We trust that you're well on the way to completing your entry for the Second Annual Saint Arnold Scavenger Hunt. What? You aren't? That's okay; you still have until this Sunday, November 23rd, to finish it up for a chance to win an invitation to an exclusive party at Houston's favorite brewery and the grand prize of a home kegerator (don't act like you haven't always wanted one). The scavenger hunt is pretty straightforward: the......

Rock The Cradle For Johnny Romano was held on Sunday, November 9, 2008 at the Lee and Joe Jamail Skatepark near downtown. The contest was a World Cup Invitational event and skaters from all over the world, including Brazil and Denmark, came out to support The Johnny Romano Foundation. Three contests were held including biggest air, biggest cradle ride and best trick. -- photos by groovehouse and skatehouston.info......

Now that we have your interest all piqued about the spectacle that is the Texas Renaissance Festival...who wants free tickets? Houstonist has two pairs of tickets to give away for the Ren Fest: one pair that are good for any weekend in November and one pair that are good for Thanksgiving Friday only no more pairs of tickets left, but you can still buy your own. The Ren Fest is normally only open on......

In exactly two months, the 2nd Annual No Holds Barred Chili Cook-Off will be underway. Two months is an awful lot of advance notice, you say? That's because we want you to have plenty of time to gather your chili-cooking team together and enter that contest! Last year's No Holds Barred cook-off was an experiment that quickly developed into a full-blown contest, with 16 teams and over 400 guests enjoying the myriad different chilis at......

...and the City Premiere Movie Tickets. Was that a tidbit overt? Hmm, would Samantha think so? Over the last few months we've looked forward to getting the always snarky, witty, informative Tidbits Houston newsletter in our inbox, informing us of lesser know Houston boutiques, restaurants, fashion trends, and social events. It's practically it's own Sex and the Bayou City. For months we've been telling our peeps about the newsletter, and were delighted (well, those of......

Houstonist keeps reading about Vijay Iyer (among the “new stars of jazz” by U.S. News & World Report and one of “today’s most important pianists” by The New Yorker). Vijay and his quartet make their Houston debut thanks to the ever-on-top-of-it folks at Da Camera. They play Saturday, April 26th at 8:00 PM in the Cullen Theater at the Wortham. And here's your chance to win tickets. Rollicking with an ever-morphing rhythm, Iyer's music......

::World's Championship Bar-B-Que Contest:: Or something like that. The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo's barbeque contest is happening this weekend and Houstonist thinks your tastebuds are as qualified as anyone's to make a judgement. Find yoiur favorite team or choose by the most appealing name on this listing and map of the area. Besides lots and lots of stuff from the grill, expect to find mucho live music to give you a smile for......

::Steel Lounge Underground at the CAMH:: Did you miss the HIWI party last night at Lawndale? (Apparently some of us probably should have, given we mistook it for a drinking contest.) Well loyal readers, you are in luck. Two great things rolled into one awesome basement tonight: the Houston: It's Worth It folks will be hosting the final Steel Lounge of the year at the CAMH. In almost a deja vu of last night, DJ......

It would be a shame if Swedish band Peter Bjorn and John became solely known for their breakout hit “Young Folks,” aka “the whistle song,” aka “Kanye West’s favorite indie-rock joint.” The track, while great, is featured on one of the best albums released in years. Writer’s Block is a stunning collection of shimmering jangly guitar pop and perfect shoegazing love songs from start to finish. The record is so named not because of creative......

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),......

Henry Dittman and Joan (justjoan) are the hosts of the Internet-based travelogue called The Smart Show sponsored by Holiday Inn Express. By now you're probably familiar with the H.I.E. ads that purports to convey savant-like intellect on its patrons. "I'm not a vascular surgeon, but I stayed at a Holiday Inn Express last night," says a broke writer after requesting a scalpel from the O.R. nurse. Despite having a title sponsor, The Smart Show does......

New Orleans' alt-rock band Mute Math may have been named a finalist in Spin.com's 2007 Artist of the Year Award, and yeah, they might have recorded that theme song you heard in the new Transformers movie last summer, but that's not what we think makes this band cool. No, we give a spirited high-five to Mute Math's singer Paul Meany for rocking the keytar! Meany's voice sounds a lot like Sting, but when you add......

Ghostland Observatory’s Thomas Turner and Aaron Behrens just might be the hardest working men in the electronic/funk-glam/rock music biz. In less than two years, the Austin, TX duo have released two records and have toured from coast to coast, all while running their own music label, Trashy Moped. The band’s latest CD, Paparazzi Lightning, is a high-voltage rocking dance record that the Dallas Observer says would “do Daft Punk, Giorgio Moroder and Freddie Mercury......

Houstonist interviewed Beto from Grupo Fantasma this week, in preparations for their show this Friday night at the Continental Club. The large, Austin-based band, who puts on a hell of a live show, gave us some insight into their music and other work that they are doing. If you'd like to see Grupo Fantasma Friday night, we have a pair of tickets just for you. Send us an e-mail with your name and phone number......

Can you be considered a blues-rocker if you’re a drummer? Yes, if you’re Doyle Bramhall. The veteran Texas singer, musician and songwriter has had his hand in the Texas blues-rock scene for many decades now, and was one of the driving forces behind Stevie Ray Vaughan. Now in his late 50’s, Bramhall is still rocking, celebrating his latest release of original songs, Is It News, to rave reviews. The original Doyle Bramhall (not to be......

Beginning today and running through Sunday - the party is ON in Galveston! It is time for the Lone Star Rally, one of the largest AMA sanctioned events anywhere. Where to start? There will be a humongous amount of activities going on, and stuff. We'll highlight a few and let you bang the link to the website for the full list. First, there will be the Leather and Lace Ball and Halloween Costume Party at......

So, we teased you with a new video from Spoon last Friday. This week, we're giving you the real thing -- chance to win a pair of tickets to Thursday night's show at Warehouse Live. We're really looking forward to the concert, not just because of Spoon, but also because The New Pornographers are opening. Still haven't been Spoon-fed? (Sorry) Check out the streaming audio for their new album Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga. If......

It’s hard to believe that it’s been over 20 years ago when the band The Cult united rockers with club-goers with the single “She Sells Sanctuary.” Other classics followed, including “Fire Woman,” “Love Removal Machine,” and “Rain.” The band faded from the spotlight last decade, but they have a new album out now and plenty of Cult followers to cheer them on. (Check out the first single "Dirty Little Rock Star") The Cult arrives at......

Houstonist loves good pop music. We’re not talking about Britney, or anything else you’d hear on local pop radio for that matter. We’re talking about good indie-pop. Catchy melodies, clever lyrics, and overall sophisticated (yet, fun). Well, that basically describes Chicago-based Office. Office (not to be confused with the popular TV shows) originated in 2001, but Office leader Scott Masson didn’t get serious about it until 2004 – that’s when he left his job waiting......

The Texans travel to Jacksonville this weekend to face the resurgent Jaguars in a battle to see who will stand out as the more improved AFC team. The Texans got the season off to a hot start, but injuries and tough opponents bring them to this weekend with a 3-2 record. However, with the immenent return of Ahman Green and Jacoby Jones, the sporadically brilliant offense will get a much-needed upgradein the offensive options department.......

The party is at Rudyard’s tomorrow – you know - THE party. The Black Math Experiment’s CD Release Party for “All You Need is Blood”, at which a couple of other bands will be performing. La Sed will bring some progressive rock courtesy of Puerto Rico and Mk Ultra adds politically-minded psychedelic punk to the mix (political as in the song writing may focus on fighting military culture and the 9/11 conspiracy). This should be......

As part of HBO’s The Comedy Festival, a contest known as The Lucky 21 was created. The premise of the contest is to spotlight the upcoming comedians from around the country. Tomorrow night the Southwest Regional finals will take place for The Lucky 21 at the Houston Improv, after which you can vote for your favorite comedian. Think of it as seeing a reality TV show in person. Voting for the comedians begins on October......

Many bands had to change their names to avoid legal problems with existing bands with the same name. Most find new names or add a modifier, like “U.K.” to distinguish themselves from the other similar named band from another country. Chicago’s The Academy Is… (formerly, The Academy) decided to add a verb and ellipsis. After all, they consider themselves an indie/punk/rock band, they must keep you guessing. The Academy Is…, who first received recognition when......

Milla Jovovich returns to the big screen this Friday as Alice, the asskicking hottie, in Resident Evil: Extinction. Extinction is the third installment in the Resident Evil film series which is based on the video game of the same title, but then you already knew that. Betcha didn't know we'd have the hook up. The first two readers who drop us a line will get hooked up with: + A pair of screen passes to......

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......

A few months ago, we ran a contest to win-them-before-you-can-buy them on tickets to see The Killers. Two lucky winners won a pair of tickets to the show (and they're probably scrambling around their house right now trying to remember where the put those tickets). If you weren't one of those two, we have another chance for you. The Killers are coming to the Reliant Arena this Saturday night, supporting their sophomore album Sam’s Town.......

Luau A Go-Go tomorrow! This kickass party will be brought to you by the Houston Roller Derby! You definitely should go-go - it's free, you get lei'd, you can "dunk a derby girl" (Hello? Boys? This is almost like a wet t-shirt contest) or hit a derby girl with a water balloon, unless you "throw like a girl", in which case - we are so, very sorry. There will be a beer pong tournament (hell......

In the mid 90’s, Matt Sharp, bass player of Weezer, decided to form a little side project called The Rentals. Their debut album scored a minor, and damn catchy, radio hit “Friends of P.” Sharp ended up leaving Weezer in the late 90’s, but only made one other Rentals album. Now, after many years of absence, The Rentals are back with a new EP, The Last Little Life. The Rentals will be hitting Warehouse Live......

Good morning, Houston. It's no secret that Texans like fried food — so it's no wonder that the Big Tex Choice Awards, the taste-test contest at the State Fair of Texas, focuses on fried concoctions. But this year's Big Tex winner for the best-tasting new food might surprise even the most jaded connoisseur of fried delicacies: It's fried cookie dough, created by Abel Gonzales Jr. The fried cookie dough is a cookie base with......

Ever wanted to be that lucky schlub who gets to throw out the ceremonial first pitch at a Major League Baseball game? Are you good at whoring yourself out for attention? Great! The Astros and AT&T are standing by to scratch both of those itches for you. The 'stros are partnering with AT&T to allow a fan to throw out a first pitch at an Astros game this season, and all you have to do......