100th Predator Gets Sentenced, Doesn’t Get Prize
Congratulations, Christopher Leon Ferrell, of Houston! You were the 100th person arrested by the Texas Attorney General’s Cyber Crimes Unit, and now you’ve been sentenced!! Ferrell, 25, got eight years deferred adjudication, and will have to serve 30 days a year in jail for six years. He’s also barred from…
Ike Brings On The Pollution
Hurricane Ike still may miss the petrochemical heart of the upper Texas Coast, but it’s already taking a toll around here, both in lost product and environmental-wise. Four plants near Houston have begun shutdown procedures, so the flares will be burning over the next several days and nights, and more…
Diet Company Mostly Slimmed Bank Accounts, AG Says
When Matthew Eichinger of Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin signed on for a one-time free offer of diet pills from Momentum Direct, a weight-loss and skin-care company operated by a pair of local Texans, he had no idea it would end up costing him nearly $1,300. But that’s exactly what happened. And…
Chicago Cubs Coming to Houston
David Dalati of 790 The Sports Animal is reporting, based on an interview with Ed Wade, that the Chicago Cubs will be flying to Houston for this weekend’s scheduled series with the Astros. And seeing as how our buddy Ike is currently supposed to hit on Friday night/Saturday morning, the…
Hurricane Ike’s First Victim Classier Than Edouard’s
When Tropical Storm Edouard threatened Galveston, the Grand 1894 Opera House had to cancel Tuna Does Vegas. With Hurricane Ike now looming in the Gulf, the Opera House has announced it’s canceling Saturday night’s performance by Steve Tyrell, the jazzy, Texas-born singer. So in terms of losses incurred, Ike has…
Why Does Ike Hate the Cougars?
It was just announced on 790 KBME — the radio home of the Houston Cougars — that Saturday’s game with Air Force, scheduled for Roberston Stadium on the University of Houston campus, will be played. In Dallas. But they do not yet have a stadium location, or a game time…
Artist of the Week: Jewel Rifle
Each Wednesday, Rocks Off arbitrarily appoints one lucky local performer or group “Artist of the Week,” bestowing upon them all the fame and grandeur such a lofty title implies. Know a band or artist that isn’t awful? Email their particulars to introducingliston@gmail.com. Three months typically isn’t enough time to accomplish…
Montgomery County Constables Learn Not To Tangle With Bicyclists (From Huge Law Firms)
Kendall Gray, the bicycle-rights crusader who received a ticket from a Montgomery County Constable’s deputy for allegedly riding too close to the center stripe of FM 149, won his day court last week. But for Gray, that is not enough. He still wants an apology from the department and the…
I Come From Alabama With A Shofar On My Knee
Did you hear about the “Alabama Needs More Jews” program? The other day, this story from the Jewish Telegraphic Agency was making the rounds on the Web: “A Jewish group in Alabama is offering as much as $50,000 to Jewish families willing to relocate to its town. Blumberg Family Jewish…
A Contest: Send Us Your “Ten Things to Eat Before You Die” List
After reading the Omnivore’s 100 Things to Eat Before You Die lists at Serious Eats and our colleague Sarah DiGregio’s Traveling Omnivore’s 20 list at the Village Voice, we got into the list-making spirit. But the Omnivore thing was too vague for us. (One of Sarah’s 20 was “smoked brisket…
Baby, Please Don’t Go
Don’t pack the suitcases and SUVs just yet, Houstonians. The Harris County’s Office of Homeland Security & Emergency Management wants you to know they are not calling for evacuations at this time, no matter what those pussies in Freeport and the West End of Galveston are doing. “If Hurricane Ike…
The Voice Of Hurricane Reason
Expect office productivity to plunge in Houston around 2 p.m. today, when the Houston Chronicle’s Eric Berger holds another live chat. Berger has emerged as the voice of reason in this hurricane-obsessed town, an anecdote to the frothing TV guys who blather on about how they’re not hyping anything even…
Will Hurricane Ike End Up Being a Houston Astros Killer?
According to the Chicago Tribune, MLB will be announcing today the contigency plans for this weekend’s series at Minute Maid Park between the Astros and the Chicago Cubs. And it’s noted that, since both teams have Monday off, a doubleheader could be played here on Monday to make up games…
No Word Yet on Ravens-Texans Game
For you Texans fans hoping that Ike will force the cancellation of this weekend’s scheduled loss to the Baltimore Ravens, think again. The NFL is monitoring the situation, and will make an announcement later this week as to when and where the game will be played. I would expect the…
HISD Cancels Games, Trips This Weekend
Hurricane Ike has claimed his first Houston-area victims — high-school football fans. HISD is canceling all athletic events and field trips this weekend (Friday, Saturday and Sunday). In addition, any games requiring teams to travel outside of Harris County tomorrow night are canceled. “The decision on any further cancellations will…
Aftermath: The Eagles at Toyota Center
Photo by Barry Gray “This isn’t an Eagles concert,” my dad, no spring chicken himself, told me when I met him in front of Toyota Center Tuesday evening. “It’s an AARP convention.” As Gomer Pyle used to say, suh-prise, suh-prise, suh-prise. It’s not like I expected anything different, but still,…
Cat Fight! No, Really…
As you probably discovered yesterday, I’m not much for this whole Ultimate Fight thing. But thanks to John Heffron, I think I’ve found some cage fighting I can believe in. And you can watch the championship bout right here:…
Finally, Someone Who Wasn’t Bitching About The High Price Of Gas
Gas costs a hell of a lot these days. The working man just can’t get a break. Why, you can earn only $802 in a year even as you spend more than $88,000 on gas. Well, you can if the guy preparing your tax return is a scam artist. That’s…
Astros-Pirates: Another Win for Houston
I was at the Astros game last night. Where were the rest of you? Where were all of you people who packed the stadium for game after game back in June and July when the Astros sucked? You see, I’m one of those people who think that if the team…
Remembering Hurricanes Katrina and Rita
It’s been three years since Hurricanes Katrina and Rita pounded the Gulf Coast, sending thousands of evacuees into Texas. No other city did more to help than Houston, and to say thank you the Surviving Katrina and Rita in Houston project is throwing a festival this Saturday at Discovery Green…
Dour-Looking Inmate Has Genius Escape Idea — Climb The Fence! (Updated)
A convicted murderer is on the loose as a hurricane threatens the area — sounds like a (bad) novel. But that’s what’s happening today in the Houston area. Marlow Wayne Reynolds, who killed a buddy in a bar fight (he says it was self-defense), escaped from TDCJ’s Stringfellow Unit in…
Aftermath: Common and N.E.R.D. at Verizon Wireless Theater
Pharrell Williams of N.E.R.D. Photos by Lorraine Inije During N.E.R.D.’s performance Tuesday at the Verizon Theater, Pharrell Williams stopped the music to pander to the crowd. Pharrell, one-half of production force the Neptunes when he’s not fronting this three-piece side project, has made his considerable riches largely by conforming just…
Crabby Thai Judiciary Fires Food Critic PM
Mixing politics and food criticism is asking for trouble. And if you don’t believe me, go ask the embattled Prime Minister of Thailand. He got fired on Tuesday for moonlighting on a television food show. According to the New York Times, Samak Sundaravej had been the host of “Tasting and…
Our Application For Texas Poet Laureate
The Texas Commission on the Arts has announced that once again they are seeking nominations for the state poet laureate, musician, two-dimensional and three-dimensional artist. We know nothing about music or art of any dimension, but dammit, we want that laureate job. It must come with quite the cushy office…
The Art Guys Take Notsuoh To New York
Photo by John Powers If you go to Jim Pirtle’s Notsuoh now through October, you *might* notice some stuff missing. But then again, there’s so much in there, maybe not. The Art Guys brought Notsuoh to CUE Foundation in New York after being asked to curate a show there. “This…
Fresh Meat at Tokyo Steak & Sushi
The brand-new Tokyo Steak & Sushi restaurant in Katy (22762 Westheimer Parkway, 281-391 8833) is really two different restaurants in one. In the front, there’s a sushi bar, a conventional bar with cocktails, wine, beer and sake, and regular tables. But toward the back, there’s a much larger area where…
Single-Mom Grad Students Put Out Of Work By Judge
You probably had plans to go out to The Penthouse Club tonight, have a nice drink, chat with a perky young gal working her way through grad school by pole-dancing, pay her twenty bucks a for a lap dance, then head home to the wife and kids. You’re out of…
First Lesson In English Comp: Use Lots Of Red Tape
University of Houston students in Freshman Composition I were told this week that professors needed to verify that the students deserved to be in the more advanced course (aka ENGL 1303) rather than the more fundamental Basic Writing (ENGL 1300). To do that, they would have to get their teachers…
Art Cars Are Shocking — To The Folks At Ripley’s
Ripley’s Believe It Or Not! Prepare to be Shocked! came out last month. And it’s filled with, yeah, shocking things – a Jesus-like smudge of driveway sealant selling for $1,500, a man trying to spend a fake million-dollar bill, a Russian man stealing an entire bridge, a blind Belgian police…
Sheriffs Department Seeking Air Power
The Harris County Sheriff’s Department – largest sheriff’s department in the state and third largest in the nation – wants to get caught up with its peers and have some aerial support. The department doesn’t have any helicopters or planes, so Eyes on the Border, a border watch group, was…
The Saga of Vince Young, Continued…
I wrote earlier about Vince Young’s injury on Sunday, and about Young apparently quitting on the team just before he was injured. It now appears that, at least for a couple of hours last night, the Tennessee Titans were concerned that Vince Young may have been trying to quit on…
Lonesome Onry and Mean: Tell the Truth Until They Bleed: Coming Clean in the Dirty World of Blues and Rock ‘n’ Roll by Josh Alan Friedman
Like all great feature writers, Josh Alan Friedman has a telephoto eye for the telling tidbit. Tell the Truth Until They Bleed: Coming Clean in the Dirty World of Blues and Rock ‘n’ Roll, his recently published collection of musical biographies, has plenty of interesting nuts-and-bolts historical facts, but it’s…
David Mincberg: Out To Get Cattle Rustlers
The position of Harris County Judge is essentially similar to being the mayor of a city of four million people. Which would be a pretty damn big city, with all the problems of the modern urban era. Or it could be like the County Extension agent in some rural Texas…
NFL Review, Week One: Ahman Green, Cedric Benson, Tom Brady and Rosario Dawson
I’ve got a breaking news flash for those of you who haven’t checked out the Chron today. Houston Texans running back Ahman Green is injured. Yeah, I know, it’s shocking. Green has always been one of those ironmen of football. But apparently he hurt his ankle during the game on…
Eversole’s No Longer Announcing He’s Screwed
County Commissioner Jerry Eversole kept quiet this morning about his recent statement that he will probably leave office because he’s the target of an FBI investigation and expects to be indicted. That information was an odd offering from Eversole, considering the feds haven’t announced or confirmed that the commissioner is…
Variations on “Hotel California”
Yes, it’s probably one of the most overplayed songs in both the Arrow’s and K-Hits’ libraries, but the Eagles’ “Hotel California” deserves to be. Written by Don Henley, Glenn Frey and Don Felder (who was fired from the Eagles in 2001), the title song to the band’s 1976 album captures…
Battle Of The Feisty Governors: Sarah Palin vs. Ann Richards
Sarah Palin has become an instant celebrity in the political world, a phenomenon that has shaken up the presidential race. A beehived governor from a huge oil state with a sharp accent and a tart tongue? We’ve been there. Ann Richards lit up the 1988 Democratic convention much as Palin…
Memorable Onion Rings at Cheddar’s
Thanks to Christopher Huang for recommending Cheddar’s Casual Cafe (10601 Westpark 713-706-3663) for onion rings. The onions there are mild and sweet and wrapped inside of a crunchy, flour-based batter…
Tonight: B L A C K I E vs. KTRU
B L A C K I E at Recession Thursday, Numbers, August 28 Photo by Brigitte B. Zabak Today marks the battle of the capital letters: B L A C K I E vs KTRU. The distortion-obsessed local hip-hopper was scheduled to appear for an in-studio session on the station’s…
UH’s Renu Khator Is Really Ready For Her Close-Up
As a UH alum, we naturally read the alumni magazine that comes out every few months. The last issue was the first since Renu Khator had been announced as the new head of UH, so we didn’t think it too odd that there were a lot of pictures of Khator…
Astros-Pirates: Coming to Grips with Reality
The Houston Astros are actually going to do it, aren’t they? They’re actually going to catch the Milwaukee Brewers and grab the wild card. The reality’s coming. And I’ve got to come to grips with this. You look at the stats, and you see that the Astros’ record should be…
Top Ten Things Not to Do at Hooters on Ultimate Fighting Night
10. Ask the Hooters girl to change the channel to that cute Meg Ryan movie on TNT. 9. Bring the wife and kids. 8. Leave the brass knuckles in the car. 7. Shout out to everybody that maybe John McCain was right about ultimate fighting being a “human cockfight.” 6…
Metro: Giving Park-and-Riders Shops They’ll Never Use
Metro has been crowing a bit about how customers at the Cypress Park-and-Ride will soon be treated to a wonderful new world of retail shops at the facility. Says Steve Flippo, Metro’s manager of joint development: It’s a huge trend, not only in established, older cities, but in newer cities…
Slo-Mo Football-Movie Finales: The Top Five
It’s football season, and while you gnaw your fingernails to the quick and learn to hate the name “Schaub,” let’s pause for a moment to remember all those great football-movie clichés. You know the biggest one: the desperate 4th-down play with three seconds left on the clock, unfurling in slow-motion,…
Rap-A-Lot’s J Prince Wins SEA Image Award
J Prince (right) with Trae/ photo by Matt Sonzala He’s made his share of controversial headlines, but Rap-A-Lot Records founder and CEO J Prince is a seminal figure (arguably the seminal figure) in the development of Houston rap and Southern rap at large. Without Rap-a-Lot, which Prince founded in 1986…
Starbucks May Leave MFAH’s Mixed Media Series Scrambling For A Replacement
We’ve always been fans of the Starbucks Mixed Media Series. Mostly because we get a thrill from getting all done up so we can down drinks and drop like it’s hot next to priceless works in the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. So, when we heard recent rumors about the…
The John Royal College Football Top 25, Week Two
1. USC Trojans (1-0): The Trojans had the week off, but they were so dominating in their week one victory over Virginia that I’m keeping them in this spot. They play this week against Ohio State, so hopefully the Trojans will put Ohio State out of our misery for the…
Taqueria Arandas Offers Tax Fraud On The Side (Allegedly)
Taqueria Arandas stores are all over Houston — the place to go (for some people) for a full meal or something from the bakery. And, apparently, a place to find a tax cheat. Eight Taqueria Arandas owners have been charged with filing false income-tax returns that deprived the feds of…
A New Environmental Group Offers Houston Info And Donation Requests
The Texas Campaign for the Environment (TEC) opens an office in Houston today and plans to be hitting the streets organizing door-to-door this afternoon. They’ll be talking to residents about recycling options, including the Texas Computer Recycling law that went into effect last week — oh, and collecting donations for…
Why We’re Sure Hurricane Ike Is Coming Here
Once again — or, as it should be written, once a-goddamn-gain, Houston is waiting out a hurricane week. You know what hurricane weeks are — the days when Cones of Probablility cover everywhere from Miami to Corpus, but always seem to be pointed right at us. Hurricane Ike is the…
Taqueria Arandas Offers Tax Fraud On The Side (Allegedly)
Taqueria Arandas stores are all over Houston — the place to go (for some people) for a full meal or something from the bakery. And, apparently, a place to find a tax cheat. Eight Taqueria Arandas owners have been charged with filing false income-tax returns that deprived the feds of…
Young Jeezy’s Crack Course in Recession Politics
On his latest single, Jay-Z rhymes “Fuck talkin’ about the recession/ It’s just depressin’.” Apparently no one ever told Young Jeezy. The Atlanta rapper packs his third album, The Recession, with triumphant numbers that are as motivating as they are menacing; inspirational as they are foreboding – it’s like “We…
$13 at Rizzi’s Pizzeria in Missouri City
Where: Rizzi’s Pizzeria, 2865 Dulles Avenue (Pecan Plaza), Missouri City, 77459; 281-208-1800 What $13 gets you: A medium-sized pizza with two toppings or an eight-piece mixed serving of Italian fried chicken with rolls, coleslaw and potato wedges. Rizzi’s opened up just two months ago, taking over the space in a…
Give That Guy a Hand!
I didn’t include this little highlight in the college football weekly review because I felt it deserved a post all its own. And let’s just say that, no matter how boring the UT/UTEP game ended up being on Saturday night, at least one guy really seemed to get off on…
UH School Year Opens With Computer Foul-Ups; Sun Rises In East
It looks like school is starting in usual fashion at the University of Houston. On August 25, 686 students were inadvertently dropped from classes because of human error, says Gene Gillis, Director of Student Financial Service. The problem has since been fixed. From Gillis: The process which identifies students who…
College Football Review: Zero Tolerance Helps BYU Win
I picked Brigham Young to be my BCS Bowl gate-crashing team. So Saturday’s 28-27 last second win over Washington was important to BYU achieving that goal. But the way BYU accomplished the victory leaves a dirty taste in my mouth. Not that it was Brigham Young University’s fault. The blame…
XM Nation: Catching Up and Moving On
Bye bye Tom… for now/ Photo by Mark C. Austin Well, it finally happened. I suppose it was inevitable, although I was starting to wonder. (I know some of you probably were too.) But it looks like last weekend’s Tom Petty show really did cure me of my summer-long case…
Change We Can’t Believe In
After watching yesterday’s game against the Steelers, we were inspired to rework the cover image from this week’s issue. Many thanks to Monica Fuentes for the Photoshop magic. — KP…
Mama’s Texas Bean Burger
“Mama’s Famous Beanburger” at Mama’s Café came with a choice of fries or onion rings for $7.29. (I got the onion rings with a cup of ranch dressing for dipping.) The burger was voluptuous. The signature refried beans were spread thick on the bottom bun and studded with Fritos corn…
HPD Taser Audit Is Out; Black Officers Always Get The Easy Arrests
City Controller Annise Parker has released her audit on HPD’s Taser usage. The audit looked at 1,417 Taser deployments between December 2004 and June 30, 2007. Among the findings: African-Americans are more likely to be tased than whites or Hispanics; female officers tase at the same rate as males; the…
Calling All MasterMinds
The Houston Press is pleased to announce the first annual MasterMind Awards. The Houston area is full of artists, innovators and entrepreneurs who are changing our creative and cultural landscape. We’ll honor three of these creative superstars on Saturday, November 15, when the Houston Press presents three winners with MasterMind…
The Hits Keep Coming From The BP Refinery
Fresh on the heels of our post last Friday about British Petroleum facing a potential of $650,000 penalty for illegally dumping hazardous crap into the earth, the company has informed the state of four more “emissions events.” Last night for about two hours, BP’s refinery released an estimated 2,725.59 pounds…
Astros-Rockies: Feel the Pain
When the Astros don’t make the playoffs this season, the reason that will come down from on high – meaning Astros management and the Chron – will be that injuries decimated this team. Not that this was a mediocre team that played awful for the first four months of the…
Get Off The Bus, Fat Kids
Hey, fat kids — get off the bus and start walking to school. That’s part of the message that will be delivered via a $2 million grant to the UT health Science Center at Houston, announced today. The announcement noted that “childhood obesity, a major national public-health problem, is especially…
Turning the Screw: TxHustla, Beanie Sigel, Lil’ Wayne, Ciara, Kanye, Tupac, Akon, Usher and More
Welcome back to Turning the Screw, Rocks Off’s weekly rap post. It probably won’t rhyme, at least most of the time. E-mail tips to introducingliston@gmail.com. Thanks, homies. Single of the Week “Paper Planes RMX,” TxHustla Wire To Wire This isn’t so much interesting news as just some weird shit: Beanie…
Over the Weekend: Mixed Media at MFAH, Houston Texans and MTV Video Music Awards
Beautiful weekend. Unless you’re a Texans fan. 11 p.m. at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston On Saturday, the Starbucks Mixed Media Series hosted James Pants and Small Town DJs. Bill Olive got plenty of pics…
Texans-Steelers: At Least Mario Williams Looked Good
Lots of you get on me about my negativity when it comes to the Texans. So I’m doing something just a bit different to start things off. I’m going to say something positive. I think now’s the time that I officially apologize to Mario Williams. I’ve always thought he was…
I Watched Eight Minutes of the VMAs Just To See What Brit Would Do
Okay, so I just watched eight minutes of the Video Music Awards (and that’s all I’m gonna watch because whatever I’m old and I don’t care anymore). Anyway, I literally ran to the living room, wrestled the remote away from Mr. Pop Rocks and turned on MTV at 7:59. My…
Google to the Rescue!
Google continues its world domination by expanding into law enforcement, responsible last week for the arrest of an East Texas man on the Texas Top 10 Most Wanted List. Sidney Campbell, the man brought down by Google, had been on the run for several years, moving from state to state…
The Five Best Houston Pro Football Players of All Time
With the NFL season starting, I thought I would provide my list of the five best professional football players to suit up in the city of Houston. 1. EARL CAMPBELL: Not only is Earl Campbell the greatest running back in the history of Houston-based professional football, he’s also one of…
Tonight: Tommy Hall Schedule at the Old Quarter in Galveston
When they do the Mount Rushmore of Texas rock, they’ll need a huge section of mountain right in the middle for the Thirteenth Floor Elevators. Histories of the legendary Austin band credit jug player Tommy Hall with putting the band together. An early student/proponent of LSD and other mind altering…
Tonight: Starbucks Mixed Media Series at Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
James “Guess What’s In My” Pants Tonight is your last chance to dance in the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston this year without looking like a weirdo. The Starbucks Mixed Media series closes its 2008 summer season with turntablism from James Pants and Small Town DJs. Washington’s James Pants is…
Tonight: Tommy Womack at a Pasadena House Concert
Tommy Womack is one of the wackiest, most manic songwriters to ever pass through Nashville. He’s probably somewhere on a par with guys like Phil Lee, only Lee doesn’t publish books, blog incessantly, or ruminate on the mind’s inner tickings to the point of insanity (our man Womack seems to…
Sysco Slapped for Bait and Switch with Florida Fish
Houston-based Sysco, the nation’s largest food wholesaler, got nailed earlier this week by the office of the Florida Attorney General for passing off cheaper fish as grouper in 14 Tampa-area restaurants. (Hey, at least the company wasn’t passing off pork as veal.) Sysco, which has supplied food to Wendy’s, Applebee’s,…
Art Rock: Mia Kat Empire Label Showcase at Cactus Music
1-6 p.m. today at Cactus Music, 2110 Portsmouth, 713-526-9272. See www.miakatempire.com for more information. Free…
Nice Try: Bob Barr Wants John McCain and Barack Obama Thrown Off the Texas Ballot
Life’s tough for a third-party candidate. It’s even tougher when the big boys don’t play by the rules, which is what Libertarian presidential hopeful (doubtful?) Bob Barr is alleging. Barr has threatened “serious legal consequences” should Barack Obama and John McCain be allowed on the Texas general election ballot come…
CPS Asks Judge for Do-Over with FLDS Investigation
Keith Plocek Child Protective Services continues its investigation of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, but the Associated Press reports that more than half of the 440 custody cases have been dropped by the state, with more dismissals to come. Criminal charges – sexual abuse of…
Press Secretary Search Goes On at HISD; District Creates New Position on Top of One Held by Terry Abbott
Despite three months’ advance notice, the Houston Independent School District still hasn’t found a replacement for its former press secretary Terry Abbott, who as of today, departed a week ago. Abbott, as we previously, semi-fondly noted, had some pretty fine moments during his career with the district. The board loved…
What a Dump: British Petroleum Fined for Unauthorized Disposal of Hazardous Waste
The news just seems to get worse for British Petroleum and its troubled refinery in Texas City. The latest shoe to drop: BP is staring at a $650,000 penalty for unauthorized land disposal of hazardous waste. The good news: nobody’s dead (so far as we know) as a result of…
Tonight: Maroon 5 and Counting Crows, Little Brother Project, Jack Ingram and Shooter Jennings, Ne Plus Ultra and More
It’s slick pop and crunchy folk-rock at the Woodlands tonight with Maroon 5 and Counting Crows… Maroon 5 with Rhianna, “If I Never See Your Face Again” Houston funkateers Little Brother Project release their new CD Glass Houses at Warehouse Live with Skyblue72 and Bayou Monster (formerly the Rising)… Jack…
College Students Develop Plan for Light Rail on Washington Avenue
While Metro continues to struggle with ideas for extending the light rail with ease, some college kids might’ve figured it out. Graduate-level and undergraduate-level interns from the SWA Group recently revealed their redevelopment ideas for the Washington Avenue Corridor, a part of Super Neighborhood #22 in the Heights. SWA is…
Re: Houston Chronicle Staffers Facing Buyouts, Layoffs
Yesterday we relayed the news that the Houston Chronicle would be getting rid of five to six percent of its current full-time staff. Romenesko has a copy of the full memo from Publisher Jack Sweeney. We’ve included it after the jump, but we’d like to take a quick second to…
Mail Call: What’s in the Crate?
It’s one of God’s little jokes that no matter how hard we try, we really can only do one thing at a time. Certain tasks always seem to get relegated to the back burner, and for Rocks Off, for some reason, it’s the mail. I think it has something to…
Houston Texans Win the AFC South
With football season kicking off (sorry!) this weekend, we’ve done a good deal of pigskin previewing here at the Houston Press. But we’ve just realized we overlooked one of the game’s most important contingents of all: the tailgaters. Thankfully, our friends at the Denver Westword haven’t dropped the ball (sorry…
College Football Preview, Scarlett Johansson Edition
It’s weekend two of the college football season, and while I’m sure we’re all excited by that, we all share that same sense of apprehension. The teams still aren’t really in conference play. A bunch of the biggies still have creampuff games scheduled, and there are several other big teams…
Five Spot: Love’s What I Got, Don’t Start a Riot
Welcome back to Five Spot. Every Friday, we’ll examine a recent bit of music news and list five reasons why it’s either brilliant or dumb-assed. Send tips to introducingliston@gmail.com. So, politically charged L.A. rap-rockers Rage Against the Machine had a free concert scheduled to coincide with Tuesday’s Republican National Convention…
A Tip on Ordering Lobster at a Chinese Restaurant
The end of the summer is the traditional season for lobster feasts, and oddly this year the price of lobster is falling. Watch for special offers at seafood counters and restaurants that serve lobster. And while you’re looking for bargains, don’t forget to check out the Chinese restaurants…
Sysco Slapped for Bait and Switch with Florida Fish
Houston-based Sysco, the nation’s largest food wholesaler, got nailed earlier this week by the office of the Florida Attorney General for passing off cheaper fish as grouper in 14 Tampa-area restaurants. (Hey, at least the company wasn’t passing off pork as veal.) Sysco, which has supplied food to Wendy’s, Applebee’s,…
Slideshow: The Houston Texans at Training Camp
Are you ready for another Hank Williams, Jr. reference? Too bad. We’re just here to tell you we’ve loaded up some training camp images of Amobi Okoye, DeMeco Ryans, Matt Schaub, Mario Williams and the rest of the Houston Texans. And if this is your first time to drop by…
Slideshow: The Houston Texans at Training Camp
Are you ready for another Hank Williams, Jr. reference? Too bad. We’re just here to tell you we’ve loaded up some training camp images of Amobi Okoye, DeMeco Ryans, Matt Schaub, Mario Williams and the rest of the Houston Texans. And if this is your first time to drop by…
Sheryl Crow Has A Bag For You
Now, having bad taste in music and a socially conscious spirit can go hand in hand – or bag in hand, as it were. Whole Foods Market announced it is teaming up with singer/activist Sheryl Crow to design a special edition reusable shopping bag. From the release: “The design of…
Comcast Vs. Your Bandwidth, Continued
The Comcast vs. the World struggle continues. Today Comcast challenged last month’s decision by the Federal Communications Commission regarding the company’s blocking of certain traffic, such as large video files. The legal appeal, made in Washington, D.C., could lead to a precedent setting decision regarding Internet regulation. In August, the…
The “Temporary” Street Fix That Won’t Go Away
More than 15 months ago, we wrote about how the street in front of the Houston Press building, in the 1600 block of Milam, was home to one of the loudest, cheapest jerry-rigged street repairs around — a bunch of steel plates laid over some defective narrow drains in the…
From Houston Reporter To Jim Carrey Co-Star
Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor are the putative stars of I Love You Phillip Morris, but stealing the movie from them is Houstonian Steve McVicker. If his scenes don’t end up on the cutting-room floor, that is. McVicker, a former reporter for the Houston Press and the Chronicle, wrote the…
Has Sarah Palin Cracked the Glass Ceiling for Other Former Sportscasters?
I’ve been thinking about this Sarah Palin, and that got me to thinking… She’s a beauty queen and a bit of an airhead. She has a bit of a problem with telling the truth, and her husband seems to have some weird political beliefs. Then there are some of her…
Clear Channel Has The Balls CBS Doesn’t, When It Comes To Semi-Controversial Billboards
File this in a drawer marked Things We Never Thought We’d Say: Go, Clear Channel! The company has agreed to run billboards for the Soldier Billboard Project, which feature Suzanne Opton’s photos of soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. The billboards were originally slated to be run by CBS Outdoor,…
Not So Great News from the Health Department
We scanned the Houston Department of Health and Human Services reports from August 20 to September 4 and found these places among the offenders. Café Red Onion (3910 Kirby) Let’s start with the good news. Café Red Onion’s bar was inspected August 25 and was found to have no violations…
Houston Chronicle Staffers Facing Buyouts, Layoffs
Back in July we wrote about how staffers at the Houston Chronicle were walking on eggshells over rumors of cuts and layoffs. Well, if the devil you know is better than the one you don’t, then they could be feeling better. But not by much. The numbers are in –…
Tonight: Donkeys and Listenlisten at Rudyard’s
San Diego quartet the Donkeys are the latest up-and-comers in the crowded field of California folk-rock, updating the Byrds and Buffalo Springfield for indie nation. The Donkeys released second album Living on the Other Side this week on Austin’s Dead Ocean label; first single “Walk Through a Cloud” has strong…
Will Tatum Bell Soon Be Stealing Houston Texans’ Underwear?
It’s no secret that the Texans have a slight problem at the running back position. And it’s no secret that former Denver Broncos offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak has a thing for former Denver Broncos running backs. Thus, it should be no surprise that former Bronco and recently released Detroit Lions…
Hilary Duff’s Dad Did Do Some Hard Time
We’ve heard back from Robert Piro, the divorce attorney for Hilary Duff’s dad, and there is more to the dad’s tale of woe than we first reported. And it’s pretty funny. Unless you’re Hilary Duff’s dad. As we noted, the media all reported how a judge sentenced Bob Duff to…
Health Museum Gets All Space-Age
No one with half an operating brain cell can ever forget The Onion’s classic column by the CEO of Gillette headlined “Fuck Everything, We’re Doing Five Blades.” They’ve obviously read it over at the Health Museum. Fuck 3-D, they’re saying, we’re going Four-D. “Along with the 3-D effects of the…
DVD Review: Joe Strummer: The Future is Unwritten
When he died unexpectedly of a congenital heart defect in December 2002 at age 52, Joe Strummer had ironically found the peace he had sought for many years, both personally and professionally – particularly the latter. He and his band the Mescaleros was playing to rapturous audiences and had a…
God Bless the Houston Astros
I give up. If Sarah Palin can be for the Bridge to Nowhere before she was against it, if John McCain can be a maverick before deciding to embrace all things George Bush, and if Richard Justice can trash Ed Wade before demanding we apologize to Ed Wade, then I…
Okra Time with Texas Caruru
Okra and chile peppers are the last things left in a Texas garden at the end of the summer. Here’s a recipe that calls for lots of both–along with some Texas shrimp and peanuts. Texas Caruru This is one of my favorite okra recipes. It is a simplified version of…
John Royal’s NFL Season Picks
Are you ready for some football? You better be, I guess, because it starts tonight. And talk about an exciting game, the Giants versus the Redskins. That game’s so exciting that it almost makes me want to flip over to the Republican convention so that John McCain can pump me…
The Comcast Cops Are Coming For Your Bandwidth
Spammers and internet mega-junkies beware – Comcast is limiting the amount of data you can send and receive every month to 250 gigabytes, effective October 1. Reports in the Houston Business Journal indicate the move could be one more way Comcast is pushing customers around saying, “Various advocacy groups and…
The Tunnel Mole’s Got A Lotta Problems With You People
(With a tip of the hat to a law blog written unofficially by a Harris County District Attorney’s Office employee. You know who you are.) Thank God for the abundance of natural gas (no joke; it fuels 70% of Texas) to keep the tunnel air-conditioned so nicely, or you’d see…
The Cult of the Progressive Car Insurance Chick
Am I the only one completely and totally enamored of the woman in the television ads for Progressive car insurance? You know, the ones starring that babelicious brunette named Flo with her “tricked out nametag” and her 60s style eye makeup and her kissable red red lips? Apparently I’m not…
Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony
Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, with a repetitive four-note motif (that ominous da da da daaa), is Music Director Hans Graf’s choice for opening night of the Houston Symphony’s 2008-2009 season. The Fifth is one of the best-known pieces in Western music (you’ve probably heard it played in a cartoon). The opening-night…
Opera Jawa
Three’s certainly a crowd in Opera Jawa, the acclaimed Indonesian film. Based on The Abduction of Sita, Opera is a musical portrayal of a couple shaken by marital infidelity living in a country rocked by racial turmoil. Husband and wife Setyo and Siti live a quiet life in Java until…
Unbeatable, A Bold New Musical
When Laurie Frey found a lump in her breast, she waited a full year to go to the doctor. She was too busy, she kept telling herself. Of course, by the time she went in, the cancer had spread and Frey was in for a full-out health crisis. Out of…
“Big Kids, Little Kids”
Artist Andrew Jeffrey Wright laughs when asked to explain the title of the exhibit “Big Kids, Little Kids.” “A few of us had the concept that the guys from the Alleged Gallery were the big kids, and we were the little kids. Even though we might be older than some…
Onegin
Dramatically speaking, the Houston Ballet is cutting no corners as it opens its 39th season with Onegin. It’s laden with passionate romance, violent duels and a heady dose of Russian remorse. The evening-length “story ballet” is based on Alexander Pushkin’s epic narrative poem, written in 1837, about the aristocrat Onegin,…
“(Re)Vision: A Preservation of Houston’s Inner Loop”
Shannon Duncan’s black binder holds a rather hefty list of houses inside the 610 Loop that were demolished from January 1 to June 30. Duncan traveled to most of these houses for her installation “(Re)Vision: A Preservation of Houston’s Inner Loop.” The show features a wall’s worth of Polaroids Duncan…
Michael Gates Gill
You can bet that the champagne flowed freely in the Starbucks corporate offices the day it was announced that Michael Gates Gill was publishing a book called How Starbucks Saved My Life: A Son of Privilege Learns to Live Like Everyone Else. But the book is no mere sales ploy…
The Knights of the Quest
There’s more to Italian film than just the contours of Sophia Loren’s body, as the MFAH’s third annual Italian Film Retrospective proves. It brings together several films by one of the most admired Italian directors, 69-year-old Pupi Avati, for an in-depth look at one of the most prolific directors/writers of…
Houston Texans Pancakes & Pigskins Rookie Breakfast
It’s a day that Houston Texans superfans look forward to every year — the chance to stuff their gullets and mingle with freshman footballers at the Pancakes & Pigskins Rookie Breakfast. The most attention this morning is likely to go to first-round draft pick and offensive tackle Duane Brown, who…
Kate Voegele
Everywhere we look – USA Today, iTunes, the CW – we see 21-year-old Cleveland singer-songwriter Kate Voegele’s face. There she is – singing songs from, talking about, and inviting you to download her debut album, Don’t Look Away. Voegele has been slowly building buzz over the past couple of years…
Paris Falls
Paris Falls continues to please us with its fuzzy ‘60s/’70s rock. Married couple Jennifer and Ray Brown (who collectively handle the Rhodes organ, guitar and vocals) and drummer Michael DeLeon cook up a style that’s equal parts Beatles, Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd. But don’t expect to hear remixed versions…
Third
These are political times, and Wendy Wasserstein’s Third (2005) speaks directly to the issues of today. Her story concerns Laurie Jameson, a left-wing professor teaching literature at an elite university. Her politics and her prejudices come front and center when she meets a young student/jock named Woodson Bull, III, or…
Megafest 2008
Get in the mood for September 16 with MegaFest 2008, a catch-all concert for Latin music fans of every persuasion. Like salsa? There’s Mr. Jennifer Lopez, uh, we mean Marc Anthony. With quite a few awards to his credit, Anthony won the Latin Grammy for Best Latin Pop Album and…
Kathy Reichs
Kathy Reichs wrote her first novel ten years ago, just to do something different. A successful forensic anthropologist and professor, she was tired of writing textbooks and teaching the FBI how to dig up bodies. That first book, Déjà Dead, featured a lead character inspired by her own life, Reichs’s…
Fort Bend Symphony Orchestra: An Evening Under the Stars
It’s easy to get the best seat in the house at Fort Bend Symphony Orchestra’s An Evening Under the Stars — just bring your lawn chair. The concert is outside (hence the “Under the Stars” part of the title), at the Sugar Land Town Square Plaza. The evening features an…
The Center Cannot Hold
The terrifying power of colonialism is at the heart of The Center Cannot Hold, an adaptation of Chinua Achebe’s classic African novel Things Fall Apart. Focusing on a character named Okonkwo, a great man among the Umuofias, the story follows his rise and eventual fall to the British colonials at…
Mitch Fatel
Mitch Fatel has a stage persona that suggests the speaker is rarely allowed to use big-kid scissors and an arsenal of material focused on boobs, blowjobs and other heady topics. There’s a weirdly innocent element to Fatel’s humor, which can make it feel like you’re listening to your preadolescent nephew…
Houston’s Jazz History
f you believe the Internet, which you really shouldn’t, Houston has no jazz history to speak of. In fact, if you Google “Houston jazz history,” you get a bunch of pages about various Rockets playoff series with the Utah Jazz. Houston’s non-basketball jazz history, come to think of it, has…
Mark Doty
In the world of publishing, 2005 was the year of the dog — that dog being Marley, of the best-seller Marley & Me. But in 2007, there came another dog-centric best-seller, Mark Doty’s Dog Years, which People magazine called “Marley & Me for the cerebral.” A critical smash, it’s not…
Jack Gantos
Jack Gantos started as an author young. As a kid, he read his sister’s diary and decided he could write as least as well as she did, and a career was born. That was almost 30 years ago. Gantos is now author of the popular Joey Pigza series, written for…
Rushmore
What’s the best thing about Wes Anderson’s Rushmore? A.) The killer British-invasion soundtrack; B.) Jason Schwartzman’s career-launching performance as eccentric schoolboy Max Fischer; C.) Bill Murray’s acting-comeback-launching performance as Fischer’s friend/foe Herman Blume; D.) The witty script that brought it all together; or E.) Houston. We’re going with “E,” simply…
Sleeping Beauty
Dominic Walsh Dance Theater is bringing its celebrated modern-day version of the medieval tale Sleeping Beauty to Miller Outdoor Theatre. Catapulting Aurora, danced by Houstonian Dawn Dippel, from the stifled, virginal role in the original story to a rebellious teenager, Dominic Walsh transforms the ballet from a traditional fairy tale…
Strings of Fire
If any orchestral group can get away with giving a program a name like Strings of Fire, it’s Mercury Baroque. With its period instruments, and, well, a baroque flair for the dramatic, the group has always made listening an emotional experience. Tonight, led by director Antoine Plante, they’ll perform “incendiary”…
Mildred’s Umbrella explores A Murder of Crows
The world is a bleak place in Mac Wellman’s hilarious invective A Murder of Crows, now in the hands of Mildred’s Umbrella. The apocalyptic tale imagines a landscape ravished by pollution and the empty desires of man. The ocean is “like a big bowl of wiggly custard,” “the air’s all…
Hope for the Houston Texans?
The Houston Texans are about to embark on their seventh NFL season. In only one of the previous six seasons did they finish anywhere but last in their division. That was in 2004, when they finished next-to-last. So, just two years removed from a disastrous 2-14 year, why is there…
Capsule Stage Reviews: Baby with the Bathwater, Electile Dysfunction, In the Middle of the Ocean
Baby with the Bathwater Poor baby. It’s got a psycho for a nanny (Jay Menchaca), and parents (Julie Thornley and John Lloyd Clingman) who are so inept, they can’t even figure out whether it’s a boy or a girl. That’s the opening premise of Christopher Durang’s beautifully bizarre comedy Baby…
Want Quality New Games? Look to the Past
When asked what new titles are worth buying right now, employees of big chain video game stores can barely muster a sales pitch. “You like sports games? There’s another Madden out. And Mercenaries 2 just launched. It’s a…first person shooter. I hear Too Human is kinda good. Nothing’s out for the…
That ’70s Show: Memos reveal what the oil bidness was like
Ah, the ’70s in Houston. A time when men were men, oil companies had balls and political correctness was some distant dream (or nightmare). It was a time built for men like Edward Mike Davis and the Tiger Oil Company. A stack of memos written — we guess we should…
Spanish Only at Spring Branch Schools
Online readers respond to “Spring Branch Mom Can’t Register Her Kids for School — Because They Speak English,” Hair Balls blog, by Paul Knight, August 27. Way weird: This is just freaking incredible! I mean, it just seems waaay too weird to actually hear that there are schools that taxpayers…
Solange: Sol-Angel and the Hadley Street Dreams
Perhaps Solange knew the comparisons to big sister Beyoncé were unavoidable, which is why she asks, “Let my star light shine on its own / I’m no sister, I’m just my God-given name” on the opening track for Sol-Angel and the Hadley Street Dreams. But if she thought that alone…
Two Words at Petit Café Mediterranean Grill
“Good?” and “Welcome.” These are the only two words of English spoken by the mother of Chris Felefle, owner of the newly opened Petit Café Mediterranean Grill (1250 Eldridge, 281-496-7600). Since she is always greeted by big smiles from satisfied patrons, this is about all she needs to know. Felefle…
Amnesty and Margaritas
Dear Mexican, I’m an illegal alien. Got here on a tourist visa and stayed for a job. My gabacho employer knows about it and doesn’t give a crap. I don’t apologize about it. I don’t give a caca about amnesty or, like they like to call it these days, “a…
RICHMOND CHILL BAR & GRILL’S CHILL-LEMONADE
I’ll never judge a book by its cover again. Or rather, I’ll never drive past a bar stuck on the end of a drab strip center and think to myself, NFW. The Richmond Chill Bar & Grill (4704 Richmond, 713-622-0775), occupancy load 26, might be my new favorite neighborhood watering-hole-in-the-wall…
Superproducer Pharrell Williams is at Home in N.E.R.D.
Name a pop music A-lister, and he or she has either worked with Pharrell Williams or probably wants to. Gwen Stefani, Jay-Z, Britney Spears, Kanye West, Snoop Dogg and Madonna all already have. Need more proof? But, as half of production team the Neptunes, as Williams has transformed himself into…
Eagles
Critical respect has been a long time coming for the Eagles, who didn’t exactly help their cause much with last year’s mediocre double disc Long Road Out of Eden — which, despite (or maybe due to) being available only at Wal-Mart, wound up as one of 2007’s top-selling albums. The…
The Iguanas
There was a time when the Iguanas seemed to be virtually in residence at Houston’s Fabulous Satellite Lounge. The group’s heady mixture of New Orleans funk, blues and Latin sounds was a perfect musical palette for the booty-shakin’ denizens of the funky old Washington Avenue club who listened hard and…
Capsule Art Reviews: “Defending Democracy,” “Drapetomania: A Disease Called Freedom,” “Heroes Alter Egos,” “Neo HooDoo: Art for a Forgotten Faith,” “(Re)Vision: A Preservation of Houston’s Inner Loop”
“Defending Democracy” “Defending Democracy” displays work by artists who share the belief that art can be a catalyst for change. The show includes political graphic art of former Black Panther Minister of Culture Emory Douglas, the murals and prints of the anonymous artist collective ASARO and the “teach-in” installation of…
Kate Voegele
Everywhere we look — USA Today, iTunes, the CW — we see 21-year-old Cleveland singer-songwriter Kate Voegele’s face. There she is — singing songs from, talking about and inviting you to download her debut album, Don’t Look Away. Voegele has been slowly building buzz over the past couple of years…
Bayousphere
Just another caped, tattooed, cig-smoking tricycle rider? No — Wednesday Christie was a participant in the Tricycle Poker Run, which ran a gauntlet from Reserve 101 to Molly’s Pub, Live Sports Cafe, Shay McElroy’s and Butterfly High. She had an unfair advantage, though — she drives a pedicab for a…
Houston’s Nigerian-Born Battle-Rapper Godwon
Competition drives hip-hop culture. Whether it be reputation, jewelry, cars or whatever, it doesn’t matter. Yours has to be the realest, shiniest, most candy-painted, or else you’re liable to be found suspect. It’s the ruthless Tao of rap’s Pooh, and fuels the genre’s famously hostile landscape. Battle rapping, then, is…
About Boy A
So fuckin’ delicate, people…they die so easily,” says a supporting character to the titular Boy A, whose barely audible two-word reply — “She didn’t” — collapses his violent past into his remorseful present with offhand poignancy. Boy A knows that people don’t always die easily, but he’s haunted by firsthand knowledge…
Janiva Magness
Blues has more than its fair share of femmes fatale, from old-school shouters like Etta James and Koko Taylor to the more nuanced Marcia Ball and Tracy Nelson. It’s been awhile since a new performer surfaced who could hold her own with those names, but Detroit native Magness might just…
Johnny Flynn: A Larum
The first time I heard Englishman Johnny Flynn’s amazing A Larum, I thought it sounded like Ray Davies working with the Pogues. What puts Flynn in such brilliant company as Davies, the Pogues, Richard Thompson, Billy Bragg and Mark Knopfler is his brilliant meshing of tradition and nouveau. Flynn sounds…
Bruce Robison: The New World
On The New World, Austin singer-songwriter and Nashville ghostwriter Bruce Robison (George Strait, Dixie Chicks, Faith Hill and Tim McGraw) maintains his nearly incomprehensible and inimitable ability to be one of the only contemporary male songwriters to successfully write from a woman’s perspective. Listening to “Bad Girl Blues” easily inspires…
Great Jellyfish at East Wall Chinese Restaurant
We were planning to stay home and watch the Olympic gymnastics events on television, so I went out to pick up some thematically appropriate takeout. I had never eaten at East Wall Chinese Restaurant before, but I had looked over the menu during my visits to Tofu Village, Fu Fu…
The Verve: Forth
After 1997’s Urban Hymns proved to be a breakthrough for the Verve, frontman Richard Ashcroft went solo prematurely — and was punished by having quite a bit of strong music go largely ignored. Now Ashcroft has the band back together, and on “Sit and Wonder,” Forth’s lush opener, his form…
Show of Hands at Alamo Tamale Factory
Too many tamales are dry and lifeless, too stodgy and with little to no filling. Not the homemade ones at Alamo Tamale Factory (2310 Navigation Blvd., 713–223-1446) — but make sure you get the homemade tamales and not the machine-made version. The former are available by the dozen ($8) in…
