Here’s Video of a Dude Calmly Stealing Thousands of Dollars from a Walmart
Some people work hard for their money, especially when it comes to a multi-thousand-dollar heist. Others just make it look easy. Among the latter are the guys who hit a Walmart Supercenter in the 15900 block of FM 529 Sunday afternoon. Crime Stoppers and the Harris County Sheriff’s Office say…
Paul Ryan’s Airplane Stuck in Houston — How’d He Spend the Delay?
On the campaign trail, there’s not a moment that goes unused. BlackBerries — oh, the BlackBerries. While the iPhone triumphs in the general population, it appears the only subspecies of man still trolling with BlackBerries are the political stooges and groupies. Every time there’s a lapse in scheduling or a…
Cover Story: Mashing Houston Old & New, Via Photos
We’ve had some good results when our Abrahan Garza has roamed the Houston streets mashing up present-day scenes with old photographs. Today, as part of our annual Best of Houston® issue, he’s at it again. “Houston: Now & Then” takes a look at how the city has evolved — or…
Disney’s Beauty and the Beast: The Enduring Fable Comes Through Houston with All Cylinders Clicking
The set-up: In 1993, almost two decades ago, the stage version of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, an animated musical film, premiered in Houston, opened on B’way in 1994, and ran for 13 years and 5,464 performances, ending in 2007. Now a new national touring production comes to Houston for…
The Cowboy Prepares to Ride Away: George Strait Announces His Touring Retirement
Today country legend George Strait — King George around these parts — announced during a live YouTube broadcast from Nashville’s Country Music Hall of Fame that he is hanging up his touring boots and saddle after decades on the road. Strait is still slated to close out RodeoHouston’s 2013 season…
UPDATED: Northwestern (Prestigious) or Northwestern State (Unknown)? Lone Star Chancellor Dr. Richard Carpenter’s Listed Academic Credentials Are Wrong
See Lone Star Board President Randy Bates’ comments at the end of this post. Go to the Web site (unless they’ve changed it) of the Lone Star College System in Houston, type in the word chancellor in the search box and you’ll find out their chancellor, Dr. Richard Carpenter, has…
Enjoying Comfort Food, Thai-Style, at Njoy Thai
Tucked into the tiny space that once housed Fabio’s — long known as a purveyor of both fresh pasta and romantic dinners before it moved to West Alabama — is newcomer Njoy Thai, the subject of this week’s cafe review. There’s no longer fresh pasta to be found here, as…
100 Favorite Dishes 2012: No. 2, Amberjack Sashimi and Foie Gras at Kata Robata
This year leading up to our annual Best of Houston® issue, we’re counting down our 100 favorite dishes in Houston. This list comprises our favorite dishes from the last year, dishes that are essential to Houston’s cultural landscape and/or dishes that any visitor (or resident) should try at least once…
Comment of the Day: Hail to the Redskins Fighters, Sort of
We have some great commenters here on Hair Balls, and it’s time we paid some damn attention to them. So we’ll be highlighting a Comment of the Day each morning or afternoon from the previous day’s work. Maybe two comments, even. This will all be determined by a highly rigorous…
Web Extra: The Rebirth of Underground Rock
I remember the first big boom in underground rock, because I was definitely not part of it. Instead, I was one of those kids for whom Nirvana’s Nevermind (and their January 1992 Saturday Night Live appearance, in my case) kicked open the door to a much cooler musical world than…
Reality Bites: 19 Kids & Counting
There are a million reality shows on the naked television. We’re going to watch them all, one at a time. Having a large family has fallen out of favor in recent decades. There are always economic realities to consider when raising children (orthodontia, college tution, bribing them to elope instead…
The 2012 Best of Houston® Edition Goes Live Today: See Which Restaurants and Bars Won
The 2012 Best of Houston® edition goes live today and it’s finally time to reveal which restaurants, bars, chefs, grocers, coffee shops and markets won this year’s coveted Best of Houston® awards. That also means it’s time to find out whether of not our readers voted for McDonald’s as Best…
Last Night: Ben Folds Five at Bayou Music Center
Ben Folds Five Bayou Music Center September 25, 2012 In the recent rash of rock reunions this past year, it was perhaps the reuniting of Ben Folds, Robert Sledge and Darren Jessee that was the most warranted and most fully realized. After years as a solo act, piano man Folds…
Audrey Miller: You’re Going to Mess with This Woman’s Cat & Expect Not to Be Shot?
A Spring woman has been charged with aggravated assault on a family member after allegedly shooting her husband in a dispute over a pet cat, court documents show. Audrey Deen Miller, 42, was arrested and her husband is hospitalized in non-life-theatening condition after the incident Tuesday morning. He has since…
The Mindy Project Premiere: Off to a Good Start
The Mindy Project, the new show created by and starring The Office’s best one-lining customer service rep Mindy Kaling, premiered last night on Fox. The show has gotten a ridiculous amount of hype and is being touted as the next big sitcom. It only helps that funny ladies have been…
Chef Chat, Part 1: Matt Marcus of Eatsie Boys Food Truck, on Selling Food out of His Dorm Room in Military School and Landing an Internship at The Fat Duck
Matt Marcus Eatsie Boys Food Truck 845-430-8479 www.eatsieboys.com This is Part 1 of a three-part chef chat series. Parts 2 and 3 will run in this same space on Thursday and Friday. The Eatsie Boys have one of the most popular food trucks in Houston right now. Known for their…
The “Mutiny on the Bounty” Ship May Be Coming to Galveston
A replica of the Bounty — the ship that gave us the Mutiny — may spend the winter at Galveston’s Pier 21, ready to receive guests and tours. The ship, which has been used in such epics as the Mutiny remake, Pirates of the Caribbean and SpongeBob SquarePants, according to…
5 Shows We’d Like to See at HMNS’ Burke Baker Planetarium
Recently I decided to put down the cash and become an honest-to-God card-carrying member of the Houston Museum of Natural Science. I find that walking the halls of the HMNS is a fine way to kill a few hours before a concert. There is a part of the HMNS that…
Video Game Atlas: Bionis
Once a week Art Attack will offer you a handy little travel guide to the fictional worlds of video games. Name: Bionis, Xenoblade Chronicles series Population: 40 million Government: Autonomous states roughly overseen by hereditary monarchy Leaving behind the many new friends I had made on Blobolonia, I decided to…
The Sweet Life in Paris: Makes Me Want to Move There, Too
After moving to Paris in 2004, David Lebovitz experienced everything that any foreigner living in Paris would expect to encounter: different lifestyles, different norms and different food. In his book, The Sweet Life in Paris, Lebovitz recounts events that shaped him as an American living in Paris, accompanied by recipes…
Perry’s Steakhouse and Glenmorangie Team Up for Scotch Dinner Series
Bob Perry started the Perry’s group of restaurants in 1979 with a humble butcher shop. That first place, Perry & Sons Market and Grille, is located on Scarsdale Boulevard in southeast Houston. Chris Perry, Bob’s son, developed the Perry’s Steakhouse & Grille concept. These days, there are nine Perry’s Steakhouse…
Lost in Eric Zimmerman’s Space
Whenever I’m asked a riddle, I usually need to hear the question a few times while I try to figure out the answer, revisiting the prompt in hopes of finding clues before giving up. That’s what Eric Zimmerman’s new show at Art Palace feels like. “Endless Disharmony and Telltale Ashes”…
Children’s Rockers Imagination Movers Come Draped In Full Rock Regalia
The Imagination Movers are one of the biggest things going in children’s music, a rapidly growing genre increasingly populated by older modern-rock acts and singer-songwriters. Hell, the Verve Pipe play ACL every year to wide kiddie acclaim. Plus, if parents don’t find it horribly grating you can last a bit…
Amber Lynn Garcia: A Glamour Girl’s Summertime Alleged Mugging Spree
For the second time since July, a Hempstead Highway exotic dancer is facing felony aggravated robbery charges. According to a complaint filed September 20, 24-year-old Amber Lynn Garcia menaced a woman with a tire tool on September 4 and took an untold amount of valuables from her. Garcia, who reportedly…
Tonight: The End of an Astros Era (Last Chance to See National League, Old Uniforms, Bill Brown, Etc.)
For many, the end of this year’s Houston Astro season — much like last year’s Astro season — could not come soon enough. There are only so many 100-loss campaigns even the most diehard fans can be expected to endure, after all. (In case you are keeping score at home,…
Ask Fan Landers: She’s Your Girlfriend or Your Roadie, Not Both
Are you a musician? Is your group having issues? Critic Jessica Hopper has played in and managed bands, toured internationally, booked shows, produced records, worked as a publicist, and is the author of The Girls’ Guide to Rocking, a how-to for teen ladies. She is here to help you stop…
Secret Schwings: Unsung Celebrity Crushes from the ’90s
Patricia Richardson, who played Jill Taylor on Home Improvement for 204 episodes, was one of my first celebrity crushes of the ’90s. What was it that drew me to her? I don’t know. The voice, the hair, the domineering sneer, this Tim Taylor fantasy sequence? When I found out she…
Dinner in Eight Movements: Mercury — The Orchestra Redefined at Triniti
An eight-course dinner with an orchestra providing musical “pairings” for each dish seems a bit pretentious. Let’s get that out of the way right up front. That’s what many of you are no doubt thinking, and that’s what my wife and I thought when we sat down to dinner at…
“Laredo Is Safe”: Six Tourism Billboards That Suck Just as Bad
It seems that violence from drug cartels on the other side of the border has caused a real image problem for the formerly booming tourist industry in Laredo. So now the city is fighting back with its “Laredo Is Safe” campaign, which includes 17 billboards placed around the state. We…
Welcome to Houston TJ: Five of Trader Joe’s Best Products
If you haven’t been living under a rock, you know Trader Joe’s opened up its first Houston location in the historic Alabama Theater this past weekend. A friend of mine,, a longtime TJ fan, was so excited, she threw a Trader Joe’s-themed party — Hawaiian shirts and all — Saturday…
100 Creatives 2012: Tom Stell, Actor, Writer, Director, Obsidian Art Space’s Head Honcho
What He Does: Tom Stell does a lot of creative things; most of them are specifically related to theater, but not all. He is a writer, director, actor and he also paints. Stell is also one of the reasons so much theater is produced in Houston; he is the Executive…
Ryan Bingham: “It’s Tough to Be That Vulnerable All the Time”
Talking to Ryan Bingham, you get the impression he’s just as soon not carry around the official title “Academy Award Winner Ryan Bingham” the rest of his life. One clue is where he keeps the Best Original Song Oscar he and T-Bone Burnett won in 2010 for “The Weary Kind,”…
Clueless in Seattle: Twitter, Sportsbooks and Obese Detroit Lions Fans Go Insane After Monday Night Football (w/ VIDEO)
The NFL’s replacement referees have made plenty of egregious errors during the first three weeks of the regular season. They nearly handed the Seahawks a win in Week One by giving them an extra time out in their game with Arizona. They extended last Monday’s game between the Broncos and…
This Week In Food Blogs: Burgers, Burgers and More Burgers
29-95: Did you head out to the food truck rally this past Sunday at The Refinery? Andrew Rebman was there snapping shots all day long, in case you missed it. Most food trucks ran out of food — although a few were able to restock and sell out once again…
The Many Shades of Who Should Play Christian Grey
As the end of the book signings come closer…the pressure is on in Hollywood to turn Fifty Shades of Grey into a movie…before the steam runs out. Since the blow up of the novel there have been numerous blogs and articles on who should be cast to play women’s favorite…
Yes and Zeppelin? 5 True All-Star Near-Collaborations
Quick, what’s your dream supergroup, living or dead? When I was a big prog nerd, mine was Peter Gabriel on vocals and lyrics, David Gilmour and Robert Fripp on guitar, Geddy Lee on bass, Bill Bruford on drums, Tony Levin on Chapman stick, and Rick Wakeman on keys. Come to…
Melissa Arias, 20, Backseat Passenger Killed By Alleged DWI Driver, Bayou Body Count No. 165
An allegedly drunk driver killed his backseat passenger in a one-car accident about 3 a.m. Sunday morning, Houston police say. Miguel Antonio Padilla, 24, has been charged with intoxication manslaughter in the death of Melissa Arias, 20, in the 6300 block of West 43rd Street. Police say Padilla “was driving…
Matt Schaub and Five Other Cringeworthy Ear Injuries in Pop Culture
If you were like most Houstonians, your heart sank on Sunday afternoon when you saw Houston Texans quarterback Matt Schaub hit the ground in agony after getting hit by the Denver Broncos’ Joe Mays. Immediately images of last year flew through our heads and within seconds, T.J. Yates was in…
Copper Serves Up Arsenic and Old Cake
This past weekend I did an informal poll among my friends about Copper, a show that by and large I have been alone in my allegiance to. The show did premiere in the middle of Breaking Bad’s summer season, and in comparison to a drama about people selling meth and…
Erin Smith Leaving Plonk, But Not Leaving Houston
Last week, Eater Houston broke the news that Erin Smith — executive chef at Plonk Beer & Wine Bistro and one of the few female execs in the city — would soon be departing. In her place: Lindsey Vanarsdel, who is currently Plonk’s executive sous chef. During her nearly three-year…
Mary Helen Aranda, 60, Alleged DWI Victim, Bayou Body Count No. 164
A 60-year-old woman was killed by a drunk driver who also sent a four-year-old girl to the hospital Saturday night, police say. Mary Helen Aranda, 60, was driving a Toyota Corolla westbound in the block of 6700 Lyons about 8:10 p.m. Saturday when she was struck by the PT Cruiser…
The Menil Collection Celebrates 25 Years with Menil Birthday Party
Check out our slideshow. Chances are, even if you’ve never visited The Menil Collection, if you’re an artsy type within the city of Houston, you’ve heard of it. It’s that place where lectures, special art exhibits and other programs and festivals are always being held. The Menil is privately positioned…
100 Favorite Dishes 2012: No. 4, Tuna and Bottarga at Tony’s
This year leading up to our annual Best of Houston® issue, we’re counting down our 100 favorite dishes in Houston. This list comprises our favorite dishes from the last year, dishes that are essential to Houston’s cultural landscape and/or dishes that any visitor (or resident) should try at least once…
Lackluster Outing in Philly Puts Dynamo Playoff Hopes in Jeopardy
Throughout the course of the long MLS regular season, you can’t always expect the Houston Dynamo to bring their “A” game to the park. But c’mon, they were playing the Philadelphia Union, who’ve only been able to put together four goals in the past eight games. The game plan seemed…
Houston Ballet Explores Women@Art in Mixed-Rep Program
The Set-Up: As far as choreographers are concerned, the world of ballet is a male one. But Houston Ballet continues its tradition of celebrating female dance-makers with Women@Art, a mixed-rep program featuring work by Julia Adam, Aszure Barton and the incomparable Twyla Tharp. The Execution: Ketubah, Julia Adam’s Jewish wedding…
Highway Robbery at the Sheraton New York or A Cautionary Tale of Minibar Snickers
As long as I’ve known about that monstrous invention known as the hotel minibar, I have also known better than to satisfy my hunger and thirst with its overpriced wares. The first time I encountered a minibar was at an Embassy Suites during a family vacation to Philadelphia. The idea…
The Wiggins: “Rock and Roll Is Castrated”
Today we continue talking to Jon Read, the man behind the Wiggins about his new album The Myth of Man. Rewind: The Wiggins: The Myth of Man Is the Truth of Awesome Part 1 Rocks Off: Distortion plays an enormous role in your songs. They always sound like they’re coming…
Beauty & Style Deals and Steals Around Town for September 24
Welcome to the Houston Press Voice Daily Deal: Style Edition. Today’s deal is good for 54 percent off on spa services at Lashes by Lauren at Satori Galleria. Your $30 coupon earns you $65 worth of pampering: a 60-minute facial, including an arm massage, with skin care products by Dermalogica…
Football Fans Beware: It’s Bayou Bucket Time
What did Houston-based college football fans do to deserve the torture being inflicted upon them this season? Why is it that neither of the two major college football teams in the city can make a tackle? Or even look like they’re interested in making a tackle? The Houston Cougars (0-3)…
Saturday Night: Action Bronson at Numbers
Action Bronson Numbers September 22, 2012 After working hundreds of concerts over the last three years, most of them being rap and hip-hop shows, I feel like if I’ve seen one rap show, I’ve seen them all. The rapper arrives late, takes the stage past midnight, gives respect to Pimp…
A Word About Dressing Up Your Dog
In case you hadn’t noticed, I love fashion. I love to shop, and I love to read about and study fashion, beauty, and style trends. If you follow me on Twitter, or if you have ever met me, you have probably also noticed how much I love my dog, Sandy…
Where Are We Eating? Hint: Nuevo Latino
At the new restaurant of the former Samba Grille head chef, you’ll find a menu that focuses on Peruvian favorites such as lomo saltado, anticuchos and — of course — cebiche, served fresh from a full-service cebiche bar. This particular dish features snapper marinated in lime and aji limón leche…
TDCJ’s Existing Nonexistent Facebook Policy: Its CFO Was Facebook Friend with Inmate, Too
A prison guard fired for being Facebook friends with an inmate was reinstated after it was discovered that the Texas Department of Criminal Justice’s chief financial officer was Facebook friends with the same dude. The alleged idiocy was uncovered by The Backgate, a blog run by TDCJ employee Duane Stuart…
Zach Adams of The Pass & Provisions on Switchblade Swizzles
This week we asked readers who they’d like to see profiled in upcoming editions of Bartender Chat. Zach Adams was not only mentioned multiple times, he also happens to be working behind the bar at The Pass & Provisions, which just opened. A new chef-driven concept from Seth Siegel-Gardner and…
Saturday: The American Heist, Venomous Maximus Rawk Dallas’ Riot Fest
Riot Fest Gexa Energy Pavilion, Dallas Saturday, September 22 See “The People of Riot Fest 2012” in our sister paper Dallas Observer’s slideshow. If you couldn’t get enough of Rise Against and The Gaslight Anthem the other night — and were willing to drive four hours up to Dallas –…
10 Decades at Architecture Center Houston Gives Visual History of Rice School of Architecture
Rice University and its School of Architecture will be celebrating 100 years of academic excellence in October. To get the party started early, Architecture Center Houston is hosting 10 Decades, a visual history of Rice University and Rice’s School of Architecture. 10 Decades is more history fair than art exhibit,…
Your 2012 Emmy Awards Recap-a-Palooza
For those who care about such things, the 64th Primetime Emmy Awards aired last night. Hosted by late night mook Jimmy Kimmel, the program awarded the creme de la creme of last year’s television programming. And also Jon Cryer. If you’re the gambling sort, I hope you had money on…
Last Night: Pretty Lights at Bayou Music Center
Pretty Lights Bayou Music Center September 23, 2012 See lots more pics from Bayou Music Center Sunday in our slideshow. Having closed out Free Press Summer Fest to help ring in the unofficial start of summer it made it a strange sort of sense that Pretty Lights would return to…
What’s Cooking This Week? Grilled Eggplant Panini, Chicken Parmigiana & More
I love cooking for my fiancé and me, 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 ingredients I’ve bought (and I hate wasting food). Enter…
Harold Brown: “Scooby” Wanted in Murders of Gilbert Kibble, Curtis Steward & Felipe Castillo
Police want your help tracking down a man charged with capital murder for killing three people and wounding three others in a September 2 mini-rampage. Gilbert Kibble, 38, and Curtis Steward, 22 and Felipe Castillo, 26, died in one of a recent string of nightclub parking-lot shootings at Club ICU…
We Have Been Sold (to People We Know)
The Houston Press has been sold to a new holding company — Voice Media Group — by its previous owner, Village Voice Media Holdings, it was announced today. Christine Brennan, who for 19 years was executive managing editor at VVMH, will be the executive editor of the new company. The…
Boom. Roasted. — The Monday Morning College Football Roast, Drunk Betty White Edition
Saturday night, given the choice between staying at home with me to watch the annual Denard Robinson Tear-Notre-Dame’s-Heart-Out-And-Show-It-To-Them-Apalooza (and experiencing the corresponding remote control throwing that goes with it) and going out to dinner with her girlfriends to a nice restaurant, my girlfriend Amy chose the latter. On many levels,…
A California Chardonnay without Sin
I just love that the good folks over at the Chamisal winery in the Central Coast of California call their entry-level Chardonnay “stainless.” To anyone familiar with the science and art of winemaking, the term “stainless” denotes a commonly employed technique and associated style of vinification. But for someone who,…
Top 5 Reasons Bon Iver Is the Clown Prince of Hipster Doofuses
Who is Bon Iver? The name originally referred to a band, I guess in the same way Nine Inch Nails referred to a “band,” but since hitting it big, it’s mostly just a nickname for frontman and songwriter Justin Vernon, who, depending on who you ask, may either be Jesus…
Life Is a Dream from Main Street Theater: A Sprightly Production of a Spanish Classic
The set-up: Main Street Theater opens its 38th season with a rare gem, Pedro Calderon’s 1635 classic Life Is a Dream. It’s the ultimate nature vs. nurture play. With a fresh translation from playwright Nilo Cruz (Anna in the Tropics) and a sprightly acted production, there’s plenty of life in…
Brian Claunch, 45, Wheelchair-Bound Man Shot By Cop, Bayou Body Count No. 163 (UPDATED)
A double-amputee was shot to death in the head early Saturday morning by a Houston cop who mistook the man’s pen for a weapon, HPD says. Brian Claunch — ID’d only as being in his 40s — , 45, was living in a 24-hour supervised group home near Polk and…
Doctor Who: Whiling Away the Days
Brief note before the review proper. I am not real happy with the throwaway lines that happen in the Eleventh Doctor’s time that sneer at male nurses. It started in a Good Man Goes to War, and is repeated here. There’s nothing wrong at all with being a male nurse,…
Friday Night: Eric Church at Toyota Center
Eric Church Toyota Center September 24, 2012 Eric Church is the most curious country artist to come along in a while. He says he sips Jack Daniel’s in concert and (despite my assumption) talks it up in his shows without taking a dime from the Tennessee distiller, which is a…
Three Rules for the Proper Use of Truffle Oil
My esteemed colleague Jeremy Parzen recently wrote an article decrying truffle oil as “evil” and as something akin to farts. Farts? Really? If truffle oil were really all that bad, it wouldn’t continue ending up on dishes in some of the best restaurants in Houston. As with any other pungent…
Texans 31, Broncos 25: At Long Last, Houston Has Its 3-0 Start (Four Reasons Why)
Borrowing a famous analogy from Wade Phillips’s father, Bum, the Texans have knocked and beaten on the door of the NFL’s elite for three straight Septembers. In 2010, a 2-0 start came crashing down in an embarrassing home loss to Dallas. In 2011, they nearly improved to 3-0 before the…
X Factor and/or The Voice: There Is Still Time to Hop Aboard
So, who is watching X Factor and who is watching The Voice? And who is, like me, trying to watch them both? It’s kind of a tall order, with X Factor airing twice a week on Fox (Wednesday & Thursday, 7 p.m. CT) and The Voice airing twice a week…
5 Fall Foods We’re Looking Forward to the Most
IT’S FALL, YOU GUYS. WE MADE IT. In the words of noted pot roast and red cabbage fan Gerald R. Ford, our long national nightmare is over. At least until April. Granted, the autumnal equinox only just took place this past Saturday. And it’s still pretty damn hot outside. But…
The 5 Best Shows In Houston This Week: The Go-Go’s, 2 Chainz, etc. (UPDATED)
10:09 a.m.: UPDATED with information about Kathy Valentine’s injury — ed. The Go-Go’s Monday, House of Blues God bless the Go-Go’s. If Monday’s House of Blues show is anything like last August’s all-killer-no-filler HOB date – and it should be, since the reunited five-piece isn’t pushing any new “product” –…
Texans Hang On For Win Over Broncos: You Thought This Would Be Easy?
Just in case Houston Texan fans were getting accustomed to easy blowouts, the locals made sure to remind everyone that getting to an AFC Championship, much less a Super Bowl, isn’t exactly a walk in the park. With about 10 minutes left in this game at Denver, though, it sure…
Last Night: Fiona Apple at Bayou Music Center
Fiona Apple Bayou Music Center September 21, 2012 The arrival of Apple’s tour bus at Bayou Music Center Friday was a soothing sight to fans, as many feared the beloved musician wouldn’t make it out of jail in time for her scheduled show. Rewind: Fiona Apple Arrested In West Texas…
Mayor Annise Parker Gives In, Adopts BARC’s Dog Of The Week
Mayor Annise Parker has been busy posing with the bold, the beautiful and the sad animals of BARC in an effort to win a $100,000 challenge by TV’s Rachael Ray. Today cuteness, or a sense of duty, or just wanting to help took control. “I confess. I couldn’t resist temptation…
Jesus Martinez: Harris County Sheriff’s Deputy Arrested for Dealing X
A five-year vet of the Harris County Sheriff’s Office patrol division has been arrested and charged with possession and delivery of ecstasy. Humble resident Jesus Martinez, 30, surrendered to authorities today, the U.S. Attorney’s Office says. This July, “deputy Martinez allegedly aided others in the possession of 3,4 Methylenedioxy-methamphetamine (MDMA)…
The Wiggins: The Myth of Man Is the Truth of Awesome Part 1
One thing that Houston has had for decades is an incredible avant-garde noise scene. Bands like Fiskadoro, Female Demand, and Black Leather Jesus all bring definition to the indefinable genre here in town, but the king of them all is Jon Read, better known as the Wiggins. He followed the…
Wait a Second, Did Mitt Romney Just Mess with Texas? (He did.)
For all the analysis that has sprung from Mitt Romney’s stoopid rather imprudent comments, which magazine Mother Jones captured and released earlier this week, it’s possible one thing has been lost in the tumult. Mitt Romney just messed with Texas. He just messed with it but good. According to Tax…
This Week in Deliciousness: Anonymity, Terrorism and other Keywords That Will Draw Traffic From the FBI
Welcome back to the weekly roundup here at Eating…Our Words, where we’ve spent the last few days allergy-sick, lying around watching cable TV and wondering who has the worst rate of success: Intervention or Gordon Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares. With some of the restaurant owners they feature, it seems like there…
Misty Reneedawn Wofford: Forced Three-Year-Old to Perform for British Skype Perv, Police Say
Working together, Interpol, the U.S. Department of Justice and the Webster police have busted a 24-year-old Hitchcock woman allegedly responsible for creating live child porn and transmitting it to a British man via Skype. According to court documents, after a raid on the home of a man named Paul Hanlon,…
RIP LMFAO FWIW :(
Yes, the Internet rumors are true, America’s gruesome twosome powerhouse juggernaut pop duo LMFAO — those rambunctious iconoclasts — have decided to part ways for now, leaving the music world with an empty, party-less hole. Rewind: Last Night: LMFAO at Toyota Center It was just three years ago that the…
Joe Nick Patoski Slam-Dunks Dallas Cowboys Tome
If there is one reason Joe Nick Patoski’s books — biographies of Selena, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Willie Nelson — are so good, it is his ability as a storyteller. Any decent reporter can sift news clippings and videos or interview the participants, but Patoski’s style and organization turn what…
100 Favorite Dishes 2012: No. 5, Machi Cure at Uchi
This year leading up to our annual Best of Houston® issue, we’re counting down our 100 favorite dishes in Houston. This list comprises our favorite dishes from the last year, dishes that are essential to Houston’s cultural landscape and/or dishes that any visitor (or resident) should try at least once…
Florida’s Abiotic Keeps Death (and Death Metal) Alive
It’s not really possible to discuss death metal without bringing up the state of Florida. In the early ’90s, Floridians Morbid Angel, Deicide, Obituary and Death ravaged the underground with a twisted new evolution of metal that would eventually spread across the globe. In the intervening decades, the cutting edge…
Oxheart: The Week in Art Photos
It’s time again to check out the Houston Press Flickr Pool and see what kinds of art shots our talented photographers have added. We love street art, unique perspectives and beautiful photos of Houston’s creative community. If you think you’ve got a good eye, drop your pictures in the pool…
Good Dog Hot Dogs: A Cautionary Tale for Small Businesses
The Good Dog Hot Dogs truck has almost disappeared from the Internet overnight, even though they are very much still in business. On September 19, both their Facebook page and Web site were taken down. The same day, the popular food truck posted to Twitter: “Our apologies, we’re currently working…
Houston Chronicle Editor Jeff Cohen Steps Down
In an e-mailed message to the staff at the Houston Chronicle, and also announced online, Editor Jeff Cohen has announced he is stepping down as editor. Cohen wrote that after ten years at the head of the daily, he will become Executive Vice President and Executive Editor, in charge of…
Reviews For The Easily Distracted: Trouble With The Curve
Title: Trouble With The Curve You’re Not Going To Make Untoward Comments About Clint’s Appearance At The Republican National Convention, Are You? How dare you? As a professional movie critic, I’m insulted at the implication I would resort to such cheap tactics. Rating Using Random Objects Relevant To The Film:…
Surely Bill Brown Will Still Broadcast Astros Games Next Season. Right? Right?
Last week the Houston Astros attempted to give us Weekend at Bernie’s involving Joe Niekro. Then they misspelled Jim Deshaies’s name in the post about Niekro. And in wake of the erector-set billboards blocking the views in left field, one can only wonder what the Astros are going to botch…
Upcoming Events: Speakeasies, Hoedowns and Free Yoga Classes
A shuttered business on downtown’s Main Street is getting a new tenant — for the night. 304 Main will be hosting a one-night-only speakeasy on Monday, October 1, from 7 to 10 p.m., sponsored by Knob Creek Rye Whiskey. Local bartenders will be shaking cocktails featuring the rye and chef…
Video Game Atlas: Blobolonia
Once a week Art Attack will offer you a handy little travel guide to the fictional worlds of video games. Name: Blobolonia, A Boy and His Blob series Population: 1.1 billion Government: Constitutional monarchy My last several visits have involved incredible feats of engineering, including the massive space station at…
Last Night: The Gaslight Anthem, Rise Against, And Hot Water Music At Bayou Music Center
Houston punks had two choices last night: Rise Against and the Gaslight Anthem, with Hot Water Music at Bayou Music Center — still getting used to that name — or OFF! and Negative Approach at Warehouse Live a few miles east. I ended up catching both somehow, though our Nathan…
Azzie Caldwell & Indira Doorga: 500 Grams of Coke in the Stomach & Vagina
Packing for international travel can be such a hassle — who wants to use the overhead bins, for instance? Luckily, God has provided humans, especially females, with carry-on facilities of their very own. The trouble is what you put in them. Two women decided their stomachs and vaginas were just…
Living on the Edge: 10 More Onstage Oopsies
Rock stars are just like the rest of us. They eat, love, poop, age, and sometimes they just embarrassingly go ass over tea kettle. Rewind: When Gravity Attacks: 13 Memorable Onstage Stumbles The difference between them and us, besides, you know, money, fame, security, and the like, is that when…
The Golden Noodle: A Mac ‘N’ Cheese Smackdown
I should have worn my stretchy pants. I should have known better. Yet, there I found myself, trying macaroni and cheese after macaroni and cheese with no end in sight, trying harder and harder after every bite to keep a poised, ladylike posture while simultaneously using every inkling of strength…
Reviews For The Easily Distracted: The Master
Title: The Master Wow, How Did Paul Anderson Find Time To Make This Along With All Those Resident Evil Movies? Haw Haw. Yeah, that whole “Paul W.S. Anderson/Paul Thomas Anderson” joke wasn’t funny the first time I heard it. In 2002. Rating Using Random Objects Relevant To The Film: Four…
A Sensitive Subject: Skin Care Line vBeauté Launches in Houston
The first thing you notice about Julie Macklowe is her face; specifically, her skin. It’s kind of eerie how phenomenal it looks when you are up close and personal. You wonder, “Is she wearing makeup? Or does her skin care line work that well?” Whatever she’s using, you want it…
Haters, Halitosis and Haute Cuisine: Truffles vs. Truffle Oil
I don’t like truffle oil, but I don’t really care what it’s made of. Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s vaguely misleading to pitch a $15 bottle of chemicals manufactured 100 yards off the Jersey Turnpike as a stand-in for a $6,000-a-pound European fungus, but I also think a…
Why Should Anyone Want to Go Into Radio Now Anyway?
This blog grew out of the article Rocks Off wrote Wednesday about Alvin’s “Gulf Coast Rocker” KACC 89.7, the last traditional rock station on the Houston FM radio dial and, not coincidentally, a station completely unsupported by advertising revenue. As we were talking to Mark Moss, KACC’s only full-time employee…
Houston 101: Opium-Addled Hookers in Old Houston’s Red Light District
Drug busts on the Mexican border are nothing new. At the El Paso / Juarez crossing in 1910, the feds seized a huge shipment of Texas-bound opium, at least some of which was believed to be headed to Houston. That was the theory of George McCann, at any rate, one…
Dear Hollywood, Get Some New Ideas: Heathers
Last week it was announced that the Bravo network would be producing a scripted series based on the 1988 cult classic film Heathers. According to Entertainment Weekly: The show will take place in the present day, and will have Veronica (the Winona Ryder character from the film) move back to…
Week in Photos: Endeavour
Each week, we take a dip into the Houston Press Flickr pool and see what our talented photographers have been up to. We’re looking for pictures that represent the best of Houston, from food to art to events, to secret hidden spots of beauty. Just drop them in our Flickr…
Health Department Roundup: (Mostly) Upper Kirby Edition
We’ll start this week with some nice news. Former owner Hank Wiggins died December 31, but things are still moving at Hank’s Ice Cream (9291 S. Main). A recent inspection turned up zero violations. We tried to make ice cream once. It tasted like flavored gas-station coffee creamer and rock…
Last Night: OFF! & Negative Approach at Warehouse Live
OFF!, Negative Approach, Power Trip Warehouse Live September 20, 2012 Thursday night, East Downtown was hoppin.’ The streets were filled with orange-clad soccer fans ready to watch the Dynamo whip up on El Salvador’s C.D. FAS, and the bars on St. Emmanuel St. were doing brisk business. Rewind: Keith Morris…
Let Science (And Your Days-Old Clothes) Help You Get Laid!
The Houston Social Source is planning a party for Bayou City singles like none other you have ever heard or smelled of before. HSS, formerly the Houston Single Source, is planning the city’s first ever (to my knowledge) Pheromone Party on Friday, October 5, at Midtown haunt Nouveau Antique Art…
100 Creatives 2012: Gregory Oaks, Teacher and Poison Pen Cofounder
The Poison Pen Reading Series at the Montrose bar Poison Girl, now in its sixth year, is one of Houston’s most successful literary events, packing the bar’s back patio with a standing room-only crowd nearly every month. It’s also been named Best Local Reading Series in our 2008 Houston Press…
6 Cool & Cheap Weekenders: John Prine, We Give a Jam, Twenty Mondays, etc.
If you had a dollar for every year it’s been since John Prine has played in Houston – OK, maybe $2 or $3; the point is it’s been a long time – you could easily afford a ticket to see the wise, sardonic master singer-songwriter at 8 p.m. tonight at…
79 Cent Pork Chops Statewide Today at Perry’s Steakhouse
Perry’s Steakhouse & Grille opened for business in 1979. To your benefit, some marketing genius thought it would be neat to have a “Flashback Friday” and commemorate the date by offering their humongous Signature Pork Chops for a mere 79 cents. Let me say that one more time. Seventy-nine cents…
Football! This Weekend’s Best Bets, Another Crappy Notre Dame Video Edition
Popcorn lung. Apparently, that’s a thing. On Wednesday, a federal jury awarded a Denver man named Wayne Watson $7.2 million from various food companies after they determined that the respiratory problems he developed in 2007 were due to his frequent inhalation of the buttery aroma from microwave popcorn, hence the…
5 Awesome Things I Forgot About the N64
Loath as I am to admit it, I cannot sustain my family’s livelihood on just the money I make writing about Doctor Who and video games and Doctor Who video games. I have a day job, and last week my boss decided that everything that was on the left side…
Openings & Closings: What the Hell Happened This Week, Houston?
Seriously, guys. What the living hell. This has been one of the craziest weeks for openings and closings that I can recall in a long time. So when I say prepare for a ton of news ahead, I mean it. The biggest news of an already huge news week was…
Top 5 New Rules for Internet Jukeboxes
Used to be, you’d have to hit bar after bar until you found one with just the right jukebox, and then that was your own personal lair of alcohol consumption from then on. The people demanded more freedom of choice, however, so most bars have already switched over to Internet…
The Vince Young Show: Weirder and Weirder, With Today’s Court Hearing
Things keep getting worse for Vince Young. An application he filed in Harris County court was denied today amid questions of why it was ever brought in the first place. The dispute began in 2011 when Young nabbed a $1.9 million loan from Pro Player LLC so he could, we…
Ailene Lander: If You See This 15-Year-Old in Houston Today, She’s Been Kidnapped
The FBI thinks an Alabama girl who was allegedly kidnapped by her stepfather this week will be moving through the Houston area on the way to Mexico. Ailene Lander was at a doctor’s office September 17 in Dothan, Alabama when she was taken by Charles Partin, investigators say. “There is…
Kountze High School: Keep Jesus on the Football Field, Where He Belongs!
If there’s one thing we learned from the Bible, it’s that Jesus loved high school football. Remember Galatians 2:34? “And yea, Christ the Savior sayeth unto the Jerusalem Central Serpents, ‘We are Bethlehem West, we couldn’t be prouder, and if thou didn’t hear us, we shall shout a little louder!'”?…
100 Favorite Dishes 2012: No. 6, Ma Po Tofu at Mala Sichuan
This year leading up to our annual Best of Houston® issue, we’re counting down our 100 favorite dishes in Houston. This list comprises our favorite dishes from the last year, dishes that are essential to Houston’s cultural landscape and/or dishes that any visitor (or resident) should try at least once…
Lance Zierlein & Charlie Pallilo Teaming Up? Great News for Local Sports Radio
There are a couple of great sportstalk radio hosts in town, guys who regularly rack up Best of Houston® awards in the relevant categories. Two of the top: Lance Zierlein and Charlie Pallilo. Both are with KBME 790, and both have faced problems that have hampered their styles. Pallilo is…
Terrorist Attacks, Drugs and Danger: Why City Council Doesn’t Want Food Trucks Downtown
“Food trucks — are they allowed to sell other items within the food trucks?” asked a bewildered-sounding Jack Christie, Council Member At Large 5, during Tuesday morning’s City Council hearing on food truck regulations. “To what extent does it not become a food truck?” Christie continued. “I realize there may…
Macy’s, Houston Celebrate Carlos Santana’s Style
Twenty years ago, while digging through my father’s music collection, I found an album that I still regard as one of my all-time favorites. The crying guitar notes and inspired Latin rhythms I heard that afternoon were a vast departure from the corridos and cumbias I was almost exclusively listening…
Free for All: “Vivian Maier: Out of the Shadows,” Dawn Greenfield Ireland: Hot Chocolate, and “Blood Memory”
She’s known as “the nanny photographer,” but that title doesn’t give Vivian Maier her due. Maier worked as a nanny and starting in the 1950s, she shot street scenes in New York and Chicago. The images she captured were insightful, frank and largely unseen during her lifetime. In 2010, Jeffrey…
Fiona Apple Arrested In West Texas For Hash Possession (UPDATED)
UPDATE: Friday night’s Houston show is still happening at Bayou Music Center. Don’t believe the pipe, er, hype. Hell, you can still get tickets. Sierra Blanca, Texas — that wonderful city in far West Texas that loves to pinch leaf-loving musicians like Willie Nelson and Snoop Dogg Lion — has…
Half-Price Enchiladas at Sylvia’s, Sushi and Tapas
Another delicious deal is coming your way from Houston Press Voice Daily Deals! Today you can save 52 percent ($12 for $25) off of lunch or dinner at Sylvia’s Enchilada Kitchen. Enjoy Sylvia’s award-winning enchiladas (Houston press Best of Houston® winner, Best Enchiladas 2010), which come in more than 18…
Last Night: Devo & Blondie at Arena Theatre
Blondie, Devo Arena Theatre September 19, 2012 What a week for New Wave around here. Psychedelic Furs and Go-Go’s still to come, and Blondie and Devo teaming up for the “Whip It to Shreds” tour Wednesday night at the Arena Theatre. New Wave is as good a term as any…
Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Book Has a Trailer for Some Reason
Arnold Schwarzenegger’s new upcoming memoir, Total Recall: My Unbelievably True Life Story, has a trailer that was just released on his official site and YouTube. REWIND: The Best (Worst?) Pictures Of Arnold Schwarzenegger Ever Trailers for books — like those used for movies — are not uncommon these days, with…
Um, Thanks? FBI Releases Exceedingly Unhelpful Pictures of Most-Wanted Houston Bank Robbers
For all you gumshoes out there, the FBI just made your job exactly no easier than it was before. Yesterday, the agency released photographs of the top ten most wanted bank thieves, most of their faces hooded, masked or behind sunglasses. The hunt is on for, it seems, people who…
Last Night: Beach House at House of Blues
Beach House House of Blues September 19, 2012 It’s been two years since Baltimore dream-team Beach House visited Houston. When they played Walter’s in 2010, we foresaw bigger things for them — a bigger stage, to be exact. Our vision was accurate: Beach House played to a near sold-out crowd…
Visual Artist Felipe Lopez Gets Chaotic in His New Exhibition
The relationship between science and art has long left scholars and artists in a quandary. If the scientific field is factually based, does this leave any room for creativity? Ask multimedia artist Felipe Lopez how the two relate and he will tell you a mouthful. To Lopez, it’s not even…
A Proper Buffalo Wing, and Other Discoveries at Katz’s Deli
It says a lot about the sheer number of restaurants in Houston, I think, that I live 1.9 miles from Katz’s Deli on Westheimer, and went for the very first time just a couple of months ago. (I’ve lived here since 2009.) My husband is a big fan of Kenny…
Royal Treatment at Brennan’s
I’ve only had a handful of fine-dining experiences. One was in Italy, another in New York, but none in Houston. A lot of the restaurants I have enjoyed in Houston have had excellent service and phenomenal food, but none have come close to the experience I had at Brennan’s of…
Jekyll & Hyde Reboots, Returns to Houston With Teal Wicks
The toughest part of playing the fiance of Dr. Jekyll (and Mr. Hyde) is not the mounting tension as the man she loves becomes increasingly erratic in his behavior, according to Teal Wicks, the actress playing Emma Carew. “The hardest thing is putting on the corsets and buckles,” she says,…
Revisiting Gaslight Anthem and Other “Baby Boss Bands”
This past year and a half was a pretty Springsteen-centric one for me. It was just last summer that we lost The Big Man, Clarence Clemons, the E Street Band’s mascot and longtime saxophonist at the age of 69 due to stroke complications. Rewind: Springsteen Stumbles On Pedestrian New Album…
Comment of the Day: A Surrogate Mom’s Not “A Genetic Parent”?
We have some great commenters here on Hair Balls, and it’s time we paid some damn attention to them. So we’ll be highlighting a Comment of the Day each morning or afternoon from the previous day’s work. Maybe two comments, even. This will all be determined by a highly rigorous…
Pop Rocks: Stop — Emmy Time!
If you’re like me, you totally spaced on the fact the Emmys were on this weekend. Between the start of football season, ogling Princess Kate’s chest, and avoiding the new Resident Evil movie, it’s been a busy few weeks. Anyway, this Sunday we’ll learn the winners of the 64th Primetime…
Venomous Maximus, American Heist Barrel Into Dallas’ Riot Fest
This week our sister paper the Dallas Observer and their music blog DC9 At Night talked to Houston’s own Venomous Maximus — namely lead singer Gregg Higgins and guitarist Christian Larson — for their “My First Show” series. Rewind: Venomous Maximus Head Out Onto the Highway For Summer Tour Rocks…
Five Things (Besides Muffins) to Make in a Muffin Pan
The Muffin Pan: It’s not just for muffins anymore. It took making this week’s Pepperoni Pizza Puffs for me to realize that I’d been completely underutilizing this splendor of a kitchen tool. In both mini and regular-size versions, these pans are nonstick, portioned perfectly and make for some really adorable…
FBI Agent’s Glock, Purse, ID Robbed at Gas Station
Well, this is embarrassing: An FBI agent has had her government-issued Glock and her purse stolen from her car while she was at a gas station. The incident happened about 10:30 yesterday morning near the intersection of Beechnut and the West Tollway, and resulted in, we’re guessing, an unwelcome phone…
Dieter Balzer Knows His Color Blocking
While looking at Dieter Balzer’s meticulous, overlapping stripes and bold checkers, I couldn’t help but think of the on-trend fashion equivalent — the mix-matched patterns and loud color blocking that have been everywhere this past summer. And now, so it seems, they’ve found their way to the walls of Gallery…
Best Ever Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
The second I saw Halloween decorations at Sam’s Club in mid-August, I knew it was on. I was in New Jersey at the time, but as soon as I got back to Houston, I hightailed it to the nearest Sam’s and bought my new favorite piece of decor — a…
Advice to Every New Band: Stop Putting Out Albums
Ask a Failed Musician is a new column from our sister music blog at Dallas Observer, in which Daniel Hopkins helps struggling musicians make sense of their careers and offers advice. Whether or not it will work, who knows? It obviously didn’t work for him. But then again, he was…
Winter is Coming: Three Coats to Wear at a Hypothetically Cooler Future Date
Not to sound like a broken record, but when are the cooler temperatures coming? I hate to complain about the warm weather (no I don’t) especially when we’ve had a relatively mild summer, but I really, really miss fall and winter. Buying a new winter coat is one of those…
Vince Young’s Money: Where It All Went
In addition to carving out a flash-in-the-pan NFL career, former Longhorn QB Vince Young has apparently burned through cash like a heavyweight boxer on a binge. He’s involved in nasty court cases that point to empty pockets despite having gotten $26 million in guaranteed payments via contracts. (Update: A court…
Houston’s Top 10 Pub Burgers
With the new Texans season in full swing and plenty of great spots around town to catch the game, we decided to scope out the best burgers at our city’s pubs and sports bars, because you can’t put your body through the stress of an NFL game without a full…
Top 10 Bands You Should Spam SNL to See
Last week, Saturday Night Live announced on the show’s blog that it would be taking suggestions for future musical guests. Interactivity is always a good thing, but SNL may be showing its age with this idea. Old media has been trying to use the Internet to choose things for at…
Top 10 Smuttiest Video Game Easter Eggs (NSFW)
Sex in video games is an odd thing. For instance, Kratos is allowed to off-screen bang Aphrodite so hard and well in God of War III that her handmaids are overcome by lust and start going to town on each other. You even get rewards for executing this scene correctly…
Eric Church: Meet the New Boss
Eric Church has been kicked off of a major tour, and more recently made comments to Rolling Stone concerning fellow country artist Blake Shelton’s participation in a reality-television show created to showcase young musical talent. Not to mention some considered his song “Lotta Boot Left to Fill,” which appeared on…
Corb Lund
Corb Lund, a real cowboy and Canada’s No. 1 honky-tonker, has graduated from his usual Houston home away from home, the Mucky Duck. The bigger venue this time could be a residual bounce from the fact that Lund’s latest New West album, Cabin Fever, is the No. 1 album in…
Looking for Bill
The night of September 9, a Sunday, a hopeful crowd of young Houstonians gathered at War’Hous Visual Studios (4715 Main). The city’s biggest Bill Murray-themed party was in full swing, waiting for the guest of honor. Earlier in the summer, tongue-in-cheek Web site Super Official News began swirling rumors that…
Farewell Texas Watchdog
Highlights from Hair Balls Know Your Local Media Farewell, Texas Watchdog Online venture loses funds. Terrence McCoy Texas Watchdog, we barely knew you. After four years of some stellar muckraking but so-so writing that exposed malfeasance in HISD, dredged out some waste in stimulus dollars (who-woulda-thunk-it?) and exposed “gaping lapses…
The Master: From the Window to the Wall
There’s something startlingly noncommittal about many of the initial reviews of The Master that leaked out following the impromptu screenings writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson organized in 70mm-equipped houses across the country, and later in response to the film’s official bow at the Venice Film Festival. This is perhaps the natural,…
Why Do Mexicans Boycott Columbus Day?
Dear Mexican, Why do gabachos always feel the need to talk about money or trips they have taken? I always notice this when I am at any restaurant, like they don’t have nada más de que hablar. They make a point to speak loudly for everybody to hear…especially if there…
Trouble With Eastwood
After a nationally televised improv exercise that, for better or worse, offered more unvarnished reality than anything else at this year’s political conventions, Clint Eastwood returns in his first on-screen role in four years with Trouble With the Curve. The “empty chair” jokes practically make themselves. There is a scene…
ZZ Top Sucks. There, I Said It.
Classic Rock Corner I’m going to out myself here and now: I do not get why people love ZZ Top. If you are one of those people, can you explain it to me like I’m five years old? Chances are you are one of those people. According to various online…
About About Cherry
The new, semi-gritty indie About Cherry is all about a semi-reluctant slide into the porn industry, and it’s also the first mainstream feature co-written by a busy porn actress, Lorelei Lee, otherwise famous for double penetrations and clothespin bondage. This shouldn’t strike us as very strange. Every screenwriter needs a…
Fiona Apple
Fiona Apple comes out of hiding only every decade or so, but when she does it’s always bearing the gift of a new album. June’s The Idler Wheel… (and about 20 more words) is another stunner, with Apple’s signature latticework storytelling only growing more bewitching as the years go by…
Capsule Art Reviews: “Ben Tecumseh DeSoto: ZENtrospective”, “Emily Sloan: Enlight”, “Flyaway: New Work by Aaron Parazette,” “James Turrell: Holograms,” “Michael Petry: Bad Restoration”
“Ben Tecumseh DeSoto: ZENtrospective” Redbud Gallery is a hopelessly small venue for a retrospective on Ben Tecumseh DeSoto, the longtime Houston photographer whose work has appeared on the pages of the Houston Chronicle and the walls of the Menil and Contemporary Arts Museum Houston. And yet “ZENtrospective” manages to bring…
Meet The Monsters of TIFF
A critic’s report from a film festival like Toronto, where something like 300 features were unveiled from September 6 through 16, can be something like a Rorschach test — or, at least, it can be something like the Rorschach test depicted in Paul Thomas Anderson’s TIFF entry, The Master, in…
Gaslight Anthem
This Springsteen-esque New Jersey rock act released its fourth full-length, Handwritten, this summer to fan and critical acclaim. Lead singer Brian Fallon is turning into one of the sturdiest songwriters of his generation, as cuts like “Too Much Blood” unleash his Jersey growl to great effect. The disc’s killer pedigree…
David France on the Plague Years
“Death wasn’t being responded to as a public health problem,” David France says. “It was dealt with with sniggers. It was left to religious leaders to explain or respond to the epidemic. And they responded by calling it the wrath of God.” He adds: “That’s the hostility we all saw…
Dredd 3D: Judge, Jury and [Insert Explosion]
Typically, the creators of comic book adaptations assume that ingratiating themselves to anyone unfamiliar with their characters/properties demands boilerplate origin stories where protagonists exhaustively declare who they are in no uncertain terms. This is, thankfully, not true of Dredd 3D, whose creators have the confidence to treat their narrative like…
Capsule Stage Reviews: 2 Pianos, 4 Hands, Getting Sara Married, Girls Only — the Secret Comedy of Women, Happily Ever at the Box, Life Could Be a Dream, Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure, Superior Donuts
2 Pianos, 4 Hands Richard Greenblatt and Ted Dykstra, both talented Canadian pianists and actors trained for careers as classical musicians, have created a play with music that defies description. It uses humor, musical ability and insightful memories of childhood piano lessons to delineate a world of ambition, frustrations, hard…
Chris Robinson Brotherhood
Take “brotherhood” with a grain of salt here; Chris Robinson’s Black Crowes co-founder and actual brother Rich Robinson is nowhere in sight. Instead, his five-piece Brotherhood aims for a third-eye-friendly “New Cosmic California” sound that still allows for plenty of CCR-style choogle. Together barely a year, the Brotherhood has already…
Frank Turner & the Sleeping Souls
In the tradition of other British guitar bards like Billy Bragg, Frank Turner writes wry, stalwart acoustic folk-punk songs with an eye on society. The former Million Dead front man is touring behind the upcoming Last Minutes and Lost Evenings, his follow-up to 2011’s England Keep My Bones, which put…
Why You Have to See The Master in 70mm
In Los Angeles, when a film is referred to as “70mm,” it usually means that the Aero is playing 2001 again. New releases in the format — which, as implied by its name, is a type of film stock larger and more expansive than standard 35mm — are relatively rare…
Jane Alexander and the Dangers of Success
South African artist Jane Alexander came to the attention of the art world decades ago with her 1985/86 sculpture The Butcher Boys. The work is composed of three life-size male figures sitting in a row on a bench; their postures are at turns “doctor’s office waiting room” or “athletes on…
Boogie, Blues & Brews
League City celebrates its 50th birthday with a brand-new weekend festival dedicated to the sounds of the Gulf Coast. Friday’s zydeco night pumps, with Step Rideau & the Zydeco Outlaws and a Tex-Mex twist from Houston’s Nick Gaitan & the Umbrella Man. Rockabilly cats the Octanes open Saturday before hours…
John Prine, Alejandro Escovedo
John Prine, the song soothsayer of “Sam Stone,” “Angel From Montgomery,” “Killing the Blues” and countless others, visits Houston Friday for the first time since his silver hair was closer to salt-and-pepper. (We don’t even know when that was.) To say a generation or two of literate but unkempt troubadors…
New Cracks in the Frack
Ask someone like Jon Entine, a science writer for Ethical Corporation, to describe the sort of person who claims hydraulic fracturing presents a pollution nightmare in waiting and you quickly find yourself pummeled with talk-radio invective: “ideological blowhard,” “leftist loony” and “upper-middle-class lefties.” But none apply to Fred Mayer. When…
Pretty Lights
Derek Vincent Smith, the solo party crew that is Pretty Lights, comes back to Houston just months after turning June’s Free Press Summer Fest out on its closing night. If you weren’t watching Primus, you were shaking your ass to Smith’s brand of bouncy EDM on the hill at Eleanor…
Tepid Torchy’s
See more behind-the-scenes photos from Torchy’s busy kitchen in our slideshow. It took five trips to Torchy’s Tacos for me to get a taco that was actually hot. My first four trips had netted tacos varying in temperature range from “refrigerator door cold” to “warmer than tepid but still confusingly…
A Fire at the Broken Spoke
Restaurant News Roy de la Garza was already having a bad month before a fire destroyed his restaurant: His partner at The Broken Spoke Cafe, Catherine Duwez, had left unexpectedly to start a rival Belgian restaurant a few months prior, and business was down. “We always had a real small…
