seafood, the newest mini-chain addition to Town & Country’s enormous CityCentre development, are the white waistcoats on the servers. Yup, it’s that kind of place. It’s traditional, even retro, in layout and style, with a few key modern touches–especially on the…
Midweek Match-Up: U2 Vs. Wrestlemania In The Battle Of The Spectacles
As you well know if you’ve been reading our sister blog Rocks Off (and Lord knows you should be), U2 is in town tonight.The new tour requires something like 90 huge trucks to cart around the massive stage they use so as not to detract from the quiet beauty of…
Tonight: Dr. Roger Wood Talks With Local Blues Legend Texas Johnny Brown
Local legend Texas Johnny Brown is a living link to blues history. The 80-year-old was a key player in the genesis of the electric form of the genre, penning hits for the likes of Bobby “Blue” Bland, supporting stars like Ruth Brown and recording under his own name as far…
I Wanna Be Your Dog (Or Cat): It Was A Dark And Stormy Night At BARC…
Because Hair Balls has been busy shopping for a decent Halloween costume this week, we needed help in writing about this latest batch of lovelies available for adoption at the Bureau of Animal Regulation and Care. So we turned to members of our fantasy cricket league, which happens to include esteemed…
Tonight: The Power Of Rocks Off Movie Night Compels You To Come See The Exorcist at The Mink
Tonight Rocks Off presents the 1973 exorcisploitation flick The Exorcist in all its glory for Rocks Off Movie Night at the Mink. The show starts around 9 p.m. and as always, is free-fifty-free. As part of our October Halloween film series, the film is sure to make you think twice…
Mother-effin Snakes In Our State!!
There’s nothing like a release from the U.S. Geological Survey headlined “Report Documents the Risks of Giant Invasive Snakes in the U.S.” to get your attention. (Unless it’s “Osama bin Laden Determined to Strike in U.S.” But we digress.)Bottom line: Look out Texas, we got giant pythons and boa constrictors…
Health Department Roundup: 006 Edition
The 77006 zip code straddles the Montrose and Midtown neighborhoods, the first known for go-go boys and old mansions, the second for youngish professionals who do not care for porch swings or driving to work. The zone fosters a mix of restaurants and clubs evincing both burnished seedy charm and…
Kick ’em While They’re Down: The Worst Songs Ever Recorded For Charity
When Rocks Off received an email touting Sting’s new MySpace charity video for the Prince of Wales’ Rainforest Project, we almost chipped a fingernail hurriedly clicking on the link, which promised oodles of celebrities such as Olivia Newton-John, Richard E. Grant and, of course, Pelé. Naturally, we were hoping for…
Texas Bowl Takes A Step Up
Houston’s taste for college-football bowl games was soured pretty ferociously by the inanity of Mattress Mac’s galleryfurniture.com Bowl. But its successor, the Texas Bowl, has proven to be a well-run, entertaining event that has drawn decent, energetic crowds without frantically papering the house.The game has made the move from the…
Five Great U2 Songs Even the Band Has Probably Forgotten About
Well, now you’ve seen the set list from Monday’s U2 Dallas show, and it’s pretty short on both pre-Joshua Tree songs and surprises in general. This will be Rocks Off’s eighth U2 show since 1992, and we can’t remember ever having seen the band do “The Unforgettable Fire” live, but…
Forchuns Tolled
We spotted this beautifully painted sign outside a Flower Alley fortune teller’s house. There should probably be an asterisk after that bottom claim. With four of 15 words misspelled, this seer is clearly in no position to offer “advise” on every “aspec” of life…
In Honor Of Him, Claudius: Five Best Poisoning Scenes In The Movies
The classics never really go out of style. It was almost 2,000 years ago on this date that Roman Emperor Claudius I was poisoned by his wife Agrippina. Claudius is generally regarded as one of the more competent emperors, proving that the Romans were nothing if not even-handed in their…
U2 and Muse Set Lists from Cowboys Stadium in Arlington Monday
It’s a little less than 36 hours and counting until U2’s 360 Tour stops at Reliant Stadium, and Rocks Off is starting to get excited. Really excited. Bono and the boys were in Arlington at Cowboys Stadium Monday night. “For about two hours, the U2 members sang and played with…
Donut Patrol: Southern Maid Raised and Glazed
Southern Maid raised donuts fill a hole in my life. The hole where the Krispy Kreme used to be. On March 8, 2006, a day that will live in infamy, Krispy Kreme closed its six Houston locations due to a dispute with franchisee Lone Star Donuts Ltd. The North Carolina…
“Nah, You Just Winged Him And Made Him A Unitarian”
If you prefer a little power of prayer with your PlayStation — and if you live anywhere near a Houston or Dallas Wal-Mart — then you’re in luck: Inspired Media Entertainment is test-marketing its Left Behind and Charlie the Churchmouse games in those select locations.So just what is a “Christian” video…
Lonesome Onry and Mean: Chuck Prophet’s ¡Let Freedom Ring! Doesn’t Disappoint
“American man in the laundry pile/ With the rain check claims and the skateboard child” – Chuck Prophet, “American Man” We admit to being full-fledged, card-carrying members of the Chuck Prophet Party, but it still took Lonesome, Onry and Mean longer than usual to get the ears and head wrapped…
DNA Helps Crack Gruesome Dickinson Cold Case
For more than 19 years, Dennis Earl Bradford has lived with the knowledge that he raped an eight-year-old girl, slit her throat, left her for dead in a field — and got away with it.Until today, when a combination of law-enforcement agencies announced they had cracked the very cold case…
Epicurean Adventure at Bayou City Arts Festival
Perhaps we our hopes were too high for what is essentially a street festival (large and wonderful though it may be). Or perhaps our bodies were still too water-logged and mud-coated from last weekend’s three-day exercise in stamina at Austin City Limits. But we just didn’t come away impressed with…
Ask a Rapper: cARTer on Why He’s Houston’s (and L.A.’s) Next Big Success
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. Have something you always wanted to ask…
Teachers Are (Allegedly) Sexing It Up At Spring High School
Here’s a letter no high school principal wants to write: “Hey parents! One of our teachers was getting it on with a student. Oh and, hey, you know, while I’ve got your attention and everything, one of our other teachers is being investigated for the same thing. Go Lions!!!”That’s not…
A Quick and Easy Guide to Distinguishing Maxwell from Samwell from Rockwell
[Ed. Note: Maxwell’s pianist and bandleader, Missouri City native Robert Glasper, plays the official afterparty with his trio at Meridian, 1503 Chartres.] Maxwell is headlining Tuesday’s R&B feature at the Toyota Center with support from Common and newcomer Chrisette Michele. But Rocks Off wonders why there’s such a preponderance of R&B…
The Aeros’ Roster Isn’t Written In Stone
Because the Houston Aeros prefer having easy access to the Toyota Center ice, they use the locker room that, during Rocket games, is used by the Power Dancers cheer squad. So the locker room tends to be a bit cramped under normal circumstances. This past weekend, with about eight more…
Downtown Saigon Soup Stop
When a reader asked me to recommend an excellent pho shop close to downtown where he could get a quick lunch, I sent him to the Pho Saigon location at 2808 Milam. And I told him to remember to put a napkin over his tie. The original Midtown location was…
Mike Stinson Added to Tonight’s Troubador Tuesday at House of Blues
If you’re into song swaps by serious writers, today’s Troubadour Tuesdays happy-hour show at House of Blues should be right up your alley. KPFT disc jockey Rick Heysquierdo has just announced that Mike Stinson will be sharing the stage with Oklahoma folk rocker Jubal Lee Young. Young’s newest record, The…
Dancing With the Stars: Things Ain’t The Same Without Delay
I’ll be honest: I didn’t know if I’d be able to find the strength to soldier on now that Tom “Dazzle Me Dreamy” DeLay had left Dancing With the Stars. What light be light if Tommy be not seen? Now I finally knew what Jesse and Slater meant when they…
Five Reasons Why Notre Dame Will Win The BCS And UT Won’t: Part 6
Catch up on previous posts through the links last week.It was a difficult week to gauge the relative strength of the Longhorns and Irish, since both teams had a bye week. The Irish had what is known as a “real” bye week; the Longhorns played Colorado, which is the same…
Where Are We Eating?
Bonus points if you can identify this week’s pictured food item as well. There are only a few restaurants in town that serve this delicacy, and this restaurant happens to be one of our favorites. Can you figure out where we’re eating this week? Leave your best guess in the…
Distant Early Warning: Anvil(!), David Cook, Lee Greenwood, Skatalites, Tanya Tucker, Tegan & Sara, etc.
“13th Annual Pimp-N-Prostitute Ball” With MINIKISS, The Crisis, DJ Looney, DJ Jager, DJ Velvet: Sat., Oct. 31. Warehouse Live. Ali Zafar: Sat., Oct. 24. Arena Theatre. Anvil: Sun., Jan. 24. House of Blues. Brave Combo: Fri., Dec. 11. Dosey Doe Coffee Company. Buxton, Surfer Blood, F.G. and the Gunz: Tue.,…
The NFL’s RedZone: God’s Gift To Football Fans
For a Texas resident, I don’t watch a hell of a lot of football. I went to UT, so I’ll try to tune in for a significant Big 12 game as opposed to the annual Little Big Horns versus Louisiana-Monroe or Rice.Being a Texans fan makes Sunday especially excruciating, and…
Journalism, As It Used To Be Practiced In Houston
We’ve written before of the Houston Chronicle’s cozy way of doing pro-bidness journalism in years gone by.Today’s Chron offers another charming piece of evidence.The Bayou City History blog, which is always interesting, posts some photos of the development of the North Loop.One of the pictures includes the caption from the…
Slide Show: Scenes from the Conroe Cajun Catfish Festival
When the Conroe Cajun Catfish Festival says “rain or shine,” they mean it. The rains poured Friday night and Sunday, but that didn’t keep the festival from drawing a huge crowd on Saturday when the weather was cool and perfect. And the music was stellar from start to finish. Click…
Surprise Someone IRL. Via the Internet, That Is
“Looks like there’s gonna be an engagement party for you after all!” “There is? Not that Nate or I know of.” “Was it supposed to be a surprise?” “I have no idea. I don’t know what you’re talking about.” “Well, I got a Facebook invite from Cynthia, your co-worker.” “I…
Free Press Houston Announces Westheimer Block Party Lineup
Our friends and neighbors at Free Press Houston just posted the lineup for the next Westheimer Block Party, November 14 and 15 on lower Westheimer. Rumors it’s soon to become the Washington Avenue Block Party in an attempt to coax some of those sweet, sweet yuppie ad dollars out of…
I’m Just Doing Drugs With This Corpse In A Closet, Officer
A week ago we had a not-creepy-looking-at-all guy arrested for doing creepy things to a corpse. Today’s corpse-related news, courtesy of the Houston Chronicle, involves a passed-out guy druggin’ it up with someone who turns out to be dead. While both were in a closet.Not a metaphorical closet, either. A…
Cutout Bin: Insane Clown Posse Predecessors Hello People
Hello People, The Handsome Devils (1974) Bricks (1975) Looking over the pics of last Wednesday’s Insane Clown Posse show got Cutout Bin thinking about bands who wear clown-ish makeup. Of course there was KISS, and the whole death metal thing, but how many readers remember The Hello People? Hmmm… no…
Adobo Hoedown: Filipino Food For a Charitable Cause
When Typoon Ketsana hit the Philippines on September 25, it was the worst weather-related disaster the country and its capital city of Manila had seen in decades. Severe flooding caused an evacuation of an enormous portion of the city, displacing nearly 600,000 people, while mudslides and flood waters have claimed nearly…
Friday Night Lights, Houston-Style: Hightower-Dulles, And Ranking The Best
Hair Balls watched a game about a month ago between two old HISD rivals, and we noticed that the stands were a little empty and the game play was a little soft. We found an old Madison coach, Richard Blair, who told us that he thought Houston high school teams…
R.I.P. Blue Cheer Founder and Bassist Dickie Peterson
Front man and bassist Dickie Peterson of pioneering metallers Blue Cheer was found dead Monday morning in Germany. He was 61 years old and had reportedly been battling cancer for the past year. Blue Cheer’s lasting influence on modern heavy rock is insurmountable. With their devastating low ends and Peterson’s…
Getting Lucky, Or Trying To, At The Lucky Strike
Hair Balls was prepared for an evening of stale beer and possibly mullets at this weekend’s opening party for the new Lucky Strike Lanes & Lounge in the Houston Pavilion. Then we noticed a small warning at the bottom of the invitation: “dress code enforced.”Our confusion mounted as we climbed…
Lucky Strike Lanes’ Corn Hash with Shrimp
Lucky Strike Lanes’ first Texas location has come to the Houston Pavilions. This bowling alley-cum-bar-lounge hails from Hollywood, where the original location houses vintage fixtures from Hollywood Star Lanes of The Big Lebowski fame. The concept is hip and edgy, which explains why, instead of pizza, Lucky Strike cooks up…
Tonight: Felabration! Salutes Afrobeat Father Fela Kuti at the Flat
Nigerian-born Fela Kuti’s legacy lives on more than a decade after his untimely passing from AIDS in 1997. His unique fusion of jazz, funk, rock and his own native African sounds brought his continent’s melodies to mainstream audiences in an unprecedented manner, thanks to his audacity and creativity, which is…
Shelby Hodge, The Chronicle’s Tireless Champion Of Rich Nitwits, Has Left The Building
For years, whenever you’ve felt the need to read about self-important River Oaks types heading to Vail or Taos or France, you turned to the Houston Chronicle’s Shelby Hodge. We can only hope for your sake that the need didn’t arise too often, but when it did she was always…
Inquiring Minds: Impressionistic Clarinet Blatter Arrington de Dionyso
Now that you’ve had a chance to familiarize yourself with Old Time Relijun front man and solo aural dissembler extraordinaire Arrington de Dionyso, it’s time to see what he’s got to say for himself. Rocks Off put the screws to de Dionyso in a late-September email interview, and as you’ll…
Tonight: Arrington de Dionyso, “The James Bond of Free Jazz,” at Super Happy Fun Land
[Ed. Note: Stay tuned for an interview Rocks Off’s Ray Cummings did with Mr. Dionyso.] To say that Arrington de Dionysio is not for everyone is probably a pretty hefty understatement. If you’re not prepared, your first listen to his enigmatic music is quite likely to elicit a breathy and…
The Tavern Declares War on Limp Dick (Pizza)
You may have seen the TV commercials. Two comely young lasses sit at a bar and bemoan their frustration with limp dicks. Limp-dick pizza, that is. As in, pizza that is soggy and floppy and generally unappealing. They even sing a little ditty about their dissatisfaction with dicks or pizza…
Hidden: 600 Square Miles of Photos
A solitary deer captured in the morning mist on a university campus. The seams of a petrochemical tank seeming to look like creases in paper. Snow falling on a used car lot off Washington Avenue. These photos and more were on display this past Friday night at Xniliho Gallery as…
Cinema Arts Festival Houston Nabs A Big Name
The fledgling Cinema Arts Festival Houston has bagged a big name for the event: Tilda Swinton. (If Tilda Swinton isn’t a big-enough name for you, you’re probably not the type of movie fan who would appreciate the Cinema Arts Festival Houston.)Swinton, who’s starred in Orlando and won an Oscar for…
Rocks Off’s Haul from the Austin Record Convention
“Never come with a list.” Those words of advice came from a vendor about four hours into the fall Austin Record Convention, at which point we’d purchased only a single piece of vinyl, a Lovin’ Spoonful greatest-hits album complete with commemorative, frameable photos of the band in the sleeve. We…
Texans Refuse To Lose Easily, Instead Opting To Rip Your Heart Out
Now these are the Houston Texans we’ve grown to know and not love.A week after uncharacteristically taking care of business in a game they were supposed to do so against Oakland, the Texans laid an egg in the desert on Sunday, losing 28-21 to Arizona. But of course, that only…
$13 at Kojak’s Timberbrook Café
Where: Kojak’s Timberbrook Café, 1912 West 18th Street, 713-426-1800 What $13 gets you: At lunch, your money goes a little further at Kojak’s (on average the lunch prices are about $1 less per entrée than the dinner prices). Lunch is from 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., and the lineup features…
Aftermath: Alice Cooper’s “Theatre of Death” at Verizon Wireless Theater
Who needs to go to an Alice Cooper show more: the 34-year-old satisfying his curiosity or the 61-year-old onstage for whom the gate receipts will buy many, many rounds at Pebble Beach? The 44-year-old whose eyes are blacked out like Alice’s or the 25-year-old tweeting his ass off? With a…
Coogs Find Their Way Back To Their Winning Ways
“It’s hard to win every Saturday,” Houston Cougars head coach Kevin Sumlin said Saturday afternoon. “But to go on the road and win, particularly in a place like this with so much tradition, it’s a big boost for us.”The Cougars defeated Mississippi State 31-24 on Saturday. And the win might…
The Food at Lucky Strike Lanes
Arnetta Yardbourgh was sitting on a couch in the lounge at the new Lucky Strike Lanes during Thursday’s Grand Opening party, eating barbecue chicken bites and pepperoni pizza, trying to talk to her friends over the mind-numbing techno beats blasting through the speakers. “The atmosphere is great here,” Yardbourgh said,…
The Week In TV: Seriously. You Need to Watch Community
I know you think the only event of note last week in TV Land was the sad departure of Tom DeLay from Dancing With the Stars. But Dazzle Me Dreamy’s punk out was only the beginning. NBC canceled Southland, which is officially the first victim of uber-hack Jay Leno’s primetime…
Turning the Screw: Chalie Boy, Royce da 5’9″, Saigon, Soulja Boy, Jay-Z, Adam Yauch, 50 vs. Fabolous, Young Gunz, Method Man, Big Moe, etc.
Welcome back to Turning the Screw, Rocks Off’s weekly rap post. It probably won’t rhyme, at least most of the time. E-mail tips to introducingliston@gmail.com. Thanks, homies. Single of the Week: “I Look Good” remix, featuring Bun B, Slim Thug and Juvenile Note: We initally hated Chalie Boy’s “I Look…
Texas Traveler: Haunted Austin
The state capitol holds many secrets gleaned throughout its long history as a center for settlement, trade and politics. Here are a few of our favorite spooky places in Austin. The Driskill Hotel Often cited as one of the most haunted buildings in Texas, The Driskill opened in 1886 as…
Art Rock: Adios, Danseparc…
9 p.m. at Numbers, 300 Westheimer, 713-526-6551 or www.numbersnightclub.com…
R.I.P. Original Austin Cosmic Cowboy Rusty Weir
Texas music legend Rusty Wier has passed away according to a post from North Texas disc jockey Shayne Hollinger on the Galleywinter Texas music chat site. One of the original Austin Cosmic Cowboys with the likes of Jerry Jeff Walker and Michael Martin Murphy, Wier has been a fixture on…
Go Ask Alice: Shock-Rockers Who Can Hang With Mr. Cooper
Before Lady GaGa, before Clay Aiken, before Marilyn Manson, the nation’s ultimate ghastly shock-rocker and parent-baiting troublemaker was Detroit’s own Alice Cooper. Cooper and his band weren’t the first rockers to shock and frighten the masses with tales of ghouls and blood, but they were one of the best. Bands…
This Week In Deliciousness
Welcome back to Eating Our Words’ weekly round-up, where we separate the wheat from the chaff and then have Robb Walsh make us a bitchin’ spiced blackberry chaffshake. We started off the week with some gourmet-style pig face. That picture looks kind of incredible. It makes us imagine eating a…
In Honor Of Sgt. York: The Five Guys With The Best Aim In The Movies
It was 91 years ago that Sgt. Alvin York, a corporal in the U.S. 328th Infantry Regiment, single-handedly killed 28 German soldiers during a battle in France, forcing the surrender of 132 more. His actions earned him the Congressional Medal of Honor and rendered all subsequent cinematic displays of gunplay…
Lone Star Scorecard: Puzzling Over Jimmie Rodgers’ “T for Texas” and Those Poor Aggies
It’s time for another edition of Lone Star Scorecard, where we perform the valuable service of shining the harsh spotlight of anal retention on classic (and less so) songs about our beloved state. You’re welcome. Jimmie Rodgers, “Blue Yodel #1 (T for Texas)” We’re a little confused…you’re apparently fond of…
Food Fight: Battle Gyro
To be fair, the gyro is as much American as it is Greek. It was introduced to both Greece and America around the same time in the mid 20th century, based on the Turkish doner kebab (which is what you’d order if you wanted a gyro in Britain, by the by)…
Last Call For Art: Nudity And Explicit Language Or Meet Me In St. Louis
You only have a few more chances to catch the stage plays Red Light Winter, Southern Rapture, and Meet Me in St. Louis.Southern Rapture, currently closing at Stages Repertory Theatre on Sunday, is a comedy based on a true story.When the Charlotte Repertory Theatre staged Tony Kushner’s Angels in America…
“Imagine” This: What If John Lennon Were Still With Us?
Today marks what would have been John Lennon’s 69th birthday. Just let that sink in for a moment. He was only 40 when he passed away, but in those four decades he did enough to change the world and its inhabitants for pretty much the rest of natural human history…
Robbery At The Lone Star Saloon: What Is America Coming To?
Here at Hair Balls and the Houston Press, we really love the Lone Star Saloon. Really. That’s why we hope that police take swift action and find the dirty, dirty bastard that stole 21 bottles of liquor from Lone Star last weekend. “I hope they catch the S.O.B.,” Joe Lee…
Beer and Sausage and Beer Ice Cream at VOICE
It is a dinner that begins with pheasant sausage coupled with a robust pumpkin beer and ends with a stout (beer) ice cream. Along the way there will be more sausage and bratwurst, a beer-braised duck and an apple tart (to go with the beer ice cream). Once again, Chef…
Our Wishlist for This Weekend’s Austin Record Convention
This past Spring, Rocks Off attended her first record show in the meeting room of the Hilton Hotel on the Southwest Freeway at Westpark. Before then, we’d been content to find vinyl in the $1 bin at Salvation Army, at garage sales, or in the junk closet of our grandparents’…
In Case You Missed It: A Little Bit Of The Public News Returns
Our thread on all the favorite things gone from (The) Montrose garnered a lot of great replies, as people remembered a mystical time 10 or 15 years ago when townhomes were not on every block.One caught our eye, not only for its snappy prose style but for its byline: one…
Shoot the Moon: A Playlist for Today’s Lunar Bombing
In case you were asleep this morning when it happened, we bombed the moon. Twice! Our unprovoked attack upon our unsuspecting orbital neighbor was ostensibly for purposes of locating water particles in the dust cloud kicked up by the impact, but really, we’re pretty sure it’s the end result of…
Upcoming Events
The 13th annual Bayou City Arts Festival hits downtown this weekend, and it’s not just for art lovers. A large section of the festival each year is devoted to wine and food, and this year’s festival is no different. In fact, all of Sam Houston Park (along McKinney and Bagby)…
Five Spot: We Would Very Much Like Someone to Send Us an Advance of Swishahouse’s New The Usual Suspects Comp
Welcome back to Five Spot. Every Friday, we’ll examine a recent bit of music news and, sometimes awkwardly, tie it to a bit of Houston rap. It’s five videos and occasional cussing. Send tips to introducingliston@gmail.com. First, a bit of housekeeping: In this space last week, we wrote about the…
Houston Author, Houston Setting: Rachel Brady’s Final Approach
Going from being a biomedical engineer NASA to writing Final Approach, a thriller set in a skydiving camp, wasn’t as big a leap for debut author Rachel Brady as you might think. The Pearland resident tells Hair Balls, “After three or four years of reading a lot of mystery and…
We’re So Houston: Young Twinn Sets It Down For His City
Rocks Off loves songs about Houston. Here’s a pretty good new one by a rapper called Young Twinn. While the video doesn’t offer much we haven’t seen before – please, one shot of the skyline as seen from the Interstate is enough – we do really like some of the…
Tonight: Songwriting Legend Mark Germino at Anderson Fair
Veteran Nashville songwriter Mark Germino will be making a rare Houston appearance tonight at Anderson Fair. The last time Germino played there, no less a fan than Steve Fromholz drove over from Austin to catch the show. A songwriter’s songwriter, Germino is one of the most revered writers in the…
Betty Sue, We Hardly Knew Ye
I managed to bake one gorgeous, perfect free-form sourdough loaf with my spunky sourdough culture, Betty Sue, before her untimely demise. I started the dough in the bread machine set to the dough-only cycle, then took it out and formed a batard. I let the loaf rise outside on a…
R.I.P., Marvin Zindler’s Angels
It’s been a little over two years since Houston legend Marvin Zindler took his shock wig, blue-tinted eyeglasses and excessively nipped-and-tucked face to that great Ice Machine in the Sky.For a while after his demise, KTRK kept alive his Angels in Action program, where doctors and other professionals would volunteer…
Graveside Songs for Edgar Allan Poe’s Long-Overdue Funeral
Kicking the bucket at the age of 40 is bad enough, especially when, to this day, nobody’s really sure how you died (everything from syphillis to rabies to political “cooping” has been thrown out there as a possible cause). But getting buried in an unmarked grave after a three minute…
Aeros Open Up Their Home Season Tonight, With Big Changes
The time has come Aeros fans. The time for the team’s first home game of the season. They open the home portion of their schedule against the expansion Texas Stars at 7:35 p.m. at Toyota Center. They opened the season last weekend in Winnipeg where they split two games with…
Lonesome Onry and Mean: Previewing Saturday’s Conroe Cajun Catfish Festival
Lonesome Onry and Mean has to hand it to those people in Conroe: they know how to book a cool festival lineup. In fact, the list of performers for the Go Texan! Wine & Food stage at Saturday’s Conroe Cajun Catfish Festival is downright scary from the standpoint of cutting-edge,…
Calorie Posting and Houston
A quick Google search of “America’s fattest cities” will turn up a dozen lists with Houston in the top 10. It’s a title our city has had to bear on our pudgy shoulders for years now. According to Men’s Fitness , donuts are 132 percent more popular here than the…
The Week In Photos
Fall has officially hit Houston (even if you can’t tell from the weather). That means the light is subtly changing and the talented photographers in our Flickr pool are out there capturing scenes from the city both day and night. Enjoy some of our favorite reader-submitted photos from the last…
Listology: Runaway Sun Choose Their Favorite Album Covers
On today’s Listology hot seat are up-and-coming local blues-rockers Runaway Sun, whose CD release party for debut full-length The Bridge is Saturday night at the Continental Club with Clory Martin. Perhaps wisely, the quartet chose to list their favorite album covers instead of “List Bands You Do Not Like” or…
Some Names For The New Buffalo Bayou Trash Boat
Last year, Buffalo Bayou Partnership’s bubblegum-pink skimmer boat, the Mighty Tidy, capsized during Hurricane Ike. The Partnership recently purchased a a new “TrashCat” brand boat, a type of vessel specially designed to skim floating debris from the waters of Buffalo Bayou.It’s bad luck to have a boat without a name,…
Top 5 Creepiest Halloween Candy
Spooky Nerds We begin with Spooky Nerds candy, because most of the gross-out candy you find around Halloween harks back to those memorable years in the junior high school cafeteria when the nerdy, weird kid would eat disgusting things and freak everybody out. We all pegged those kids as losers,…
The Office: The Knot Is Finally Tied!
Well, the long-awaited wedding episode of The Office, “Niagara,” has come and gone, and it was one of the strongest episodes to date. There were plenty of vintage awkward moments, sexual shenanigans, thwarted ambitions, broken hearts, and the same small underlying sweetness that’s been there all along. It was faux-cheesy…
Friday Night Noise: Ascites Drops In on Super Happy Fun Land
In civilian life, Randa Golub styles hair, Nathan Golub works as a surgical technologist, Matt Coffey toils as an IT manager and the mysterious Alex C. isn’t “into paying taxes.” As Ascites, these four Austinnites like to fricassée eardrums with rending, no-holds-barred noise blasts. If the quartet’s first, noxious act…
Flashforward, Episode 3
Oh, FlashForward. If you were a person, you would be the really eager dyslexic kid who wants to make daddy proud but just can’t make the homework make sense. And just like that situation, there’s a way to fix the problem and make everything work, but if you don’t fix…
My Widdle Dog Wote Himself An Op-Ed Cowwum!!
We took note this summer when the Waco Tribune was sold to someone with no journalistic experience, whose first move was to add “In God We Trust” to the front page. Now Clifton Robinson is taking Central Texas journalism to a whole other level. His publisher’s column was written this…
Adieu To (Part Of) The Savoy
Hearts started racing with the announcement that downtown’s vacant Savoy Hotel had to be demolished immediately because it was a danger. Hearts especially raced across the street at the Houston House apartments, where residents pondered being a neighbor to the implosion of an asbestos-filled building. Things weren’t quite as apocalyptic…
Lonesome Onry and Mean: Right-Wing Gun Nuts Ain’t the Only Ones Who Can Reload
We knew it would happen, we just didn’t know it would take so long. The so-called Texas music (and right-wing) lunatic fringe has finally located us and zeroed in on Lonesome, Onry and Mean. They’ve got their self-righteous gun-nut editorial Uzis a-blazin’ like a shootout at the OK Corral over…
Punjabi Sourdough
While writing this week’s review of Sher-E-Punjab, we sampled the plain naan and the garlic naan, the dense, vegetable-stuffed paratha, and onion kulcha. Our hands-down favorite, and the best bread to get with the spicy goat vindaloo and fiery chili chicken at this little restaurant and sweet shop, is the…
Food Fight: It’s All Greek to Us
This week’s food fight was determined by our Twitter followers to be Battle Gyro. And because we don’t want them to have all the fun, we’re letting our readers decide which two restaurants in Houston will do battle this week. The easy money is on Niko Niko’s, or even Al’s…
In Honor Of The Great Chicago Fire: Five Best Movie Conflagrations
On this date in 1871, the Great Chicago Fire began. It burned for three days, destroying four square miles of the city. Originally blamed on Mrs. O’Leary’s cow, later reports revealed the blaze resulted from celebrations following the Cubs’ last World Series win. NL Central jokes aside, we thought it…
ACL Just Keeps on Giving: Welcome to the “Poopshow”
As you may already know if you followed Rocks Off’s copious ACL coverage, Austin’s Zilker Park is a muddy ruin. We use the term “muddy” loosely, as much of the turf churned into muck by dancing festival-goers was a substance called “Dillo Dirt,” which is part recycled sewage. As a…
UH’s Taj Mahal Apartment Complex Not Exactly A Hot Seller
It’s hard out there for a pimped-out student housing facility.We reported back in May that UH was having trouble leasing rooms in Calhoun Lofts, the deluxe dorms intended for grad students to live in (as well as dance, take cooking lessons, do yoga and reach the summit of Maslow’s hierarchy…
Houston’s Best Breakfast Croissant
While there isn’t technically a category for Best Breakfast Croissant in our annual Best of Houston® issue, the spot would be easily and handily filled by B&B Donuts on Westheimer. There really isn’t even a contest. We discovered (and that’s using the term loosely, really, as it’s in a very noticeable…
Sorry Dave, We Had To: Top Ten Songs to Listen to While Having Sex With Co-Workers
If The Late Show with David Letterman hasn’t seemed very funny lately, it’s probably because Dave has been spending more time apologizing for banging his subordinates than he has making fun of Paul Shaffer. Admittedly, it was a bold move: coming forward and confessing his past missteps in order to…
Another Notch In Houston’s Intellectual Belt
Who the hell says we’re stoopid here in Houston? Besides The Daily Beast, we mean.Houston is only the second city in the entire nation to host a convention called “The Guy Expo,” an orgy of cliches about sports, beer, babes and cars.”It caters to the guy’s guy and there’s nothing…
Slim Thug Laments the Recession’s Impact on His Entourage, Video Hos on The Daily Show
The Daily Show With Jon StewartMon – Thurs 11p / 10cSlim Thug Feels the Recessionwww.thedailyshow.comDaily Show Full EpisodesPolitical HumorRon Paul Interview Houston’s own Boss of All Bosses, Slim Thug, got six minutes of face time on The Daily Show Wednesday night, in correspondent Wyatt Cenac’s report on how the recession…
Bank Of America Scamming Hispanics, Local Lawsuit Says
All Jorge Gonzalez of Houston wanted was a safe place to keep his meager earnings. But in this era of banking scandals and swindles, that was apparently too much to ask. Instead, Gonzalez became the lead plaintiff in a sweeping class action lawsuit against Bank of America, AIG and several…
$13 at Brothers Taco House
Photo by Paul Knight Where: Brothers Taco House, 1604 Dowling St., 713-223-0091 What $13 gets you: More than enough food to feed us, a dining companion and a guy who was panhandling. After we finished getting our food at Brothers Taco House, we walked out to the small patio and rain…
“Just Us Ninjas Getting Shitfaced”: ICP and Juggalo Nation Invade Warehouse Live
[Ed. Note: We are happy to report that Craig Hlavaty is safe and sound, if a little under the weather. Here is his report from Wednesday’s ICP show.] “Hey man, you look lonely. How’s it going?” asks a big jolly Juggalo, face painted in a distorted clown pattern with long…
Pop Rocks: The Hype Machine Is In Overdrive For Paranormal Activity
It’s October, so let’s stay on the scary-movie theme and talk about another horror flick coming out this month: Paranormal Activity.Shot entirely with hand-held camera (in the style of recent flicks like Cloverfield and [REC]), it’s the story of a San Diego couple who have been experiencing some strange occurrences…
Selma Blair And Our Town, In More Ways Than One
For part of last night’s performance of Thornton Wilder’s Our Town at the Alley Theatre, audience members were paying more attention to a row of center seats a few rows up from the stage. Actress Selma Blair (Hellboy, Hellboy 2, Legally Blonde and NBC’s Kath & Kim) who is in…
Are MP3s and Downloading Eroding Music’s Communal Properties?
Although Rocks Off had every intention of rambling about something different this week, we thought it would be a lost opportunity to not examine an issue that seems to have been revealed by readers’ responses last week. Although many fantastic points were made, we were fascinated to detect that woven…
No Holds Barred Chili Cook-Off: Let the Flames Begin
Next Saturday, October 17, the normally bucolic grounds of Shady Tavern will be invaded by the heat-seekers and flame-throwers at the No Holds Barred Chili Cook-Off. Now in its third year, the young but increasingly popular chili cook-off will feature between 25 and 30 teams, all of whom are invited to…
Sexy Halloween Costume Challenge For the Ladies
Halloween is coming, and that means many, many costuming mistakes will be made by normally sane adults. To help stop this scourge, each Thursday we will be offering tips and analysis of what to avoid, or possibly what to do. While we don’t know when or where we’ll black out/get…
Have You Seen Craig Hlavaty?
Our faithful Rocks Off lieutenant was last seen in the company of these people (and many, many more like them) at Wednesday’s Insane Clown Posse show at Warehouse Live. We haven’t heard from him since late, late last night, and are starting to get a little worried…
Glee, Episode Six: Shark vs. Bear
After a filler ep last week that played out the string on the musical subplot, Glee was back on point last night in a big way. Co-creator Ryan Murphy was once again the credited writer this week’s “Vitamin D,” a fun episode that moved the season forward and had all…
The H-Town Countdown, No. 16: Bushwick Bill’s Little Big Man
Roughly 84,000 rap albums that have been released in Houston since 1989. We’re counting down the 25 best of all time every Thursday. Got a problem with the list? Shove it. Just kidding. Friendship. Email it to sheaserrano@gmail.com. Bushwick Bill Little Big Man (Priority, 1992) “Get to the house, all…
10 Candidates For The Job Of Astros Manager
Drayton McLane and his so-called brain trust are supposed to start meeting this week to discuss names for the next manager of the Houston Astros.Brian McTaggart over at Astros.com throws out some of the usual names we would expect to hear — Jim Fregosi (friend of Ed Wade), Manny Acta…
An Ode to Sugar — But Watch Out for That Nasty Oil and Fat!
A new cookbook called The Worry-Free Bakery arrived in Eating…Our Words’ inbox the other day. It both promoted the worth of sweet desserts, and promised recipes that were fat free. Author Kumiko Ibaraki, a former public health nurse who left nursing to go to culinary school, later founding a culinary school of her…
Who’s Setting The Heights On Fire?
Houston’s historic Heights neighborhood is under siege. In just two months, 12 suspicious fires at local residences have taken place, all within a couple of blocks of each other.The latest incident occurred in the dark hours of the morning on October 2. Around 2 a.m., firefighters responded a fire at…
UH: Importance of Being Earnest
The University of Houston’s theater department tackles Oscar Wilde’s comedy of manners The Importance of Being Earnest, with Jonathan Gonzales in the director’s seat. One of Wilde’s most popular works, Earnest follows two young men in Victorian England as they find their way through complicated relationships with the girls of…
2009 Free Night of Theater
If the economic downturn has kept you out of the theater lately, the Houston Arts Alliance has just the ticket for you. Working with Theatre Communications Group out of New York City, HAA presents the 2009 Free Night of Theater, which allows anyone in need of a theater fix to…
Domy Movie Nights: The Bible Tells Me So
A documentary that challenges biblical scriptures which seem to condemn homosexuality, For the Bible Tells Me So asserts that antigay sentiment by religious fundamentalists is based on writings that are not only taken out of context, but badly translated as well. (Oops!) Bible also looks at several religious families and…
19th Annual Turkish Festival
Every year Houston boasts more than a dozen colorful festivals when the city’s ethnic communities each take a turn celebrating their cultural heritage. Today it’s the Eurasian country of Turkey that takes center stage at the 19th Annual Turkish Festival. Popular musician Baris Bilgili heads a lineup of performers that…
The Soul of Houston: Blues Stories
As a child, Texas Johnny Brown made his way across the South with his father doing street performances; as an adult, he helped pioneer electric blues, writing hits for the likes of Bobby “Blue” Bland and recording with stars like Ruth Brown. Texas Johnny Brown – now more than 80…
Bayou City Festival Downtown
The Art Colony Association’s Bayou City Art Festival Downtown offers not only thousands of artworks but lots of live entertainment. This year, an all-time-high 850 artists from around the world submitted work to the jury; 300 made the cut. The result is a truly world-class selection of artworks, including the…
Houston Museum of Natural Science: Mummies in 3D: Secrets of the Pharaohs
We’re not sure this is how Egyptian pharaoh Rameses the Great planned to spend his afterlife, but he’s currently the star of the new IMAX film Mummies in 3D: Secrets of the Pharaohs. A mix of historic exploration and forensic examination, Mummies gives viewers a look at the journey taken…
Discovery Green: “Cool Globes: Hot Ideas for a Cooler Planet”
All of the 50 super-size globes (they’re five feet wide and seven feet tall) in the “Cool Globes: Hot Ideas for a Cooler Planet” outdoor exhibit are messages from artists around the world, from schoolchildren to international talents, suggesting solutions to global warming. In Mitch Levin and Baris Taser’s Race…
Keith Carter: “Unseen & Rediscovered”
For cultural institutions, fall is the time to bring out the artillery, and Art League Houston’s big gun is photographer Keith Carter, one of Texas’s most prolific and renowned artists. In “Unseen & Rediscovered,” an exhibition of photographs by the 2009 Texas Artist of the Year, the Art League presents…
Chalk
Mike Akel and Chris Mass’s “mockumentary” about a year in the life of high school teachers, Chalk, can be described in one word – sweet. Former teachers themselves, Akel and Mass co-wrote and directed their little indie film out of Austin for the astonishingly low price of $10,000, using former…
John Besh: My New Orleans
It might be worth the drive to New Orleans for the cuisine of John Besh, whose Restaurant August in NOLA is generally acknowledged to be the best in town (take that, Emeril!). Fortunately, Besh is bringing himself and his food to Houston tonight as he presents his massive new cookbook,…
Rachel Brady: Final Approach
Houston writer Rachel Brady reads from her debut novel Final Approach today. Set on the Gulf Coast, the book chronicles a woman’s attempt to piece her life back together after losing her husband and baby girl in a freak accident. When she becomes involved in the search for a missing…
Dynamo Charities Cup
Mexico’s Monterrey Rayados meet up with the Houston Dynamo at the first-ever Dynamo Charities Cup today. The Mexican team is in the top four of its league at home, but the Dynamo leads the Western Division of the MLS, so the Rayados will have their hands full – oh wait,…
Bobby Lee
As the Asian guy on MADtv, long-serving cast member Bobby Lee has had plenty of opportunity to do Asian and non-Asian characters alike (Kim Jong-Il, Connie Chung, John McCain). In his standup routine, Lee professes something of a love/hate relationship with Texas. “One Mexican guy down there got me in…
2009 Autumn Artists Concert
Most grandfathers leave their grandsons a watch or a little cash. Cellist Evan Drachman’s grandfather left him a 1725 Stradivarius. (Of course, Drachman’s grandfather was the legendary Russian cellist Gregor Piatigorsky, who happened to own two Stradivarii.) Drachman, who studied at both the Peabody Conservatory and the New England Conservatory,…
Houston Poetry Fest 2009
Valzhyna Mort is well versed in Belarusian and English. The Minsk-born poet, the first ever to release a collection of poems translated from her native tongue into ours, reads today as part of the Houston Poetry Festival. Factory of Tears (2008) is Mort’s exploration of her cross-the-pond move to Washington,…
Progressive Forum: Karen Armstrong
Salon.com calls Karen Armstrong the most “interesting religion writer today.” It was her 1993 release A History of God: The 4,000-Year Quest for Judaism, Christianity, and Islam that first won her acclaim. Armstrong’s presentation today is based on her latest title, The Case for God. Starting with the Paleolithic Age…
Beautiful Losers
If you disagree with the establishment, then redefine it. This could be the motto for the artists chronicled in Beautiful Losers. The documentary film, screened today by AIGA Houston, chronicles legendary DIY-ers from the 1990s skate, punk, surf, hip-hop and graffiti scenes. Folks like Shepard Fairey, Aaron Rose, Barry McGee,…
Bering & James Gallery: “Taboo”
Catherine Cameron, one of eight artists and photographers participating in the Bering & James exhibit “Taboo!!,” makes art that examines the idea of the forbidden. Her EGO 6 Persona Self Portraits series of soft-focus black-and-white photographs show only glimpses of her; a close-up of her breasts as she leans over,…
Classical Theatre Company: Hamlet
Classical Theatre Company Artistic Director John Johnston is in a good mood. “We are thrilled to be bringing internationally renowned artist Guy Roberts to our stage this season for our production of Hamlet,” he says in press materials. (The tag line for the show is “One man. Eighteen characters. Ninety…
Latin American Left Film Festival
Want a crash course in contemporary south-of-the-border politics? Six fascinating documentaries that comprise The New Latin American Left Film Festival, co-sponsored by Rice University’s Department of Hispanic Studies and the University of Houston’s Department of Political Science, help illuminate the complex, contradictory and controversial nature of modern Latin America. In…
The Bee’s Knees
Though no one’s idea of an action film, Andrew Bujalski’s Beeswax feels less charmingly aimless than its radically slight precursors Funny Ha Ha (2002) and Mutual Appreciation (2006). Have Bujalski’s feckless characters joined the workaday world? As its title suggests, Beeswax has a mild buzz of business — and busy-ness…
LONE STAR SALOON’S GREEN DEMON
It was dangerously close to Tuesday morning, it was raining and I was combing the gutter outside Lone Star Saloon (1900 Travis, 713-757-1616) for a receipt I shouldn’t have thrown away. Bartender Kari was helping me look because a) she’s gracious, b) it was the merchant copy, which she needed…
Coco Puff
Anne Fontaine’s Coco Before Chanel gives us Belle Époque Coco, opening in 1893 with a grim scene of the ten-year-old waif and her sister unceremoniously dumped at an orphanage, and ending around World War I, a few years before the Chanel empire is launched. Jan Kounen’s moldy Coco Chanel &…
Ghost Riders
Cisco Rios lived to ride his bike. The 25-year-old waiter longed to ditch his job and make that passion his livelihood. His buddy Matt Wurth, owner of Heights-area bike shop I Cycle, said that Rios told him that he wanted to take up Wurth’s trade and move with his Australian…
Sex and Soccer
Whatever Why Have Sex? UT researchers get some odd answers By Cathy Matusow Okay, get ready to have the bejesus scared out of you. David M. Buss and Cindy M. Meston, professors of psychology at the University of Texas, have a new book called Why Women Have Sex: Understanding Sexual…
You Can’t Be Serious
Debating Best of Houston® Online readers weigh in on our Best of Houston® issue, September 24: Best Criminal Defense Attorney: Brian Wice A fine attorney: I wholeheartedly agree that Brian Wice is Houston’s finest appellate attorney. Wice has worked tirelessly for my sister, Susan Wright, for five long years. He…
SPECIAL WEDDING EDITION
Dear Readers, Since the Mexican’s sister is getting married to a good man from Zacatecas this weekend, I must ignore my research archives to slaughter a pig and hire a banda sinaloense. So indulge yourselves in some piratería questions I ripped off from my book, and await my return next…
Inside the Rappers Studio
Are you a young man with star-studded dreams of Hollywood? Well, what are you doing in drama school? The Rap Institute of Acting offers a quick, inexpensive avenue into the world of television and movies. While it’s true a little pigmentation helps, even pale-faced homeboys like Vanilla Ice and Marky…
Million-Dollar Mud
Night fell on the Austin City Limits Music Festival at Zilker Park this past Sunday under a full moon and over a sea of mud. (It wasn’t strictly mud, but more on that in a bit.) Many in the crowd, especially those in the proximity of the Dell stage, responded…
The Postmarks, Brookville
Although the pop sounds crafted by The Postmarks and Brookville are decidedly different, they still complement each other nicely. Over the course of three albums (including this year’s Memoirs at the End of the World), the former has refined its Phil Spector-influenced chamber-pop. Buoyed by Tim Yehezkely’s lovely vocal shimmers,…
Vin Bar
Houston’s socialites will have to wait just a tad longer for the famed Valentino’s to open. Meanwhile, Chef Cunninghame West and staff are honing their skills at the newly opened Vin Bar (Hotel Derek, 2525 West Loop S., 713-850-9200), Houston’s first “crudo” bar. West has been in Houston one month…
Rick Estrin and the Nightcats
For more than 30 years, the synergy between guitarist “Little” Charlie Baty and singer/harmonica player Rick Estrin has made Little Charlie and the Nightcats one of the best (and most entertaining) jump-blues bands around. With Baty’s “soft retirement” due to health issues, the high-haired, Lothario-mustached, sharkskin-suited Estrin is taking the…
Capsule Stage Reviews: Southern Rapture, The House of the Spirits, Night of the Giant, Seven Guitars
Angels in America In 1996, a regional theater in Charlotte, North Carolina, produced Tony Kushner’s Pulitzer Prize-winning drama Angels in America. Little did they know that the relatively small-town production and the national trouble it caused would become the inspiration for yet another play, Eric Coble’s Southern Rapture, a satire…
Oktoberfest
Under the Volcano’s Oktoberfest party features Saint Arnold and Hofbrau Oktoberfest seasonal beers, huge bratwurst dogs (with homemade sauerkraut) and the musical stylings of Mark Halata, a Texas treasure whose musical prowess allows him to cruise easily from Czech polkas to conjunto to zydeco and beyond — provided an accordion…
Feed Me
Meanwhile, the intimate Texas Repertory Theatre uptown is doing things right. This little theater that could is showing that classic little show that could, Little Shop of Horrors. Nothing about this musical is ordinary. Have you ever seen a man-eating plant smile? Or watched it bop to a ’60s tune…
The Aggrolites
One look at the four Los Angelenos who comprise the Aggrolites, and you might be surprised that they spend their nights playing sweet, sweet ska/reggae/soul and not, I don’t know, stabbing you with a homemade shiv in the prison yard because you wouldn’t bum them your last smoke. Basically, these…
Double Vision
One could certainly consider Houston-born pianist Robert Glasper one of the most versatile musicians of his generation. Equally comfortable playing both straight-ahead and experimental jazz as well as R&B and various other genres, Glasper is frequently booked to perform at two venues on the same night. That’s the feeling he…
The Black Crowes
It seems only appropriate that the Crowes’ album of new material, After the Freeze…, was recorded live in front of a select group of fans at ex-Band member Levon Helm’s barn/studio in rural Woodstock, New York. That’s because it may be their rootsiest effort yet, with several songs that wouldn’t…
Rent Me
Turning the beloved movie Meet Me in St. Louis into Broadway fodder is a no-win situation. One of Hollywood’s pre-eminent musicals, the fabled movie stars a luminously youthful Judy Garland, a veritable Hollywood icon, so what hope is there that the “live” version will measure up? The other question is,…
Capsule Art Reviews: “BIG LECTRIC FAN TO KEEP ME COOL WHILE I SLEEP”, “Carlos Cruz-Diez: Crosswalk”, “Carlos Runcie-Tanaka: Fragmento”, “Second Seating”
“BIG LECTRIC FAN TO KEEP ME COOL WHILE I SLEEP” Wayne White’s installation at Rice Gallery is stunning. White, widely known for his incredible sets and puppets for Pee-wee’s Playhouse, is originally from Chattanooga, Tennessee. You can take the artist out of the country, but you can’t take the country…
Ghost Riders: Way of Life
On March 30 of this year, Leigh Boone was cycling along Lower Westheimer near Dunlavy. Suddenly, two fire trucks collided mere feet from Boone. One of them — a 40-ton ladder truck — tipped on its side, trapping Boone and her bike beneath it. Ten firefighters were injured in the…
The Quotable Bono
Singer, songwriter, lyricist, poet, painter, statesman, activist, icon, card — no matter which pair of sunglasses he happens to be wearing, U2’s front man has a lot to say and is not exactly shy about saying it. Capable of both absurdity (“A woman needs a man like a fish needs…
Punjabi To-Go
Using the handle of a plastic fork, I managed to get the marrow out of the bones of my sensational goat vindaloo. I spread the fatty, curry-flavored marrow goo on hot, puffy garlic naan bread and savored every bite. The curries at Sher-E-Punjab, an Indian sweet shop and restaurant in…
Ghost Riders: Easy Come, Easy No
Bruce Blackwell, a retiree now living in Friendswood, misses his old neighborhood in suburban Chicago, not least because of the Prairie Path. Blackwell estimates that the monster bike path — built on the old Interurban Electric railroad track, power line easements, the banks of the Fox River, and the old…
Looks Like Sausage, Tastes Like Shrimp
The taquitos de brochetta ($15) appetizer at Churrascos (2055 Westheimer, 713-527-8300) always goes fast. At first glance, it appears the tacos are made with chorizo, but the small flour tortillas actually contain thin slices of bacon-wrapped shrimp stuffed with red pepper and serrano chiles. The charbroiled shrimp have a fabulous,…
Get All Dressed Up
Michael Jackson. Trend spotters say his face will be everywhere you look this coming year, and why not? It certainly has a ghostly aspect, although one wonders how all the would-be Michaels will manage the nose. But if your idea of a good time doesn’t include wearing the face and…
