Houston Businesses Said to Give Vets With Service Dogs a Hard Time
Military veterans and service dog owners Yancy Baer and Aryeh Ohayon know what it’s like to be hassled in Houston over their dogs. Never mind veteran’s rights. Ohayon, KHOU reported yesterday, was turned away from a Thai restaurant in town because he doesn’t look disabled but had his service dog…
Just a Matter of Time Before Gay Texans Start to Legally Marry — It’s NBD!
Just as arch-conservative Arizona Governor Jan Brewer crumbled to public and political pressure and vetoed Arizona’s so-called “anti-gay legislation,” a Texas federal court judge (Hon. Orlando Garcia) in San Antonio struck down Texas’s ban on same-sex marriage because it violated the equal protection clause — i.e., all citizens must be…
NASA Discovers 715 New Planets Outside Our Solar System
Space is still the final frontier, and NASA has announced that the frontier is more vast than we realized. The NASA Kepler mission has discovered 715 planets set up in multiple-planet systems a lot like ours. The discovery more than doubled the number of known worlds in one fell swoop…
The 2014 Oscars Predictions Show! Plus Liam Neeson Forever Kicks Ass
L.A. Weekly film critic Amy Nicholson and the Village Voice’s Stephanie Zacharek and Alan Scherstuhl ask, “do the Oscars really even matter, guys?” They come to a few conclusions, but only after discussing just how much ass a middle-aged Liam Neeson can kick on an airplane in Non-Stop. Settle in…
100 Favorite Dishes 2013-2014: No. 25, Chips and Queso at Fusion Taco
This year, leading up to our annual Menu of Menus® issue, Kaitlin Steinberg counts down her 100 favorite dishes as she eats her way through Houston. She’ll compile a collection of the dishes she thinks are the most awesome, most creative and, of course, most delicious in town. It’s a…
Aaron Hernandez Prison Fight Epilogue: Victim Was in Handcuffs
When last we left former New England Patriot tight end and alleged murderer Aaron Hernandez, he was busy beating the ever loving piss out of a fellow inmate in the Bristol County Jail on Tuesday afternoon. The inmate in question had reportedly been relentlessly harassing Hernandez, which is the prison…
What’s Jay Leno Been Up To Since Retiring?
It was sad — Jay Leno’s 22 years hosting The Tonight Show ended with all the excitement of a guy farting at the mall. We all talked about his joke stealing and his talk-show stealing and how he’d played to the middle, threw away his talent. We were happy to…
El Presidente: The Exquisite Cocktail That Neither Communists Nor Capitalists Could Kill
The El Presidente is a cocktail blast from the past that deserves a good future.
Toby Keith Brings His Bar & Grill to Houston
Full disclosure: I had to Google “Toby Keith” in order to write this article. Yes, I knew he’s a country singer. And I knew he was the guy in that “Red Solo Cup” song. But that was about the extent of my knowledge. I don’t really listen to country music…
Riley Cooper (Yes, N-Bomb Riley Cooper) Signs $25 Million Extension
In many ways, the NFL is a microcosm of our society, a society that forgives almost anything. It’s a league that has forgiven people who have “obstructed the investigation” of murder (Ray Lewis) and people who have killed innocent people while behind the wheel of a car while they were…
Popping the Trunk on Houston Rap Tapes
The shittiest thing about Houston Rap, the big, glossy picture book put out late last year by Sinecure Books, is that it isn’t 11 million pages long. A ten-year labor of photographic love by documentarians Peter Beste and Lance Scott Walker, the book is an absolute treasure trove of snapshots…
Alley Presents a Bright, Inventive Comedy With Fool
The setup: The Alley Theatre demonstrates its strengths in presenting the world premiere of a new comedy by the prolific Theresa Rebeck, an acclaimed playwright and television writer with forays as well into novels and a memoir. Rebeck has said her plays were about “betrayal and treason and poor behavior”…
Turnovers, Matchup Problems Cost Rockets in Loss to Clippers
One of the unique anomalies of the Rockets title runs in 1994 and 1995 is they did not have to beat Seattle either time. The team that is now in Oklahoma City was then called the Sonics and their swarming defense was the bane of Hakeem Olajuwon’s existence. During the…
10 Movies to Give You Some Houston Rodeo Fashion Inspiration
Every Houstonian knows that If you are driving down I-45 as February turns into March and you just happen to pass a line of cattle holding up traffic, it’s rodeo time. Giddy up, people. This weekend officially kicks off the 2014 Houston Rodeo and Livestock Show and Rodeo. I was…
Build-A-Bar: The Glories of Grenadine
My wife is pregnant. It’s our third time in the barrel, and as unexpected a ride as the prior two. We (think we) know what we’re in for this time, though, so it should be smooth sailing. To help ensure pacific waters, I’m (mostly) teetotaling in sympathy with my wife…
5 Authentic Chinese Dishes, Plus Where to Find Them In Houston
Despite what the Master Wok in the food court may tell you, authentic Chinese food does not consist of ten different types of orange-tinted, deep-fried chicken. In fact, what is commonly considered “Chinese food” in the West actually originated in 1950s San Francisco, when Chinese cuisine was adapted to suit…
The Rocks Off 200: Jason Smith, Alkari’s Space City Rocker
Welcome to The Rocks Off 200, our portrait gallery of the most compelling profiles and personalities in the far-flung Houston music community — a lot more than just musicians, but of course they’re in there too. See previous entries in the Rocks Off 100 at this link. Who? This Friday…
“Historically Accurate” Gladiator Game Can Have Orcs, But Not Women
Over the past year I’ve noticed more and more women and girls getting better and more equal roles in video games. 2013 brought us the reboot Tomb Raider, Ellie in The Last of Us, a new game starring Lightning, the indie hit Contrast, and Esther in Ni no Kuni just…
The Three Worst Houston Freeway Interchanges
UPDATE September 23, 2014: Good news: the interchange that took the top spot in this list is getting a makeover. The interchange where Highway 59 and Interstate 45 South merge going in to downtown is getting a two-year, multimillion-dollar makeover. Last week when I wrote about the most treacherous on…
Macarons Are the New Cupcake, But Why?
Think back to a few years ago, when cupcakes were introduced as glamorous desserts. You probably recall that cupcake shops such as Sprinkles, Magnolia Bakery and Georgetown Cupcake became household names. As the popularity of these personal cakes (sometimes filled) topped with colorful swirls of frosting, sprinkles, syrups and every…
Supt. Terry Grier in State of the Schools Speech Says Something in Arabic That We Couldn’t Quite Catch, But E For Effort
More dual language programs in schools, increased diversity efforts including school staffing so that schools better reflect Houston as a whole, and a pilot program that would allow students whose parents move around a lot to name their home school and continue to attend it no matter what their new…
The Fine Art of Radical Dolly Surgery
When my daughter became old enough to stay overnight with my mom in order to give me and my wife a break and a chance to go out the first thing Nana did was go out and buy a big box of dollar store toys. She figured the kid wouldn’t…
Louie Gohmert: Black People Won Their Freedom to Discriminate Against Gay People
Louie Gohmert is always coming up with, shall we say, interesting ideas. But his latest brain baby takes the cake. According to Gohmert, African Americans should oppose gay marriage because they won the right to oppose things with the Civil Rights movement. The East Texas Congressman used his time on…
Top 5 Dishes to Order at Ninfa’s on Navigation BESIDES the Fajitas
Some might say that if you haven’t tried the fajitas at The Original Ninfa’s, you haven’t had fajitas. Countless critics have named the restaurant’s iconic dish as one of their favorites in Houston. Thanks to the versatility of executive chef Alex Padilla, there are many other high commendable dishes at…
The Rest of the Best 2014: Houston’s Top 10 Film Festivals
We love film festivals. Thankfully, Houston has loads to choose from. Here’s our list of the top 10 film festivals in Houston. Most of these will seem familiar to movie fans; the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston’s Latin Wave, the Houston Indian Film Festival and the ever impressive Houston Cinema…
Your Two-Steppin’ Guide to the Rodeo Cookoff Bands
As one of the biggest entertainment-based enterprises on the planet, not just in Texas, the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo is one of the few local events that people halfway across the country and around the world travel to see. As such, its concert calendar has become increasingly crowded with…
I Know My Mom Is Having an Affair. Help!
Welcome to Ask Willie D, Rocks Off’s advice column where the Geto Boys MC answers reader questions about matters, in his own words, “funny, serious or unpredictable.” Something on your mind? Ask Willie D! I KNOW MY MOM IS HAVING AN AFFAIR Dear Willie D: My mom wrecked her car…
Houston’s “Worst” Music-Venue Restrooms
I’m not really into “worst” lists. For one, labeling anything the “worst” sounds so negative. This is a music blog. Just as you would after using a restroom, you should walk away feeling better about the few minutes you spent here than worse. Right? Also, there’s a fine and subjective…
