Arts & Events: June 2009 Archives

For the Week of June 29th - July 1st, 2009 In case you were wondering, we made it out of Friday alive and had a great weekend along the way. Now, let's get down to the business of getting down this week.

• Dock Dogs. Televised on the Outdoor Channel, DockDogs competition consists of dogs jumping into water from a designated dock with the largest or highest leap earning that canine a victory. Dogs and owners travel to Houston to compete, and the competition will be open to local dogs too. At Jones Lawn in Discovery Green. See schedule here
• PRIDE, events throughout the weekend, culminating in the Houston Pride Parade at 8:45 p.m. Saturday, along Westheimer at Montrose.
• Extremely Shorts 12 at Aurora Picture Show, Saturday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 5 p.m. Aurora's most popular event, featuring dozens of films under five minutes and the annual Aurora Picture Show birthday picnic. Tickets $6-$12 for non-members, free for members on Saturday and $10 for members Sunday. At Molly Gochman's Studio, 2442 Bartlett St.

Yesterday, as mentioned in our last H-Town Rock post, there was supposed to be a Ben Kweller concert at House of Blues. Prior to the show Ben was also going to play an in-store at Houston's beloved Cactus Music and sign some autographs.

Chris "Big Black" Boykin is one of half of the hilarious duo that starred in the hit MTV series Rob and Big. The series centered around pro skater Rob Dyrdek, his bodyguard Big and their outlandish escapades, like man-pons, adopting a mini-horse, Bobby Light and Black Lavender.

H-Town Rock

For years Houstonians have grumbled about the lack of dining options in the Museum District. Grumble no more, there's a new taco shop in town. Bodega's Taco Shop is continuing their summer-long Thursday night Party on the Patio this week, with tunes by DJ George.G and giveaways from the mysteriously named "Tequila Drink Sponsors". If you can stand the heat, Bodega's Taco Shop has a spacious patio looking down lovely Caroline Street and boasts some of the best 'ritas in town. We hear the tamarind margarita (pictured) is the way to go.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, the first of the major summer blockbusters, opened this morning to sold out theaters filled with generations of nerds and a few of their friends.

::Refresh Houston presents Roby Fitzhenry of Always Creative::

Don't Ask Don't Tell, the U.S. military's controversial policy regarding gays in service, has been getting a lot of press lately. First, liberals hoped (and conservatives feared) that President Barack Obama might reverse the 16-year-old law. Then it looked like the Supreme Court might try to have their say.

For the Week of June 22nd-24th, 2009

::Ocote Soul Listening Party at The Flat::

Sunday is the Solstice, the first day of summer, and it's a weekend full of festivals and other ways to beat the Houston heat.

For the Weekend of June 18th-21st, 2009

Concert on the Green presents Paula Nelson Band and Thunderado, beginning at 6:30 P.M. on the Anheuser-Busch Stage and Fondren Performance Space. Paula started playing with her dad, Willie (yes, THAT Willie) at the age of 7 and has recently appeared at the Austin City Limits Festival, among others. Thunderado is a trio of Texas-natives that describe their influences as "western swing, rockabilly, surf, and Tex-Czech dancehall". This is a free concert in an ongoing series at Discovery Green.

Domy Books and Cinema Bomar present Our Wonderful Gulf Coast, a grab bag of locally made Houston-themed shorts and promotional films. The screening will begin at dusk with a selection of silent camera positives and working prints from a promotional film made by the Houston Chronicle. Many of the films date to the 1960s and 70s and will offer a look back at the Texas City Disaster, the computerization of the petrochemical industry, San Jacinto State Park, and oil rigs as marine environments. There is also a series of student films from U of H in the 70s and various local commercials from the 50s and 60s. If you go be sure to wear some insect repellent. The skeeters behind Domy are thirsty.

For the Week of June 15th-17th, 2009

::Double Shot of Vino::

There's something about the Old Sixth Ward that we really like. Maybe it's the charming old houses, or maybe the fact that the neighborhood feels like a small town even though it's barely outside downtown — or maybe it's that the OSW is so close to the bumpin' nightlife of Washington Avenue. (No, wait, it's probably not that last one, come to think of it.) Anyway, the point is that we really dig this Decatur Street home, which dates to 1883.

• 2:30 P.M. - Central City Co-Op and the Green Market at Discovery Green present Market to Menu: Cooking Local with Chef Ryan Pera. The Executive Chef from one of Houston's greenest restaurants, The Grove, will hold a cooking class featuring food from Green Market vendors.

Thursdays this summer the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston will show free screenings of the film Touched by Water, an exploration into bathing rituals from different cultures around the globe. Curated by Andrea Grover, founder of Aurora Picture Show, the Jacuzzi Movies series will provide jacuzzi seating for the first lucky few who call 713-284-8257 to make reservations. Looks like the CAMH is making good on the promise to create more interactive experiences, though there's no mention of whether the jacuzzi will be drained or if you'll need to bring a suit.

Each team plays 162 games during the regular season. The Astros have 83 home games on their docket. And, of those, only five are day games during the week, i.e. "a businessman's special."

This summer, the Houston Museum of Natural Science resumes Mixers and Elixirs every Friday night beginning at 7:00pm. Tickets cost $15 per person and you must be 21 and up to attend.

For the Weekend of June 11th - 14th, 2009

     

Gomez played Warehouse Live on Tuesday, June 9, 2009 - These are a few photos from the show

::Big Range Dance Festival - Venturing Out::

For the Week of June 8th-10th, 2009

::Lincoln Hall presents Dead Lucky: Life After Death on Mount Everest::

Shelterporn goes high-rise this week with a pad in The Houstonian Estates, the residential tower on the grounds of The Houstonian Hotel.

Head to Galveston tomorrow for the 23rd Annual AIA Sandcastle Competition. The event is sponsored by the Houston Chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and will be held on Galveston’s East Beach, Saturday, June 6th.

FRIDAY
• 8 p.m. — KUHF presents Metropolis, probably the greatest silent film at Discovery Green, 1500 McKinney in Downtown. This film has been rained out twice, so here's hoping for better weather. Original music performed live by the Golden Hornet Project. Free.

If you've driven past the Museum of Fine Arts this week, you probably noticed the multi-colored stripes being applied to the crosswalks surrounding the museum campus. No, it's not an embattled graffiti artist taking a stand, but a commissioned street art piece by Venezuelan artist Carlos Cruz-Diez. Cruz-Diez is renowned for his kinetic and optical art, in which he uses the composition of colored lines to create the illusion of movement and the occasional dizzy spell. The crosswalks are being adorned bit by bit this week in time for the Latin American Experience Gala and Auction at the MFAH this Saturday and the opening of North Looks South: Building the Latin American Art Collection. The MFAH has several of Cruz-Diez's pieces in their permanent collection, and Houston is the first American city to install one of his crosswalk pieces. If you don't have the cash to attend the gala, you can check out the exhibit for free this Sunday. We just love Target Free First Sundays, don't you?

It’s that time of year again. Hot sun, smothering humidity and random thunderstorms—all a part of the Houston summer. It also means it’s time for “Mixers and Elixirs” at the Houston Museum of Natural Science, starting this Friday, June 5th.

We got a twofer for ya this evening.

For the Weekend of June 4th - 7th, 2009

:: Windy & Carl + Golden Cities @ Diverseworks ::

The British are coming! The British are coming! Hold your horses, Paul Revere, we've gotcha covered.

Wheatfield was a band that formed in Houston in the 1970s after the three original members met during a talent show at Lamar High School. They played throughout Texas, headlining a young Austin City Limits, before disbanding in 1979.

For the Week of June 1st-3rd, 2009

:: Hoot Hoot! Rice Owls battle it out with KSU ::