Random Ephemera

Your Contactless Houston Halloween Fun Guide

Your Contactless Houston Halloween Fun Guide

Garage Rock Fans Get a Double Whammy on Record Store Day

Garage Rock Fans Get a Double Whammy on Record Store Day

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So You're in a Hurry to Get to the Plane and You Just Forgot You Put a Loaded Gun in Your Carry-on?

By Margaret Downing
Sep 29, 2020

In the period of one week, TSA officials at Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport have confiscated eight guns in passengers' carry-on luggage. Six of which were loaded. When the travelers were asked why they did this, the most common answer security officers got was "they forgot." According to a TSA...
Skateboarding — a Pretty Good Sport in Social Distancing Times - Jumps Back Into the Mainstream

By Cameron Martinez
Sep 22, 2020

Skateboarding will make its debut in the 2021 Summer Olympics in Tokyo and Houstonian Jordan Santana, 16, is a qualifier to the USA team. It took just seven decades and previous confinement to designated competitions like the X-Games, before skateboarding got the nod. The addition to the Olympics signifies an...
It’s Not Actually Illegal to Collect Rainwater

By Jef Rouner
Sep 15, 2020

It’s a weirdly prevalent meme from both hippies and libertarians that the government is walking around keeping people from collecting rainwater. Hang around anti-government malcontents long enough on social media and one of them will eventually make a joke based on the idea that collecting rainwater is stupidly illegal. Even...
Canoe Chronicles: Seven Tips for Safer, Happier Boating

By Jeff Balke
Sep 9, 2020

This is part three of an ongoing series of posts about my purchase of a canoe during the pandemic. In case you missed them, part one of this series was about locating a canoe during the pandemic, something that was easier said than done. Part two was about managing to...
White Whale Swims Again in RSD Exclusive Psych Pop Compilation

By Bob Ruggiero
Aug 17, 2020

One of the biggest COVID-Casualties in the music biz has been the cancellation of Record Store Day. The annual event celebrates independent stores and their music head/crate digger customers. They descend upon real brick-and-mortar buildings to snap up what are now hundreds of exclusive and limited edition RSD releases each...
Lavish Book Celebrates Joe Cocker's Legendary "Mad Dogs & Englishmen" Tour

By Bob Ruggiero
Apr 23, 2020

There once was a glorious age of Music Journalism Past, an era when the magical could happen. A time when interviews with rock stars weren’t 15-minute phoners with a publicist listening in, or concert pictures limited to first-three-songs-only-no-flash. For back then talent, luck, and moxie could combine to give a...
The Parts of Us That Will Die with COVID-19

By Rolando Rodriguez
Apr 13, 2020

If you’re searching and finding silver linings when it comes to COVID-19 and the inconvenient changes it’s caused society, you probably haven’t had someone close to you die from it. You’re exploring the bright side from a place of privilege. I hope it stays that way for all of us...
Paper Towels and Pee Pads: Surviving the COVID-19 TP Shortage

By Jeff Balke
Mar 23, 2020

In the first week of the coronavirus pandemic, across the country people were stocking up on the essentials: milk, eggs, cleaning supplies and toilet paper. Worries over quarantines and what measures we might be forced to take in the coming weeks and months caused a lot of people to lose...
Krampus Haunted House Brings a Nightmare Before Christmas

By Jef Rouner
Dec 12, 2019

By December, most of the haunted houses in and around Houston are all tucked in to rest before the next Halloween season rolls around. Not 13th Floor Haunted House. For one weekend only, they’ll be hosting Krampus: A Haunted Christmas for those of us who want less gingerbread and more...
The Wittliff Collections Save Texas Music History for the Ages...and the Public

By Bob Ruggiero
Sep 6, 2019

In the spring of 1956, 16-year-old William Dale Wittliff from Blanco, Texas decided that he really, really wanted to see a hot young singer named Elvis Presley who was giving a show at San Antonio’s Municipal Auditorium. So he and two buddies got in a car with Wittliff at the...
Best Bets This Weekend: Wit, Ask Me Another, Supernatural Death Corps

By Susie Tommaney
Sep 5, 2019

Houston Ballet kicks off its 50th anniversary season with the supernatural Giselle, the Houston Equity Festival explores the human connection in Wit, and Broadway powerhouse Kristin Chenoweth headlines NPR's Ask Me Another. Rounding out this weekend in Houston is an expo for indie gamers and designers, a doo-wop Stages production at...
They Died for Their Art...Literally!

By Bob Ruggiero
Sep 4, 2019

The Show Won’t Go On: The Most Shocking, Bizarre, and Historic Deaths of Performers Onstage By Jeff Abraham and Burt Kerns 240 pp. $16.99 Chicago Review Press If you’re ever interviewing a touring musician of a certain vintage, they might joke that they “hope to die onstage.” Similarly, when a...
5 Tips for Walking Your Dog in the Houston Heat

By Jef Rouner
Aug 26, 2019

Happy National Dog Day! In that spirit, let’s talk going outside. Unless you’re one of those people who have taught their dogs to use a litter box, your canine friend probably poops on nature once or twice a day. In addition, exercise and outside stimulation are important for their health...
Miss the Mayan Mindbender? Ride Revenge of the Mummy

By Jef Rouner
Aug 22, 2019

Do you remember the Mayan Mindbender at AstroWorld? I certainly do. It was the park’s first indoor rollercoaster, which was a wonder even back before climate change turned Houston pavements into egg griddles. Installed in 1995 after a stint as Nightmare at Boblo Island, it was a 1,148 ft coaster...
Swedish Death Cleaning: Lessons Learned and Living Life in Reverse

By Susie Tommaney
Aug 20, 2019

I've mined those open/closed wounds, explaining why I've become a huge fan of Swedish death cleaning, or döstädning, the process of slowly decluttering so that your death isn't a burden for those you leave behind. [related stories] As a three-time winner of being left to clean up a messy estate,...
Swedish Death Cleaning: Scripts In Search of a Stage

By Susie Tommaney
Aug 13, 2019

Döstädning is the process of slowly decluttering so that your death isn't a burden for those you leave behind. As a three-time winner of "being left behind" with a messy estate to clean up, I've become a huge advocate of Swedish death cleaning. Sure, the laws of reproduction mean we're only issued...
Swedish Death Cleaning: One Woman's Trash is Another's Treasure

By Susie Tommaney
Aug 6, 2019

My local thrift store became overwhelmed with donations earlier this year, so much so that they had to close one extra day a week just to process and catch up. Netflix was streaming Tidying Up with Marie Kondo and apparently we were all following the KonMari Method™ of clearing out clutter,...
Swedish Death Cleaning: Don Quixote and Those Windmills

By Susie Tommaney
Jul 30, 2019

We've all been horrified by those hoarding shows on television where a hazmat-suited army carries pile after pile of accumulated "stuff" out to a construction dumpster while the distressed homeowner argues valiantly about the merit of each object. That's the worst kind of hoarding, a compulsion that invites rodents and...
Is Your Home, Garden or Studio Funky Enough for the Weird Homes Tour?

By Susie Tommaney
Jul 15, 2019

Where others see a mattress frame, do you envision a support for your climbing plants? Does everybody know that zebra collectibles are what you want for all gifting occasions? Did your artist's canvas spill over until you realized you'd covered every wall, floor and ceiling with your unique style? If...
Candytopia is Better Than Willy Wonka in Real Life

By Jef Rouner
Jun 18, 2019

Candytopia is a traveling interactive exhibit that has just hit Houston for the summer, and it is also an experience that will literally melt all worry and cynicism from your bones. Walking through it is like being in a dream that also has helpful customer service. The installation is part...

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