Arts & Events: May 2009 Archives

Devoted readers of Shelterporn will remember that we're fans of John Staub, one of Houston's most sought-after residential architects of the early 20th century. (Devoted readers of Shelterporn will also notice that there hasn't been much Shelterporn to read lately. Sorry about that.) We also love imagining what it would be like to live in River Oaks — the daily cocktail hour; long, relaxing drives in the Bentley; sipping cocktails while driving the Bentley — and so we couldn't resist pointing out that another Staub-designed River Oaks manse is on the market.

This Sunday, Houston's hardware-turned-eco-friendly store, New Living, teams up with local Houston fashion designer, Neha Gupta of national luxury organic cotton line Sama Baby Organics, with an eco-fashion show featuring her Summer 2009 collection for newborns to 6 years old.

The Big Easy Social and Pleasure Club is one of Houston's divey-est and awesomest bars. It's a great place to hear authentic blues and zydeco. And if you really like authentic blues, you'll love BluesHammer. the chance to get on stage and jam with other music-lovers without the pressure of having to go to band practice every week.

For the Weekend of May 28th - 31st, 2009

:: A/V Swap Info Session + Film Viewing ::

Not all cool Houston-area events happen inside the Loop, and Houstonist knows our readership extends beyond the beltway. In fact, there's a new-ish coffee shop north in I-45 we've been hearing a lot about, situated kind between The Woodlands and Spring, called the Dosey Doe.

For the Week of May 25th - 27th, 2009

The hometown Dynamo were once again dyno-mite as they trounced the San Jose Earthquake 3-1 at Robertson Stadium last night. Houstonist was there and snapped some shots.

Big fans of crawfish boils are we especially when there's a chance to give back to the community. We know you are, too, which is why we're passing on the word from our friends at Texas Girls for a Cure about their boil tomorrow.

Friday
• 8 p.m. — KUHF Silent Film Concert Series: Girl Shy. Two Star Symphony performs along with this silent film about a shy, bumbling bachelor who falls in love with an already-engaged girl. At Discovery Green, FREE!

The Pack A.D. is a garage rock duo out of Vancouver, Canada whose sound is steeped in a healthy portion of the blues. The drumming of Maya Miller meets with the singing and guitar work of Becky Black to create an appealingly raw and visceral sound that calls to mind Son House, Janis Joplin, and The Black Keys. The band has released two records: Tinytype was self-released by the band in 2007 (re-released by Mint Records in2008) and Mint Records released Funeral Mixtape in 2008.

As a kid, Houstonist would spend every summer break hanging out at the Community Center/Library in our hometown, where Mom dropped us off each morning on her way to work.

For the Weekend of May 21st - 24th, 2009

::Emerging Green Builders May Event ::

For the second night in a row, Domy Books plays host to an interesting night of film.

For the Week of May 18th - 20th, 2009

:: Movie Night @ DOMY ::

It's arguable that the culture of no zoning in Houston has anything to do with it, but Houston artists have worked and exhibited outside traditional museum and gallery settings for decades. No Zoning, now on view at the CAMH, documents the alternative art scene in Houston and the ideas, structures and projects that have emerged from our unique urban landscape.

Tomorrow is Bike to Work Day, according to the national organization League of American Bicyclists which means hundreds of Houston-area riders will be flooding Memorial Park for a massive two-wheeled pilgrimage into Downtown (and beyond).

"Wolff’s essays and performances explore autobiographical narratives as daydreams and fantasy through a filter of the American pop culture idiom. "Dead Dogs" and "Why I Hate Debra Winger" are two works in progress about change, loss and personal evolution.

For the Weekend of May 14th-17th, 2009

:: AYCE Crawfish @ the Social ::

                     

So now that we've officially sobered up recuperated enough to write coherently — or as coherently as we ever do — we want to take a second to thank everyone who showed up at The Coffee Groundz on Saturday for the 2nd Annual Houstonist Crawfish Boil. We think almost all our 11 readers made it, and they brought 139 of their closest friends. Now a party.

If you're anything like Houstonist — and let's face it, you are — you divide your day pretty evenly between three tasks: counting down the days until the premiere of the . Hollywood and the British press generally take care of the first two for us, and now the folks behind Monnalisa, the bar in the new Hotel Sorella, are giving us an outlet for No. 3, too.

Got a few extra pounds of crawfish you need to burn off before heading to Galveston's lovely beaches in your mankini? Houstonist can think of no better motivation than an ice cold beer waiting for us at the end of a three-mile run (5 kilometers = 3.1 miles).

For the Week of May 11th - 13th, 2009

::Open Mic @ the Duck::

Last week Houston mayoral candidates participated in a forum at the Museum of Fine Arts to discuss their plans for promoting and improving the arts in Houston. The candidates spent just over an hour addressing questions ranging from the role of government in the arts, city funding, and the ways city infrastructure can impact the arts. While an hour may not seem like enough time to address such a complex issue as the arts in Houston, the candidates were able to provide broad overviews of their plans. We put together a summary of the discussion after the jump.

Last night, the Houston Museum of Natural Science had a kick-off party for the new Diamonds exhibit and Houstonist was there. The exhibition itself, which opens today, is quite informative, illustrating the history of diamonds in culture, industrial uses, where the heck the pretty minerals come from and of course any lady’s favorite - the gem vault featuring some major bling. Highlights include one of the largest diamonds ever found, a rather ornamental pair of opera glasses, interactive displays, and for anyone currently shopping for rings a very nice explanation of all the C’s complete with examples -shiny, expensive, mesmerizing examples.

We've never been fans of the work week, but never has our Monday through Friday grind seemed so endless. Time has been creeping along since Monday when we tersely answered your questions about tomorrow's 2nd Annual Houstonist Crawfish boil. Now that it's nearly here we thought it prudent to fill-in a few more of the relative blanks.

Moms like books right? I mean, we're willing to bet yours taught you to read. Well, pay her back this Mother's Day with these two book events happening in town. Need a last minute gift idea? We've gotcha (book) covered.

This Saturday at Alamo Drafthouse, Houston is in for a treat. A strange, voyeuristic, 80's tinged video treat. Joe Pickett and Nick Prueher are the founders of the Found Footage Festival. Their credits include The Onion, Colbert Report and the Late Show with David Letterman. The Festival itself is a hilarious, sometimes awful look at the underbelly of corporate videos, instructional films and home movies collected at garage sales, thrift shops and other odd nooks around North America. Houstonist found Joe and Nick recently to find out more about the Found Footage Festival.

::Happy Hour for Memorial Park Conservancy::

For the Weekend of May 7th - 10th, 2009

::BooTown Fringe Festival Happy Hour + and Scatter! Improv::

::Cinco De Mayo Margarita Competition::

Last week whilst doing our daily perusing of the MFAH calendar of events, we noticed the site recently underwent a facelift. Well, to be fair, only the homepage did. The rest of the site is still an overly busy collection of links, exhibits and sections.

Thousands of crawfish will sacrifice themselves for your dining pleasure this Saturday at the 2nd Annual Houstonist Crawfish boil. Response for this year's event has been outstanding thus far. And, we can't wait to see you on Saturday.

For the Week of May 4th - 6th, 2009

In preparation for the Art Car Parade weekend-o-fun (May 8-10), we got the scoop on the whole shebang from Orange Show for Visionary Art's programs director, Phillip Marshall.

::Mayoral Forum on the Arts::