Most Popular
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Barack Obama and Me
It was the year 2000 and I was a young hungry reporter in Chicago covering a young hungry state legislator
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Mescaline on the Mexican Border
Texas is the only state in the country where peyote is sold legally. Really.
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A Prison Cover-up During Hurricane Rita
For days after the storm, inmates in Beaumont lived without A/C, electricity or hot meals. Press releases kept saying everything inside was fine. Guards and prisoners agree — that was nothing but B.S.
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Little Bitty Burger Barn
"It's okay to be little bitty in the big city" is an apt slogan for this new burger joint, where sliders rule
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Ghost Town CFS: Carriage House Cafe
Step back in time — to a spooky old carriage barn with a monster chicken-fried steak
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Barack Obama and Me (253)
It was the year 2000 and I was a young hungry reporter in Chicago covering a young hungry state legislator
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A Prison Cover-up During Hurricane Rita (21)
For days after the storm, inmates in Beaumont lived without A/C, electricity or hot meals. Press releases kept saying everything inside was fine. Guards and prisoners agree — that was nothing but B.S.
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Save Lobo: A Siberian Husky Mix is Sentenced to Die (28)
Why? Because he's big and intimidating and because one family complained about him over and over again
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Are You Hot Enough for Citizen Lounge? (7)
All This Useless Beauty
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HoustonHipHop.com Relaunch Party (5)
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Are You Hot Enough for Citizen Lounge?
All This Useless Beauty
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Tired of the Hype, But That's All There Is
Next month, Houston gets to be a cool kid. But only for a week.
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The improbable redemption of Ashlee Simpson
"La La" Love You
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Rap's Rapidly Vanishing Female MC
The Why Chromosome
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A New Official State Song for Texas?
A case for a new — or different, anyway — state song
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Over the Weekend: Fotos, Dogs and Sausage. And Hannah Montana Too.
08:50AM 03/10/08 -
SXSW from A to Z
01:53AM 03/12/08 -
Spring Training: Draft Dennis Quaid!
02:04AM 03/12/08 -
Jameson’s Rarest Vintage Reserve at $250 a Bottle
12:20PM 03/11/08
What we are writing about
- American Gangster
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Recent Articles By Olivia Flores Alvarez
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“Face the Music: An Evening of Jazz Dedicated to Fighting AIDS in Africa”
Music for a good cause
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Downtown Houston Night Crawl
This is the “I didn’t know that!” tour
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“Richard Black: The Art of Cue”
HCCC presents works by craftsman Richard Black
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“Seeing Beneath Mount Everest: Probing a Breeding Ground of Destructive Earthquakes
Anne Sheehan talks about earthquakes, Mount Everest and scorpions
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Madame de…
What goes around, comes around
National Features
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SF Weekly
The Candidate
Our columnist knows Ralph Nader's running mate all too well.
By Matt Smith -
The Pitch
How Not To Be a Rap Star
First of all, lay off the Ecstasy.
By Nadia Pflaum -
Village Voice
Project Runaway
What becomes a gossip columnist most?
By Michael Musto
The Rippingtons
Thursday, August 10, at the Verizon Wireless Theater, 520 Texas, 713-230-1600
By Olivia Flores Alvarez
Published: August 10, 2006Smooth jazz kings the Rippingtons are celebrating two decades together with a new CD, 20th Anniversary, and a nationwide tour. In 1986 Russ Freeman and the Rippingtons came on the music scene with their own brand of smooth jazz. Something more accessible than straight-ahead jazz but still intelligent; smooth jazz became Freeman's personal playground. Over the years the Rippingtons circled the world, playing for crowds of loyal fans and releasing 17 albums, including Welcome to the St. James Club, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard charts. Through it all, founder Freeman (guitar, keyboards and programming) has been the heart of the group. And wherever he went, the group did, too. Literally and figuratively. When Freeman moved to Colorado in 1991, the group's next CD included the song "Aspen"; when he relocated to South Florida, the group developed a decidedly Latin sound. For the 20th Anniversary CD, the group is joined by past band members and friends such as Patti Austin, David Benoit, Dave Koz, Jeffrey Osborne, Tony Morales, Bill Heller and Kirk Whalum. Sadly, none of them is expected at the Houston show.
