Graffiti: noun - "The words, colors, and shapes drawn or scratched on buildings, overpasses, train cars, desks, and other surfaces. It's done without permission and it's against the law."
Graffiti: noun - "The words, colors, and shapes drawn or scratched on buildings, overpasses, train cars, desks, and other surfaces. It's done without permission and it's against the law."
Just like last week, Houstonist is bringing you some of our favorite recently uploaded YouTube videos that take place in or focus on Houston, whether they're fun, serious or silly. If you'd like to suggest a Houston-related video for the next edition of HouTube, shoot us an email. Today's edition: a prize-winning steer, graffiti and highlights from the weekend.
On Monday Houstonist posted about Stick Em Up a blog and documentary about the art of wheat-pasting in Houston. Just a few days later, MyFoxHouston ran this hilariously un-ironic story about the "new" form of graffiti plaguing the town, complete with hip music and cheesy color-saturated montages of what must be the sloppiest spray-painting in Houston.
From local Houston headlines, we bring you these weekend news bits... • The saga of Riley Ann Sawyers continues. This Chronicle article discusses how Riley's Mom ended up in Texas. • A ten year old fourth grader was cuffed in a school in Cleveland, Tx. • Four teenagers have been arrested in the murder of off-duty Precinct 6 reserve deputy constable Carltrell Lewayne Odom. • Six local firefighters were injured during a fire in...
::DiverseWorks Unveils This Old House:: Busy getting that Halloween costume together tonight? Well, take a break from the hot glue gun long enough to stop by DiverseWorks for tonight's unveiling of This Old House. Over the past few months, Aerosol Warfare has been transforming DiverseWorks’s satellite space into a fantastical pop landmark in midtown as part of our latest public art project, This Old House. The 2 story Victorian home, given to DiverseWorks to use...
Spent all your cash on girlie drinks and shattered dreams again this weekend, didn't you? No worries - Thriftster gives you the lowdown on cheap stuff to do until Paycheck Friday. Monday: If you're still in the Halloween mood, after all that blood red jell-o shot slurping and blacklight body paint application, hit the Lawndale Center's (4912 Main St.) retablo exhibit. Doors close at 5pm, which gives you plenty of time to nosh on some...
Good morning, Houston. Have you ever wondered why our freeways have multiple names — for example, I-45 south of downtown is also called the Gulf Freeway, the section through downtown is the Pierce Elevated and the part north of downtown is the North Freeway? Yeah, we have, too — and it seems we're not alone: The Chronicle's Tex-Arcana column tackled that question this weekend. The answer? In Houston, at least, the names tell where...
The Orange Show Center for Visionary Art is kicking off its Fall with a fantastic afternoon for families, children, artists and all very cool persons who enjoy art cars! Saturday, September 29th from 1-4pm, head on over to Munger Street, home of The Orange Show Monument, for food, drinks and the return of the 2006 winner of the Mayor's Cup - Atomic Dog, created by Waltrip High School. Those of you who hit the Art...
Back in February of this year, Houstonist attended a screening of the 1983 ground-breaking documentary Style Wars, as part of the MFA's "Movies Houstonians Love" series. The film, presented by one half of UGK,Bun B, was screened to a sold out crowd of Houstonians, and was followed by more than an hour's worth of conversation surrounding Houston's underground music and art culture, that was co-led by Style Wars star and DJ legend, Kay Slay....
Happy first weekend of September - and happy Labor Day weekend, too, for our American cities! Let's take a look at what's been happening around the Ist-a-verse. The deaths of two firefighters shook Bostonist this week. Boston's firefighters bent over backwards all week long - first, they fought flames pouring from the Boston Tea Party museum, and then a restaurant fire killed two and injured many more. Their efforts make everything else - like Tom...
Victor Montano, a sixteen-year-old Houstonian, was hit and killed by a police vehicle in New Orleans. He had been visiting the city for about two weeks. Police caught Montano spray painting along the floodwall last Thursday afternoon. When he saw the police, he took off running and the officer followed in his SUV. The officer said it appeared as though Victor was going to jump over a fence, but when tripped and fell in front...
This week ended with the launch of the seventh and final Harry Potter installation. But while the world was consumed with Pottermania, it's important to remember that there were more serious things going on in the world, too - two of them in -Ist cities. Sampaist was shocked when a passenger jet crashed into the center of Sao Paulo, killing at least 200 people. The airplane, an Airbus A320, skidded off the runway at the...
In a victory for lovestruck teenage vandals everywhere — or at least in Katy — the Katy school district has decided a student who wrote "I love Alex" in Sharpie on a gym wall won't be shipped off to alternative school after all. "It is our intention and commitment to comply with the law and board policy," Katy ISD Superintendent Alton Frailey told the Chronicle. "However, we remain extremely uncomfortable with rendering an assignment of any length to the district alternative school for what occurred."
More today on Shelby Sendelbach, the 12-year-old Katy junior high student who was shipped off to alternative school for writing a love message in marker on a gymnasium wall: The Katy ISD is now reconsidering its punishment. "I am looking at what happened and what options we have per state law and local policy," Katy Superintendent Alton Frailey told the Chronicle. "It is always my practice to follow the law and policy while looking out...
So there's a lot for school officials to worry about these days: drugs, gangs, arson, sexual assault — and writing stupid graffiti on gym walls. Don't believe those are all in the same category? Just ask Shelby Sendelbach, the 12-year-old Mayde Creek Junior High student who was sent to an alternative campus through Dec. 31 for writing "I love Alex" in blue marker on a gymnasium wall. You hear that, Alex? She's willing to...
Holy smokes! Giant fish on the MTA, Paris Hilton in jail, then out, then in again, Al Gore, goatses, blumpkins, Matt Damon, and baby art critics! It's been a busy week across the Ist-A-Verse, and here's a smattering of what's been going on. In Gothamist's neck of the woods, they found out that many things are possible: A man caught a 40+ pound fish off the Rockaways and took it home on the subway. Graffiti...
Seattlest has a talk with the photographer from last week's "Segway Mom" and then experiences some dissension in the ranks over the question of wine vs. beer. It's not West Side Story, but about as close as they'll get. They're also still waiting on some inbox relief after a spammer is arrested. As Chicagoist counts down the days to its third anniversary party, they found all-organic pizza to be underwhelming amidst the hoopla, tried...
El-P Performs at Numbers Tonight Happy Memorial Day, folks. If you are like us, your would like to negotiate for another weekend without so much rain. We are preparing the petition. One of our favorite things to do while it rains (or pretty much any other time), oh get your minds outta the gutter, is catch some live music indoors. Last night's Elliot Lipp show at the Proletariat, really got us in the mood....
Sip & Sketch @ Domy Books "ADCH at Domy: All the fun of tag-team graffiti. None of the danger." Take a sip (or a few) and unleash your drawing prowess with the Art Directors of Houston [ADCH], Sketch Klubb, Domy Books, and Café Brasil. This is your chance to draw, write, hang out, drink and create a communal work of art with designers, illustrators, artists, art directors and writers from above and below ground....
LAist is experimenting with blogging dates from J-Date, but finds the best men are found offline. Some date vicariously online and that is one reason why porn is big -- really freaking big -- so they ask if they should cover XXX since the heart of it lays in the city's San Fernando Valley. A writer grapples with her food porn photography obsession, another gets censored on Flickr, one gets scooped by the LA...
With all that went down this week, we thought we thought we'd cheer everyone up by giving everyone a double dose of dogs. It was a rollercoaster ride of emotions this week at DCist. Like the rest of country, we were floored by the news of so many dead coming out of Virginia Tech, and with so many of the victims and their relatives from the D.C. area, we felt it important to pay...
Spring is when we get busy here in the Ist-A-Verse. Very busy. But, after staying bundled-up indoors all winter, it's nice for us to be out, about, and collecting things to write about for you. Here's a glimpse at what's been keeping your favorite citybloggers busily away from home and out of bed. For LAist, strong winds attacked LA on the same day the Feds raided the Crips. Not to fear, though: the Japanese version...
No, that's not a typo. Houston can't be beautiful without u — uh, you! Tomorrow is Houston Beautiful Day, so let's make Houston shine! The day coincides with the beginning of The Great American Cleanup, which lasts until May 31st. Over the next month and a half, Houstonians will plant trees, pick up trash, and paint over graffiti, among other things, to improve the appearance of their neighborhoods. You can volunteer here to organize a...
Good morning, Houston! Are you a fan of Texas wildflowers? Good news, then: Thanks to a rainy winter, wildflowers are blooming across Central Texas and in parts of North and East Texas. If you're planning a flower-spottin' trip, check out the latest reports of wildflower hotspots — and remember, though it's really not illegal to pick bluebonnets, TxDOT recommends that you refrain from driving into them. Dang. >> Katrina fraud galore: The AP reports...
Today’s Photo of the Day comes from flickr user and Houstonist photo contributor laanba who treats us to this non-Houston like image that was actually taken downtown. The actual location is the Sunset Coffee Building near Allen's Landing but it looks as if it's straight out of the east coast.
Austinist gets arty with an interactive guide to SXSW, loved some local art galleries and a new art exhibit and lamented the possible loss of "Friday Night Lights" production to New Mexico. Bostonist was happy they finally found an Anna Nicole Smith connection to their fair city and that an Apple Store was opening up. They were less happy that new rules have been established limiting underage shows and that their Governor is spending...
We'd like to start this week's run-down by wishing a very happy birthday to parent blog Gothamist, which turned four on Friday. If it wasn't for them, the rest of us wouldn't be here. They celebrated their birthday by nabbing an interview with Entourage star Adrian Grenier, who misses NYC public transportation when he's working in LA. They also reported on NYU students protesting a band whose name is also known as a slur,...
Movies Houstonians Love: Houston Rapper Bun B presents "Style Wars" It's just that Larry Dierker, Barbara Bush, and B-U-N-B! That's right, folks. Houston's hometown rap impresario, and one half of UGK, Bun B joins the Movies Houstonians Love series at the Museum at Fine Arts tonight. Bun will be presenting "Style Wars", regarded by many as the definitive document of the emerging hip-hop culture.An emblem of the spirit that burst forth from underground tunnels, uptown...
Valentine's Day is only a few days away, and we here across the Gothamist network wanted to express would like to tell you, in the spirit of the holiday, just how much we love you, our readers. Don't let it get to your heads, though. There are plenty of things we love, you included. Just be glad you're not amongst the things we hate. SFist saw their beloved mayor enter rehab, and they loved the...
In November, Phillip Perez set a video camera up to tape himself painting graffiti art at a Montrose street festival. And he did record that — but he also recorded what he claims was excessive force used by HPD officers when they came along and arrested him. Now, Perez is suing the city, claiming he was falsely arrested and that his First Amendment rights were abridged, and he says the video proves his case.