Rahsaan Roland Kirk’s Religion of Dreams
Even among saxophone blowers – some of the most adventurous players in jazz – Rahsaan Roland Kirk was a one man sonic explorer. He was always moving ahead and always looking for something new to travel through both his ears and those of his listeners. After all, this was a…
Skull-Crushing Comedy and Horror Flick Comes to HAAPI Film Festival
One of the actors in Crush the Skull is fond of saying that it’ll make you pee your pants both from laughter and from fright. This comedy-meets-horror flick explores many of the familiar, stereotypical aspects of horror films in humorous ways, à la the instant Joss Whedon classic The Cabin…
The 10 Best Free Press Summer Fest Sets of All Time
2016 isn’t a true milestone year for Free Press Summer Fest, unless you count being moved to NRG Park for the second year in a row due to heavy rains rendering Eleanor Tinsley Park a sodden marsh. (Stay tuned both here and to Houston Press social media for any further weather-related…
Cocktails With Something Extra: Making the Most of Seasonal Fruit in Houston
Inspiration comes in various guises, many of them surprising. Sometimes a taste or a smell or a song on the radio provides the spark. Sometimes, it is the culmination of a dozen unfinished thoughts, flitting around in the back of your brain until something catalyzes them into a useful whole…
Texas Photography Exhibit Offers an Inside Look at Those Who Love Food
To make food look delicious on camera, stylists resort to all sorts of crafty little tricks, though often yielding something unfit for human consumption. Then there’s the other kind of food photography: capturing a chef in action, or a farmer with his crop, or a beautifully executed dish on its…
4 of the Sillier Reasons Being Given for Why the Heights Should Remain Dry
Over 100 years ago the Heights was its own city, a planned community with many forward thinking features different from Houston. In the days before it was absorbed by the larger city, its residents decided that they didn’t want alcohol sold within the Heights, so even after prohibition was repealed,…
Where to Dine in Houston This Father’s Day 2016
Just like moms do, the loving dads in your life deserve a good meal on their holiday (which, hint hint, is Sunday, June 19). So it’s a good thing there are a plethora of excellent Houston restaurants ready to serve him one up. From prix-fixe meals featuring big beefy steaks…
The Houston Press Monthly Mixtape: June Edition
Guttural, crunchy rock and roll is dominating Houston’s concert scene in June, and our mixtape is no different. This month welcomes the legendary Weezer (June 10, Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion), who have returned to their classic angsty surf-rock sound with the “White Album.” You can also check out the always…
Houston’s 10 Most Underrated Music Venues
As a wise man (who happens to be a Houston Press music writer) once said regarding this city’s music venues, “In the end it’s a sort of victory just to keep the doors open, the floors clean, and one’s ethics in place.” Houston certainly has its fair share of high-profile stages…
2 Dead, 6 Wounded in Memorial Day Weekend Shooting Rampage in West Houston
Two people are dead and six injured after a gunman opened fire Sunday in the otherwise quiet neighborhood of Wilchester in west Houston Sunday. Around 10:15 Sunday, a man walked up to the parking lot of the Memorial Hand Car Wash, hoisted a pistol, then fatally shot a 56-year-old man…
This Week in Houston Food Blogs: The Debut of Harold’s Tap Room
This week, we’ve got a few recipes for light bites, plus reviews of a creative pop-up dinner series and new bar from a well-established restaurant. Many people would agree that the best way to start a meal is an appetizer, preferably something loaded with cheese that you can dip carbohydrate-heavy…
The Divine Sister — Send This Cast to Summer Camp
The execution: Mother Superior (a radiantly chipper Joel Sandel) arrives at St. Veronica’s convent by bicycle with habit flapping. It’s a star turn, literally, if not laterally. She’s a vision in black and white as she circumnavigates, with a slash of Jungle Red lipstick and rouged cheeks like headlamps. It’s…
Luisa’s Pasta: A New Made-to-Order Option for Downtown Drone Dining
I suppose it’s a bit odd to relaunch Tunnel Explorer with a restaurant that’s above ground, but even moles have to come to the surface every once in a while. Of course, it helps to have a compelling reason to push our snoots up through the dirt. The news that…
Oscar Muñoz’s Exhibit Draws You Into a Strange World. Make What You Will of it.
Oscar Muñoz conjures up a mysterious figure in his masterful video installation, El Coleccionista (The Collector). On view at Sicardi Gallery, it is the first U.S. presentation of the 2016 work. In the downstairs exhibition space, videos projected over an entire wall give viewers the feeling they are leaving the…
George Scott’s Unlikely Ascension to the Katy ISD School Board
George Scott, sealed behind a closed door inside the Katy ISD Education Complex, waited nervously as the mailed-in ballots were re-counted by hand. His competitor, Joe Adams, sat nearby, also champing at the bit. In the end, Scott won. Again. By double the original margin of victory. When Scott assumes…
The Burger Joint May Have Found its Forever Home in Montrose
When it comes to food-truck owners opening brick-and-mortar locations, Houston has had something of a spotty history. The past few years have seen a handful of beloved food trucks make the transition, only to eventually close up shop and head back to the truck. If the constant crowds at The…
This Is How UH Police Teach People to Survive the Worst-Case Scenario: A Mass Shooting
The first thing that attendees at the University of Houston’s active shooter training course will hear is the frantic voice of Patti Nielson, a teacher at Columbine High School who called 911 from the library, the room where 10 out of 13 people were killed that day in 1999. It…
NBA Western Conference Finals Game 7: Golden State 96, Oklahoma City 88 — 4 Winners, 4 Losers
You go through an entire preseason, an 82 game regular season, and six weeks of grueling postseason basketball to whittle the whole thing down to two teams. And here we are — the same two teams that we had last year in the finals, the two teams most thought would…
Cosplayer Sacrifices a Little Too Much for His Art: A Piece of His Eye [UPDATED]
The best cosplayers sacrifice a lot of time, money and comfort to pursue what is regarded as an intense art form. “Johnny Hybrid,” the stage name of one half of the cosplay duo known as Hybrid Cosplay damaged one eye this weekend while desperately trying to remove his special contact lenses…
Big Tex Road Trip: With Low Gas Prices, Now’s the Time for an Epic Journey Across Texas
Once, on my way to Big Bend National Park, I decided to take the rarely traveled Texas Highway 349 from Sheffield to Dryden. I’d done the monster drive by myself to the far West Texas beauty before — once through Marathon, another time via Alpine. However, as a completionist who…
Which KKK Chapter Is Right for You?
Good news for Texans looking for a new Ku Klux Klan chapter to join: The Tennessee-based Ku Klos Knights are now accepting applications for their “Realm of Texas.” The news was posted on our favorite white pride forum, Stormfront.org, where humanity goes to die. A person named “Klarn” posted the…
What the Surprise Album Says About Music Right Now
First, there came Beyoncé, with her scintillating release of “Formation” and the spew of Internet speculation leading up to Lemonade. Kendrick Lamar followed suit a few weeks later, casually dropping off eight unmastered tracks at the Internet’s doorstep like they were a box of old clothes for Goodwill. The wave…
“Operation: No Pay May”: A Houston Woman Attempts 31 Dates in 31 Days
At first, when Cathy Smith told a guy over dinner that their date was one of 31 she planned to go on that month—yes, that’s literally every single day—he was a little pissed off. He was the only guy Smith told about her “Operation: No Pay May,” which, after dating…
Built to Spill Rolls Into FPSF, Steady as She Goes
Doug Martsch said he’d heard of Free Press Summer Fest during our recent interview, but admitted he doesn’t know a whole lot about it. His band Built to Spill will be making their FPSF debut this weekend after more than two decades as one of indie-rock’s most admired groups, so…
Big Tex Road Trip: The Best Dive Bars in Texas
Our Big Tex Road Trip guide to Texas dive bars doesn’t abide by some sort of strict and arbitrary definition of what constitutes a “true” dive bar. (Tiny, often deserted, with attitudinal bartenders and an overpowering waft of urine is always preferred, but it’s not required.) Instead, whether it’s drinking…
Yes, Comedies Look Better Than They Used to. Brandon Trost Is Why.
“Did I want to shoot comedies?” asks Brandon Trost, director of photography on two of this summer’s funniest films, Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping and Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising. “It’s funny — not at all.” But then came MacGruber, Jorma Taccone’s 2010 SNL film.“The director wanted me because I wasn’t…
Flaming Lips Cap Off Scorching, Fun-Filled Day at White Oak Music Hall
The Flaming Lips, etc. White Oak Music Hall May 29, 2016 The Flaming Lips were always a band better experienced in person. While the band’s catalog is extensive, something about a Flaming Lips show goes beyond a typical rock concert. In short, it’s more of a carnival set to music…
Hear Jane Talk: Jane Lynch on Cabaret Act See Jane Sing
No one needs to search for a long time to see Jane Lynch’s many talents on display. You’ve seen her act, do jokes, improvise, and win Emmys and Globes. But have you ever, could you ever See Jane Sing? The brave multi hyphenate will be venturing into (mostly) uncharted waters when she…
Stark Naked Theatre Hosts 3 Monday Play Readings, Beginning Tonight With What the Butler Saw
Looking for something to do today as your Memorial Day weekend holiday winds down? Tonight at 8 o’clock, Stark Naked Theatre Company begins the first of three readings on Monday nights beginning with the farce What the Butler Saw by the late British playwright Joe Orton. It begins with a…
Texans LB Whitney Mercilus Reunited With His Two Lost Dogs (w/ PHOTOS)
For the second consecutive summer, the Houston Texans have had some sort of canine-related drama. Last year, it was former Texans safety D.J. Swearinger’s pit bull biting linebacker Jadeveon Clowney, sending Clowney to the hospital to sew up an injury that, sadly, didn’t even crack Clowney’s personal top ten injuries…
Reviews for the Lazy Gamer: Lumo
Game: Lumo Platforms: Playstation 4. PS Vita, Xbox One, PC, Linux, Mac Publisher/Developer: Rising Star Games/Triple Eh? Ltd Genre: Isometric puzzler Rating: 4 out of 5 Describe This Game in Three Words: Specter of ZX Sectrum Plot: Your young hero is sucked into an old school isometric puzzler. Up, Up:…
If the NFL Really Needs You, Then Make the NFL Pay for It
Did you know the Super Bowl is going to be played in Houston next February? Did you know the game is supposed to bring tons of visitors to the city, and to give it great exposure? Sure you probably knew all of this. You also probably knew that the game…
Dish of the Week: The Primanti Bros. “Almost Famous” Sandwich
From classic comfort foods to regional standouts and desserts, we’ll be sharing a new recipe with you each week. Find other dishes of the week here. This week, we’re sharing a sandwich made famous at a Pittsburgh sandwich shop: The Primanti Bros. “Almost Famous” Sandwich. Originating in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, this…
Texas Cases to Watch for as Supreme Court Term Starts to Close
It seems like there’s almost always a Texas case that could have major implications for the entire country depending on how the U.S. Supreme Court decides it. Last year, a Texas case, Obergefell v. Hodges, became the high point of the Supreme Court’s term when the decision announced at the…
Schlitterbahn Galveston Island Waterpark Offers a Hero’s Welcome May 30-June 5
In a nod to first responders, Schlitterbahn Galveston Island Waterpark is offering free admission during American Heroes Week, May 30 through June 5, plus half-off admission for spouses and dependents. That sounds like a pretty good deal, with 26 acres of awesomeness, including Wasserfest (voted best indoor waterpark for eight…
This Week in Houston Food Events: First Annual Houston Fajita Festival
Monday, May 30 Memorial Day Specials Plenty of restaurants are offering Memorial Day specials, such as half-priced bottles of wine at Tony Mandola’s and Laurenzo’s, 25 percent off family meals at Boston Market and free small Frosty Treats at Wendy’s. Sal y Pimienta Kitchen, 818 Town & Country, will be offering…
Potential Problems With Mayor Turner’s First City Budget
Mayor Sylvester Turner’s first City of Houston budget, approved this week by Houston City Council, has been touted as some sort of crazy amazing feat of city leadership. Instead of cutting deep into the city’s workforce or cutting major corners with fire-fighting and library services, Mayor Turner rallied the troops…
Why Do We Pay for Autographs at Cons?
This weekend was Space City Comic Con… an uneven success by the kindest estimates. Me, I had a good time playing father-daughter geek reporter team, though I did manage to get in a few of our typical con activities in between chasing the larger story. One of those things was…
Johnny Manziel Confronted on NYC Street by Jilted Mercedes Lessor (w/ VIDEO)
In the penultimate season of The Sopranos, the riveting Season 5, as the walls are closing in on Tony Soprano — the New York mob families, his own mob family, his actual family, the Feds, all of these people had issues with Big T — he spends a night to…
The Wheel Workers Prepare to Shed the “Local Band” Tag
The Wheel Workers, Criminal Birds, My Education, A Sundae Drive Walters Downtown May 28, 2016 “Are you guys all gonna get naked?” a woman in front of me shouted at opening band A Sundae Drive. “That’s the afterparty, Amanda,” bassist and singer Jennifer Gray-Garcia responded. This relaxed, conversational atmosphere carried…
Shows of the Week: Robert Ellis Continues Rearranging His Sound
ROBERT ELLIS Discovery Green, June 2 The result of two solid years of nearly nonstop touring — 300 shows a year, give or take — Robert Ellis’ new eponymous LP, his third for New West, is both a natural extension of 2014’s The Lights From the Chemical Plant and a…
A Bit of a Bumpy Flight for Space City Comic Con Before William Shatner Lands
Space City Comic Com got off to a little bit of a bumpy start at NRG Center this weekend if social media was to be believed but on Sunday, William Shatner showed up and the skies seemed to lift. (The con staff didn’t want us taking Shatner’s photo and blocked…
FPSF Moving to NRG Park For Second Year In a Row
For the second year in a row, heavy rains have forced Free Press Summer Fest to relocate from Eleanor Tinsley to NRG Park, festival organizers announced this morning. This statement comes from the FPSF Web site: The temporary relocation comes following the oversaturation of Eleanor Tinsley Park after several weeks…
The Diabolical Plots of Wolf Hall Come to Houston in Main Street Theater’s 2016-17 Season
Main Street Theater’s new stage will be put to the test in October through December when Wolf Hall, Parts One and Two will play in repertory with a cast of 23 actors. The regional premiere of this ambitious work based on the Hilary Mantel novels tells the story of Thomas…
Approaching the Unknown Is the Best Science-Fiction Movie Since Gravity
At first glance, the most obvious analog to Mark Elijah Rosenberg’s Approaching the Unknown would be The Martian, both being about lone men on treacherous missions to Mars. But Approaching the Unknown operates on a much smaller and more philosophical scale, and is ultimately more satisfying. Captain William D. Stanaforth…
You Can See Bill Plympton’s Latest for Free Online, but Don’t Expect Too Much
Mockumentary Hitler’s Folly, at only an hour long, stretches its incredibly thin premise over a surface area the size of the European front. Its single, exhausting joke: Hitler, a misunderstood artist, actually built a Disney-style animation empire that was mistaken for a fascist regime. Bill Plympton is a singularly gifted artist…
Tornado Damages Navasota Prison Unit
A tornado struck a prison in Navasota late yesterday afternoon, damaging two pickets and the roof of a building outside the perimeter of the fence, according to a Texas Department of Criminal Justice press release. All offenders and staff at Wallace Pack Unit are accounted for and there are no…
When Did the Baylor Nation Decide That Football Was More Important Than Anything?
Baylor terminated head football coach Art Briles yesterday. This was just one of a series of moves made by the school Thursday in the wake of the Pepper Hamilton report. The report, commissioned by former school president Ken Starr, found the school to be shockingly deficient when it came to…
Even Without Mary Lou Bruner, the State Board of Education Won’t Be a Picnic
While a lot of people breathed a sigh of relief this week when Mary Lou Bruner, the Tea Party activist and former teacher who believed President Obama was once a gay prostitute and that baby dinosaurs were on Noah’s ark, failed to win the Republican nomination for a seat on…
Born Yesterday Presents a Classic Pygmalion Story, Complete With Crooked Boyfriend
For one week, Alley Theatre Company member Melissa Pritchett was performing as a fundamentalist church member onstage in The Christians while rehearsing in the afternoons for her starring role as an ex-showgirl in the upcoming production of Born Yesterday. Pritchett plays Billie Dawn in playwright Garson Kanin’s ensemble comedy and…
A Shot Dog, an Amputated Leg and a Neighbor With Lousy Aim
A Houston woman is accusing her neighbor of walking into the yard of the home she is renting and shooting at an allegedly harmless dog four times. The dramatic allegations surrounding the May 15 incident north of downtown were first laid out in a crowdfunding page launched to cover vet…
Houston-Based Rock Star Clothing Designer Tod Waters Brings a New Line of Shoes to Junker Designs
Tod Waters has always had a unique artistic vision, and has returned to his hometown of Houston since conquering the rock and roll fashion world with his custom clothing company Junker Designs. After more than ten years of creating amazing clothes for stars ranging from Lady Gaga to Motley Crue,…
We Know What HPD Redacted From Its Arrests and Searches Policy
The Houston Police Department thinks you shouldn’t know exactly when it’s allowed to strip search you or probe your body cavities, and it also wants to keep secret its procedures for making sure handcuffs aren’t fixed so tightly that they cause harm to the prisoner wearing them. We received the…
10 Things I Learned Being a Hated Person on the Internet
Hi, I’m Jef Rouner. I used to be called Jef With One F, and at some point I became a very hated person on the Internet. This was not all surprising. If you are a person who writes about feminism and social justice on the Internet, especially in geek interest…
Alexander Ekman’s Cacti Elates in Houston Ballet’s Spring Mixed Rep
The Set-up: Houston Ballet’s Spring Mixed Repertory is a behemoth of heavyweight dances, including two titans of the ballet canon and a new work from this decade that has been making its rounds of the world’s major companies. Together, the three pieces may be taken as an example of the…
Sen. Ellis Responds to a County Commissioner Telling Him to “Shut Up” With Resounding “No”
At a press conference Thursday, State Senator Rodney Ellis took a few moments to respond to Harris County Commissioner Steve Radack, who this week said he thinks Ellis should “shut up” about criminal justice reform. Radack, however, probably couldn’t have chosen a worse time to voice that opinion. Harris County…
The Five Best Things to Do in Houston This Weekend: Space City Comic Con and a Tribute to Prince
The theme for this weekend in Houston is “out of this world,” with the nebula-inspired film The Cosmos, stars from television and film (Doctor Who, Star Trek) at Space City Comic Con, and stellar tributes to Prince and Maurice White when the Motown & More Revue comes to Miller Outdoor Theatre…
Days of Our QB: The NFL Quarterback Soap Opera Storyline Summary
In the NFL, it’s been widely proven by now, if your team doesn’t have a quarterback, then you really don’t have a team. Sure, you can cobble together a couple 9-7 seasons, maybe even win a division before getting your ass kicked 30-0 at home in the playoffs, but there…
NASA’s Inflatable Space House Didn’t Inflate
The International Space Station was supposed to get the very first expandable space house up and running on Thursday, but when astronauts tried to inflate the structure it wouldn’t fill and expand, and it’s still unclear why. The structure, formally known as the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (a.k.a. BEAM), has…
JOn Black Doesn’t Want to Be Houston’s Biggest Rapper — Just the Realest
JOn Black [sic] wants it known he appreciates and loves anyone who has supported him and his music, but he cautions against exactly how such affection might be reciprocated. “I got molested on stage by this chick,” Black recalls, citing one of the oddest moments from hundreds of shows he’s performed…
Friday Free For All: Daniel Johnston, Dinosaur Jr., Doug Sahm, X-25, etc.
The Friday Free For All relays albums, artists, videos and vibes the Houston Press Music staff has been grooving to over the past week. DANIEL JOHNSTON/THE SECRET GROUP I had a bizarre dream that lo-fi pioneer Daniel Johnston was performing in Houston, not in a big, impersonal room but somewhere…
Baylor Fires Football Coach Art Briles, Promises Sweeping Reforms and Other Personnel Changes
Baylor has fired football coach Art Briles, multiple news outlets including ESPN are reporting right now, citing anonymous sources. Briles exit comes as the Baylor waits for the results of an independent investigation into the university’s handling of sexual assault allegations against multiple Baylor football players during Briles’ tenure. Last week,…
Rodeo Raising Most Ticket Prices for First Time Since 2011
In its first increase since 2011, the Houston and Livestock Show and Rodeo announced it will raise ticket prices next season for all but the lowest tiers of seats. The sharpest increase is in the “Chute Level” in the lower tier/field level of NRG Stadium, where prices jump from $200…
Houston Restaurant Owner Hit by Thieves Twice Within Three Weeks
May has not proven to be a great month for Houston restaurant owner Paul Miller. He’s the owner of both The Union Kitchen and Jax Grill locations. As we reported, The Union Kitchen on Memorial was broken into in the wee hours of May 10. The thieves smashed the front door…
Kirby Ice House Says Dogs Okay, 21- and 22-Year-Olds Aren’t
As first reported in the Houston Chronicle, Kirby Ice House at 3333 Eastside has made an unusual decision. Even though the legal drinking age in Texas is 21, the bar’s new policy requires patrons to be 23 or older. The announcement was made on the bar’s Facebook page, where it…
City Council Unanimously Approves $2.3 Billion Budget
On Wednesday, City Council unanimously approved Mayor Sylvester Turner’s $2.3 billion budget for the 2017 fiscal year, a month ahead of schedule—something Turner was hoping would signal to the credit rating agencies that he isn’t messing around. Turner had faced a $160 million budget shortfall, caused by the city’s debt…
NY’s Bedlam Theatre Brings Shaw’s Saint Joan to Houston Courtesy of Stark Naked Theatre Co.
“Everybody in this play thinks they’re doing the right thing,” says Eric Tucker, director of Bedlam Theatre Company’s production of Saint Joan, on its way to Houston. “Thepeople who are in those positions, they think they make sense. There are no bad guys.” But, of course, there are bad outcomes,…
There’s No Reason to Be So Mad About Remakes
I’ve been wallowing in the mantrum over the all-female Ghostbusters remake coming out soon for a week or so (if you want to see some top shelf dude-vapors visit my professional Facebook page). Annoying the fragile masculinities of those guys is both my job and hobby, but through all of…
The Houston Press Has Found Its New Food Editor: Phaedra Cook
Phaedra Cook, the lead food critic for the Houston Press since September 2014 and an award-winning journalist is leaving behind her freelance status to accept the full time staff position of Food Editor for our publication. In her new position, Cook will be in charge of our online food coverage…
Pizaro’s Pizza Napoletana Owner Teases With Clues on His Third Restaurant
Bill Hutchinson, owner of two Pizaro’s Pizza Napoletana locations (one in the Memorial area and the other in Montrose) isn’t quite ready to completely let the cat out of the bag yet, but he let us get a peek and scratch it behind the ears a bit. In an interview…
The Best Houston Music We Heard in May
KYLE HUBBARD “Turning Heel” Yes, Kyle Hubbard did get some love in last month’s installment; but blame my colleague Nathan Smith for turning me onto Hubbard’s Four Free EP. The album’s first song, “Turning Heel,” is pretty tongue-in-cheek, I’d guess. Having had a 10-minute conversation with Hubbard ahead of his…
