It's official: Houston is the best place to live in America. At least according to Kiplinger's Personal Finance, which placed Houston at the top of their list of Best Cities to Live, Work and Play for 2008. The respected personal finance magazine named a number of reasons that Houston topped their list this year: our strong economy (in spite of any national trends), continued job growth, low cost of living, diverse cultures and vibrant......

Houstonist is at it again, we are rebelling hard against our very own New Year's Resolution to be healthier and perhaps a touch on the thinner side. We are going to turn into a cartoon tire spokesperson, but, hey, the sooner we hammer out a top ten list of burgers, the sooner we can, oh hell - move on to the fried chicken and chicken fried steaks. Who are we really kidding? We just have......

Year end lists suck. Let's face it. It's a crutch for writers like us, giving us something to write about during the slow times; it's a trick for readers, giving y'all something to argue about over champagne and black-eyed peas tomorrow. But regardless, it's worthwhile to look back at the sports stories that dominated the headlines and our consciousness over the past year. So without further ado, or any ado at all really, here......

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Tori Amos’ tour is coming to Houston this coming Sunday night, at Jones Hall. Yes, we know that’s almost a week away, but we wanted to give you a good heads up since many of us are going out of town. Tori is currently touring supporting her latest album, American Doll Posse. She received fame with her debut solo album Little Earthquakes (which spawned the very personal "Silent All These Years" and "Crucify,” among others),......

::Maurice Manning and Emily Fox Gordon Poetry Reading at Diverseworks:: Giving Houstonians a chance to hear tomorrow’s great writers today. The Inprint Studio Series, presented by Inprint in association with the University of Houston Creative Writing Program and Diverseworks, features some of the best young writers in the country, as well as alumni from the University of Houston Creative Writing Program and leading local authors. Now in its second season, the 2007-2008 Inprint Studio Series,......

The Brits are coming! This Friday night, British indie-rockers Bloc Party will hold their festivities at Warehouse Live, with San Francisco’s Deerhoof and Texas’ own J Versus K. We got a pair of tickets just for you. Bloc Party released their debut album just a couple of years ago, and it quickly became a favorite overseas, garnering “Album of the Year” award from the U.K. music publication NME. Their second full-length album, A Weekend in......

Good morning, Houston. Nothing to lol at here: the Houston SPCA is rolling out a new policy for pet owners who drop off their pets. From now on, there will be a fifteen minute "counseling session," during which the owners will know if the pet is going to be a candidate for adoption or if it's going to the big litterbox in the sky. The policy is meant to make it harder for owners......

So the show's not even over and the tour's already planned. Don't cha love FOX? Their hit reality dance contest has had Billy Elliots poppin' up all over the US, er, wasn't Billy Elliot British? Whateva. If you haven't experienced the phenomena that IS "So You Think You Can Dance" then you're missing out on lots of adagios, ciseauxs, and some good old southern Crumping. The show is down to the top 6, with......

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......

Good morning, Houston. Remember Radar, the adorable Channel 2 weather dog? If you're a Ken Hoffman reader, we can't imagine how you'd forget. It turns out someone in Tyler was a big fan of the idea: a TV station there has their own weather dog, Stormy. Stormy serves a function similar to Radar's and also wears an American flag bandana and takes ridiculous pictures. Just another reason to be glad you don't live in......

Good morning, Houston. If you're a fan of the Early Show, you probably caught Mayor White's national television appearance Monday morning. He appeared on the show seated between two foxy ladies, Caroline Kennedy and Doris Voitier, to discuss his receipt of the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award. Like we told you before, he and Mrs. Voitier are sharing the award for their outstanding public service during and after Hurricane Katrina. This award......

That's right, gents and ladies, we at Houstonist have a new feature for you to sink your teeth into, and it's called the Top 10ist. Since we're pretty sure Letterman doesn't have a trademark on top ten lists, we are going to start coming up with our own top ten lists - HOUSTON STYLE. Won't you help us? Read on. Here's the idea: every Monday, we present a question or prompt for the next......

What's that? Surely you're not tired of hearing about where Houston ranks on this last and that list. And this list. And that list. Buck up and listen to this one. Falling just behind Washington DC, Atlanta, and Raleigh-Durham, Houston ranks fourth on Black Enterprise's list of the top cities for African-Americans. The cities were chosen from more than 2,000 user surveys on the magazine's website and the rankings are based on median household income,......

The Titties and Beads Edition It's Fat Tuesday Houston. A day made for over eating, over drinking, over partying, and pretty much over indulgence in general. For those of you non historically minded people, Fat Tuesday, or Mardi Gras in French, has evolved from a glutonous day long celebration the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday (the start of Lent), into weeks and months of balls, parades, ceremonies, and bar tabs. Oh, and lest we forget, beads.......

Sunday. Usually, a quiet, contemplative day in the Blogosphere. But not here in the Ist-a-Verse. Nonono! Just look below and see all of the wild and crazy stuff our staffs are up to. In Austin, bands are beginning to confirm for SXSW and the rumor mill is up and running. Good thing, too, because we all know how much Austinites love live performances. Austin also found itself in the national spotlight, with Longhorn Legend......

Believe it or not, the hottest video on iTunes right now is from “Weird Al” Yankovic (it’s also in the top ten most downloaded songs). It’s “White & Nerdy,” a parody of Houston’s Chamillionaire’s hit “Ridin’.” It’s not Al’s first rap parody (remember “Amish Paradise" from the 90’s?) but it pushed his new album into Billboard’s top 10 – a career high for him. Weird Al first came onto the scene 25 years ago......

Just when you thought you should move to Dallas Austin because all of your single friends keep telling you how kickass it is, Worldwide ERC and Primacy Relocation name Houston a top destination for relocating singles in their annual report. In fact, Texas fared well as a whole in the survey (must be our 800+ miles of I-10) with seven metropolitan areas represented. Three cities were in the Top 10: Austin (#2), Houston (#5) and......

Houstonist loves its pets – well, some of us don’t have one, but we love our friends’ pets! Finally, our city is getting recognition for our pet fondness. According to AAA, Houston is now the most pet-friendly city for travelers. The survey is mainly based on the number of hotels and motels that accept pets. Houston leads the pack with 108 lodging choices for pets and their owners. We also have two off-leash dog parks......

Houstonist loves burgers — bacon cheeseburgers, to be specific (and please drag it through the garden, because we love all the typical burger accoutrements, too). Sure, there are larger chain-type burger joints that are perfectly yummy, but we give our props to the "Mom & Pops" that serve up not only better burgers, but also warm fuzzies from supporting local businesspeople. In that spirit, we're kicking off a series of burger reviews. Today, we're listing,......

Arbitron has just released the latest ratings for Houston radio stations. Since their method of collecting data (written diaries by the few people who actually agree to take the time completing them) is ancient, the ratings reflect the listenership for Fall 2005. Here’s the top ten (based on listeners over the age of 12): 1. KMJQ (102.1 FM) Urban/R&B AC 2. KODA (99.1 FM) Adult Contemporary 3. KBXX (97.9 FM) Hip-Hop/R&B Hits 4. KLTN (102.9......