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......

Did we miss something? Let us know. Here’s the full week line-up. Local bands are noted by an asterisk (*): Wednesday • The Leo Trio/*The Haymakers/The Mighty Orq – rock | 9 p.m. at Rudyard's • Dead Meadow/*Sharks and Sailors/Southern Bellugosi – indie | 9 p.m.at The Mink Thursday • Bob Schneider/Mothers Anthem/Jake Andrews – pop/rock | 8 p.m.at Warehouse Live • Jimmy LaFave – folk/Americana | 7 p.m. at Mucky Duck • *Backbeat......

When it comes to music in Texas, we all know that Austin pretty much has the scene in an awkward and uncomfortable chokehold position. Between South by Southwest, ACL and Fun Fun Fun fests, the state capital has music festivals down to a science. But instead of making that trek up 290 and finding the perfect seat between the broseph who can't stop talking about how cool it would be if DMB was on......

Happy Halloween ghosts and ghouls! There’s a slew of great bands playing in Houston this week before heading up to a certain festival this weekend (hint: ____ ). We’ve got mega-celebs that have their own fragrances wrecking the Toyota Center in English AND Espanol on Wed., we’ve got huge indie bands Spoon and the New Pornographers teaching class on Thurs, and we have the Houstonist pick o’ the week: M.I.A. and Paul Wall on......

::The Orange Show for Visionary Arts Concert Series:: We told you about this event in this week's Thriftster, but decided it was waaaaaay to cool not to be reminded of again. I mean, would you seriously know what to do if we didn't tell you these things? Don't answer that. Unless the answer is "No." This new concert series, co-sponsored by SugarHill Studios, is dedicated to showcasing musicians as original as the Orange Show......

We really wish Gomez was performing a headlining show here, but we have to settle with them just being an opening act for The Fray (along with Eisley) this Friday night in The Woodlands. However, Gomez is playing a stand-alone show Saturday night in Austin, if you're lucky enough to find tickets for it. Some veteran Houston acts play around town this week. Beaumont's Clay Walker will perform after the races at Sam Houston......

Get ready with your jokes about a really big wedding: According to the Chinese state press, Houston Rocket Yao Ming will marry his girlfriend of eight years in August. Yao, 27, and Ye Li, 25, met in 1999 when Yao was playing for the Shanghai Sharks men's team and Ye was playing for the club's women's team. Since then, Ye — who's 6 feet, 2 inches tall herself — has gone on to play for......

Tonight, Norah Jones plays in a very suitable place, Jones Hall. The show is sold out, but with M. Ward opening, it’s one that may be worth getting tickets for. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club returns to Houston on Thursday. Rock legend Dave Mason hits The Meridian Friday night, while former Rock Star: Supernova contestant and Austin native Patrice Pike visits Fitzgeralds. Another great double bill comes to us on Sunday night – The Black......

LAist has so much fun this week! They go to E3, where they overhear the timeless remark "Man, this is where nerdy girls get laid." Is that a promise? They also give us this week's best CDs and make us realize that LA is the best place to use Zillow. Ah, Houstonist. They're biking to work, that is, if they can figure out how to get there. That's right, Mapquest says "Houston had the......