Photo by Andy Sternberg/LAist A posthumous tribute wall dedicated to singer/songwriter Elliot Smith sat defaced by graffiti for months on end -- LAist said enough, so did the fans and city council.SFist was surprised to learn that chronic presidential candidate Ralph Nader picked former San Francisco Supervisor Matt Gonzalez as his running mate.Phillyist explored the possibilities of green cleaning.In the latest edition of Reel Toronto, a bi-weekly feature looking at films shot in Toronto......

>> Two Houston Area Offshore Drilling Companies Win Big: The oil and money are flowing freely for two drilling companies based in Houston. A report in the Houston Business Journal, lists 2007 revenue for mammoth behemoth, Transocean closed out at $3.1 billion. The company also announced a $586 million contract extension with client Anadarko, another Houston company. The HBJ also reports that The Rowan Companies also inked a three year deal. The Rowan deal......

Good morning, Houston. Do you feel like you're living and dying in 3/4 time? Need a margarita(ville) or two to pick up your spirits on this way-too-hot Monday morning? How about a vintage Jimmy Buffett video to help you through the week? "Come Monday" has long been one of our favorite JB songs, and what better time to listen to it than now? Plus, his girlfriend was super-hot, and we can't argue with that.......

This video comes from a 1988 television appearance by current presidential candidate Rep. Ron Paul. In 1988, Dr. Paul ran for president as a libertarian candidate and appeared on a talk show hosted by notorious nutcase Morton Downey, Jr. We're glad that Ron Paul seems to have chilled out a little since '88, and also that he's no longer inclined to insulting overweight kids. We're not saying we support Ron Paul (actually, we were......

Happy Father's Day! For those of you who have dads, are dads, or know dads, this one's for you, from all of us at the Gothamist network. It was a week of bizarre, embarassing headlines at DCist. The trial of the local administrative law judge who sued his cleaners for $54 million over a pair of missing pants left everyone shaking their heads. Then the capital city was nearly brought to its knees, twice, by......

Houston-area congressman and presidential candidate Ron Paul will appear on Comedy Central's The Colbert Report tonight. Paul has quickly distinguished himself from other Republican candidates with his libertarian views and his now infamous exchange with Rudy Giuliani in a debate last month. Paul asserted that the 9/11 attacks were triggered by American involvement in the Middle East, to which Giuliani replied, "That's an extraordinary statement, as someone who lived through the attack of September 11,......

KHOU is speculating about whether U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales could return to his hometown of Houston if he ends up getting the boot in Washington. Gonzales, a graduate of MacArthur High School in Aldine, was a partner with Vinson & Elkins from 1982 to 1997, when he became the Texas secretary of state (from there, he was appointed to the state Supreme Court and then became White House counsel to President George W. Bush;......