:: Exiles in Paris Concert by Da Camera :: At the turn of the twentieth century, musicians, choreographers, writers and painters from all over the world converged in Paris and began sharing their work and ideas with each other with the goal of revolutionizing their artistic disciplines. (We at Houstonist are expecting the same thing to happen here at any moment.) Da Camera made a series of two concerts highlights the work of these......

Houstonist noticed about a month ago that something was missing near the corner of Bissonnet and Mt. Vernon streets, just west of Montrose Blvd. The house didn't seem to fit in, but it sure caught our eye - unfortunately it was recently demolished by the current owners. The house was located at 1 Waverly Court and was designed by Glassman Shoemake Maldonado Architects and built in 1999 to replace a beaten-up 1950s contemporary home by......

Lawndale Opening Exhibit x 3 What's better than a Thursday night opening at Lawndale? Try 3. Saw that one coming, huh? Hey, it's been a long week, we're spent. Tonight, Lawndale Art Center presents exhibitions in three galleries, all opening August 30, 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm, with artist talks at beginning at 6 pm. The exhibitions continue until October 6, 2007. In the John M. O’Quinn Gallery will be, Round Up, an installation by......

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......

Good morning, Houston. So here's something cool to look forward to for the next two years: In mid-2009, 20 of the famed terra cotta warriors of Xi'an will be on display at the Houston Museum of Natural Science. The exhibition will run from May 18 to Sept. 25; until then, you can visit the local knockoff, which is quite impressive in its own right. >> Early voting begins today: Harris County voters will be......

Another development in the story of Texas Southern University's ongoing problems: On Friday, Gov. Rick Perry asked all the university's regents to resign and called for the appointment of a state-appointed conservator who would have the sole power to run the school. It's a drastic step — especially in light of the fact that a commission Perry appointed to find a way for TSU to get back on its feet decided a conservator wasn't necessary......

Good morning, Houston! Looks like we're far from the only people enjoying the bliss that is freedom from telemarketers: According to the AP, almost 25 million phone numbers were added to the federal do not call list in fiscal 2006, bringing the total ... uh ... number of numbers on the list to 132 million. And amazingly enough, it's working: The percentage of complaints last year was small, and the FTC has taken enforcement......

Houston police have arrested a man who they say sexually assaulted at least two women in Galleria parking garages. Colby Dmon Minix, a former Galleria security guard, is being held without bond in connection with the assaults and with two aggravated robberies that also happened at the mall. Minix was caught, it turns out, thanks to the quick thinking of his latest would-be victim. On Friday night, the woman had gotten off work at the......

Good morning, Houston. Good news for anyone who loves to travel and have a spare $200,000 laying around: You can now buy tickets to space, with the journey set for 2009 on Richard Branson's space plane. More than 100 tickets have already been sold, and Houston travel agents Tara Hyland and Diane Vest are two of the only "Accredited Space Agents" offering them in the U.S. And yes, the tickets are $200K each. Anyone?......

Have you ever noticed that your neighbor's house smells vaguely of marijuana? There could be a number of reasons for that: Cheech and Chong moved in next door, maybe, or the house next to yours was stuffed stem to stern with marijuana plants. That turned out to be the case in one Hyde Park home where police found an estimated 1,000 plants in a sophisticated forced-growing setup during a raid Friday. It seems neighbors had......

Good morning, Houston. If you really love being in your car, you may be in luck: According to former Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta, traffic in Houston is only going to get worse. His answer? Start planning now for new road construction and encourage people to take public transportation. Our advice: learn to multi-task. >> That ain't pretty: Looks like it could be the end of the line for a notorious Houston beauty school: On......

Good morning, Houston. We're still a little foggy from yesterday's Super Bowl parties — and from the point in the second quarter when we started thinking about when we might see the Texans in the big game (don't try it — it'll make your head hurt, trust us). If you got your no-more-football party on, this might not be a bad time to kick back, down a hangover cure and catch up on some......

Talk about criminals who make unfortunate decisions: On Friday, two HPD officers shot a burglary suspect on their lunch break when they found him trying to steal their car. It happened at the Asian City restaurant near Deerbrook Mall; when undercover investigators T.D. Butler and M.W. Hamby (or, as KHOU reports, Handy) finished lunch and walked outside, they found a man sitting in their car. And things went downhill from there: "They ordered the suspect......

Sad news from Pearland: On Friday, a 73-year-old grandmother was beaten and stabbed to death by her grandson, who had just been released from jail a few hours earlier. According to a neighbor, 19-year-old James Sawyer suddenly flew into a violent rage and began beating and stabbing his grandmother, Evangelina Sawyer, to death Friday evening in her home on Garden Road. Sawyer's brother said he tried to stop the attack, but Sawyer began beating him......

This weekend, there was news about more corruption at Enron — but this time, it involves post-meltdown Enron, not the Skilling/Lay version. On Friday, Christian Deeb Rahaim of Mandeville, La., pleaded guilty of defrauding the company out of $3 million in false consultation charges in 2005. Rahaim said he presented the company with a fraudulent $1.2 million bill for consulting services in June 2005, then tried to get an additional $1.8 million in November 2005.......

Ah, fall. Ah, summer. Ah, fall. Ah, summer. Despite the fact that it's now October and we've had a couple of (admittedly short) runs of cooler weather, this week will feel pretty much like July. But there is relief in sight — in about a week and a half. Sit tight. Monday through Thursday Expect a cookie-cutter forecast for much of the week: Afternoon highs of 92, morning lows of 70, lots of sun.......

There's news today from the Chronicle on Metro's proposed University light rail line: Metro Chairman David Wolff met with the Chron's editorial board this morning and said he could "live with" an alignment that would take the line from Main Street west along Richmond Avenue, then south at Greenway Plaza to Westpark. It's a Metro compromise between keeping part of the line on Richmond and avoiding Afton Oaks and residential areas between Greenway and the......

After last week's pair of daytime-talk-show quality assault cases, we figured maybe Houstonians had gotten all that out of their systems. But apparently, we were wrong: On Friday night, a man's angry ex-girlfriend showed up at the man's house and got into a fight with his wife. It happened at Wichita and Delano, near TSU, when the woman came to the door of her ex-boyfriend's house. The man's wife answered the door and the two......

On Friday, the Chronicle carried a profile of a kindred spirit of Houstonist's: Jerry Wood, who seems to delight in learning all there is to know about Houston. As a child, Wood had a rich fantasy life and terrible eye-hand coordination. Creating make-believe cities on paper was Wood's way of trying to master the world. "I found the world to be a scary place," he said. "I would try and understand it better, to imitate......