What if the Astros Played and Nobody Watched? Well…
A funny thing happened in Houston over the weekend. The Astros were up against the Texans in the ratings. As one might suspect, the Texans were victorious in the ratings war — if not on the field. But, no one thought, at least in the ratings, the Astros would be…
UPDATED: HISD Up For Top Education Award
Update: HISD won the award, according to a publicist for the Broad Foundation. Way to go, y’all! For the first time in ten years, the Houston Independent School District has a crack at winning a national competition that would net the district’s seniors $550,000 in college scholarships. The Broad Prize,…
Build-A-Bar: Become Bewitched by Strega, Deliciously
When I was a kid, I was scared of Tomie dePaola. I’m not entirely certain why, but something about the thick line-drawn characters and heavy-handed, morality play narratives in his children’s books was deeply unsettling to my 8-year-old self. Strega Nona, in particular, terrified me. Even the words, first read…
Jacoby Jones’ Deal With The Devil Ends In A Pool Of His Own Blood
When sports figures go from a career of anonymity or ineptitude to sudden stardom, a lot of people in my business go looking for reasons. Why has Eli Manning been largely average (and kind of dopey) for his entire career and yet strung together two of the most courageous postseasons…
Uchi and Triniti Chefs To Represent Houston at International Pastry Competition
Two Houston-based pastry chefs will compete in the 4th Annual StarChefs.com International Pastry Competition in New York. Sharon Gofreed, of Uchi, and Samantha Mendoza, who works at Triniti, will join 18 other pastry chefs to show off their dessert skills. The competition begins on September 29, with the pre-dessert elimination…
The Last Five Years (2013 Off-Broadway Cast Recording) is an Invigorating Take on a Modern Classic
When it comes to Off-Broadway musicals that strike a cultural vein, Jason Robert Brown’s The Last Five Years has to be in the upper echelon. The show debuted at Northlight Theatre in Skokie, Illinois in 2001 and then had its New York premiere Off-Broadway on March 3, 2002. The 2002…
Fall TV Pilot Review: The Blacklist
Title: The Blacklist Network – Day – Time: NBC – Monday – 9 PM Brief Plot Synopsis: Raymond Reddington (James Spader), one of America’s most wanted, turns himself in to the FBI and offers to give up the scoundrels and rapscallions (actually, terrorists and criminal masterminds) he formerly aided as…
UtopiaFest: Freaks Abound, Festival Jams In Hill Country Paradise
The fifth annual UtopiaFest wrapped up in the early hours of Sunday morning, and after a super successful weekend of music and revelry, we have all made it back to society ready — actually, not so ready — to take on the week. Four Sisters Ranch, the beautifully wooded Texas…
We Don’t Have It All: My Top 5 Gaps In The Houston Food Scene
To say that the Houston food scene is “diverse” is certainly accurate. But that doesn’t mean we don’t have room to grow in terms of broadening our culinary options (and I’m not just talking about bringing the cronut to H-town). Here are five foods/cuisines/eating establishments that I think are missing…
Republicans and the Farm Bill: Socialism for the Rich, Bootstraps for the Poor
One thing that has been a staple of congressional compromise over the past three decades or so was the farm bill. The Democrats would — generally speaking — hold their nose and vote for the bill, which included agricultural subsidies to “farmers” ( the policy actually largely benefits Big Agriculture)…
“MOVING/STILL: Recent Photographs by Texas Artists” Tries to Make Peace With Nature
“MOVING/STILL: Recent Photographs by Texas Artists” explores the complicated relationship humans have with nature through the viewfinders of 12 photographers. To these artists, dealing with nature means accepting its unpredictability. The exhibition will be showing at both Fotofest and the Houston Center for Photography. An opening reception for the former…
Comida Caliente: Houston Family to Premiere Reality Cooking Show
One evening, Stefani Vara found herself in the kitchen with her sisters, her mother and her grandmother, eating, arguing and talking about life. And she had an idea. “We were all laughing and saying things that you wouldn’t normally say in front of your mother, and I thought to myself,…
Weather Week: As the Cool Weather Moves in, Wave Goodbye to Hurricane Season
Recently, we wrote about the anniversary of Hurricane Ike and showed you just how much has changed with then and now photos. Another devastating hurricane, Carla, had its anniversary recently as well. While this year has mostly been a dud, we still have a couple months officially left in the…
Chef Chat, Part 2: JD Woodward of Goro & Gun, On Ramen and Ham Hocks
This is the second part of a two-part Chef Chat series. If you missed Part 1, you can read it here. Yesterday, we learned how JD Woodward, the new executive chef at Goro & Gun, got his start in the culinary industry. Today, we continue our chat with an in-depth…
The Rocks Off 200: The Bailout Bureau’s Mysterious “Bob Bovary”
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? For better…
Breaking Bad Trivia Night Coming to the Heights + Test Your Knowledge Win a Prize
Are you a serious Breaking Bad fan? Do you say “bitch” after every statement just because? Do you walk around with a black hat calling yourself Heisenberg? Is most of your vocabulary based on quotes from the show? Have you genuinely contemplated what life will be like now that the…
How Houston Compares Favorably to Rest of U.S. Economy
Recently, I wrote about the realities of income distribution in the U.S. Today, I’m going to focus on Houston. The following information comes from the American Community Survey done by the U.S. Census Bureau. (Link here). The figures are from 2012. Here’s some good news: we make more money in…
Celebrate Oktoberfest With This Beer & Cheese Soup
In case you’ve been living under a rock, we have some amazing news for y’all. As of this past Saturday, Oktoberfest has begun. The 16 day festival — held in Munich, Germany, but celebrated everywhere — is the world’s largest fair. It was first held in 1810, when all of…
Lizzie Promises to be a Killer Rock Musical
Her knees take a beating like any other rock musician, but other than that actress Carrie Cimma says her role of the house maid in Lizzie is perfect for her. “It’s sort of like the role that no one wrote for me but they should have,” she says laughing. When…
Rice Kicker Chris Boswell Makes Viral Legend Bid With Crazy Onsides Kick
If you know anything about the culture of a football team, then you know that the specialists (kicker, punter, long snapper) on any team, MOST of the time, are on a bit of an island. Hey, it’s only natural, after all, most of them are the same size and body…
Prison Break Tattoos Has An Electric Chair in the Lobby
When you step inside the new Prison Break Tattoos on Washington Avenue, you may become overcome with intense intimidation. That feeling will be even more severe if you’ve ever spent a night in the slammer. This is because Prison Break Tattoo is set up exactly like a jail cell. And…
100 Favorite Dishes 2013: No. 84, Greek Burger at Hubcap Grill
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…
Upcoming: Cher, Zedd, Flamin’ Hellcats, Rickie Lee Jones, The Pharcyde, Zoe, etc.
Amon Amarth: Wed., January 22, 7 p.m., $25. House of Blues, 1204 Caroline, Houston, 888-402-5837. Andre Williams: With Renaldo Domino., Sat., October 5, 8 p.m., $15. Continental Club, 3700 Main, Houston, 713-529-9899. Austin Lucas: With Lee Bains III, The Glory Fires., Fri., October 25, 10 p.m., $10. Rudyard’s, 2010 Waugh,…
Five Genius Songs Written at the Last Minute
Funny thing about songwriting. I can speak from personal experience: sometimes you spend days, weeks, or years getting a song right, and sometimes you just throw some crap into a microphone at the last minute and hope that someone doesn’t hate it. In the hands of master musicians, though, that…
Houston Is “Crazy in Love” With Drag Performer Tyoncé Moore
When Ty Moore heard Destiny Child’s first radio single more than a decade ago, a unique kind of love was sparked — one that would take the young Houstonian to the far lengths of fandom and straight into a personal limelight of dedicated idolatry. Today, Moore spends a substantial chunk…
Noise-Rock Lords Melt-Banana Return For a Bruising Round of “fetch”
Japanese noise-rockers Melt-Banana are a lot of things. Some people say they’re crazy, others describe what they do as being in the realm of math-rock and metal. Some think they’re closer to Yoko Ono, while others think they skew more towards the lineage of their more mainstream descendents like Anamanaguchi…
All the Houston References On Drake’s Nothing Was the Same
Today Drake will officially crown himself the current king of not only the rap charts, but moving the needle (both on and offline) with the release of his third album, Nothing Was the Same. The buzz around the rapper, ne Aubrey Graham, has swelled to almost insane levels thanks to…
Eat At Denny’s and Help Support Shooting Victim’s Family
You can honor the memory of Robert Greig Placette and help support his family by eating at Denny’s today. All Houston Denny’s locations (57 to be exact) are hosting the benefit night in remembrance of Placette, who was killed on August 26 while shielding children during an armed robbery at…
Society for the Performing Arts Benefit Serves Up Tastings and Chef Panel
The Society for the Performing Arts hosted a fundraiser at Jones Hall for the Theresa Mallett Scholarship for Young Artists on Sunday evening. A Taste of SPA featured samples from more than a dozen area restaurants and businesses, as well as the opportunity to pick the brains of some of…
Dynamo Back At It With Win Over Chivas USA
The push for the MLS Cup is officially upon us; and as is tradition around the city of Houston, the Dynamo begin their late season unbeaten streak to march into the playoffs. The Dynamo are currently sitting on a nice, two game winning streak, courtesy of a 5-1 beating of…
Police Trying to Identify Shooting Victim Found in Ditch
Houston police are seeking information about the identity of a man, apparently shot to death, found Sunday morning in a ditch. The Chronicle reports that “a person driving past the 6400 block of Gold saw a body in the ditch near the railroad tracks and called police upon returning home…
Korean Art Shines at 2013 Houston Fine Art Fair
One day, Houston and art got together and decided to gift Houstonians the Houston Fine Art Fair. I say ‘gift’ because since its 2011 debut, the Houston Fine Art Fair has truly pleased every year, 2013 being no exception. The most pleasing aspect this year — in my eyes –…
Homemade (Almost) Soft Pretzels
Despite the fact that I am not an avid beer drinker, I get very excited about local Oktoberfest activities. I minored in German and edited a travel guide to Deutschland, so I feel a sort of kinship with die Deutschen. Oktoberfest trace its origins to 1810, when Ludwig I, the…
Assistance: Climbing Up the Company Ladder
The set-up: Playwright Leslye Headland once worked for Harvey Weinstein, legendary founder of Miramax and producer of acclaimed films that wedded financial success to critical acclaim. Headland has written Assistance, a comedy based on six assistants working for a tyrannical boss, and while the playwright has provided the usual disclaimers…
Did Michael Brown Rape an Unconscious Woman on His Yacht? No One at Brown Medical Center is Talking
Enough’s enough, guys.Six weeks after troubled ex-surgeon Michael Brown’s former right-hand man accused him of sexually assaulting a woman and paying employees to keep mum, it does not appear that anyone affiliated with the Brown Medical Center has reported the allegations to authorities. The allegation surfaced in a civil suit…
Mouths on Fire: Our Top 5 Spicy Ginger Beers/Ales to Try
As a ginger who happens to love ginger, I am always on the lookout for libations that incorporate my favorite spice. And, in eternal pursuit of a higher tolerance for heat, I have also taken to trying spicier ginger ales and ginger beers. Here are five of my favorites: 5…
Dances of Beauty: SPA Presents Jessica Lang Dance
The Setup: In case you haven’t heard, the Society for the Performing Arts has pulled out all the stops for Houston dance lovers thanks to the underwriting of Phoebe and Bobby Tudor. The Tudor Family Great American Dance Series will bring such esteemed companies as the Paul Taylor Dance Company…
Murder By Death at Fitzgerald’s, 9/21/2013
Murder By Death, Larry and His Flask Fitzgerald’s September 21st, 2013 Humans measure the end of Summer in different ways. For some Labor Day is the end of Summer (and wearing white). For others Summer ends when school starts. Officially, however, Summer ended on Saturday night. What that means, practically…
[VIDEO] Farewell to Macy’s, aka the Foley’s Building
What began as Foley Brother’s Dry Goods Company at 400 Main Street in 1900 and acquired by Federated Department Stores in 1947, moving them in to the lush pad at 1110 Main Street, ended on Sunday, September 22, 2013…
Wendy Davis To Prepare For “Bruising” in Governor Run
State Sen. Wendy Davis is widely expected to throw her hat in the ring for governor in a couple of weeks, but the GOP is already warning Davis to be prepared for a rough race. “I expect it to be a bruising campaign,” Texas GOP Chairman Steve Munisteri said according…
Everything Old is New Again: A Fashion Life Cycle
We’re on to you, fashion! We buy something you tell us is cool–a jacket with shoulder pads, distressed jeans, wingtip Oxfords–and then, suddenly, it becomes uncool again. We hold on to it for a while, waiting for it to come back around again, and then finally unburden ourselves in a…
2013 Houston Fall Produce Guide: What To Buy & When To Buy It
Say goodbye to summer squash, watermelon, tomatoes and cucumbers, and say hello to pumpkins, winter squash, citrus and dark leafy greens. Fall is here, and that means it’s time to begin using season-appropriate fruits and vegetables. As Houstonians we are fortunate, because there’s a lot of great produce being grown…
Cougars Beat Owls to Earn Possession of the Bayou Bucket
Stephen Pinchback/Houston Athletics CommunicationsTony Levine and the Cougars celebrate after winning the Bayou BucketSaturday’s Bayou Bucket might have been the last of the series for a long time. But if that’s how it turns out, then Houston’s 31-26 win might go down as one of the most memorable in the…
Mangiamaccheroni: A Sicilian Seafood Pop-Up Promises Gioia di Vivere
It’s Thursday evening at Camerata, the new wine bar adjacent to Paulie’s, and Felipe Riccio, a young chef who works behind the bar, has just poured me a sample of a Gravner wine from Italy. After he provides a comprehensive description of the wine, including how it’s made and some…
Breaking Bad It’s All Come Full Circle
Oh Breaking Bad, where will you take us this week? Last week you left us off in quite a terror. Walt, having completely lost all clarity and control over his id, threatened his wife’s life, stole his baby only to then leave her at a fire department and finally called…
Man Man at Fitzgerald’s, 9/22/2013
Man Man, Xenia Rubinos Fitzgerald’s Upstairs September 22, 2013 Man Man has always been a bit of a mystery, so much so that many people in Sunday’s crowd were unaware that the group would even be headlining the venue’s upstairs ballroom that night. Before the Philly group even stepped onstage,…
Sen. John Cornyn Is Out To Stop “Murderabilia”
Sen. John Cornyn has had some interesting notions, but his latest move — a law to ban “murderabilia,” aka the move to ban the sale of artwork, letters or any other stuff that is valuable because of an association with a mass murderer/serial killer/someone-who-committed-any-other-heinous-crime — just seems like a good…
The 10 Most Annoying People That You Meet When Pregnant
Recently a friend and colleague of mine announced that she was expecting twins, her first pregnancy. Isn’t weird when you wake up one day to find that when people tell you they’re pregnant you automatically think, “Congratulations!” instead of, “What are you going to do?” No? Just me? OK… My…
Chef Chat, Part 1: JD Woodward of Goro & Gun
This is the first part of a two-part series. Check back with us tomorrow to read Part 2. From the moment it opened, Goro & Gun seemed to suffer an identity crisis. The place that was supposed to be the first authentic ramen shop in Houston couldn’t seem to offer…
The Worst College Football Weekend Lives Down To The Hype
For me, college football is one of those things in life that gets the “pizza pass.” You know, the old saying that “even bad pizza is still pretty good.” Well, that’s college football. Even a bad weekend of college football is still pretty good, because, hell, it’s college football! Well,…
The Arsenio Hall Show: After 19 Years, You May Now Resume Fist-Pumping
It’s been 19 years since Arsenio Hall last barked at the camera, and the world has changed. Shoulder pads are passé (“Unless you play football, you can’t have them anymore,” Hall jokes), hip-hop is mainstream and, after our so-called first black president, the country elected a real one — and…
What’s Cooking This Week? Cauliflower Leek Soup & More
I love cooking for my fiancé and planning meals for us, 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…
Ravens 30, Texans 9: Big Plays, Penalties and Offensive Ineptitude Give Baltimore a Blow Out Win
Greg Gumbel, who called the Texans-Ravens game for CBS said at one point late in the game after the referee tossed his flag, “And another flag.” His attempt at sarcasm was well meaning, but the joke was on the Texans Sunday as they fell 30-9 in Baltimore. The two teams…
Top 5 Face Turns in Horror
If you’re not familiar with the term “face turn” I’ll explain. In wrestling good guys are babyfaces or just faces, while bad guys are heels. So a face turn is when a bad guy suddenly becomes a good guy. I live for those moments. You get them in horror franchises…
Beer and Cheese Pairing Class at the “Brewniversity” of Central Market
Attending a class at the Central Market Cooking School has been on my “To Do” list since I moved to Texas. Seven years later, I finally made good on this promise by attending a beer and cheese pairing class, one of a series of events comprising Central Market’s “Brewniversity” festival…
12 Hours In Houston: Bun B & the Mayor, Caribbean Festival, Graffiti Kids & ’80s Mania
“Tryna see how much paper that I might gain/ While I still keep it trill in what I write, mayne!” — Bun B, “Let ‘Em Know” I’ve been told by some that I live an interesting life. Concerts, dinners, photo shoots, dancing, art… you name it, I’m about it. I…
Texans-Ravens: The 10 Best Rapper Tweets From a Shitty Game
All bad— slim thug (@slimthugga) September 22, 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…
Top 10 Bars, Clubs & Ice Houses In West U/Rice Village
As our sister blog Eating…Our Words does, from time to time Rocks Off will be giving your our picks for the top taverns in various Houston-area neighborhoods. Of course, the lines can be porous, but here anything with a TABC license that cannot reasonably be considered either a restaurant, coffeehouse…
The Best Concerts In Houston This Week: The Weeknd, Bill Callahan, Alt-J, etc.
The Weeknd Bayou Music Center, September 24 As eccentric as he is explicit, the 23-year-old singer/rapper known as The Weeknd has become one of R&B’s hottest names of the 2010s not just because of his association with fellow Toronto native Drake, but for lyrics that are unusually candid even for…
Houston Film Critics Society Hosts Gandolfini Double Feature at the Alamo Drafthouse
Next Wednesday (September 25), the Houston Film Critics Society is presenting a tribute to the late, great James Gandolfini at the Alamo Drafthouse Vintage Park: In ENOUGH SAID, a divorced and single parent, Eva (Julia Louis Dreyfus) spends her days enjoying work as a masseuse but dreading her daughter’s impending…
Dan Patrick, Pro-Lifer, Is an Accidental Pro-Abortion Supporter
Houston’s own State Sen. Dan Patrick has let it be known that he is, of course, against abortion in all forms, but it turns out the good senator — who is taking a run at being becoming Texas lieutenant governor — held stock in the company that makes Plan B,…
Our Top Five Hank Williams Sr. Covers
Kids, there’s a reason Hiram “Hank’ Williams, who would have been 90 years old September 17, is in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Dead of an overdose of pain killers in the back of his long white Cadillac at 29, Williams was, in his brief interval in Nashville,…
This Weekend’s Best Bets: Are You Cooking Meth Yet?
I don’t know how many times I can apologize for my performance so far this season on these Friday picks. My only hope is that you haven’t followed me completely into the gambling abyss, and been forced to get a second job like Walter White working the car wash in…
Robert Ellis at Discovery Green, 9/19/2013
Robert Ellis, The Clarkes Discovery Green September 19, 2013 It feels like Robert Ellis’ much-loved weekly local gig came and went a lifetime ago, even though it’s only been a couple of years. Since rising to become one of the city’s most celebrated performers, though, Ellis has scarcely slowed down,…
TV Club: The League: “Mr. McGibblets”
This week Pete introduces Jef and I to FX’s long-running comedy, The League, just in time for the Fantasy Football explosion that is taking place around the country. If you are unfamiliar with the show, it is a comedy about a group of bros who participate in a fantasy football…
Houston’s Eric Turner: The Object of Gawker’s Abject Bitchiness
Two days ago, Eric Turner was just an anonymous (yet incredibly ripped) personal trainer in Houston looking forward to marrying his boyfriend Morne Coetzer in South Africa, where Coetzer grew up. But on Thursday, Gawker got ahold of the couple’s gofundme site, where they asked for $7,000 to cover Turner’s…
NACE Golden Noodle Crowns Mac ‘n’ Cheese Champs
Last night, the Houston chapter of the National Association for Catering and Events held its third annual NACE Golden Noodle Competition, which crowns the “Big Cheese” of hotels or catering companies. The new conference center at the Houston Food Bank was packed with chefs and diners as 15 groups competed…
10 Houston Acts You Should Be Listening To
Did you know that Football, etc., a Houston band with a very low profile in the local music scene, has more than 4,000 Facebook likes? This is because the emo-rock trio duo, which moved to Houston from New Jersey about five years ago, is being played on college-radio stations across…
The Thrill of Victory, the Power of Nature: 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…
Ravens-Texans Week 3 BATTLE-DRINK: Dierdorf Loves Suggs
Well, either the CBS decision makers have a hell of a sense of humor or they’re the biggest trolls in television administration, because less than a year after one of the most tweeted about broadcast performances of the Texans’ 2012 season, Dan Dierdorf’s Week 7 slurp-fest of a returning-from-Achilles-rupture Terrell…
Beyond Big Sandwiches: Hungarian Classics and Ashkenazi Cuisine at Kenny & Ziggy’s
If you go to Kenny & Ziggy’s and order a pastrami on rye or a Reuben, you will leave satiated and satisfied. You are likely to rave about the impressive mountain of quality cold cuts, the tangy sauerkraut and the complimentary pickles. You might even, if you haven’t already, remind…
Volbeat & HIM at Bayou Music Center, 9/19/2013
The Rock Allegiance Tour feat. Volbeat, HIM Bayou Music Center September 19, 2013 “If I’m walking around onstage and it looks like I shit my pants, it’s because I got new boots,” Michael Poulsen told the crowd, lifting his right foot high into the air for fans to see. Behind…
Masters of Sex on Showtime: They Revolutionized Sex Before the Sexual Revolution
In 1957, the same year that The Ed Sullivan Show refused to shoot Elvis below the waist, a gynecologist and a former nightclub singer began hooking strangers up to electrodes and asking them to fuck in the name of science. The research team of Dr. William Masters and Virginia Johnson…
Writing a Rap Coloring Book Is Not That Easy
Earlier this week, Bun B’s Rap Coloring and Activity Book, a book that I wrote and illustrated and that was curated by the superhero Bun B, went on sale. The day that it officially released, I sent an untold number of texts, letting people know that it was out. I…
The 10 Worst Speed Traps in Houston
Houston is a city of drivers, which makes us ripe for the picking when it comes to speed traps. Anyone who drives with regularity knows there are places where police routinely set up and drop the hammer on a host of unsuspecting speeders. We’ve compiled a list of these speed…
Doctor Who: The 10 Best Alternative Universe Doctors
There are 11 Doctors, right? We all know that. Well, they’ve already announced Peter Capaldi as the Twelfth debuting this Christmas, so OK, there are 12 Doctors. Then again, we know that John Hurt is playing some incarnation of The Doctor in the 50th anniversary special, and that makes 13…
Ra Ra Riot at Fitzgerald’s, 9/19/2013
Ra Ra Riot, Caveman Fitzgerald’s September 19, 2013 When Free Press Houston and Pegstar combined forces to reopen Fitzgerald’s in September 2010, they brought more to the venue than hope, good business sense, and fresh paint. Instead, the two-story dancehall-turned-rock-club remains a landmark in its Heights-area neighborhood, boasting among Houston’s…
Spec’s Fest Returns on Saturday with Gourmet Food Galore
Spec’s Fest hits Houston this Saturday with live music, guest vendors and tons of free food (and booze) at the Midtown Spec’s. Spec’s Fest differs from the annual Wine and Cheese Fest in that it has wine, cheese and, according to Kylie Boaz, so much more. Boaz is the marketing…
Mireille Hassenboehler Waltzes The Merry Widow
The Setup: Houston Ballet’s first full-length ballet of the new season is Ronald Hynd’s The Merry Widow, a charming, sweet delight of a narrative about young love reawakened in maturity. Opening night saw Principal Dancer Mireille Hassenboehler in the lead role; her run as Hanna Glawari marks her final bows…
Tom DeLay Is Off the Hook…for Now
The Texas court of appeals for the Austin area ruled today that the evidence the State mustered against Tom DeLay was “legally insufficient” and reversed the jury’s verdict and ordered that DeLay be acquitted of money laundering. Without delving into the weeds too much, the State’s case was essentially this:…
McDonald’s Mighty Wings: Surprisingly Awesome
For the past several months, fast-food chains have been doling out new menu items every chance they get. Taco Bell has the new Fiery Doritos Locos Taco, Burger King has the French Fry Stuffed Burger, and McDonald’s now has Mighty Wings: bone-in crispy fried chicken wings. Yes, you read that…
UPDATED: TUTS Underground Takes Over “Food Truck Friday”
UPDATE: Due to inclement weather this event will be postponed until Friday, October 4. To kick off their all-new TUTS Underground, Theatre Under the Stars (TUTS) is infiltrating H-E-B’s Food Truck Friday with a sneak preview of the upcoming Underground show, Lizzie. If you are in the mood for some…
Weekend Weather: Rainy Start to a Much Cooler Weekend
Plenty of rain pushed through the area yesterday. Most of Houston recorded at least a quarter of an inch and some areas got more than an inch of rain. That will continue today and into Saturday as a cool front sags towards the coast pulling moisture from the Gulf and…
The Five Best Things to Eat or Drink This Weekend: Hurricane Meals, Fun Run with Beer & More
Houston Press Hoppy Hour @ MKT Bar Friday, 4-10 p.m. 1001 Austin It’s time for another Houston Press Hoppy Hour at MKT Bar. Come over right after work to get your weekend started and enjoy the Sack ‘Em Football Sundays food menu from MKT Bar, along with special craft beer…
Top 5 Breaking Bad Deaths and a Bonus One
(SPOILER bitches) This past Sunday, Breaking Bad proved (yet again) its grit with one of the most monumentally upsetting, appalling, and any other hyperbolic description you can come up with, deaths on television. Some of us were shocked by the death of DEA agent and genuinely good guy Hank Schrader,…
American Sharks Are Coming For Your Children
American Sharks are, like Lady Caroline Lamb said of that early 19th-century rock star Lord Byron, mad, bad, and dangerous to know. The bong-loaded Austin trio had been reliably fucking shit up around Houston for a few years — see this practically Neanderthal 2007 slideshow from Proletariat — before relocating…
American Bar Association to Texas: Your Administration of the Death Penalty Is Woefully Inept
There are a number of legitimate criticisms that can be levied at the American Bar Association: it has accredited far too many law schools such that there are more lawyers than there are jobs, it can be self important and it skews towards the “elites” in the legal profession. That…
100 Creatives 2013: Jan Burandt, Paper Conservator for The Menil Collection
We’re pretty sure Jan Burandt is the first among our 100 Creatives to ever “create” a hurricane. It was while designing a packing crate for art that she experimented with the weather. “We built several [crates] and then put them through fake hurricanes to how the inside of each frame…
Upcoming Events: Food Holidays, A Culinary Trip Around the World & More
On Monday, September 23, Central Market hosts yet another beer and food class in the Brewniversity cooking class series. During Beer & Bites, the Central Market experts will explain how to pair beer with food; after just one hour you will walk away with more knowledge about lagers, ales, pilsners…
Five New Houston Rap Songs For Your Morning Drive Time
Summer is (technically) up in Houston and Propain’s Ridin Slab’ still remains on top of everything going. Between fall coming and my daily routine of driving up and down the city of Houston, there are at least five new singles that need to be added to your daily drive-time playlist…
Is This the End of the Bayou Bucket? Rice and UH Playing for Possibly the Last Time
The 2-0 Houston Cougars face the 1-1 Rice Owls at 2:00 p.m. tomorrow at Reliant Stadium. To the victor goes the Bayou Bucket, and the victor might get to hold onto the trophy for a long while because this is the last scheduled game of the series. Now that both…
Top Five Things to Do in Houston This Weekend: Swoon, Les Mis, Merry Widow and More
Our first pick for Friday is “a timeless, romantic story,” according to Strange Fruit Manager on Tour Nami Hall. A timeless, romantic story that’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…
The Best Concerts In Houston This Weekend: Empire of the Sun, The Rides, Man Man, etc.
Empire of the Sun Warehouse Live, September 20 If you enjoy your woozy, MGMT-style electro-pop with the costume design of a Spielberg epic, Empire of the Sun is ready for their close-up. The Australian duo of Luke Steele and Nick Littlemore — who hail from the Western outpost of Perth,…
Openings & Closings: Farmers Market Returns, Taco Takeover & More
It was a slow week for openings and closings. Let’s take a quick look at which restaurants closed before we dive into the openings. Hollister on Washington suddenly closed after being open for a brief six months. Owner Chuck Pritchett says the BYOB concept wasn’t enough to attract new customers…
U.S. 59 Is Totally Jacked in Thursday Evening Rush Hour Traffic
If you’re about to head out and your direction is north on U. S. 59, put in an audio tape if that’s the only way you can go. There’s a jackknifed rig on the North side at Edloe/Bufffalo Speedway. Traffic is backed up all the way to Rosenberg. And the…
Cat Killer Returns to Timbergrove (Warning: Disturbing Pics)
Someone has been killing cats and leaving their mutilated bodies out for display in Timbergrove, and folks there are having trouble getting the Houston Police Department to care. On September 1, a resident e-mailed Houston Police Department animal cruelty investigator Virginia Brasher to say that he “came upon some cat…
Lobster, Lamb and Beef, Oh My! Seven Stellar Sandwiches
It’s easy to get a tuna salad sandwich or a BLT these days, but sometimes you want something different, something, well, just more. I recently set out to locate the tastiest and most memorable sandwiches around Houston, and, after much work, am honored to present, for your dining pleasure, this…
iOS7 for iPad First Look: Apple’s Fancy, Smooth New Update
The much-anticipated update to the Apple operating system was made available for download on Wednesday. Given that I have an iPhone 4 that hasn’t even been updated to OS 6 yet, I declined to bother with OS 7 for it, but my iPad is relatively new and seemed like the…
Depeche Mode at Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, 9/18/2013
Depeche Mode Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion September 18, 2013 People talk about how improbable it is that Keith Richards is still alive to tour with the Rolling Stones, but for a time there in the mid-’90s, it seemed equally unlikely Depeche Mode would ever hit the road again. Singer Dave…
Teddy Cruz Is Annoying the Crap Out of People in D.C.
Senator Ted Cruz is apparently pissing off everyone in Washington. From political blog The Monkey Cage: The staffer, whom two GOP sources identified as working for Representative John Culberson of Texas, went on to decry Cruz for holding events in Culberson’s district and telling his constituents that defunding Obamacare would…
Sweet Meets Savory: Chocolate Peanut Butter Oreo Popcorn
About two weeks ago, H-E-B ran a special on Oreos, offering $3 off if you bought three packages ($2.99 each). Of course, in my mind, six bucks for three different types of Oreos seemed like an incredible deal. And it was, sort of, because it enabled me to make Oreo…
Kenny Wayne Shepherd Takes a Ride In New Blues-Rock Supergroup
How the new guitar-centric blues-rock supergroup The Rides came together involves a genesis that’s more football than foot pedals. But the core trio of singer/guitarists Stephen Stills and Kenny Wayne Shepherd and keyboardist Barry Goldberg couldn’t be happier about the venture, whether it’s a one-off project or one with more…
Bike Trail Robberies: Police Arrest Nine Kids
Houston police have arrested nine juvenile males they say robbed and assaulted bicyclists on or near the Columbia Tap trail, in 13 incidents since May. The suspects — all between 10-16 years old — “were referred to Harris County Juvenile Probation authorities on charges of engaging in organized criminal activity…
Cake Shop Wants Us to Talk About Depression
Depression is no laughing matter, but Jody Stevens wants to let people know that it’s okay to talk about it…with cake. Inspired by the original Depressed Cake Shop in London, Stevens is hosting a bake sale to raise awareness of mental health issues and raise funds for the Montrose Center…
Writing for Us Is the Most Awesome Thing In the World
Earlier this week my beloved boss Margaret Downing put out a call to you plucky young art commentators to come and do some freelance work here at the Houston Press. Like all her work, it was concise, well-written and informative. Just what you’d expect from a seasoned newspaper editor and…
Fitz Tales: Great Moments From Club’s “Grand Re-Opening”
All this week and into next, Fitzgerald’s is celebrating its “Grand Re-Opening,” marking the third anniversary of the venerable Heights venue’s much-discussed acquisition by the powers behind Free Press Summer Fest. We asked a few Fitz staff members to share a few of their favorite stories from these past thousand…
Trent Richardson Traded to the Colts: The Death of the Highly Drafted Running Back
In both Major League Baseball and the NBA, trades are fairly commonplace, not only during the offseason, but in season as well. The trade deadlines in each sport are well known by fans and generally viewed as important dates on the respective calendars for each sport. That’s where the NFL…
Playwright Christopher Durang Will Be Artist in Residence at Texas State
Texas State University’s theater program continues to score big hits, not the least of which is its recent announcement that the playwright who won the 2013 Tony Award for Best Play for his Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike – Christopher Durang – will be one of two playwrights…
Market Square’s Fusion Taco Is Our New Spot for Pre-Theater Dining
Houston has a fantastic theater district, but somehow it seems the options for pre-show dining are few and far between. Sometimes, you simply don’t have the time for a long, fancy meal. That’s where Fusion Taco, the fast-casual concept from David Grossman and Julie Sharaby, comes in. Before a recent…
I Treat Women Like You Said In Geto Boys Songs. 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! PEERS PRESSURING ME TO DRINK Dear Willie D: I’m an 18-year-old freshman in college. I went…
Houston Traffic Hotspots: The Shepherd Curve
In this series, I take a look at places around Houston to avoid during rush hour and offer some alternatives that might keep you from going road rage and killing somebody. Most people don’t travel I-45 north unless they have to do so. It is mostly a barren wasteland of…
Pop Rocks: Zac Efron in Rehab and 5 Other Shocking Rehabbers
Yesterday’s Internet rags were all abuzz with the news that young Zac Efron, the Disney darling turn semi-serious actor, had spent a few quiet months taking care of himself in a rehab clinic. At first the rumor mill said the 25-year old checked in for help with a drinking problem…
100 Favorite Dishes 2013: No. 85, Pork Tamales at Irma’s
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…
The Rocks Off 200: DJ Twinkle-Toes, Won a “Dick-Measuring Vinyl Orgy” With Two iPods
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? Rogelio Gutierrez…
The Sobering Reality of Wealth Distribution in America
How much did you (your family) make last year? Over $232,000? Congratulations, you’re not Occupy territory, but close: you are in the top 5 percent. Good job (if you wanted to make the Top 1 Percent your family needed to make $445,000…that’s rarefied territory, my friend. People are protesting you…
Jason Voorhees: Dark Christ Figure?
Last week was Friday the 13th, and I spent it the way I have spent always spent that most unlucky of days since I was a kid… watching Friday the 13th marathons. Of the big slasher franchises the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre is my favorite film, while Nightmare on Elm…
Baker Spotlight: Chef Francis Reznick, Rustika Cafe & Bakery
It’s a family affair at Rustika Cafe & Bakery. Francis Reznick, along with her husband, Leonardo, has been running and operating Rustika for 20 years. While he manages the cafe side of the business, Chef Francis is the mastermind behind the beautifully designed cakes, cookies and pastries created in the…
Linda Ronstadt’s Bittersweet Book of “Dreams”
Simple Dreams: A Musical Memoir By Linda Ronstadt Simon & Schuster, 256 pp., $26 Linda Ronstadt hasn’t made a solo record since 2004, graced a concert stage since 2009, and while doing advance interviews for this book announced that she suffers from Parkinson’s Disease. More than likely, she won’t ever…
Death of Tebowmania: Twelve People Show Up at Tebow Rally in Jacksonville
“I share your sentiment. When is the next time Jacksonville is gonna have an athlete like Tim Tebow?” — Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shahid Khan, responding to a caller on a Jacksonville talk show just before the Super Bowl in 2012 Back then, the talk wasn’t about whether or not Tim…
Robert Ellis Sure Hopes He Can Sing at Discovery Green Homecoming Gig
One of the damndest things Rocks Off has seen in our five-plus years in Houston is the way word of mouth spread like a brush fire among the local indie scene about “Whiskey Wednesdays.” Starting in late, late 2009, scenesters both shaved and unkempt (more the latter) flocked to Mango’s…
Chefs to Demonstrate How to Cook During a Disaster with Ready Houston
The city of Houston discovered fairly quickly after Hurricane Ike hit five years ago that it wasn’t adequately prepared for a natural disaster of that magnitude. In the years since, the city has taken steps to make sure it’s never caught unprepared again, including creating Ready Houston, an organization designed…
The Rest of the Best: Houston’s Top 10 Romantic Spots
We asked our friends and co-workers for some suggestions as to Houston’s most romantic spots. We got a few helpful answers (the James Turrell Skyspace, Rainbow Lodge) and then we got some not so helpful answers. One co-worker suggested Treasures Houston. He didn’t specify as to a VIP booth or…
Capsule Art Reviews: “Fantastic Habitat,” “Retro-spectacle,” “Room Divider,” “Who Collects Clouds in the Sky?”
“Fantastic Habitat” “Fantastic Habitat” is a series of 11 photographs that begin before the camera points and shoots. Before hanging them in Lawndale Art Center’s Cecily E. Horton Gallery, Susi Brister spent time gluing together wildly patterned fabric and textile materials, which she then draped over unknown objects in natural…
Hurricane Ike: Then and Now
Highlights from Hair Balls Last Friday was 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 of a punch than anyone expected. A massive storm…
Capsule Stage Reviews: Arsenic and Old Lace
Arsenic and Old Lace Arsenic and Old Lace was a huge Broadway hit, opening in 1941 for 1,444 performances, and is currently on three Houston stages — a tribute to the enduring appeal of farce. The members of the Brewster family are a few cards short of a full deck,…
Sibling Revelry
Only in Houston It’s not unusual for siblings to be in bands together. The Beach Boys, Jackson Five, Heart, Radiohead…the list goes on and on. Brothers and sisters have regularly joined forces to create incredible music. One kid finds a musical niche and his or her siblings voluntarily follow. Or…
Why Does Mexico’s National Soccer Team Suck So Much?
Dear Mexican: Can I “Ask a Mexican” why El Tri sucks so much? And why a little stadium in Columbus, Ohio was louder and more passionate than Estadio Azteca in Mexico City, which seats over 100,000? Can I also ask why a country that lives and breathes soccer/fútbol always freaks…
How a Boy Named Horst Became an Internet Sensation Known As Riff Raff
Becoming Riff Raff As a prepubescent boy in the early ’90s, Horst Simco was enamored of Vanilla Ice. Like millions of other kids, Horst fell for the white rapper’s slick dance moves and outrageous style — Evel Knievel-style jumpsuits, blow-dried, gravity-defying hair, slits cut into his eyebrows. But before long…
The Fine Finger Food at Batanga Is Full of Surprises
Want a closer behind the scenes look at Batanga? Check out our slideshow. When I ordered tapas for lunch at the bar, I was expecting a few plates with overly conceptualized seafood and duck and a pile of spindly, desiccated “eggplant fries.” To my surprise, everything I ordered appeared simultaneously…
The Salzburg Festival Gets a Touch of Houston
The internationally renowned Salzburger Festspiele has been at the forefront of annual summer music festivals ever since its founding in 1920 by a prestigious artistic quintet that included composer Richard Strauss (Salome, Der Rosenkavalier), poet/librettist Hugo von Hofmannsthal and stage visionary Max Reinhardt. As the birthplace of W.A. Mozart and…
Rush’s Racers Draw New Life from Ron Howard
It’s 1976, a year when all the groovy girls are traipsing around in tiny suede skirts and all the cool guys have Badfinger hair. One of those guys was English racing driver James Hunt, the charismatic rapscallion who won that year’s Formula One World Championship — the embroidered badge on…
Prisoners Is a Captive of Its Own Ambitions
If five Oscar nominees lose two young girls in the woods, will their wailing make a sound? That’s the key question of Prisoners, Denis Villeneuve’s prestigious puffery about a father (Hugh Jackman) and a cop (Jake Gyllenhaal) trying to catch a kidnapper. Prisoners is a dog-whistle for Academy voters keyed…
Thanks for Sharing: Weep for the Oversexed
Forbidden fruit has never seemed so poisonous as in Thanks for Sharing, a remarkably sensitive and surprisingly romantic ensemble drama about sex addiction. A winsome mix of funny, harrowing and smart, it’s most commendable for making characters who are addicted to bad behavior — and who refuse to blame themselves…
“Showgirl Is my Yentl“: The 145-Minute Showgirls Sequel That Could
Written, produced, directed, and edited by Rena Riffel, who also reprises her role as Penny from the original Showgirls, Showgirls 2: Penny’s From Heaven has been available on VOD for at least a year, but is now being released on DVD from Wild Eye Releasing, thus conferring onto it the…
First Look at Morton’s Grille
Restaurant News First things first. Morton’s Grille is being billed as the “casual yet sophisticated” version of Morton’s the Steakhouse, but when I attended the media preview event, journalist uniforms (jeans and a T-shirt) were not in abundance. Casual is not a word I’d use to describe anything about the place…
