Reality Bites: Fat Guys in the Woods
There are a million reality shows on the naked television. We’re going to watch them all, one at a time. Until now, it never occurred to me to review any of the shows on the Weather Channel for “Reality Bites.” Not because it was necessarily lacking in the category (I’m…
Dinner Lab: Curated, Members-Only Experiences Arrive In Houston
Pop-ups are fairly common events in Houston, where a variety of chefs (often in conjunction with bartenders and sommeliers) band together to throw a one-time meal. Pop-ups have been used as fundraisers, helped chefs launch restaurants and functioned as creative outlets that allow chefs to cook different meals than what…
Literary Inspirations: The Art of Carl Köhler
Carl Köhler (1919- 2006) was a portrait painter who never met his subjects, at least in person, though he came to know them intimately through reading their books if they were writers, or learning about their lives, if they were politicians or celebrities. Köhler varied his artistic style to match…
Rick Perry: King of the Awkward Twitter Pic
The other day while combing through Gov. Rick Perry’s Twitter feed (we make our own fun, don’t judge) we were jolted by a shocking revelation. Perry, the man with the best head of hair in professional politics, the guy who will burble every advantage in a debate but still manage…
Chef Chat, Part 1: Amalia Pferd of Good Dog Houston
Houstonians have raved about Good Dog Houston’s gourmet hot dogs ever since they started serving them from their baby blue food truck a few years ago. In time, the owners, Daniel Caballero and Amalia Pferd, were able to secure a storefront location in The Heights which now serves as their…
Penn State Students Celebrate Lifting of Postseason Ban With a Paterno Love Fest
I will admit, I was glad when the NCAA handed down their stiff punishment to Penn State a few years ago in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky scandal. Sure, the massive scholarship reductions and multi-season bowl bans hurt a bunch of coaches and student-athletes that had literally nothing to…
Houston Fashion Blogger Taylor McClure Proves You’re Never Too Young for Style
Did you know what you wanted to do with your life when you were 13 years old? Well, neither does Taylor McClure–not necessarily, anyway. McClure, who is in eighth grade, says that while her passion for fashion is what led her to create her own fashion blog, she hasn’t mapped…
This Week in Food Blogs: Doughnuts Shaped Like Hook ‘Em Hand Signs
Urban Swank: Phoenicia Specialty Foods downtown is definitely not the place you go for a short grocery trip. Joanna O’Leary explains why she loves visiting the downtown location as it is “a multi-sensory experience.” You can spend tons of time scanning the aisles for unique items such as smoked kippers,…
Review: El Big Bad Has Captured Most of the Best From El Gran Malo
The “Spicy, Smoky, Sticky Ribs” exceeded its promises. The Berkshire ribs, coated in a sauce with smoked Morita chiles, rice wine vinegar and piloncillo sugar, were perfectly tender. The heat from the chiles grew but never became unbearable, and the sauce had a deep, bittersweet character reminiscent of black mole…
Incendium Gallery Gathers Houston Jewelry Artists to Show Off Local Flare at WhiteSpace
When Goldesberry Gallery closed a few years ago, local jewelry artist Ruth Brenton felt a gap open up in the local arts scene. “They were around for many years, and were a great supporter and resource,” Brenton recalled. “After the owners retired, no one stepped into that niche.” As time…
Trench Life: Chris Myers and Duane Brown Are Crucial to the Texans’ Success, on and off the Field
Ask any NFL player about training camp, especially players whose teams toil in the sweltering, 9,000,000,000 percent humidity of Houston, and ultimately he will circle around to one word. You can set your watch to it. Grind. The NFL preseason is a grind. To be truthful, the preseason is actually more…
The Musical Cream of This Fall’s County-Fair Crop
If you’ve been lucky enough to see the so-called “supermoon” the past couple of nights, you know good things are coming: not only cooler temperatures but fairgrounds full of carnival midways, fried foods, beauty pageants, golf tournaments, parades, cookoffs, livestock auctions and top-notch country music. In other words, small-town Texas…
100 Creatives 2014: Octavio Moreno, Opera Singer
Octavio Moreno, one of our nominees for Best Supporting Actor in August’s Houston Theater Awards, grew up thinking of opera as people just screaming on stage. Not very compelling, not worth his time. He initially wanted to be a professional soccer player in Mexico, where he was born, but after…
NASA Is Working on a Space Submarine. Really.
NASA still doesn’t have a way to get astronauts to outerspace but our national space agency will have a submarine to explore the extraterrestrial waters of Titan someday. Possibly. This may sound patently ridiculous just now in the days when NASA is a chronically underfunded shell of its former self,…
Peak Season: Five Standout Apple Dishes in Houston
Crisp, juicy apples are in season through the end of November, so now’s the time to get your fall apple gorging on. From a salted caramel apple cupcake to a poached-apple salad, here are Five Must Try Apple Dishes: What: Triple Apple Bacon Pizza Where: Brasil Why wouldn’t you want…
5 Creepy Things Lots of People Collect
There have always been folks who collected weird things. Of course, the idea of what is a “weird” thing to collect is completely subjective. To me, it’s odd that lots of people collect modern super hero comic books, since they take up a ton of room and are printed in…
Further Celebrating Slim Thug’s Bosshood
Slim Thug is a boss…and having your own private weekend to show it off is a boss-like thing to do. Rappers can do certain things that we in normal life just can’t. If we tried it, it would be awkward and weird-looking; you can’t just stroll into your local Whole…
First Look at Skinny Rita’s Grille
Tex-Mex and Latin cuisine gets a bad rap for being high in calories, fat, sodium and everything else in between. After a bowl of chips (that never becomes empty) plus guacamole, queso, sizzling fajita meat and veggies doused in oil, several flour tortillas, cheese, sour cream, beans (refried or charro)…
Time, Goodwill Could Be Running Short for Harden
It’s amazing how quickly things can turn. One minute, you’re at a podium in front of thousands of screaming fans telling them how you are going to bring them a championship. The next, you are taking the brunt of every fan’s animosity while your team toils away in mediocrity. Ask…
Ariana Grande Should Explore Her Dark Side
I’m going to take a wild guess and assume many Rocks Off readers are probably more rockers, metalheads, and punks than fans of teen pop music, so those folks may have no idea who Ariana Grande is. If that’s the case, she’s the latest in a long line of disposable…
Pop’s History in 624 Pages, Plus One Very Loud Who Book
Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!: The Story of Pop Music from Bill Haley to Beyoncé By Bob Stanley W.W. Norton, 624 pp. $29.95 Well, that’s not an ambitious title or anything, now is it? Especially when music journo Stanley (also the co-founder and keyboardist of Saint Etienne) has such a broad definition…
Six Easy Ways to Find New Band Members
After spending a certain amount of time either learning to play an instrument, or being a member of an existing band, many musicians decide the time has come for them to start their own project. But while it’s always exciting to create a new musical venture, finding new members can…
Rice University Ranks 19 on US News’ “Best Colleges of 2015” List
Rice University remains the best college in Texas according to US News & World Report’s 2015 rankings. But it’s hanging on to the top 20 by the skin of its teeth. Rice fell from 18 last year to 19 this year. It’s unclear who or what knocked the university down…
Attorney for Death-Row Inmate Slams State Secrecy on Eve of Execution
As is typical before any scheduled execution, attorneys for death-row inmate Willie Trottie are fighting the clock. As Trottie – a Harris County man convicted of murdering his ex-girlfriend and her brother in 1993 – awaits his date with the country’s most active death chamber tomorrow, his appellate attorneys are…
Who the Hell Is New Late Late Show Host James Corden?
Yesterday it was announced someone named James Corden would be replacing Craig Ferguson as host of CBS’ The Late Late Show when Ferguson leaves in 2015. Corden’s response was appropriately enthusiastic: “To be asked to host such a prestigious show on America’s No. 1 network is hugely exciting. I can’t…
Doubt, a Parable Asks Who’s the Monster?
The set-up: Did he or didn’t he? That is the question that propels John Patrick Shanley’s multiple award-winning play Doubt, A Parable (Pulitzer, Tony, Drama Desk). Did Father Flynn, beloved parish priest and basketball coach at St. Nicholas Church and School, molest troubled student Donald? Did he get him drunk…
The Big Ten Is Terrible, So Maybe the Longhorns Would Fit Right In
Back in 2010, when the wheels of realignment began to slowly grind college football’s conference structure into the made-for-TV, geography-agnostic menu of fabricated rivalries, rumors abounded that the University of Texas would get the ball rolling by joining forces with the Big Ten. Largely a Midwest conference at that time…
Women Celebrate Comics at 8th Dimension Ladies Night
When Annie Bulloch, one-third owner of 8th Dimension started going out to buy comics while living in Austin it was usually the same. “You walk in,” she says, “And everyone’s perfectly polite, you know. But the questions always come. ‘Are you looking for something for your boyfriend?’ That sort of…
UPDATED Texas Oil and Gas Regulators Warn of Russian Conspiracy to Fund Anti-Frackers
We’ve updated the end of this post to include a statement from Gasland writer/director Josh Fox. The drilling revolution brought on by hydraulic fracturing or “fracking” – the process of shooting millions of gallons of chemical- and sand-laden water underground to coax oil and gas out of massive shale formations…
Cater2.me Wants to Connect Houston Food Vendors With Local Businesses
How many times have you been in an office lunch meeting or social gathering at work and the food is just sub-par? I’m guessing that’s a lot, right? Usually the assortment of food is sandwiches, chips and dip, fruit trays and a selection of drinks. It would be incredible to…
The Rocks Off 200: Joshua Allan Vargas, Metal-Video Maestro
Welcome to The Rocks Off 200, our portrait gallery of the most compelling profiles and personalities in the far-flung Houston music community — a lot more than just musicians, but of course they’re in there too. See previous entries in the Rocks Off 100 at this link. Who? Regular readers…
Pop Rocks: Prince William and Kate Expecting Again…Yawn
I’m not much of a conspiracy theorist. I tend to view such things through the lens of what my father often referred to as a “finely tuned bullshit detector.” But, if I were going to believe in things like faked moon landings and second shooters, I might look for ways…
Best Tweets From Texans Fans During Game-Time TV Outages
Disgruntled football fans took to Twitter Sunday and Monday to lambaste satcasters DIRECTV and Dish Network for storm-related interruptions to the Texans game. Most satellite setups struggle to maintain a perfect signal in bad weather conditions, prompting customers to upgrade receivers and dishes regularly. But DIRECTV and Dish caught their…
Does the Wendy Davis Book Tour Count As Campaigning? Does It Matter?
State Sen. Wendy Davis stopped campaigning for governor this week. You’d think that her Republican opponent, Attorney Gen. Greg Abbott, would be thrilled, but Abbott is thoroughly unenthusiastic about the move. Why? Well, Davis is taking a break from her campaign to promote her new book, Forgetting to Be Afraid…
Beyond Dumplings at Auntie Chang’s
Auntie Chang’s Dumpling House is one of the best inner-loop Chinese(-American) restaurants and their namesake specials are very good. Skip the pan-fried pork, similar versions of which can easily be found elsewhere, and focus instead on the delicate steamed shrimp dumplings, whose diaphanous dough casing houses plump, perfectly cooked prawns…
Musical Victor/Victoria Brings Its Gender-Bending Story and Great Music to Houston
A survival plan born of mutual desperation is at the heart of the gender-bending musical Victor/Victoria now on its way to the Hobby Center in Theatre Under the Stars’ 2014-15 season opener. Tony-nominee Tony Sheldon (Priscilla, Queen of the Desert) is here to play Toddy, the flamboyant manager who hatches…
9 Things to Do in Houston That Will Make You Feel Like a Kid Again
It seems that, once people hit a certain age, they often grow nostalgic for the types of activities and places they once frequented when they were younger. I’m still waiting on someone to invent a DeLorean-based time machine, but until that happens those of us looking for a way to…
Upcoming: Billy Joe Shaver, Chrissie Hynde, Jay Farrar, Maroon 5, Usher, Yes Indeed Fest, etc.
25 Years of Uncle Charlie Art: Sat., October 4, 5 p.m., Free. The “Old” Sig’s Lagoon, 3710 Main, Houston. Acoustic Brews: With Caleb Lovely, Andrew James, Zane Wommack., Sat., September 20, 7:30 p.m., $10. House of Blues — Bronze Peacock Room, 1204 Caroline, Houston, 888-402-5837. The Aftervibe: With Radio Springs,…
Jadeveon Clowney Undergoes Knee Surgery, Out 4-6 Weeks
The football gods clearly won’t let Houstonians have nice things. Already saddled with a tortured history laced with playoff and regular season disappointment and heartbreak aplenty, and carrying around the burden of a 357 day streak of winless football, it wasn’t in the cards to have the gods just leave…
Upcoming Fall Produce & New Vendors at Urban Harvest Farmers Market
We got a little taste of fall this past weekend with cooler temperatures after torrential downpours, and I don’t know about you, but it had me longing for the fall season to arrive quickly. It’s time to say goodbye to the horribly hot weather and hello to cool breezy days…
Is Prince on the Verge of Irrelevance?
Recently, Prince announced he will release two new albums at the end of this month: Plectrumelectrum and Art Official Age. That’s a pretty big outpouring of new music from the artist, who since 2009 has only released elusive singles and an album that could only be found in copies of…
Meet Joe Cocchi, Metalcore Craft Brewer
So far 2014 has been a big year for technical metalcore band Within the Ruins. Back in July, the Massachusetts quartet released their fourth full-length studio album, Phenomena, perhaps their most accomplished work to date. According to guitarist Joe Cocchi, it was also their their fastest and easiest to record…
Five Forgotten Band-Based Video Games
Back when I was a lad, I remember borrowing a SEGA Genesis in order to play Michael Jackson’s Moonwalker and thinking there was nothing odd about it in the slightest. It was a tie-in game to a hit film starring one of the greatest American musicians of all time near…
The Future’s Stranger Than He Thought: Zero Theorem Director Terry Gilliam Explains What Brazil Got Wrong
“I’ll always be anti-authoritarian, as long as I live,” says Terry Gilliam, the comic provocateur who’s been taking aim at the establishment for over four decades. The only thing that changes: his targets. In Life of Brian, it was religion. In Brazil, the government. And in his latest film, The…
The Left Bank on the Bayou: Avant-garde Art & Theater in 1930s Houston
Houston became the largest city in Texas in population in 1939, ending the decade with 400,000 residents, before World War II caused a further rapid expansion. Major events in that decade were the University of Houston becoming a four-year institution in 1934, and later moving to its present location. Braniff…
Biggest Clusters of New Apartment Construction Going Up Right Where You Would Expect (and a Few Where You Wouldn’t)
Houston has experienced an explosion of growth over the past five years. As a result, housing costs have skyrocketed and rent has escalated right along with it. Yet the demand continues with no end in site. Some have suggested this is a real estate bubble, while others are more cautiously…
The Leftovers: I Will Make You Hurt
It’s the end of the first season of one of the strangest dramas ever put on television. I was sort of annoyed with The Leftovers for taking a week off and making me wait, but honestly the breather was probably for the best. This remains absolutely brutal television. This week…
Bill Hader Can Make You Cry: The SNL Star on Digging Deep in The Skeleton Twins
Four years ago, comedian Bill Hader told his agent he wanted to do a drama. It took awhile. “I used to think typecasting wasn’t a thing, and it totally is,” Hader admits. “That’s an industry feeling: ‘How can I take that person seriously when I know they’re capable of such…
The Police Department Race Gap in Houston’s Suburbs
In the wake of the Michael Brown shooting in Ferguson, Missouri, growing scrutiny has been placed on police departments across the country with a particular focus on department demographics. Given the fact that Ferguson’s citizenry is predominantly black, but minorities representing only a small percentage of the police force, it…
Ballet and the Bard: How Shakespeare With All His Words Became a Source for Dance
This season the Houston Ballet is presenting three – count them, three! – ballets based on the works of William Shakespeare. One is John Neumeier’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, which opened September 4, to be followed by Romeo and Juliet opening February 26, and John Cranko’s The Taming of the…
UPDATED: Pappas Bar-B-Q Restaurant at Little York Burns to the Ground in Two-Alarm Blaze
Update — 12:30 p.m.: Christina Pappas, Director of Marketing for Pappas Restaurants, Inc., provided this statement to the Houston Press: “We want to thank The Houston Fire Department for their bravery at our location on Little York. We are very thankful that all of our employees and all firefighters are…
Dish of the Week: Beer-Battered Apple Fritters
From classic comfort foods to regional standouts and desserts, we’ll be sharing a new recipe with you each week. See the complete list of recipes at the end of this post. This week, we’re sharing a recipe perfect for fall: apple fritters. The word fritter is derived from the Latin…
The Tea Party Does Not Love Rick Perry
Gov. Rick Perry has been a bit of a conservative darling of late. Yep, the Republicans have rallied round the man after he was indicted for corruption charges a few weeks back. It was a touching moment of unity in a party that has been remarkably divided in recent years…
Five Things You Need to Know About Houston’s Newest Fashion Blogger, Lisa Dawn of A Chic Effect
Lisa Dawn’s new fashion blog, A Chic Effect comes complete with its own motto: Dream Big. Stay Chic. Be Unrealistic. According to Lisa, dreaming big–and being unrealistic–are important, no matter what the naysayers might think. “I’ve gotten a lot of flak for starting a blog. People can’t understand why I…
The 10 Best Texans-Washington Rapper Tweets
The 2014 Houston Texans have a new coach, new players, new hope and the same dedicated fan base of Houston-based rappers. As in years past, they took to Twitter on game day to comment on the home team’s gridiron action. And, as in years past, Rocks Off read their tweets…
Doctor Who: Prince of Stories
I make no bones about the fact that the first couple of episodes of Series 8 did not exactly move me, even declaring “Into the Dalek” the worst outing in the revived series of the show. Most of that centers around what I still feel was incredibly weak writing on…
GlenDronach’s Cask Strength Line of Scotches Is a Hidden Gem
Recently, I was at Spec’s browsing Macallan’s offerings; the Macallan 12 is one of my standards for Scotch, and I always keep some around. While looking through older vintages, I noticed that the price of the 18-year had climbed quite high. (Over the period of perhaps a couple of months,…
Texans 17, Redskins 6: 4 Winners, 4 Losers
357 days. That’s how long it’s been since the Houston Texans last won a regular season NFL game. The last time the hometown team walked off the field victorious, Matt Schaub was the quarterback, Gary Kubiak was the head coach, and Vanilla Ice was rocking the house at halftime. Sunday,…
Sarah Palin Rambles, Charms at Veterans Fundraiser
For the 200 guests of the Mighty Oaks Warrior Foundation’s annual gala, headliner Sarah Palin was a sparkly distraction from the stark statistics of soaring depression, suicide and homelessness among veterans — problems the charity aims to defeat. The former Alaska governor and 2008 vice presidential candidate was her usual…
Put on Your Lederhosen, It’s Oktoberfest Time at King’s Biergarten and Restaurant
King’s Oktoberfest is right around the corner. So put on your lederhosen and head down to King’s Biergarten & Restaurant for the fourth annual celebration on September 26 through September 28 at the Pearland restaurant. During the first year of King’s Oktoberfest, the restaurant only had seating for 45 people…
The God Game: Politics and Prayer and Our Litmus-Test Demands
Political plays have been around since the time of Aristophanes, but you won’t find a breezier one than Suzanne Bradbeer’s contemporary fairytale The God Game, charming its way into the electorate via Stark Naked Theatre Company. A nicer bunch of politicos would be hard to find. The execution: When you…
Brad Paisley at The Woodlands, 9/6/2014
Brad Paisley, Randy Houser, Leah Turner, Charlie Worsham, Dee Jay Silver Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion September 6, 2014 Brad Paisley fans don’t appreciate how good they’ve got it. The man has been here three times in the last 14 months and four times in the last three years, each show…
Houston Cougars Devour Grambling State Tigers
Another week, another football game for the Houston Cougars. But instead of upstart UTSA, the Cougars faced downtrodden Grambling State, a former small college powerhouse struggling to stay afloat. The Cougars scored on the game’s first offensive series and didn’t look back. The Cougars were up 10-0 after the first…
We’ve Narrowed Down the Most Underrated Fried Chicken…Vote Now!
It was sad reading some of your comments about the fried chicken at the now-closed Haven. Man was that stuff good. But, not to worry, there are plenty of more places you guys like to get your deep-fried, crispy birds. And plus, the stuff at Haven was not underrated to…
The Changing Face of Houston: Spring Branch Then and Now
Spring Branch has a long history that would probably surprise many people new to the area. Like many of Houston’s older neighborhoods, its character has dramatically changed over the years, and it has evolved with its own unique qualities. It was originally settled by German immigrants fleeing oppressive conditions back…
Linkin Park at The Woodlands, 9/5/2014
Linkin Park Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion September 5, 2014 It’s kind of weird that Linkin Park find themselves more than 15 years and six albums deep into their career still headlining a venue like the Pavilion. If you were a rock band that had someone in your band doing anything…
Houston Bands Bask in KISS’s Reflected Glow
Note: On the heels of KISS’ Labor Day Eve visit to Houston, local label Artificial Head Records rounded up several local bands to assemble at Fitzgerald’s Friday night to rock and roll all night with their favorite songs by the painted men from Detroit Rock City. Although our scheduled reviewer…
NEEDTOBREATHE at Bayou Music Center, 9/5/2014
NEEDTOBREATHE Bayou Music Center September 5, 2014 The divide between Christian and secular rock might be one of the most overblown distinctions within pop music there is. It’s real, but sometimes it all seems so unnecessary. People of faith do just fine in many if not most professions (even journalist!),…
Thirty Seconds to Mars at The Woodlands, 9/5/2014
Note: Sadly, due to Friday’s traffic nightmare getting up to The Woodlands (see “Random Notebook Dump”), photos from Thirty Seconds’ set are unavailable. Thirty Seconds to Mars Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion September 5, 2014 Donning a white robe, a golden crown and with his long locks chasing him around all…
The Five Best Concerts In Houston This Week: Aretha Franklin, Cory Branan, Lyle Lovett, etc.
Aretha Franklin Arena Theatre, September 9 Through no fault of her own, Aretha Franklin stumbled into 2014’s more improbable headlines in July, when the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer (class of ’87) stopped off to grab a post-concert burger at a Niagara Falls-area Johnny Rockets and was told her…
New Girl in Town Is a Forgotten Gem, Resuscitated by Bayou City Concert Musicals
The set-up: Joy is to be found inside Heinen Theatre, as well as surprise. Bayou City Concert Musicals has astonished us yet again, as it does annually each September, with an absolutely smashing production of a true musical rarity, New Girl in Town (1957). The surprise is not the company’s…
Free Game Day: Severe Road
It’s Friday, and we know you’re just going to play on the Internet until it’s time to leave work. Each week we’ll be bringing you a free flash game to help the time pass! Game: Severe Rpad Genre: Run and Gun Made By: Deqaf Studio Play at: Armor Games Rating:…
The 5 Best Fashion Stories of the Week: Fashion Has Lost a Giant, Joan Rivers Passes Away
Lots of breaking fashion news hits the interwebs and I don’t want you to miss one bit of it. So, I present some of the biggest headlines each week for your reading pleasure. Click and enjoy!…
“Reeferendum”: This Election Season’s Most Confusing Political Ad Yet
We – and, judging by the email, nearly every other newspaper in the state – got a very perplexing message in our inbox yesterday from a brand new political action group calling itself the “Medical and Personal Freedom PAC.” The message starts by pointing out how Texas feels mighty far…
Politics Aside: Senator Wendy Davis Signing Forgetting to Be Afraid: A Memoir at Brazos Bookstore on September 13
Maybe you #StandWithWendy, maybe you don’t, but on Saturday, September 13, you’ll have the chance to stand in line to meet her at Brazos Bookstore. Senator Wendy Davis will be signing copies of her highly-anticipated new book, Forgetting to be Afraid: A Memoir, between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. and…
Houston Ballet Opens Its Shakespeare Season With A Midsummer Night’s Dream
The Setup: Choreographers have never shied away from adapting the works of Shakespeare to world of ballet, but A Midsummer Night’s Dream is an altogether different endeavor. There’s the large roster of characters to deal with, the circuitous nature of the key relationships, and not to mention the transitions in…
Sip on Wine During Taste Around Town Houston, and We Have the Discount Code
Houston Restaurant Weeks just came to a close, but there’s another foodie event, more specifically, a wine event, happening in our city in less than two weeks. Taste Around Town Houston is similar to restaurant weeks, except participating restaurants will feature wine specials, such as flights and dinner pairings. The…
Local PETA Ad Features Death Row Pigs Over “Death Penalty Capital”
In a fresh taunt to local drivers, animal rights group PETA is set to aim a two-pronged blow by billboard at Texan meat-eaters. Capitalizing on the state’s reputation as the “Death Penalty Capital of the World,” PETA’s newest billboard overlooking Interstate 45 near Hutchins Street and St. Joseph Parkway features…
The 5 Best Things to Eat or Drink This Weekend: Fluff Bake Bar Hosts Saturday Pop-Up Bake Sale at Southside Espresso
EaDo Pub Crawl @ 8th Wonder Brewery Friday, 5 p.m. 2202 Dallas Head to 8th Wonder Brewery on Friday for a pub crawl through East Downtown. Registration costs $15 and begins at the brewery at 5 p.m., but you must pick up your wristband (which gets you into the participating…
CSN Houston Still Dying, But Drayton McLane Got Paid
So it came to pass yesterday that the multitude assembled before the judge. The multitude being a mass of 23 attorneys representing Comcast and CSN Houston and the Astros and the Rockets and DirecTV and AT&T (many more listening by telephone) appearing before Judge Marvin Isgur, each hoping for yet…
5 Hidden Shopping Gems In Greenway Plaza
When you think about Greenway Plaza, you probably imagine business men and women milling about on their lunch break and expensive apartments housing said business men and women – because they are the only people who can afford them. Never would you think there are hidden shopping gems amidst those…
The 20 Best Local Concerts Before Halloween
Come See My Dead Person Rudyard’s, September 5 Arguably one of Texas’ most interesting and eclectic acts, Come See My Dead Person are well-known for a gypsy-punk party that melds multiple musical styles with an insane amount of energy. If you can’t make tonight’s Rudz show, good news: they’re playing…
100 Creatives 2014: Dylan Godwin, Theater Renaissance Man, Storyteller and Teacher
Most 8-year-olds don’t see many theater productions, let alone more-than-G-rated ones like Tennessee William’s A Streetcar Named Desire, but it was this experience that solidified Dylan Godwin’s desire to become a performer. He remembers sitting in the front row, being absolutely absorbed into the world created by actors on the…
Upcoming Events: Who Makes the Best Banh Mi?
Mr. Peeples will host a Mixology Contest on Monday, September 8, from 6:30 p.m. until 8:30 p.m. The evening’s competitors include Ricardo Guzman of Skinny Rita’s Grille, Ryan Perry of Sundance Cinemas, Michael Rioas of Beaver’s, Kristine Nguyen of Lei Low Bar, Prisilla Maldonado of The Refinery Burgers & Whiskey…
Environmentalists Rally Around Lawsuit to Scrub San Jacinto Waste Pits
As Houston corporate lobbyists fight a county lawsuit seeking to penalize companies for carcinogens plaguing the San Jacinto River, environmental groups have pledged to keep hounding their headquarters with angry rhymes. In 2011, Harris County Attorney Vince Ryan sued Waste Management, International Paper, and McGinnis Industrial Maintenance Corporation for $2…
Openings & Closings: Jonathan’s the Rub Is Staying Put in Memorial Village
The second location for Jonathan’s the Rub was slated to open at 963 Bunker Hill in November of this year, but that project has come to a halt. Chef and owner Jonathan Levine says he doesn’t want to expand his business and would rather stay at his current location in…
The 5 Best Things to Do in Houston This Weekend: The God Game and More
Tom is a young rising political star, a moderate Republican senator. He is approached by Matt, an old family friend who works for a right-wing presidential candidate. The offer is made: Would he like to join the ticket as the vice presidential nominee? “There’s just one catch,” says playwright Suzanne…
The Ugly Beats Pick 10 Rare Texas ’60s 45s
The Ugly Beats aren’t nearly as self-consciously cool as many of their Austin musical neighbors, because they don’t need to be. Honed by a decade or so of near-constant gigging at 512-area nightspots such as Hotel Vegas, Beerland and the Carousel Lounge, the quintet’s garage-pop is as sincere as it…
Gambling! This Weekend’s Best NFL and College Football Bets
I love football, but I hate football. As you may have seen earlier this week, I gave out the Seahawks as one of my top season win total plays for 2014, taking the UNDER on 11 wins. I also, on my radio show, picked the Packers as the winners in…
Local Acts We’d Put Up For Texans Tailgate Parties
The kids are back in school, St. Arnold’s Oktoberfest is being consumed in mass quantities again and many of us are waking in the dead of night, in a cold sweat, with the numbers “2-14” flashing in our subconscious brains like a bad dream. It’s football season again! The best…
Islands’ Nick Thorburn Moves Beyond “Visceral Vomit”
For Islands’ Nick Thorburn, performing live is just another piece to the creative puzzle. Formerly known as Nick Diamonds, he has fronted a number of acts starting with the Unicorns, his Montreal trio that began drawing a cult following after the release of their 2003 album Who Will Cut Our…
Southern Rock Gets a New Bible in Southbound
While there are plenty of musicians, record collectors and journos who will argue (as only musicians, record collectors and journos can) that all rock is “Southern rock” due to its geographical origins, Southern rock is nonetheless a well-defined genre. And that genre finally gets its comprehensive Bible in Scott B…
The 10 Best Concerts in Houston This Weekend: NEEDTOBREATHE, A Danseparc Wedding, etc.
NEEDTOBREATHE Bayou Music Center, September 5 Without a whole lot of fanfare, South Carolina’s NEEDTOBREATHE is probably the first band since Switchfoot to fully cross over from contemporary Christian music into the mainstream; beyond even that, they’ve become one of the biggest rock groups of the 21st century, period. Since…
Texas Contemporary Art Fair
The Texas Contemporary Art Fair returns to the George R. Brown Convention Center for this year’s highly anticipated show. The Texas-centered art event will host works from all over the state, representing strong Texan themes, complimented by other work from contributing artists nationwide. Among the world-class presentations, there will be…
Jason Alexander: An Evening of Comedy and Song
“What a lot of people don’t know,” actor Jason Alexander tells us, “is that I’m an old song-and-dance man.” (And if we believe his biography, he’s also a director, producer, teacher, poker player, magician and author.) Set for a three-day run with the Houston Symphony in Jason Alexander: An Evening…
New Girl in Town
Eugene O’Neill’s dark family drama Anna Christie seems an unlikely source for a musical, but composer/lyricist Bob Merrill and book-writer George Abbott thought otherwise and developed New Girl in Town as a vehicle for Gwen Verndon in the late 1950s. (It ran on Broadway for more than a year, and…
Houston Baseball: The Early Years 1861 – 1961
Recognize the name Dizzy Dean? Maybe Chick Hafey or Ron Santo sound familiar? If you know who those guys were, you’ll want to meet Mike Vance, Bob Dorrill and Bill McCurdy, the three men behind Houston Baseball: The Early Years 1861 – 1961, a detailed history of the first century…
Mitchell Artist Lecture featuring Laurie Anderson
One of the highlights of the University of Houston’s annual Mitchell Artist Lecture series is its presentation of important, cutting-edge artists. This year’s speaker is famed artist Laurie Anderson. Anderson is an innovative and fascinating performance artist who has become known for captivating audiences with the help of multimedia components,…
The 39 Steps
The adventure story The 39 Steps, famously filmed by Alfred Hitchcock in 1935, has been converted into a fast-paced, amusing spoof in which four actors portray all the 100 or so characters. Alfred Hitchcock said, “What is drama but life with the dull bits cut out?” Steps director Ken Bailey…
The Last Five Years
Budding novelist Jamie loves actress Cathy, and Cathy loves Jamie, but holding onto love is difficult, and the relationship and joy slip from the grasp of the young lovers despite marriage and their best efforts. The Last Five Years, a bittersweet tale of a tumultuous five-year roller coaster of emotions,…
A Midsummer’s Night Dream
John Neumeier’s three-act ballet A Midsummer Night’s Dream makes its much-awaited premiere with the Houston Ballet. Weaving together three stories (about four young lovers; the fairy king, his queen and their wickedly playful servant; and six players who are in the midst of an amateur theater production), the ballet is…
Waiting for Othello and Desdemona: A Play About a Handkerchief
William Shakespeare’s tragedy Othello is treated with amusing irreverence in two one-acts. Waiting for Othello by local playwright Bryan Maynard, imagines a prologue scene, set in a tavern and occurring just before the play itself opens. A Play About a Handkerchief, by the prize-winning playwright Paula Vogel, informs us that…
The God Game
Tom is a young rising political star, a moderate Republican senator. He is approached by Matt, an old family friend who works for a right-wing presidential candidate. The offer is made: Would he like to join the ticket as the vice presidential nominee? “There’s just one catch,” says playwright Suzanne…
“Jorge Marín: Wings of the City”
Discovery Green adds a bit more excitement to the air when it becomes the temporary home to nine magnificent bronze sculptures by famed Mexican artist Jorge Marín. The exhibit, titled “Wings of the City,” brings not only the stunning statues — which are molded to portray mythical yet lifelike creatures…
The Age of Consent
If older man/younger women matchups make many people uncomfortable, the older man/much younger women combo tends to make them apoplectic. It would be impossible for Nabokov to publish Lolita today, now that all of life, and all of art, must be arranged, categorized and restricted as a way of protecting…
The Brazilian Festival
Brazil has been in the news a lot lately, thanks to some sports match they had down there. Houston’s Brazilian Festival gives those of us who didn’t get down to South America for the World Cup games a chance to catch up on the country. A celebration of its arts,…
Flying High
The story of poor, doomed Icarus — and how his hubris caused him to fly too close to the sun, which melted his wax-and-feather wings, plunging him to death by drowning in the sea — is one of Greek mythology’s most endearing stories (not to mention a handy metaphor for…
Lithgow, Molina and Manhattan All Move in Love Is Strange
You could be forgiven, after watching the opening minutes of Ira Sachs’s fine-grained and flinty Love Is Strange, for thinking it’s going to be a movie about Gay Marriage, with all the import those initial caps imply. We see two older men, clearly a couple, roll out of bed in…
Capsule Stage Reviews: September 4, 2014
Full Gallop Let’s talk D.V. That would be Diana Vreeland, or Dee-ahh-na, for those of you not in the loop. For decades she was the reigning monarch of fashion, first as columnist and stylish greyhound at Harper’s Bazaar, then as editor-in-chief of Vogue, later as curator of the Metropolitan Museum’s…
The Race Chain and Hair
Dear Mexican, I’m from the southeastern U.S. and people think that all people from there are dumb (and, in many, cases correctly — see Bush, G.W.), Is there a similar place in Mexico where other Mexicans think these people are in-bred mouth breathers? Swanee Señor Dear Gabacho, Jalisco. Dear Mexican,…
Forrest Gump returns, Still With Nothing to Say
Forrest Gump has turned 20 and is celebrating its birthday with a weeklong IMAX release. It’s a significant milestone for the six-time Academy Award winner. Today, 1994 is as far away from the present as the Vietnam War was from it. Forrest Gump was a fable without a moral, the…
Elvis Lives in The Identical – and so Does His Boring Twin
The Identical is Elvis slash fiction that could have been written by a spinster church organist. Its premise is intriguing: What if Jesse Presley, Elvis’s twin brother who was stillborn at birth, was in fact secretly given to a traveler minister (Ray Liotta) and his infertile wife (Ashley Judd)? What…
Innocence Could Have Been the Great Prep-School Blood-Thriller
Since it’s the kind of slow-building movie whose very premise is something of a spoiler, a pretty delicious one, let’s get the consumer-guide jazz out of the way first. Hilary Brougher’s YA-ish horror satire/romance/whatzit Innocence, adapted from Jane Mendelsohn’s novel, boasts a wicked setup, some strong performances, several gloriously bloody…
Capsule Art Reviews: September 4, 2014
“Allison Rathan: The Cutting Bridle” The Exchange, 60″x48″, is a self-portrait of the artist Allison Rathan striding behind a very large wolf on a metal leash. It captures the confidence of this artist, who has blond movie-star looks and the poise and litheness of a fashion model. The leash holder…
