Heading out this afternoon for a bit of burglary and a cocktail? Learn from the mistakes of others and leave the alligator in the road. William Johnson couldn't seem to pass up the thought of being the only one on his block to have a real live reptile and a hot wide screen T.V. Actually, Johnson had two reptiles in the car if you count the water moccasin. Houstonist can only wonder how he......

Need to know just a little bit about something? Ask a dilettante. There are two male penguins at Moody Gardens who are raising an abandoned penguin hatchling. Finally. New York has had its gay penguin celebrity couple for years now. It's about time we had one down here. Uh, you didn’t ask a question. Anyway, Dilettante was a bit behind the times on her penguin sexuality, so she googled “gay penguins” (without the quote marks)......

Here's a feel-good story to send you off to lunch: A pair of penguins that survived a truck crash in East Texas in August have now hatched a penguin chick at Moody Gardens. All together now: Aaaaawwwwwwww! The baby penguin was born Nov. 12 and is the first of eight chicks expected to hatch in the coming weeks from the penguins that were involved in the crash en route to Galveston from the Indianapolis Zoo.......

More on the penguins injured Tuesday when the truck carrying them to Galveston overturned on an East Texas highway: According to reports, the 21 penguins that survived the crash are a little the worse for wear, but are generally doing very well. One of the birds suffered a broken wing and three others had sutures to close lacerations; as for the rest, they're resting up from the trip and are expected to be just fine.......

And now for something completely different: A truck full of penguins, tropical fish, birds and an octopus overturned on an East Texas highway Tuesday morning, killing a few of the penguins and some of the fish. The truck was on its way to Moody Gardens in Galveston from the Indianapolis Zoo loaded with 25 penguins, the fish and the birds, all of which Moody Gardens had agreed to keep while part of the Indy Zoo......

Tom DeLay said today he will withdraw from the congressional race to allow Republicans to run a write-in candidate in November Federal officials are looking into the bus fire that claimed the lives of 23 nursing home residents during last year's Rita evacuation determine whether buses are safe for people with special needs Four penguins and a load of exotic fish died today when the truck carrying them to Moody Gardens overturned on an East......

Hello Houston! Here's what's up this week for cheap.... Friday, June 23 The summer season begins with a bang at Sam Houston Race Park, where the fantastic new singer-songwriter Jack Ingram plays a free show tonight after the final race. Free with park admission ($3) before 8:30 and $8 after 8:30 pm. (Sam Houston Race Park, 7575 N. Sam Houston Parkway West) Saturday, June 24 Poetically Speaking is a weekly event featuring "inspirational words", of......

After months of construction and some setbacks, the Galveston Schlitterbahn water park is about ready to open, and its owner hopes it'll be a national tourist attraction. The park is the third in the Schlitterbahn empire: the first opened in New Braunfels in 1979, the second in South Padre in 2001. The $34 million Galveston version will have something new, though — a 70,000-square-foot indoor section with a retractable roof, which will allow the park......

As we at Houstonist started our day, the Buzz's Brother Rod was playing a crowd favorite "Drive Thru Sing-a-Long" during which courageous contestants festively sang "Deck the Halls," hoping an unknowing drive-thru attendant would chime in with the chorus. (We'll sing with you … fa la la la la, lala la la!) To our dismay, it took over an hour and countless attempts for someone to win this reindeer game. So where's the holiday spirit?......