Results tagged “houstonmisc”

Nikki Sixx, bass player for Motley Crue stopped in town this weekend for a book and CD signing at Borders on Kirby. Fans lined up before the store opened for a chance to get his new book and CD, The Heroin Diaries signed by the author. There were many fans in attendance, some coming from as far as Dallas. Houstonist would like to thank Borders District Manager, Suzannah Napier for this opportunity....

We're always looking for more ways to learn about our great city, so why not start at home? Not only is it interesting to know about the plat upon which you live, but it can also help to paint part of the picture of Houston's interesting, albeit short history, and there are quite a few on and offline resources to help with research. An easy way to start is to find the specific name of...

Houston Mod Board members Jason Smith, Robert Searcy, Ben Koush, Michael Brichford, and Stephen Fox were included in an article in Tribeza magazine about Houston's modern architecture. The article highlights Smith's renovation of his William Jenkins-designed home in Willow Bend, and also touches on Houston Mod's mission and goals of education and awareness of Houston's modern architecture. “It’s really a waste,” laments Searcy. “We are filling our landfills with works of art—and replacing them with...

Jugglers, performers on stilts, dancing girls, horn players, a bass player, drummers and percussionist all converged on Market Square as the sun went down for a little free early evening entertainment. It was Portland's own MarchFourth Marching Band who provided Friday nights free show and we posted about them earlier in the day. So we took our own advice and headed down there to catch this unique and highly entertaining show. As we strolled...

Oni-Con is Houston's original anime convention and it's held once a year. If you are not familiar with anime, please allow us to bring you up to speed. Anime is a drawing and animation style that originated in Japan and has been popular in America for quite some time with shows such as Pokemon, Sailor Moon and Dragon Ball Z. Maybe you've seen these animated shows on Cartoon Network late at night while channel...

The party is at Rudyard’s tomorrow – you know - THE party. The Black Math Experiment’s CD Release Party for “All You Need is Blood”, at which a couple of other bands will be performing. La Sed will bring some progressive rock courtesy of Puerto Rico and Mk Ultra adds politically-minded psychedelic punk to the mix (political as in the song writing may focus on fighting military culture and the 9/11 conspiracy). This should be...

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...

We wouldn't go quite so far as to say that every day is an anniversary of 9/11, but there are several events happening around the city today to remember 9/11 and its victims. So hit them up, whether you're a firefighter, a civilian, or a troofer. >> Houston Fire Museum dedicates new statue: The Houston Fire Museum will dedicate a new statue titled "In the Line of Fire" to honor firefighters everywhere. The sculpture will...

After an extraordinarily embarrassing event wherein Houstonist unwittingly drove the wrong way down a portion of South Braeswood Boulevard, we decided to thoroughly investigate the nature, goals, and idiosyncrasies of the Braeswood Boulevards. Our results have been quite astonishing and maddening, as these braided hydra-like streets weave, change course, change names, and sometimes suddenly disappear for a portion of their overall path as though it were not no thang at all. Our ultimate aim...

Headed around town this weekend? - Maybe to an Astros or Dynamo game before School starts up? Well, you may want to take rethink your normal route and put on your patience hat as several major road closures will be going on around town. Here are the major closures from TxDOT (full list here): I-10 Katy Westbound Connector Ramp to BELTWAY 8-WEST north- and southbound. TOTAL CLOSURE. Closed continuously from 5:00 AM, Saturday, August 25...

More on Hines' proposed 47-story downtown skyscraper: The Chronicle has some details about the building and its design, and it looks like it really could be something different for the CBD. Plans call for the 630-foot building to be clad in glass, with the west facade featuring projecting vertical glass fins to shade offices from afternoon sunlight. Near the top of the building, on its east side, will be a notched opening that'll shelter...

Earlier this year, we told you about how Houston was going to be one of two test markets for Arbitron’s new radio rating system, the Portable People Meter (PPM). The PPM was developed to eventually replace the archaic diary rating system (where Arbitron randomly sends people a diary – and $2 for their efforts – to record what stations they listen to). The PPM is a pager-like device that you carry with you and records...

Ever wanted to be that lucky schlub who gets to throw out the ceremonial first pitch at a Major League Baseball game? Are you good at whoring yourself out for attention? Great! The Astros and AT&T are standing by to scratch both of those itches for you. The 'stros are partnering with AT&T to allow a fan to throw out a first pitch at an Astros game this season, and all you have to do...

Houstonist is happyist when we aren't working, when we are able to drive south on Shepherd from Allen Parkway to Richmond without encountering left turning jackasses, and when we get to hang out with our readers. We're celebrating Houston's 171st birthday with a pub crawl on August 31st. Join us for a stroll in and around the establishments in the Market Square area. Share your thoughts about the site and we may buy you...

The Chronicle reported yesterday on Harris County's plans to demolish two of its buildings to make way for another amazing county plaza. Fair enough — the county has a lot of buildings, and apparently we could always use another plaza. The problem is that the two structures that are potentially on the chopping block — the former District Attorneys Building at 201 Fannin and the Family Law Center at 1115 Congress — happen to be...

So, in case you haven't noticed, it's hot. Exactly how hot? It was 102 yesterday afternoon, tying the record set in 1962. On Friday, the heat index reached as high as 111 in some parts of town. Highs have been over 95 since last Monday, and it looks like they'll continue that way until the end of this week. Good lord. Looks like it's time to invest in a giant bag of ice and a...

Today’s video comes from one of our favorite movies, Rushmore - which also happened to be filmed in Houston (as you probably already know). Wes Anderson, writer & director of the film, is known for having musical interludes throughout his productions and in this short & climactic scene the music is provided by Cat Stevens’ The Wind, from his 1971 album Teaser and the Firecat. This song really captures the film’s turning point as...

Westheimer Road is a long, thriving, paved snake of potholed infrastructure. It guides you into town from the Grand Parkway through Beltway 8 and Loop 610 until it brings you all the way into a cozy, little enclave of town we lovingly refer to as The Montrose. Not really the heart of Houston, because that would probably be the Medical Center, but more like the liver or one of the kidneys of Houston as...

The Dimes may not have swept the Houston Press Music Awards last week, but they did leave with the most trophies – three, to be exact (Best New Act, Best Indie Rock, and Song of the Year). While puppies (in age, that is) compared to many on the Houston music scene, they’re making a big splash right out-of-the-box. We caught up with Carlos Sanchez, guitarist and lead vocalist for The Dimes, as he and the...

So, short of some kind of miracle — we're not sure exactly what kind, but we're thinking maybe a midnight ghostly visit to Weingarten Realty CEO Drew Alexander, a la A Christmas Carol — the north section of the River Oaks Shopping Center will be coming down in the next few days, to be replaced with a new retail strip anchored by a Barnes & Noble megastore. And in case you've forgotten, B&N's moving into...

Finally, Google Street View has come to Houston. Now we can see all those far-flung parts of town we've always wanted to check out — without having to leave Houstonist World Headquarters! Kind of, anyway: Most of the street view streets are on the southwest side, and almost all of 'em are inside the Beltway. No virtual tours of Alief for us, we guess. If you haven't used Google Street View, here's an introductory...

Chances are that we all know Alfred Eisenstaedt's iconic Life magazine photo of a sailor kissing a nurse in Times Square on V-J Day — easily one of the most-recognized photographs in American history. In the half-century since that photo was taken, there's been a lot of speculation over who, exactly, the sailor and nurse were: In the midst of the celebration, Eisenstaedt didn't stop to ask names, and there were apparently a lot of...

We love getting the dirt on City Hall by reading the Chronicle's NewsWatch: City Hall blog. But it's usually not quite as titillating as something Matt Stiles put up yesterday: the story of a pink sex toy found in a men's room at the City Hall Annex. Stiles found out about the discovery when he got to his office yesterday: a police officer, a janitor and two security guards were huddled around a trash can...

We knew there had to be some history behind Houston's opening its doors to hurricane evacuees from New Orleans a couple of summers ago — and now, thanks to the Chronicle's addictive Bayou City History blog, we know what it was: Early in 1949, the Houston City Council annexed the city of New Orleans. So, hey, all you transplanted New Orleanians: Welcome home! It all started Dec. 31, 1948, when Houston annexed more than...

This weekend, the Chronicle took a look at the political donation patterns of different areas of Houston — and though there weren't really any surprises, it's interesting to see exactly who's giving how much to whom. The most money, as you might expect, is coming from the neighborhood with the most money: Residents of the 77019 ZIP code, in River Oaks, gave the most political donations of anyone in the Houston area in the first...

After you get your groove on at the MFA's Mixed Media Series tonight, head over to The Proletariat for some late night worship with Houston's own ice sculptor extraordinaire and general wild man, The Reverend Butter. The Reverend will be doing what he does best, performing one of a kind, live ice sculpting shows. There will also be giveaways and music by DJ Trainwreck. The Reverend reminds everyone coming out to the show not...

Houstonist is always partial to a good ghost story, and we'd nearly forgotten about one in our own back yard: the tale of James Briton "Brit" Bailey, the poor soul who has spent the past 175 years wandering around a field between Angleton and West Columbia in search of a drink. Fortunately, KTRK reminded us of Bailey — and if you'll gather around the campfire, we'll tell you a little about him. The Handbook...

So here's something interesting for people who keep track of abandoned downtown buildings: The Houston Business Journal reports that Omni Hotels has plans to revamp the old Sheraton-Lincoln into a luxury suite hotel. The 28-story hotel at 717 Polk Ave. opened in 1962 and closed in 1986; according to the folks at the Houston Architecture Forum, the nearby Hyatt Regency bought the building in the late 1990s for a proposed expansion, but that deal fell...

Something we neglected to pick up from the weekend: According to the Chronicle, the city's attempt to curb the erection of billboards. But before you get too excited, it doesn't mean you'll start seeing less of the giant, landscape-blocking signs anytime soon — the city's current effort is aimed at one company that's putting up billboards just outside the city limit, in Houston's extraterritorial jurisdiction.

In Wallis, a sign in front of an ice house is getting a lot of attention for the messages it's carrying, KTRK reports. "Welfare started as a hand up, not a generational lifestyle!!!!!" the sign read recently. Other messages have included "If you can't feed them, don't breed them," and "America proud, one language: English." And those haven't sat well with some Willisites, who claim the messages are inappropriate and racist — or nationalist....