Reality Bites: Why Planes Crash: Human Error
There are a million reality shows on the naked television. We’re going to watch them all, one at a time. According to the FAA, 80 percent of all plane crashes are caused by human error. That being the case, it seems like more than one of the Weather Channel’s (!)…
Chronicle Names New Editor, Executive VP
It would appear the Chron has a new head boss. Nancy Barnes, the former editor of the Minneapolis Star Tribune, will take over as Editor and Executive Vice President on October 15. Barnes, 52, replaces Jeff Cohen, who is taking over the Editorial and Op-Ed sections of the news division…
This Week’s Cafe Review: Great Things in Small(ish) Packages at Batanga
Before we go any further, I want to make it clear: These are not Spanish tapas. These are Houston tapas, baby, and here in Texas we go big or go home. Big ideas, big flavors, big plates — which does kind of go against the notion of tapas, but for…
HPD Investigating Victims’ Crime Advocate Andy Kahan
The Houston Police Department is investigating how the city’s crime victims’ advocate obtained a prisoner’s confidential disciplinary record and used the information to try to thwart the prisoner’s parole. KTRK’s Ted Oberg has been kicking all kinds of ass over Andy Kahan’s alleged misconduct, which Oberg reported last night is…
All Girls: A Portrait of 13-Year-Old Girls in All Their Nasty, Lovable Glory
Three 13-year-old girls share the stage with a psychiatrist mother determined to make the best choices for her daughter in All Girls, about to undergo its regional premiere in Houston at Stark Naked Theatre. Actress and co-founding director Kim Tobin, who gets to play the manipulative mother in the play,…
Mumford & Sons at Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, 9/17/2013
Mumford & Sons Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion September 17, 2013 It’s hard to think of a band that’s been so heavily vilified over such a short period of time as Mumford & Sons. Even perennial doormats like Nickelback and Coldplay were given a pass for an album or two, but…
Cover Story: Riff Raff, Rap Game Lon Chaney Jr.
Who is Riff Raff? Rap Game Stephen Hawking or 21st-century minstrel? Not so long ago, he was just a huge Vanilla Ice fan from Copperfield who may or may not have graduated from Langham Creek High School. One thing is for sure: the former Horst Simco from Houston’s northwestern outskirts…
Pizza, Local Brews and Giant Meatballs: City Oven Opens in the Heights
A couple of weeks ago, in the Heights space where D’Amico’s used to be, City Oven quietly opened its doors and began serving a menu of dishes that can be described as “favorites-with-a-twist”: chicken wing pizza, salmon and shrimp ceviche, strawberry-and-spinach salad with hefeweizen vinaigrette, and four different kinds of…
Saving the Astrodome: Campaign Highlights Historic Preservation
In a city like Houston, to take on the fight for historic preservation is the equivalent of slamming your face into a wall over and over. With no zoning and virtually no historic ordinances with any teeth whatsoever, the city and county have long been at the mercy of developers…
“Calaveras Mexicanas” Celebrates the Influence of Jose Guadalupe Posada
Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, is a Mexican holiday to honor loved ones who have passed into the afterlife. A reigning symbol of Dia de los Muertos is the calavera, which personifies death as a skull. Jose Guadalupe Posada was a Mexican artist whose satirical cartoons…
Gainesville Man Pimps His Stepdaughter Out on Craigslist for Tennessee-Florida Game
The Internet has made our lives easier in so many ways, not the least of which is that it makes it a million times easier and more efficient to try and move merchandise, whether it’s a car, a boat, perhaps an old playground set, or your stepdaughter…. Wait, what? Yeah,…
No, I’m Not on Pinterest, and This is Why
I cannot believe you’re not on Pinterest! I hear this all the time from friends who love the site, who collect recipes and nail polish designs and tattoo ideas for later use/inspiration. But you love food! And fashion! And you write about them! I can’t believe you don’t even use…
The Pass & Provisions Celebrates 1st Birthday with Music, Cocktails and a Whole Pig
It’s been one heck of a year for chefs Seth Siegel-Gardner and Terrence Gallivan of The Pass & Provisions. They opened the fine dining and casual restaurant duo a year ago this past Sunday and celebrated with a lavish first-birthday soirée for invited guests (anyone on the restaurant’s mailing list…
Astros Get Fewer Than 1,000 Viewers, Lose Ratings War to WNBA
On Saturday, a good friend gave me a pair of extra tickets to the Astros-Angels game at Minute Maid Park. To say it was sparsely attended would be generous, but the few thousand people on hand in the park eclipsed by a wide margin those watching on TV. According to…
New Taco Bell Smothered Chicken Burrito (Okay, and a Fiery Doritos Taco Loco)
At the intersection of “hung over” and “empty fridge,” we recently took a hard right-hand turn into Taco Bell. It seems like there are different kinds of hangovers: McDonald’s hangovers, Taco Bell hangovers, plain-pasta-all-day hangovers, and so on. A Taco Bell hangover is the “creeper.” You wake up feeling better…
A Trimmed Hamlet Scraps the Dagger For a Gun
The set-up: The Classical Theatre Company tackles William Shakespeare’s longest play in an adaptation by Artistic Director John Johnston that trims it to manageable size, while retaining the essential plot and structure, and the famous passages. There is no single way to present Hamlet, and no agreed-upon interpretation of the…
Halftime Hero: Why Bruno Mars Is the Right Choice for Super Bowl XLVIII
Less than a month into the new NFL season, we already know who will be playing at the Super Bowl. We may not know which teams will line up for football’s biggest game. As the sports cliché goes, there’s a lot of football yet to be played; but, no prognostication…
Drivers License Offices Now Open Saturday, But Not for Getting Drivers Licenses, Seriously
As if the issue of voter ID cards wasn’t confusing enough, the state of Texas has managed to complicate matters further by offering Election Identifications Certificates between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Saturdays at select drivers license offices throughout the state through November 2. This would make a lot of…
The 10 Weirdest Video Games Banned By Governments
Video games are art, and art usually has people in power clutching their pearls and trying to blast said art out of sight lest thought invade the inner sanctum of comfortable status quo. Ah, censorship, no matter how many times we patiently explain to our overlords that the surest way…
Music Therapists Bring Healing Through Tunes and Beats
Elton John once said, “Music has healing power; it has the ability to take people out of themselves for a few hours.” This divertive nature forms the science behind the music therapy field, a burgeoning subsector of behavioral health care that is popping up in institutional settings — from hospitals…
You Should Go to Moon Tower Inn; Here Are 10 Reasons Why
While we are certainly excited about their newest venture, Voodoo Queen, we revisited Evan Shannon and Brand Young’s first baby, Moon Tower Inn, to remind ourselves just how great it is. Here are 10 Reasons Why You Should Visit (or revisit) as well:…
Forgotten Houston for Kids: AstroWorld, the One That Got Away
When I was compiling the Houston Bucket List in July and August, I found myself returning to places in my mind that no longer existed. Because so many of these were memories from my childhood it’s no surprise that most of them were specifically for kids. It got me thinking…
100 Creatives 2013: Deke Anderson, Actor (Green Lantern, Army of Darkness)
What He Does: One of the things you quickly learn about the movie industry here in Houston is that we do have a fair amount of working actors going out to do big name films on a regular basis. One of those is Deke Anderson, whose IMDM page hosts both…
This Week in Food Blogs: Eatables From Asia, and Local Joints Mark Milestones
Hank on Food: BRC Gastropub recently rolled out a new menu featuring items such as foie gras poutine and a meatball “sledge” salad. Hank checked out both of those dishes, as well as “Fatboy’s Hamburger & Duck Fat Basting,” all of which he gave an A+. Hank particularly loved the…
Bloody Knives: Oh Yes, There Will Be Blood
I’m not sure what industrial shoegaze is, but Austin’s Bloody Knives says that that’s what they are. It’s as good as anything I’ve got to describe them. Personally, I think they sound like Filter on codeine-strength cough medicine, all ethereal but cutting. Nothing shows this off better than their Bloody…
Former Rocket Royce White Is Literally the Worst (According to ESPN.com)
Before I get started, I can’t tell you how good it feels to type the words “former Rocket” in front of Royce White’s name. I know that the afternoon of July 5 will always be remembered more for Dwight Howard making his decision to come to Houston, but Daryl Morey…
Health Department Roundup: Sad Times at Happyland & Radical Cleanliness
We’re all for businesses with ironic or inadvertently funny names. Like Kids Exchange, which is usually written in all caps without any spaces so it reads “KIDSEXCHANGE,” and our naughty little minds insert spaces where they probably shouldn’t be. Or Pho Shizzle, a Vietnamese joint in Washington with an oh-so-clever…
How Does Speed Dating in a Porsche Sound to You?
Think about the best first date you ever had. Did he/she take you to a great restaurant? Was there endless amounts of good conversation about topics that were important to both of you? Did he/she blow your mind with how funny, good-looking, smart, weird, into ’90s NY hardcore he/she was…
A Brief Musical History of Batman
It’s that ever-fascinating time again: the interstitial period between two eras of Batmen. As Christian Bale takes his leave and we welcome Ben Affleck to the cowl, it’s a strange time for the Dark Knight. We’ve seen the way Bale and director Christopher Nolan portrayed him so darkly, and it’s…
Breaking News: Philippe Schmit Is Leaving Philippe Restaurant + Lounge
Dallas Easterly, the general manager of Philippe Restaurant + Lounge, released the following statement: “After nearly two years as Executive Chef of Philippe Restaurant + Lounge, Philippe Schmit is leaving his post to pursue other projects, but he will still remain an equity partner in the restaurant. We wish him…
Save on Breakfast or Dinner at Cajun Stop, Half-off Tickets to Haute Wheels Food Truck Fest, Burgers at Prince’s and More
The deals keep coming this week! Today’s Houston Press Voice Daily Deal is good for half-off ($7 for $14 or $10 for $20) on breakfast or dinner at Cajun Stop. Cajun Stop was a 2010 Houston Press “Best of” winner for Best Po-Boys, and has been serving authentic Cajun dinners…
We Were the Creepy Childless Adults at the One Direction Movie
Last week, when we were totally researching for work and not wasting time as the clock wound down at all, we came across this utterly hilarious Jezebel article about what happens when two grown people watch the One Direction: This Is Us movie with a room full of screaming fans…
Miss America Isn’t White. Calling All Twitter Idiots!
As has become commonplace on the Internet, when there is a person of color involved in something somewhere, it seems to race bait every idiot on social media out into the open. For this round, we have the recently crowned Miss America, a New Yorker who is of Indian descent…
Burn Notice: A Final Tribute After a Shocking Death on the Series Finale
The series finale of the ever-popular USA Network spy show Burn Notice aired last Thursday. What began as a fun A-Team meets Miami Vice spy show, took a decidedly dark turn during its final couple of seasons as Michael Weston’s final missions nearly swallowed him whole. For all the action,…
NFL Owners Tend to Like the GOP, Especially Houston’s Own Bob McNair
You have to be rich to own an NFL team. Bob McNair owns the Houston Texans. Do you know how McNair made all his money? He sold his electrical and thermal energy company, Cogen Technologies, Inc.,to Enron in 1999. Good timing on Bob’s part. McNair also likes to donate money,…
10 Reasons You Should Go to UtopiaFest This Weekend
Fall is upon us, and while it might not feel like it outside just yet, it is closer than you think. With the onset of autumn comes the Great State of Texas’ busiest season for music, one that finds festival after festival hitting almost every weekend. One event that I…
Feminism, Organic Activism and a Bold Italian List at Osteria Mazzantini
“While traveling alone through Sicily,” writes Osteria Mazzantini wine director Samantha Porter in the presentation of her intelligent list, “I fell in love with the idea of taking risks. Feet soaking in the crystal, cyan sea along the coast of Taormina, I sipped on a bottle of wine chosen by…
UPDATED: Catastrophic Theatre Gets a Good News Grant and Readies for the World Premiere of The Pine
Update September 25, 2013: Catastropic Theatre just announced that it is delaying its opening of The Pine until October 2 because of an injury to a cast member in rehearsal. Abraham Zeus Zapata, a Catastrophic favorite, badly sprained his ankle at the end of Sunday night’s rehearsal and has been…
Professor’s Plan to Hold Study Group Only for “Students of Color” Somehow Backfires
A Texas Christian University professor’s e-mail to his “students of color” backfired when some of the recipients felt a little creeped out. Inside Higher Ed ran Assistant Professor of Religion Santiago Pinon’s e-mail, which invited “all my students of color to get together and discuss the challenges they may face…
Drybar Opens in Uptown Park, Makes Good Hair Look Easy
Drybar is a simple-but-brilliant concept in hair salons: No colors and no cuts, just a wash–with an optional head massage for $10–and a blowout styling session for $35. (Plus tip, if you are so inclined–which you should be.) Last week, every chair at the new Houston location in Uptown Park…
44 Farms: Happy Cows Make Perfect Steaks
Successful family-owned businesses are hard to come across these days, especially when it comes to food distributors. The big dogs seem to take over and knock the little guys down, but one Texas-based family has defied the odds. You might have noticed “44 Farms ” next to menu item descriptions…
Head Hermit Peter Noone Loves Mrs. Brown’s Daughter… and His Own
As one of the more popular groups from the British Invasion to sonically storm these shores, Herman’s Hermits racked up a number of uptempo pop hits. There were so many of the mop-topped young men speaking the Queen’s accented English and brandishing instruments on TV, though, sometimes it became hard…
48: Nebraska Head Coach Bo Pelini’s Two Days From Hell
It’s hard to believe it’s been four years since 24 closed up shop. For eight seasons, Jack Bauer (played with by the comically over-the-top Kiefer Sutherland) graced our television screens screaming catchphrases like “WE DON’T HAVE A LOT OF TIME” while trying to catch bad guys. Like really, really bad…
Investigating Food in Film: Cuppa Cuppa Cake from Steel Magnolias
It’s little surprise many famous movie scenes involve food; there’s a certain pleasure in watching characters eat the foods we enjoy in real life or grapple with the familiar challenges of cooking, say, lobsters. But have you ever been watching a film and someone mentions a food you’ve never heard…
Choreographer Jessica Lang has The Calling
Fans can expect several highlights during the Jessica Lang Dance company’s Houston debut presented by the Society for the Performing Arts. Among them The Calling (seen above) and i.n.k. (video follows). It was soon after the death of her teacher and adviser Benjamin Harkarvy that Jessica Lang created The Calling…
Upcoming: Alejandro Fernandez, Glassjaw, Kelly Rowland, High On Fire, NOFX, etc.
Alejandro Fernandez: Sat., November 30, 7 p.m., $60 to $150. Toyota Center, 1510 Polk, Houston, 713-758-7200. Audacity: With Mean Jeans., Fri., October 25, 8 p.m., $12 to $16. Mango’s, 403 Westheimer, Houston, 713-522-8903. The Browning: With This or the Apocalypse, Honour Crest, Tear Out the Heart, Myka Relocate., Mon., October…
Don’t Mess with “Don’t Mess with Texas” or “Remember the Alamo”
Don’t Mess With Texas. I’m serious, Do. Not. Mess. With.Texas. By this, I mean, the slogan, which was created by an ad agency in the 1980s to go with an anti-littering campaign (protect our highways!), which has become a trademark that Texas guards closely. In 2011, the Texas Department of…
5 Awesome Grand Theft Auto V Gifs to Get You Through the Work Day
For many of you this is going to be the longest day of work of the year. Right now you’re trying hard to look busy, but in the back of your mind you’re counting down the hours until freedom, at which point you’ll head home, put your copy of Grand…
Houston’s Top 10 Wine Bars (2013 Edition)
Partially because it’s National Wine Week and partially because my body is composed of more wine than water, I’ve been thinking a lot about wine bars lately. I spend far too much time sitting alone in my apartment drinking wine with my cat. Yes, I’m that person. In an effort…
The Rocks Off 200: Beanz N Kornbread, Gmail-Loving Production Duo
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. Range and versatility…
Weather Week: Tropics Should Begin to Die Down, but Rain Chances Increase
The Houston area received a good dose of rain Monday afternoon as our typical warm, muggy and occasionally rainy summer forecast played out. Still, we are way behind where we need to be when it comes to precipitation. We may not be at 2011 levels of drought, but we are…
“Wols: Retrospective” Paints a Picture of a Rebellious, Yet Versatile, Artist
Alfred Otto Wolfgang Schulze’s art is like his personality was: nonconformist and uncompromising. From his birth in 1913 until his death in 1951, the artist known as Wols was a rebel with a brush, pushing out art while traveling the world, once even doing a 14-month prison stint. When he…
Bizarre Beach Boys ’76 TV Special Is Must-Have For Fans
The Beach Boys Good Vibrations Tour Eagle Rock Entertainment, $14.97, 50 mins. The title here is a bit of a misnomer. This is not a full concert video, but rather the 1976 NBC-TV special screened on the heels of the “Brian is Back!” PR campaign. It marked the head Beach…
Hoagies vs. Grinders vs. Sub(marine) Sandwiches
Hoagies. Grinders. Subs. Cursory online research will tell you that each of these names has a distinct origin, with “hoagie” referring to a type of sandwich that was popular among Italian workers on Hog Island in Pennsylvania (get it?); “grinder” a slang term for dockworkers who were fans of a…
Texans Kicking Woes: What to Do About Poor Randy Bullock
When Randy Bullock missed his third kick Sunday — the fourth in the first two games of his Texans’ career — my initial, emotion-fueled instinct was simple. Cut him. The Texans (2-0), while not perfect, are legitimate Super Bowl contenders and probably No. 2 in the AFC pecking order behind…
Before Drake-ing Bad, Our Man Wrote a Rap Coloring Book
If you’ve spent any kind of time on the Internet, chances are something Shea Serrano has written, drawn or created has made you smile. The 32-year-old South Houston middle-school teacher writes and illustrates for several different outposts — our sister papers Village Voice and LA Weekly, Grantland, Complex’s Four Pins, Myspace — and over the…
100 Favorite Dishes 2013: No. 86, Ham, Egg & Cheese Crepe at Melange Creperie
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 list of the 100 dishes she thinks are the most awesome, most creative and, of course, most delicious in town. It’s…
It Hurts When You’re Not Your Kid’s Superman Anymore
I know that the individual mandate in the Affordable Care Act is a bone of contention for many, but not for me. I’m both intelligent enough to recognize that having health insurance is absolutely a necessity if you want to die on a mattress, and also self-aware enough to know…
Save Half-off General or VIP Admission to Houston Press Brew Fest, Plus More Dining Deals Around Town
How does saving half-off admission to a day full of craft beer, local food trucks, live music, and fun sound? Act fast to take advantage of today’s Houston Press Voice Daily Deal. Today’s deal is good for half-off general admission or VIP tickets to the Houston Press Brew Fest on…
Lisa Marie Presley at Dosey Doe, 9/15/2013
Lisa Marie Presley Dosey Doe September 15, 2013 Lisa Marie Presley’s entourage arrived in two giant gleaming buses on Sunday afternoon. People, already waiting in spontaneously arranged, purposeless lines, swapped stories about their Elvis memorabilia in idle attempt to one-up each other on some bizarreness scale. Most devote spare bedrooms…
For His Next Trick, Johnny Manziel Will Try to Will A&M to an 11-1 Record
“For us, this wasn’t the end of our season. This wasn’t the Super Bowl. This wasn’t the last game of the season. Alabama lost a game last year and still went on to win the national championship, they lost to LSU the year before and still went on to go…
High-Brow, Low-Brow, More Arts Writers Needed for Art Attack
If you’ve ever wanted to write about the arts in Houston — and in some cases the larger world — and you can put together sentences with some amount of cleverness (knowing grammar rules is also a plus) then Art Attack may have a spot for you. We are looking…
Burger King Chicken Strips Aspire to ‘Buffalo’ Status
“Buffalo chicken” has a pretty specific meaning for those of us who grew up in Western New York, so when a food item is billed as “Buffalo” flavored, we have to anticipate the worst. (Unless the food item is actually being consumed in, or adjacent to, the city of Buffalo.)…
Christine Ha Takes Over MKT Bar for Her First Pop-Up Dinner
Neither rain nor the Texas A&M versus Alabama football game could stop them from coming to Christine Ha’s first pop-up dinner, Episode One: A Farewell to Summer. The season 3 MasterChef winner took over the kitchen at MKT Bar inside Phoenicia Specialty Foods on Saturday, September 14. Word traveled quickly…
Abortion Returns to the Supreme Court: A Preview
Abortion. Just to read the word provokes strong mental images, emotions and opinions. Since the tea party mid-term elections in 2010 swept in some very conservative legislators in states across the country, abortion, after taking a back seat to economic issues, has become a hot button issue again. But what…
The Music Box Theater Takes a Country Ride With Saloon Songs
The set-up: Those wonderful entertainers at Music Box Theater get their twang on for Saloon Songs, their spirited foray into country music. The show, an absolute crowd-pleaser. is as comfy as a well-worn pair of jeans and as refreshing as a long neck, or two. They turn the intimate venue…
Yes, Indeed! Fest vs. Vanilla Ice at Halftime: Everybody Wins
It should go without saying: there are music events, and then there are events which may be enhanced by the added element of music. This weekend in Houston, a pair of offerings illustrated this point quite vividly. Saturday’s Yes, Indeed! festival in the Warehouse District was the former — a…
Owls Get the Ugly Win, Shut Down Kansas
The Rice football team that all Rice fans know and loathe showed up at Rice Stadium on Saturday night. In years past this would have meant a Rice lost. But luckily, the Owls were hosting the Kansas Jayhawks, and the Jayhawks are an awful football team. It was an ugly…
Austra at Fitzgerald’s, 9/14/2013
Austra Fitzgerald’s September 14, 2012 With the joint easily packed out, Canadian synth-pop group Austra played to a crowd of about 150 sweaty souls downstairs at Fitzgerald’s Saturday night. Having caught the band once before, a standout set to a decent-sized crowd a few years ago at Austin’s Fun Fun…
Breaking Bad: Everything Is Broken
I don’t know about you, but I spent this entire week postulating exactly how last week’s episode of Breaking Bad really ended. I have e-mailed, Facebooked and Tweeted everyone I know who watches the show, and even a few strangers, to find out what they all thought; everyone was pretty…
Succulent Samplers and Savory Pies at Gabby’s BBQ
Thirty-five years ago I was a twinkle in my mother’s eye, and Gabby’s BBQ had just begun serving up classic fare to hungry Houstonians. Three and a half decades later, they are thriving and challenging daily that careless assertion I’ve heard more than once: “Houston has no good barbeque.” Gabby’s…
Let’s Compare Alma Maters: The New US News Rankings (Texas Edition)
Photo by Daderot via WikepediaRice is Highest Ranked in TexasThe new U.S. News and World Report college rankings are out. For all their flaws, it’s still the standard by which many anxious applicants rank themselves and their peers. Let me guess, the Top 5 universities are Princeton, Harvard, Yale, Columbia…
Pasadena Napalm Division & deadhorse at Scout Bar, 9/13/2013
Pasadena Napalm Division, deadhorse, Dykes on Bikes, Beyond All Deception, Deathrazor Scout Bar September 13, 2013 It seems like the most obvious pairing in the world, really. The only question is why they didn’t get together sooner. Three or four years ago, some of the guys from local ’90s metal…
Where to Get Your Fix on National Guacamole Day
We understand that there are a lot of silly national food holidays; indeed, there is something food-related to celebrate just about every single day of the year. But if there is one you should take seriously, it’s National Guacamole Day, and that day is today. Houston is blessed with an…
Alley Theatre Debuts its 2013-14 Season with You Can’t Take It With You, a Moss Hart-George Kaufman Classic
Act I, Scene 1: The home of Martin Vanderhof — just around the corner from Columbia University, but don’t go looking for it. The room we see is what is customarily described as a living room, but in this house the term is something of an understatement. The every-man-for-himself room…
Titans-Texans: 4 Winners, 4 Losers, “Gary Kubiak, Replay Ninja” Edition
Around 8:00 Sunday night (presumably after walking several old ladies across the street and single handedly raising a million dollars in two hours to cure an obscure disease), Texans defensive end J.J. Watt tweeted this: Nobody said it’d be easy. #FindAWay— JJ Watt (@JJWatt) September 16, 2013 Now, Texans fans…
Joshua Bell 101: How to Treat a Superstar
The last time famed violinist Joshua Bell appeared in Houston was January, 2012. Along with accompanist Sam Haywood, Bell brilliantly performed a dynamic program of works by Brahms, Ravel, Ysaÿe and Mendelssohn. The audience, however, pretty much just showed its ass. True, the crowd was enthusiastic and appreciative. It was…
It’s National Wine Week; Celebrate With a Glass of Vino at These Events
The 53rd Annual National Wine Week, sponsored by the Smith & Wollensky Restaurant Group, is celebrated from September 16 through September 20. Of course, because it’s an SWRG event, it tends to take place exclusively at Smith & Wollensky restaurants across the country, but we don’t really like the idea…
Titans-Texans: The 10 Best Rapper Tweets From Sunday’s Game
Texans BIIITCH— slim thug (@slimthugga) September 15, 2013 Houston has a professional football team. They are called the Houston Texans. A lot of people like them. Some of the people who like them are rappers. The Internet has several forms of social media. One of those forms of social media…
UPDATE: Hurricane Ingrid in the Gulf Won’t Threaten Texas, but May Bring Rain
Update: Ingrid made landfall this morning. It appears she isn’t much of a threat to Texas for rain, unfortunately, but we will have a good chance at tropical moisture by the end of the week from the Gulf. More on that tomorrow in my regular weekly weather update. The second…
Dangerous Liaisons: Some Fine Performances But Play Doesn’t Come Alive
The set-up: Under the title, Les Liaisons Dangereuses, this 1985 play by Christopher Hampton won the Laurence Olivier Award as Best New Play. It was adapted from the 1782 novel of the same title by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos, and made into an acclaimed film in 1988 with Glenn Close…
Introducing Debønair Lounge, Houston’s Newest R&B Hotspot
The last thing you want to encounter on a Monday night is a buzzkill. For years now, Houstonians have figured the best way to cure whatever kind of funk Monday brings is with a drink and some form of entertainment. It may be football, it may be an atmosphere of…
What’s Cooking This Week? Breakfast for Dinner & More
I love cooking for my fiancé and myself, but most of the time, cooking for two proves to be difficult. If I don’t make a plan, I end up running around in circles at the grocery store and wasting half the ingredient’s I’ve bought (and I hate wasting food). Enter…
Texans 30, Titans 24: Another Comeback Win, a Kicker Problem and a Rookie Emerges
Texans fans and players probably can’t take this kind of heart-pounding action for an entire season. In only their second game, the Texans managed a comeback win in the fourth quarter against the surprisingly good (at least on defense) Tennessee Titans, 30-24. Quarterback Matt Schaub and rookie wide receiver DeAndre…
The Best Concerts In Houston This Week: Depeche Mode, ZZ Ward, Robert Ellis, etc.
DJ Sun The Flat, September 16 Now that some of the well-deserved publicity surrounding DJ Sun’s first-ever full-length release, One Hundred, has subsided a little, his true accomplishment on the disc seems even more impressive. In the span of 70 minutes, he pours his 20-plus-year career as one of Houston’s…
Your Guide to Laws of the Internet
The Internet has laws. I don’t mean rules here, as in guidelines that you must follow or be banished by Al Gore from the World Wide Web. No, I mean laws like the first law of thermodynamics and things like that. Science. And the science of the Internet is a…
Paula Deen Makes a Loopy Return at Metro Cooking Houston
Paula Deen’s return to the spotlight after months in hiding was alternately emotional and confusing for both Deen and the audience who came to watch her demonstration at the Metro Cooking Houston show over the weekend. Following that nasty scandal regarding Deen’s use of racial slurs and the subsequent non-renewal…
The 2013 Houston Press Best of Houston® Readers’ Poll: Vote Now for the Best in Houston Food!
For 25 years, we at the Houston Press have been hitting the streets to visit local businesses in search of the Best of Houston®. The October 10 issue will reveal our picks for the best Houston has to offer in dining, shopping, entertainment and more. We’re pretty excited to share…
Half-Off VIP Tickets to Haute Wheels Food Truck Festival
Before the week is out, we wanted to give you one more set of amazing dining deals. Today’s Houston Press Voice Daily Deal is for the hottest ticket in town: $35 for a VIP ticket to the Haute Wheels Food Truck Festival on Saturday, October 12 or Sunday, October 13…
The Pajama Game: It’s a Gem But Catch it Quickly; It’s Over Sunday
The set-up: When a classic show such as The Pajama Game (1954) is produced with such finesse and sense of fun, as is done by Paul Hope’s Bayou City Concert Musicals, now playing through the weekend only, one always wonders why this show is so rarely performed. So, go now…
This Weekend’s Best Bets: God Bless the NFL, Week 2
It’s all about perspective. You can look at my performance last week in this space one of two ways (and depending on whether or not you decided to follow my picks, I bet I can determine exactly which way you choose to view it): “Sean, you went 2-4 on your…
Rocks Off Now Seeking New Freelancers, Intern
Hey everybody: did you know that Rocks Off is the only Houston media team that brings regular music coverage to America’s fourth-largest city? It’s true. Monday through Friday and frequently on the weekends, we are busting our ass to let you all know what’s happening in the wild n’ crazy…
Johnny Manziel’s Judgment Day: All Roads Lead to Wrestlemania (I mean, the Alabama Game)
After nearly ten months of talk, the rematch is finally here. Alabama. Texas A&M. College Station. Saturday. And while, in the grand scheme of things, we still know relatively little about either team , one thing has been immutably hammered home, starting with my column from the Monday after the…
Weekend Weather: Tropical Storm Ingrid Could Be Brewing in the Gulf
It’s Friday again, thank God. The weekend brings with it quite a lot, actually. There are some pretty big football games, an Astros home stand and quite possibly a tropical storm in the Gulf of Mexico. At the moment it is hot and will continue to get hotter. Expect it…
10 More ’90s Rap Oddities Worthy of the Texans’ Halftime Show
Well, it’s been three days now, and it hasn’t all been revealed as just another elaborate Jimmy Kimmel Live! prank. It’s true, then: apparently Vanilla Ice — white rapper, DIY renovator and Ninja Turtle ally — will be performing at halftime Sunday at the Texans’ game against Tennessee at Reliant…
Dance All Night, Watch the Storm, and More: The Top 10 Photos of the Week
We here at the Houston Press have long believed that some of the best photographers in the world live right here in Houston. Between the slideshows and blogs we publish and the images you share with us in our Flickr Pool, we see tons of amazing photos every week, and…
100 Favorite Dishes 2013: No. 87, Crab Daddy Bao at Fat Bao
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 list of the 100 dishes she thinks are the most awesome, most creative and, of course, most delicious in town. It’s…
Check Out The Critters at BARC’s Super-Mega-Ultra-Cosmic Pet Adoption Drive Saturday
You can add kick-ass dogs and cats to your shopping list if you go to H-E-B Montrose Market this Saturday — the Houston Bureau of Animal Regulation and Care is bringing more than 75 critters for its Furry Invasion of Cosmic Companions adoption drive. The event is from 11 a.m.-5…
Houston Elementary Schoolers Tell Us Their Favorite Songs
Tonight, Australian children’s band The Wiggles premiere their “Taking Off!” world tour at Bayou Music Center. The group has been performing together for more than 20 years, and tonight reveals a brand-new cast, as well as their first female member, Emma Watkins. That’s a waste of time, as a recent…
TV Club: Beakman’s World: “Vaccinations, Beakmania & Friction”
We hope you weren’t looking for any sort of legitimate critical analysis during this week’s TV Club because that just ain’t happening. This week we have gone rogue on even ourselves and haven chosen to comment on the 15th episode of the first season of the 1990s educational children’s program,…
Rice Seeks to De-Hawk the Jayhawks
The Rice Owls played valiantly in losing to the Texas Aggies. But losing valiantly just doesn’t cut it. Not anymore. The coaches want to win games. The players want to win games. What few fans there are want games won. And the brand new, just named Athletic Director wants the…
Reliant Stadium Kicks It Up a Notch with Local Food and Craft Beer
Reliant Stadium has already hosted a few preseason games this summer, but Sunday will be the first time the Texans play at home this season. Attendees of this game can expect rowdy fans, hot temperatures and great local food. Yes, great food. Local chefs. At a football stadium. Gone are…
The 2013 Houston Press Best of Houston Readers’ Poll: Vote Now for the Best in Houston Music and Nightlife!
For 25 years we at the Houston Press have been hitting the streets to visit local businesses in search of the Best of Houston. Our October 10 issue will reveal our picks for the best Houston has to offer in entertainment, dining, shopping, and more. We’re pretty excited to share…
Doctor Who: A Regeneration FAQ
Assuming that we Whovians aren’t being faked out, this Christmas will see the end of Matt Smith as the Eleventh Doctor, and Peter Capaldi assuming the role as the Twelfth. It’s sure to be an emotional set-up considering that we generally only get a new Doctor when the previous one…
Reviews For The Easily Distracted: The Family
Title: The Family Robert De Niro Playing A Mobster? What Are The Odds? Going by my totally scientific method of scrolling through his filmography on Wikipedia, I’d say he’s played an organized crime figure roughly eight hundred times. Rating Using Random Objects Relevant To The Film: Three propane canisters out…
Third Ward Protestors Gather Outside HISD School Board Meeting
A handful of people stood just outside the gates of Hattie Mae White Educational Support Center as Houston Independent School District school board members pulled their cars in for the school board meeting on Thursday evening. They’d hoped more people would turn out for the protest organized by Texas Organizing…
Our 11 Favorite Drinking Songs. Cheers!
Many drinkers have a dialogue in their heads that also plays out in great drinking songs throughout the ages. “Why do you drink?” asks the great prophet Bocephus. “It’s five o’clock somewhere,” reply the equally sage Alan Jackson and Jimmy Buffett. Rocks Off wanted to know our writers’ favorite drinking…
The 2013 Houston Press Best of Houston Readers’ Poll: Vote Now for the Best in Houston Arts!
For 25 years we at the Houston Press have been hitting the streets to visit local businesses in search of the Best of Houston. Our October 10 issue will reveal our picks for the best Houston has to offer in arts, dining, shopping, and more. We’re pretty excited to share…
First Look at Voodoo Queen, the Second Ward’s Newest Dive Bar
Perhaps calling Voodoo Queen a dive bar is unfair. The drinks are carefully crafted and well thought out, and the food I’ve tried so far has been fantastic. The bartenders are cordial and helpful.The jukebox still works. Yet there’s something very dive-y about the newly opened Voodoo Queen that makes…
The 2013 Houston Press Best of Houston Readers’ Poll: Vote Now for the Best of Houston!
For 25 years we at the Houston Press have been hitting the streets to visit local businesses in search of the Best of Houston. Our October 10th issue will reveal our picks for the best Houston has to offer in entertainment, dining, shopping, and more. We’re pretty excited to share…
The 5 Best Things to Eat or Drink This Weekend: Christine Ha’s Pop-Up Dinner, Family Fun Day & More
Kemah Greek Food and Wine Festival @ Kemah Bridge Friday-Sunday 604 Bradford Ave., Kemah Feast on gyros, souvlaki, tyropita and falafal all weekend long at the Kemah Greek Food and Wine Festival. Each day is filled with a variety of activities and attractions, including the Toga Fun Run 5K Saturday…
An Open Letter to Trey Parker and Matt Stone About The Book of Mormon
An Open Letter to Trey Parker and Matt Stone: Love your show South Park. I can’t even begin to tell you how funny, to give just one example, the famous “Nagger” episode was; smart social commentary at its finest. But The Book of Mormon guys . . . not your…
One Grumpy Editor. Houston’s No. 1 Hit Music Station. All Damn Day.
Generally I become more and more skeptical about what’s “hot.” This is also known as “getting older” or, to paraphrase Chris Rock, not wanting to be the old guy in the club. But for me that skepticism has always come with a certain morbid curiosity about what makes some songs…
Hurricane Ike: Then and Now in Photos
Today is the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Ike. When it swept through Houston in 2008 — and was subsequently swept under the rug by national media thanks to a collapsing economy — it packed much more punch than anyone expected. A massive storm that, at one point, filled almost the…
100 Creatives 2013: Craig Cohen, Hockey Fan and Host of Houston Matters
In the spring, 88.7 KUHF Houston Public Radio’s revamped its programming schedule, adding a new show on Friday at noon called Houston Matters, “sound-rich segments highlighting the people, places, issues and ideas affecting Houston.” Segments on the show have included everything from opinions on the Astrodome to “food-deserts” in Houston’s…
Upcoming Events: Wine Pairing Dinners, Cocktails at the Zoo & More
On Tuesday, September 17, at 7 p.m., Bistro Provence wants to treat you to an evening with rosé wines during La Vie en Rosé. Enjoy a four-course meal paired with rosé wines from French Country Wines for $70. Start with grilled almonds and tomato tapenade, followed by a watercress gazpacho,…
Top 10 Bars, Clubs & Ice Houses In Midtown
As our sister blog Eating…Our Words does, from time to time Rocks Off will be giving your our picks for the top taverns in various Houston-area neighborhoods. Of course, the lines can be porous, but here anything with a TABC license that cannot reasonably be considered either a restaurant, coffeehouse…
Titans-Texans: BATTLE-DRINK Makes Its 2013 Home Debut!
I’ll admit, I never went back and watched the complete telecast of the Texans and Chargers game from Monday night, partially because I just haven’t really had time and partially for, well, other reasons. The good news is that I did finish Season 3 of Breaking Bad last night! So…
The Best Concerts In Houston This Weekend: Rudz 35th Anniversary, Yes Indeed Fest, etc.
Rudyard’s 35th Anniversary Rudyard’s, September 13-September 15 For any business to last 35 years is an achievement, but for a bar with local music built into its business model to last three and a half decades is truly remarkable. But Rudyard’s has done just that, weathering both the city’s economic…
Openings & Closings: Coffee Shops Galore, Goodbye Chili & More
Two weeks into the month of September and only a few restaurants have shut their doors, but lots of places have opened. Let’s get the bad news over with first. As reported on Swamplot and The Food Chronicles from The Houston Chronicle (anyone else notice the name change?), Landry’s Seafood…
Top Five Things to Do in Houston This Weekend: “James Turrell,” the Gulf Coast Film Fest, Hamlet and More
For 13 years, visitors to the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston have enjoyed James Turrell’s The Light Inside, a commissioned light tunnel that connects the two buildings on the MFAH campus. For the last several weeks, they’ve seen more of the light artist’s mind-bending works in the landmark retrospective ”James…
Handicapping Alison Cook’s 2013 Top 100 Restaurant List
Alison Cook, the Houston Chronicle’s restaurant critic, unveiled her list of the top 100 restaurants in Houston (slideshow version here) to members of the media and invited chefs on the afternoon of Wednesday, September 11. Cook tells us that she spent much of the past several months eating all over…
Arsenic and Old Lace at A.D. Players: Watch Out For the Elderberry Wine
The set-up: Arsenic and Old Lace was a long-running Broadway hit, with 1,444 performances from 1941 to 1944, and was made into a hugely successful Frank Capra movie starring Cary Grant. Legend has it that playwright Joseph Kesselring wrote the play as a drama, and that producers Howard Lindsay and…
Some McAllen Folks Oppose Plans for Private Prison
Some McAllen residents are opposing plans for a 1,000-bed federal detention center that could potentially be run by private prison company GEO Group, which has a track record of abuse, mismanagement and losing track of sex offenders in its Houston halfway house. According to The Monitor, “the deal would dramatically…
How Peter Noone of Herman’s Hermits Found “Something Good” In Texas
Even though in terms of British Invasion band lead singers, he’s about as English as English could be, Peter Noone of Herman’s Hermits has always had a love of Texas music. Once he found out the tunes and performers he liked actually hailed from the Lone Star State, that is…
Top Ten “Sports Bars” in Town with Great Food
Finally, football season is back! That means jerseys, beer and drunken shouting matches with the TV at your favorite watering hole over the ref’s ridiculous call. And though we’re fans of drinking dinner every now and then, we think football nights should involve some good food, too. Most sports bars…
Battleship Texas to Become Test Site for Robot Tuna
You fight in multiple wars, finally get retirement and all you have to show for it is rust and a robot fish. Such is life for the weary Battleship Texas, one of the few battleships left in the world that fought in both World Wars. The ship sits as a…
On-Point Producer Donnie Houston’s Five Favorite MC Sessions
Note: Houston Press style is to abbreviate “microphone” as “mike” instead of “mic.” Donnie Houston has an ear for things. The 29-year old Sam Houston State and Madison High School graduate loves picking through samples and setting off emotions left and right with his production. He’s half of the tandem…
Australia’s Strange Fruit: Love at 15 Feet in the Air at Discovery Green
“It’s a timeless romantic story,” says Strange Fruit manager on tour Nami Hall, not mentioning at first that it’s done 15 feet in the air. Two women and two men take to the heights on fiberglass poles to perform Swoon, which combines the elements of dance and circus during the…
Bootsy Collins, Is That You? Wigged Bandit and Accomplices Rob Credit Union
There hasn’t been much word about Bootsy Collins since his Bonaroo appearance in 2011, his stint selling boots for Old Navy the same year and, of course, the Houston Press interview we know you all read, but it’s hard for me to believe the man is so down on his…
The Daily Meal Ranks Reliant Stadium 3rd on Craft Beer List
Here’s something else to get excited about in addition to Monday night’s win over the San Diego Chargers: The Daily Meal says Reliant Stadium is the third best NFL venue in the nation based on the quality of craft beers available to fans. Seven NFL stadiums were ranked according to…
The Top 12 Movie Romances of Summer 2013
Summer 2013 was a strong season for that oft-maligned genre, the romantic comedy. Excellent films like The Spectacular Now and Drinking Buddies for the most part avoided rom-com cliches, and reinventions like Joss Whedon’s Much Ado About Nothing made timeless story lines seem fresh. Still other on-screen romances were held…
Reckless Kelly: “You Don’t Want to Play the Same Songs”
If you’re one of the people jumping on that “Austin isn’t cool anymore” bandwagon, you probably don’t want to mention that to brothers Willy and Cody Braun of Reckless Kelly. The band will be roaring into Houston Friday night to push their latest album, Long Night Moon, which dropped last…
Don’t Mess With Missouri, Governor Perry
Rick Perry, our inimitable governor, is now well-known for attempting to poach, er, bring new business here to Texas. Apparently, he’s also fairly good at this according to Businessweek (as opposed to other things, like policy and short-term memory.) Well, Governor Jay Nixon of Missouri, a Democrat, did not take…
Look at Me That Way Again and I Will Stab You With My Jimmy Choos
Jimmy Choos. Manolos. Gucci and Prada handbags (did I hear you say Louis Vuitton? 2008 texted, it wants its handbag back). All are examples of conspicuous consumption. But maybe there’s a tad bit more to it. Recent research (gated) suggests that women who own expensive designer shoes, handbags, jewelry and…
She Likes Rough Sex and It Scares Me. 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’M A MAKEUP JUNKIE Dear Willie D: I started wearing makeup when I was 12 years…
Amazon Grill Debuts a Fun, Family-Friendly Menu
The chicken tinga fries came to the table on a sizzling hot plate, their appearance, at first glance, resembling a plate of sizzling chicken fajitas. On closer inspection, however, they looked more like the Canadian comfort food poutine — french fries with gravy and cheese curds. Only this one came…
CSN Announces Rockets Broadcast Lineup…Assuming You Can See It
Comcast SportsNet Houston, broadcast home to the Astros and Rockets, announced their schedule for the upcoming Rockets season on Wednesday. The network will carry 75 of the Rockets games during the regular season (the remaining six will be national broadcasts) as well as all preseason games. With the Dwight Howard…
Some Thoughts About KKK Cuisine and Stereotypes
A few months ago, photographer Anthony Karen made headlines when he published a series of photographs of Ku Klux Klan members. For nearly eight years, Karen observed and photographed “knights” and their families at home, at work, at play and, indeed, pursuing their supposedly peaceful white pride agenda exercising their…
Pop Rocks: It’s Not Porn, It’s HBO, Which Is Basically Porn (NSFW)
Sometime during last season’s Game of Thrones, I came across an interesting interview with series creators David Benioff and Dan Weiss, who were chatting about the often-mocked, overly graphic sex scenes which have become synonymous with the show. According to the two, the television show has nothing on the books…
The Rocks Off 200: You(genious), Party Crasher Turned Musical Auteur
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? He calls…
Rick Perry is a Trendsetter: Other States Threatening Secession
As we know, Rick Perry likes to party like its 1860 (the year South Carolina became the first to secede in the “War Between the States”). Of course, Perry wanted to secede based on Obamacare and federal debt, not one of the great moral crimes in American history, but we…
Food Fight: Battle of the Pesto Grilled Cheeses
Who doesn’t love grilled cheese? And when it’s made with pesto, even better. Crazy thing is, we found two of our favorite Houston lunch spots — Tiny Boxwood’s and Blacksmith Coffee Bar — making just that. So obviously, we tried both so you wouldn’t have to. Ladies and gents, prepare…
Reviews for the Lazy Gamer: Puppeteer
Game: Puppeteer Platform: PS3 Publisher/Developer: Sony Genre: Sidescroller Describe This Game in Three Words: Tim Burton wishes, Plot: The tyrannical Moon Bear betrayed the queen of the moon, and took her kingdom for herself. Now he rules with a cruel fist, stealing the souls of sleeping Earth children in order…
A Fistful of Soul’s Top 25 Solid Gold Tracks
If you’re seeking a scene, maaaaaaaaaan, you could do a hell of a lot worse than A Fistful of Soul, the monthly where some of Houston’s grooviest DJs drip rare (and not-so-rare) vintage wax all over Midtown. Now steered by Joe Ross, Stewart Anderson and Alex LaRotta, Fistful dates back…
Man Uses Cell Phone in Teller Line at Bank…Also Robs It at Gunpoint
I’m not sure which is more annoying, some jerk not paying attention while waiting in line at the bank or the post office because he’s on the phone or the little sign at these places telling customers to stay off the phone while in line. But, I think I may…
Rest of the Best: 10 Best Places Around Houston to See Animals (That Aren’t the Zoo)
This is not a knock at all on the Houston Zoo, which is amazing. Heartbroken as I am over the fact it no longer seems to have Slow Lorises, there’s plenty else to enjoy there and more is being added all the time. Seriously, go to the zoo. You’ll have…
Houston’s Top 10 Saddest Songs
I love sad music. Sit me down with a bottle of something only someone that has given up on life would drink and an appropriate soundtrack and I am just as happy as I can be. That’s just the way I roll. In general, Houston does not produce a lot…
Male Dancers Getting Wet at Meteor Video Lounge
Look, it’s not that I purposely put myself in situations where someone is going to be flaunting a generally covered-up body part for ravenous customers to enjoy. These things just happen. You have a gay friend and it’s his birthday, and besides, you heard all the male dancers are straight…
”Wols”
Alfred Otto Wolfgang Schulze, called Wols, was a hugely influential, if mostly commercially unsuccessful, painter and photographer during the first half of the 20th century. Wols’s signature style is called tachisme, a term derived from a French word meaning ”stain,” an appropriate description of his style. Wols’s so-called stains contain…
The Wookiee Wins: Meet the Director of the Chewbacca Doc That Conquered Kickstarter
Understandably, Peter Mayhew is not as well-known as Harrison Ford or Mark Hamill. But W. Ryan Ziegler wants to change that. The first-time filmmaker is now raising money on Kickstarter for Standing in the Stars: The Peter Mayhew Story, a documentary about the 7-foot-3 actor who played Chewbacca in the…
”Calaveras Mexicanas: The Art and Influence of Jose Guadalupe Posada”
Find out where the Day of the Dead images of skeletons and skulls come from at ”Calaveras Mexicanas: The Art and Influence of Jose Guadalupe Posada,” on exhibit at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Marking the 100th anniversary of Posada’s death, the exhibit includes works by the famed Mexican…
The Cruelest Cut: How Cat Declawing Became the Next Battleground for Animal Rights
Over the years Jennifer Conrad has come to see her fight as one against greed and stupidity, a nasty pocket of the stuff festering deep in the heart of her own profession. When her crusade began, though, Conrad wasn’t thinking that way. She was focused on one patient, Drifter, a…
The French Conundrum: The Culinary Idiosyncrasies of Salé-Sucré
Get a behind the scenes look at Salé-Sucré by checking out our slideshow. It’s clear from the first bite of creamy, pungent cheese, a little wedge cut out of an entire wheel rolled in spices, that the chef knows his way around a Camembert. The squat cylinder of cow’s-milk cheese…
The Book of Mormon Has Heart, Even If It Does Aim to Offend
The Book of Mormon has been an audience favorite, often selling out on Broadway, an artistic success (winning nine Tony Awards), and a triumphant investment, coming in under budget and recovering its cost in an unheard-of 11 months. The Broadway production pioneered aggressive but fair pricing innovations, raising prices up…
Isaiah Washington Is the Human Part of Blue Caprice
Isaiah Washington didn’t want to play John Allen Muhammad, the Beltway Sniper who triggered three weeks of terror in 2002. The man — make that murderer — felt too familiar. Like Washington, Muhammad was a veteran and a father of three. Both were analytical, observant and quick to vent their…
Blue Caprice Finds Fresh Terror in the D.C. Sniper Case
With so many violent movies, and lurid movies, and straight-up bad movies, most just so much murderous product, it’s rare anymore to be seized by that feeling, as a film plays, that maybe there’s no reason for this particular violent or lurid or bad movie to exist. They simply do,…
Best Bites at Buc-ee’s
Texas Traveler A few weeks ago, I wrote about my ritual of stopping by mega-convenience store Buc-ee’s on my way to visit family in the Hill Country. Because I visit my folks pretty regularly, I stop at Buc-ee’s a lot. It’s not really a road trip unless I do. I…
Grass Roots
Only in Houston Phil Peterson has his ear to the ground better than most people. The local booking agent and promoter, who routes shows through Notsuoh and AvantGarden through his AR*V Productions, deals with many of Houston’s newer and more experimental acts, as well as his share of those it’s…
Pleasure in the Rubble: Why the Summer’s Last, Smallest Blockbuster Was Its Best
We’ll always have Iron Man, they must be telling each other in Hollywood. As summer wanes, the hulking corpses of would-be blockbusters litter the home-video distribution channels like fallen Kaiju from Guillermo Del Toro’s giant-‘bots-vs.-giant-beasts movie Pacific Rim, the most enjoyable of 2013’s many urban-renewing summer blockbusters. In Del Toro’s…
Capsule Stage Reviews: Nijinsky’s Last Dance, The Real Thing, Standing on Ceremony: The Gay Marriage Plays
Nijinsky’s Last Dance Renowned as one of the greatest ballet dancers of all time, Vaslav Nijinsky was a complicated character. He changed the face of the art through his distinctively angular, sexually charged choreography. Edge Theatre is currently presenting the regional premiere of Nijinsky’s Last Dance, penned by Normal Allen,…
Animal Magnetism
Highlights from Hair Balls Texas Last month, Almita Flores of Houston found a gorgeous yellow lab. She says she posted flyers in her neighborhood as well as a notice on Craigslist, but never heard from anyone claiming to be the owner. After two weeks, she says, the dog — whom…
Capsule Art Reviews: “The Beauty Box,” “Fantastic Habitat,” “Gifts from the Past: The Isabel Brown Wilson Collection,” “In Residence: Work by 2012 Resident Artists,” “MURMURATIONS,” “Self, Model, and Self as Other,” “Texas Biennial Invitational”
“The Beauty Box” This is the brainchild of local mixed-media artist Robert Hodge, who, with partner Philip Pyle, a sculptor and digital artist, has converted an open-air space in the Third Ward into a replica of a living room, like “your grandmother’s living room or dining room,” says Hodge. The…
Mexican History and Language
Dear Mexican: I have a Mexican friend at work, and we happened to get in a discussion that started off fine — but I believe that I offended her as the discussion progressed. My intention, of course, was not to do such. We were talking about an upcoming Cinco de…
