Houston (Texas)

I Regularly Open My Home to Axe-Wielding Maniacs and Other Strangers... Why?

The sheriff department's officer was standing on my doorstep, still trembling with excitement. The red and blue lights from the patrol car flashed over his face, which was incredulous at the site of the person who opened the door at three in the morning - me, a middle-aged, gray-haired man in Nick & ... More >>

Thieves' Bazaar: Hospitals, doctors and dealers have made Medicare the nation's sweetest crime. The feds are now trying to shutter the door.

Paul McCartney at the Scottrade Center, 11/11/12: Review, Photos and Setlist

70-year-old Paul McCartney tripped and fell face-first from his piano riser onto the stage at the Scottrade Center. It was halfway through the 35th song of a three hour set. He sprang back up, struck a pose like a cartoon thief caught in a spotlight, strapped on his guitar and started trading solos ... More >>

The Old 97's Return to 1997 at the Pageant: Time Tripping at the Genesis of Alt-Country

Old 97s, with The Travoltas and Rhett Miller (solo) The Pageant Oct. 16, 2012 Music is a funny thing. Like photos or scent, songs have a way of making us remember the past. Late relatives. Swim class. That road trip to Dollywood with a jerk you never should have dated in the first place. Chances ar ... More >>

The Cardinals Finally Clinch

In the end, it probably happened the only way that made sense. The 2012 Cardinals are not about dramatic, thrilling victories, even if they occasionally pretend to be. The 2012 Cardinals are about letdowns at the biggest moments, and just being good enough overall to power through the heartbreak.&nb ... More >>

Paul McCartney Tickets Are On Sale at 10 a.m. Today [Sold Out]

Paul McCartney Tickets will be on sale at 10 a.m. today in St. Louis, Vancouver, Edmonton and Houston. He's appearing here on November 11 at the Scottrade Center. You can buy tickets for the St. Louis show here through Ticketmaster. They range from $27 (before fees) to $250. It looks to us at the mo ... More >>

27 Hip-Hop Videos You Should Know from St. Louis and Beyond

Editor: Tef Poe is an artist from St. Louis City. Through powerful imagery and complicated honesty, he has earned a reputation as one of the best rappers telling the story of St. Louis, which is about much more than one place. Poe has been featured in music publications such as XXL and Urb Magazine. ... More >>

Have You Illegally Downloaded the Porno "Total Black Invasion 2"? Beware this Lawsuit!

Yesterday, in our esteemed federal court, the Southern California-based company, West Coast Productions -- "Your Premier Source for Interracial Porn!" -- filed suit against 71 unnamed people living in eastern Missouri. The accusation? That they infringed copyright by downloading "Total Black Invasio ... More >>

BlackFinn American Grille: An imperfect harmony

What Makes a Hip-Hop Classic?

Editor: Tef Poe is an artist from St. Louis City. Through powerful imagery and complicated honesty, he has earned a reputation as one of the best rappers telling the story of St. Louis, which is about much more than one place. Poe has been featured in music publications such as XXL and Urb Magazine. ... More >>

Fun With Park Factors! (And College Draftees)

I still haven't gotten my shit together enough (or found the multiple hours necessary), to complete the last part of my draft report for the Cardinals this year. I feel very bad about this state of affairs; I just thought you should all know. However, despite my inability to get the larger piec ... More >>

Blues: Meet the 2012 RFT Music Award Nominees

The 2012 Riverfront Times Music Showcase is two weeks away. And if that is our own St. Louis Music holiday, then consider this the season: Throughout May, we've been making our cases for all 125 bands and artists nominated for an RFT Music Award this year, introducing the nominees from one or more o ... More >>

Texas Eatery Holds Patrons Hostage Over Tip Dispute, We Grouse About Automatic Gratuity

Working in the food service business is a two-way street. Sometimes patrons offend with rude behavior, tiresome substitution requests or by carting along their obnoxious children who cry, run amok and spoil everything for everyone. And then, sometimes, it's the restaurant, chef or waitstaff who disa ... More >>

Bun B, 8Ball & MJG Promoter Jonathan Burns Talks About This Weekend's Show and His Past

Big time, old school hip hop headlines a weekend of top tier rap acts with 8Ball & MJG and Bun B at the Ambassador in North County this Saturday night (6 p.m., $25-$40). Yo Gotti and his I Got That Sack tour is at the Ambassador on Friday (6 p.m., $35-$75), and Yung Joc is at Posh late on Saturday ( ... More >>

The Best of SXSW Music: Friday 3/16/2012

If you're familiar with chaos theory, which in its basic form is the attempt to find patterns in the random acts of shit on Earth, then you may understand the difficulty that comes with describing a full day at SXSW. To break down the chaos, Village Voice Media's roving music editors have selected t ... More >>

Madonna is Coming to the Scottrade Center: Pre-Sale and Ticket Information [Update]

Madonna, fresh off a Super Bowl appearance and more aware of how to capitalize than possibly anyone in pop music, has just announced a massive 2012 tour. And just days before Madonna 2012 World Tour goes out in (presumably) a blaze of infinite production value in Miami, she'll make a stop here in St ... More >>

Cassy Vires of Home Wine Kitchen, Part 2

This is part two of Stephen Fairbanks' Chef's Choice profile of Cassy Vires of Home Wine Kitchen. Part one can be found here. Part three, a recipe from Vires, will be posted Thursday. Jennifer SilverbergChef/owner Cassy Vires in the cheese case.​ Did your family cook when you were a child? N ... More >>

Cassy Vires of Home Wine Kitchen

This is part one of Stephen Fairbanks' Chef's Choice profile of Cassy Vires of Home Wine Kitchen. Part two, a Q&A, will be posted tomorrow, and part three, a recipe from Vires, will be posted on Thursday. Jennifer SilverbergHusband-and-wife owners of Home Wine Kitchen, Josh Renbarger and Chef Cassy ... More >>

Cardinals Finalize Coaching Staff for 2012

commons.wikimedia.orgMark McGwire is one of five coaches from Tony La Russa's 2011 staff who will return next season under new manager Mike Matheny.​The Cardinals announced their full coaching staff for next season yesterday, putting to paper the group who will support Mike Matheny as he takes ove ... More >>

The Radiohead Presale is Tomorrow Morning: How to Increase Your Chances

Don't be like this dance enthusiast and miss out. ​You know by now: Radiohead has announced the first leg of its 2012 tour and St. Louis has one of the shows. It's on March 9th at the Scottrade Center, and tickets go on sale through Ticketmaster on Saturday at 10 a.m. But some spots (history ... More >>

Curren$y, Method Man And Big K.R.I.T At The Pageant, 10/25/11

Method Man: Show stealer​Curren$y | Method Man | Big K.R.I.T The Pageant October 25, 2011 The 2011 Smoker's Club tour hit St. Louis last night, leaving in its wake both fond memories and irreparably damaged brain cells. The all-ages crowd wasn't quite a sellout -- the balcony remained closed ... More >>

Central Middle School Gets $30,000 To Restart Its Music Program

Diana BenantiMr. Nowden's class shows off their $30,000 check from VH1 and Energizer. ​This morning, VH1's Save the Music program teamed up with Energizer and local strummer Javier Mendoza to gift a local middle school with $30,000 in musical instruments. Central Middle School, in the Bellefon ... More >>

Ask a Mexican: Would Mexico have been better off if the American Southwest remained Mexico?

The Terrace View, Jonathan Olson Part Ways

Robin WheelerChef Jonathan Olson​Jonathan Olson is no longer running the kitchen at The Terrace View (808 Chestnut Street; 314-436-8855), the Jim Fiala restaurant inside the grounds of Citygarden.Neither Olson nor Fiala, in separate phone interviews, wished to delve into the details of the split." ... More >>

What Terrence Malick has to offer in Tree of Life is worth working for

New Charter School South City Prep Granted $220,000

Courtesy of Mike Malone​"Veni, vidi, vici" is not a phrase you see very often outside of Roman history, other than those T-shirts you get for free after stomaching a twenty-pound hamburger. The translation -- I came, I saw, I conquered -- is a pretty fearsome one for a charter school, but when ... More >>

Reviewing the Cards' Draft -- Rounds 2-5

​Two down, one to go. The MLB draft proceeded on through round 20 yesterday, giving the Cardinals ample chance to add talent to their farm system, as well as frustrate and annoy fans and easily-baited internet columnists alike. The final 30 rounds will happen today, with very few of the players at ... More >>

BlackFinn American Grille to Open at the Galleria

Courtesy of BlackFinn American GrilleBlackFinn offers lobster mac & cheese.​Ben & Jerry's and the California Pizza Kitchen will be joined in the St. Louis Galleria in late September by a new concept for the Midwest: the BlackFinn American Grille. BlackFinn's menu items include seafood items s ... More >>

Winners and Losers On Day One Of the Draft

​The first round of the 2011 NFL Draft is in the books, and there's plenty to talk about before round two starts up again tonight. Cam Newton was picked first overall and fellated unceasingly by pretty much everyone with a microphone for the rest of the night. The lockout scared a bunch of teams i ... More >>

More Bullpen Hijinks in Houston

​You know, it's beginning to feel like pretty much an everyday occurrence, writing something about the current state of the Cardinals' bullpen. I suppose it's understandable, though; the relief situation for the Cards this year is rapidly becoming the single biggest defining characteristic of this ... More >>

South Central Regional Barista Competition: And the Winner Is...

The setup at one of the stations at the South Central Regional Barista Competition.​Several former baristas work here at Gut Check International Headquarters, and sometimes when we're really, really bored, we gather in someone's cubicle and compare war stories. Oddly enough, none of these stor ... More >>

Kaldi's Hosts South Central Regional Barista Competition This Weekend

James HoffmannDream big: A participant in a past World Barista Championship. The South Central Regionals take place in St. Louis this weekend, April 1-3.​What's that buzz? It's the sound of baristas and coffee aficionados descending on the Chase Park Plaza today, April 1, through Sunday for th ... More >>

St. Louis Ranked Eighth Most Toxic City

​A report out yesterday ranks metropolitan St. Louis as one of the most "toxic" (i.e. polluted) cities in the nation. The study by Forbes.com looked at cities based on five factors: air quality, water quality, the number of nearby Superfund sites, amount of days when the air-quality index (AQI) ex ... More >>

Food Porn Truck Hits a Bump.

Remember yesterday's food truck porn story? There's scandal afoot! Eater.com learned that the food truck in Ron Jeremy's new film, "The Flying Pink Pig" is a real Los Angeles food truck, used without the owner's permission. The owner of the Flying Pig, Joe Kim, was told by an ex-employee that the a ... More >>

Miami Doctor Sues Restaurant After Eating a Whole Artichoke

Image viaDr. Arturo Carvajal didn't know what to do with these.​A ridiculous restaurant anecdote? Or the single best argument for tort reform I've ever seen?This article by Gus Garcia-Roberts from our sister paper Miami New Times just may be both: Arturo Carvajal, a doctor, is suing Houston's Rest ... More >>

Mizzou Loses Shutout Streak, Beats Texas A&M Handily

​The Tigers of Missouri headed into College Station Saturday as 3-point underdogs, preparing to play in perhaps the most intimidating environment in all of college football. They left with a 6-0 record, their first since 2006, and a budding national awareness of just how good this current Tigers s ... More >>

Stone Temple Pilots' Family Arena Show is Canceled

Family Arena just announced that Stone Temple Pilots' September 30 show is canceled. Says the venue: Atlantic recording group Stone Temple Pilots today announced that they have re-routed a portion of their upcoming U.S. tour dates. Beginning September 21 in El Paso, TX the band will take a short br ... More >>

Twelve Things To Do This Weekend: September 17-19

Dan ZettwochA late 2009 RFT cover featuring KSHE mascot Sweet Meat.​Summer's not over yet! There's still one more week (more or less) to enjoy the last gasps of carefree fun and outdoor hangs. Here are twelve good bets for the weekend -- of course, on top of the events we've already covered he ... More >>

Nordstrom Rack: Death Knell for Area Malls?

shop.nordstrom.comCrowds gather at a Nordstrom Rack opening in Houston.​As all St. Louis shopaholics certainly know, today is the grand opening of the region's first Nordstrom Rack, the off-price warehouse of the famous department store. The retailer welcomed customers about two hours ago to its s ... More >>

LouFest, Day Two: Alejandro Escovedo

Jon GitchoffAlejandro Escovedo at LouFest. More photos from day two here.​Alejandro Escovedo, who had the unenviable task of playing before Jeff Tweedy, is cooler than all of us. That's a simple, unassailable fact - and not just because he sported a long-sleeved jacket, as if to spite the humi ... More >>

Man Arrested in East St. Louis Trafficking 143 Pounds of Cocaine

Q: What does Tony Montana call 65 kilos of cocaine? A: Breakfast.​Dios mios, that's a lot of coke.  Hilario Medina of Houston has been charged with trafficking cocaine after being caught with 65 kilos (143 lbs.) of the drug in route to Chicago. The Associated Press reports that Medina, 45, wa ... More >>

News from Robust, Cielo

Jennifer SilverbergInside Robust in Webster Groves​Checking in with our friends around the St. Louis food Interwebs reveals a couple of news items today. George Mahe reports on St. Louis Magazine's Feast that Webster Groves wine bar and restaurant Robust has named Kris Janik executive chef and Fra ... More >>

An Immigrant's Heart

To survive the ordeal of escaping Guatemala, Julia needed a big Heart. But not this big.

Ask a Mexican! Special Minuteman Project Edition

Chile Reception: Ian goes for the burn with Mayuri's Indian cuisine

Accused Drug Dealer from Rural Missouri Lived Life Like Episode of Miami Vice

Where were you guys?​The only characters missing from a drug case made public yesterday in federal court in St. Louis were detectives James Crockett and Ricardo Tubbs.  According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Daniel Bryan Webster, a car dealer from Stanton, Missouri, (approximately 60 miles ... More >>

Local Punks the Humanoids, God Fodder, Suburban Smash Leavin' for Tours

Photo: Nick SchnelleThe Humanoids perform at the Halo Bar during the RFT music showcase back in June. Things may be a little quieter on the local punk scene in the next few weeks as the Humanoids, Suburban Smash and God Fodder all depart Saturday for tours. Suburban Smash and God Fodder pile in ... More >>

SXSW Report: Saturday with PJ Harvey and Beyonce's Little Sister, Friday with New York Dolls and Camera Obscura

Where to begin? I should start with the ornamental comb, like three white gleaming stakes from some Gnostic purification ritual, holding a jet-black stack of hair atop the fiery head of Polly Jean Harvey. She's never wanted for making an impression. Wrapped in white, backed by a hard avant-garde blu ... More >>

Letters

Week of April 28, 2004