It's an American tradition, just like representative democracy and childhood obesity: the Super Bowl. Even people who aren't football fans usually find a way to watch the game (or the commercials, depending on your priorities) and the die-hards view Sunday as some combination of Christmas, graduation, and the non-lame parts of the Olympics all rolled into one. If you don't have plans for the big game already, here are a few options around town: -......

Good morning, Houston. Remember the plans for the Dynamo stadium on the east side of downtown? And remember Metro's plans for two new light rail lines heading out from the east side of downtown? Turns out there's a question about whether the stadium will be in the way of the rail lines — and it's not clear yet whether the proposed stadium will have an effect on the rail alignments. "We are evaluating a......

Christmas Sunrise in Katy Prairie by kinjotx ________________________________________________________________ If you have a passion for Houston and photography, consider joining a whole bunch of Houston's best photographers in the Houstonist Flickr Photo Group. If Houstonist uses your photo for Photo Of The Day, submit it here and for more great Houston photography, check out the Houston Photobloggers.......

What up, Houston? Houstonist is glad to be back in the saddle after our "long winters nap." Looks like the Missed Connections crowd didn't take too much time off for Hanukwanzmas. Plenty of folks were out ho ho hoeing around. Enjoy. J - please talk to me - w4m I meant what I wrote in that last email. I'm sorry you can't deal with someone like me. You wanted a freak... I'm freaky.. and......

Seeing as how it's now officially 2008 — which, by the way, is both the International Year of the Potato and the International Year of Sanitation (thanks, U.N.!) — we figured it was a good time to pay a visit to the Houstonist Favorites page and see what your favorite Houstonist posts of 2007 were. >> Most commented: "R.I.P.: Houston-born Anna Nicole Smith" February was sort of a high-water mark when it came to, um,......

Here's an abridged, holiday version of this week's music calendar. If you like Latin-rock, you're in luck. Tonight, Grupo Fantasma and their funky horn section returns to the Continental Club. Nearby, at Warehouse Live, Vallejo will be playing. Del Castillo visits Warehouse Live tomorrow night. Two good choices for Saturday: R&B songstress Erykah Badu performs at Arena Theater and Austin's Asylum Street Spankers - always a fun show - return to the Mucky Duck.......

Yes, we know that this column usually runs on Mondays. But on Monday, we were dodging the crowds in search of a couple of final presents, and were still reeling from the woodshed beating the Texans received at the hands of the Colts. We saw beleaguered soccer moms parking their Suburbans at the mall with better timing and depth perception than some of Sage Rosenfels' passes on Sunday. Anyway, on to the links: - Chuck......

We're having a good Christmas so far, but between Aunt Peggy's constant nagging ("When are you going to settle down and get married?") and our new nephew's constant crying and screaming, we need a break. After dinner, we should be able to get away from the family for a bit. Most places are closed, but there are a few options: seeing a movie is the obvious one, but the crowds won't help us relax. Now,......

Happy Holidays Houston! If you can stand more excitement after all of the festivities this week, we suggest tuning in for a re-airing of Justice's awesome "performance" on Jimmy Kimmel Live, and a brand spanking new Austin City Limits with Bloc Party and Ghostland Observatory. Monday -CBS, 4pm: Oprah Winfrey, Tony Bennett, Josh Groban, and Carrie Underwood -NBC, 10:35pm: Gospel Christmas -ABC, 11:05pm: Jimmy Kimmel Live, Jay-Z Tuesday -NBC, 8am: Today Show, KT Tunstall -ABC,......

Local tech news in a compact, digital format. NASA Plans TV Coverage Space Station Holiday Delivery NASA Television is planning to provide live coverage on Wednesday, December 26th when the International Space Station will receive a post Christmas gift, a new shipment of food, fuel and supplies as well as holiday gifts. Check your local listings for coverage of this event. Grand Stream Dreams Grand Stream Dreams has been busy this week. He's got......

Houstonist normally throws all of our trash out of the car window during our daily commute into town. It is so much easier than having to put the trash can on the street. But, the holidays tend to bring out the eco-friendly version of us each year as we wrap all of our Christmas presents in the shopping bags from whence they came or in the pages of our favorite magazines. Actually our small recycling......

Christmas shopping at The Galleria, incessant caroling and a just a touch of holiday-induced agoraphobia have Houstonist feeling a bit out of sorts today. Our feathers and lackadoogles are more than slightly ruffled. Unfortunately, we can do nothing buscept press on with our holiday chores and hole up inside the HQ once said tasks are complete. That's when we're planning to throw back a cocktail or six like a Ruffled Rooster. Ruffled Rooster+ 4 oz.......

Last year, when 80's rock band Twisted Sister decided to do a Christmas album, no one was expecting the music critics to applaud. And, they didn't. However, Dee Snyder and gang did pull it off well with their rendition of the traditional classic "O Come All Ye Faithful," by performing it in the same style as their hit "We're Not Gonna Take It." Sure, it''s regurgitation, but it's funny. It may not be the......

French restaurants have been very kind to Houstonist. They reside in quaint little locales, offer crusty bread and real butter, and cook up delectable and delicate fares. We were delighted to learn that a new french restaurant opened on Colquitt just two weeks ago. The owners and chefs of Au Petit Paris, Eric Legros & Dominique Bocquier, have created a 'casual' neighborhood restaurant with a distinct Parisian feel. Though the restaurant lacks the pretentiousness of......

Good morning, Houston. One thing about the holiday season: You hear Christmas music everywhere you go (and if you haven't been hearing it, just tune in to Sunny 99.1 — you'll catch up quickly). With that in mind, we were interested to check out ASCAP's list of the most-played holiday songs this year. It was released on Dec. 4, but by that time, the group reported that 1,562 different holiday songs had already been......

Several more venues are celebrating the holidays this week with showcases. The Meridian is hosting the annual Holiday Babes Christmas Party tomorrow night with our favorite local musical babe, Katie Stuckey. Verizon Wireless will be a haven for country singer/songwriter lovers tomorrow night (includes Roger Creager and Bruce Robinson). Warehouse Live celebrates twice with the Jingle Balls Friday night, showcasing local favorites Paris Green and Glass Intrepid, and their annual Eve of Christmas Eve......

Good morning, Houston. So you say you're a Dynamo fan, eh? Well, here's your chance to prove it: The back-to-back MLS champs are auctioning off a chance to get close to the team's two MLS cups — literally. If you win the auction, the cups will be dropped off at your house on Christmas Eve and picked up Dec. 26; in between, you can do whatever you want with 'em (within reason, of course).......

Christmas is a week away (great googlymoogly - we still have some last minute gifting to get) and if you had planned to have lots of different cookies on hand, or made up to take to your rotten coworkers, and haven't quite managed to bake, a lot. This is a super simple, very fun way to host a gathering, have a good excuse to get your nog on, and have a respectable assortment of goodies.......

::ANNUAL TAPPING OF THE LAST CASK OF CHRISTMAS ALE at Stag's Head:: Come to the Stag's Head this tonight at 6 PM and witness the annual tapping of the final cask of Christmas Ale. Then we get to see how long it will last! Free hors d'oeuvres will be devoured. ------- tonight, Tuesday, December 18, 6 PM till it's gone! Stag's Head | 2128 Portsmouth......

::Monday Night Movie at Domy:: Domy Books, in association with Domy Films, is pleased to present, MONDAY MOVIE NIGHTS, Mondays at Domy Books, curated by the Movie Dudes. Monday, December 17: Scrooge. What the DICKENS have they done to Scrooge? A 34 year-old Albert Finney stars as the penny-pinching old miser in this Dickens classic turned musical. This is a delightful musical adaptation of Charles Dickens' novel A Christmas Carol. Cold-souled Ebenezer Scrooge has a......

Good morning, Houston. If you've been working on a list of things you can do with cow patties, we've got another item for you: You can make pens out of them. Just ask John Lopez of Poteet, who has gotten semi-famous in South Texas by making pens from ground-up cow patties. No, really — the ground poop is mixed with a plastic resin, milled into cylinders and fitted with pen parts; the finished product,......

A lighter week for concerts, but many home-state bred musicians are in town. Tomorrow night, we recommend San Antonio's Girl In A Coma, but if you prefer 90's rock, you might want to catch Dallas' The Toadies return to Verizon Wireless. Speaking of returns, Bandera's Robert Earl Keen brings his annual Christmas show to town Friday night. Saturday, Warehouse Live is hosting a few local bands, headlined by Million Year Dance. Not from Texas,......

The Texans pleasantly surprised us yesterday. Here we were all ready for another defeat, and suddenly Sage "Best Backup QB In The League" Rosenfels makes us feel all better. The picture that accompanies the top link today captures the feelings of many Texans fans today, we'd imagine. But there's more than just football going on this time of year; read on and see! - The lovely and talented Stephanie Stradley at AOL Fanhouse has a......

Local tech news in a compact, digital format. City Duped By New Court Technology City officials are threatening a lawsuit against Maximus Inc, the company that was hired to supposedly make things easier for the municipal court system. Officials are giving the company until Thursday to come up with a plan to work out the bugs. The city has already dropped a cool $10 million into this flawed system. Continental Allows Cellphone Check In......

Last second shopping anyone? If you are sitting at home bored today - or just feel in the mood for some locally -inspired retail therapy - head on over to the very first Houston Underground Arts Market today from 2-6pm. Houston artists, artisans, crafty bastards and threadheads will be selling their wares giving you ample opportunity to buy unique and funky gifts for your friends and/or enemies. Find locally crafted soap, clothing, stained glass, jewelry......

So, if Thanksgiving is all about pie, pie and more pie, Christmas is all about cookies, for us, for Santa, for everyone we can pawn them off on give them to. Here at Houstonist, we love food, cooking it, eating it, telling you how to make it and where to find it. We'll even let you know if it's all "meh" not so much. Holiday desserts are the best and the calories do not count......

December always brings some good mini-festivals, and this week is a good example. It starts tonight with the KILT 10-Man Jam, featuring many popular country radio stars. Tomorrow night, the husband/wife team of Bruce Robison and Kelly Willis come into town for their annual Christmas show. Saturday, Chron.com showcases some of the best local talent in their concert at Warehouse Live. Finally, KRBE's annual Jingle Jam brings pop radio's favorite to the Toyota Center......

We're talkin' about the McRib, ya'll. That's right. We said "McRib." Say it loud, say it proud: we heart the McRib. Let us preface this post by saying that we rarely ever find ourselves at the MickeyD's, especially in a town that offers us so many quick, good fast food of the non-world-domination variety. However, being a sucker for processed-meat (sausage, hot dogs, spam...), we have a special place in our heart for the McRib.......

::You'll Shoot Your Eye Out, Kid:: A Christmas Story Back by popular demand for a second season at Texas Repertory, this wonderfully warm and wildly funny memoir of growing up in the 1940s follows 9-year-old Ralphie Parker in his undying quest to get a genuine Red Ryder BB Gun under the tree for Christmas. Join us for the first time, or all over again, as Ralphie pleads his case – only to hear the consistent......

Since our first cool blast of December has rolled into town, we're even getting into the over-commercialized holiday mode. So, we thought we would share with you some of our favorite Christmas and holiday songs, both past and present, with you. Throw out the $5.99 CD compilation you bought at Wal-Mart -- this is all you need. The standards (Nat King Cole, Bing Crosby, Elvis) and more modern-day standards (John Lennon) are here. The 80's......