Hello, gentle reader. We just wanted to remind you that you should plan to take the bus into downtown tomorrow in preparation to cab it home after our 2nd Annual Light Rail Pub Crawl. Our evening of casual adventure will open at 5:30 in the PM at Flying Saucer. Our friends there have reserved us some space so we'll be easy to spot. Feel free to stop by and say hi even if you......

Greetings, Houstonians. We're psyched that so many of you are excited about the upcoming LRPC. We are, too. A few of you have asked if there's anything you can send out to your buddies to encourage them to show up. Well, axe and ye shall receive. Use the email template below to spread the word. Copy, paste, adjust and send. Enjoy. What up, Your_Friend’s_Name? You got a plan for Happy Hour today? Let me......

::Cabaret Night with Kurt Weill:: Kurt Weill, the bad boy of early 20th century performance music, has not resurrected himself and come to Houston. However, Opera Vista will be putting on a cabaret of his music (hits from Three Penny Opera, Beggar's Opera, Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny) at Cafe Brasil this Saturday. The Brecht/Weill duo lives on! They focused their stories on the working class and were unafraid to make......

::The Best Flowers and Chocolates We Know Of:: Yeah, so Valentine's Day is tomorrow, and Houstonist sees nothing wrong with giving some love to those you love, be it admitted or anonymous. You can move beyond Hallmark, we say, and love it up. And while we are not traditionalists in most senses, we do happen to love flowers and chocolate. If you're planning to go this way for tomorrow, or any day, we humbly......

::The Houston Center for Photography´s 2008 Print Auction:: These are some pretty gorgeous photographs and who'd believe they're all up for sale to benefit one of the coolest organizations in all Houston? Houstonist (a fan of photography, as you well know) was drooling over this one, and this one and this one too. The photographs are on exhibition right now at the HCP galleries until Wednesday, February 13th, and the auction is this Friday......

It's a leap year, people, so hop on the rail and enjoy some cocktails with us. That's right; it's baaaack. Last year's Light Rail Pub Crawl was such a success that we're doing it again. What's not to love about riding the rail with 60+ folks you've never met before and having them follow you around all night? Houstonist 2nd Annual Light Rail Pub Crawl Friday, February 29th @ 5:30 PM Rally Point: Flying......

::Martin Luther King Jr. Grande Parade:: And when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free......

"Houstonist. What do you want?" ... "Oh, hey. What up?" ... "Hell, yeah. Our birthday party is tomorrow night!" ... "Tomorrow night at 6. Downtown." ... "AT MONSOON WOK. Thought you said you read the first post?" ... "You'd better show up or we'll beat your ass." ... "Love you, too." Houstonist Birthday Party 6 PM on Thursday, December 6th Monsoon Wok (McKinney @ San Jacinto) --- Photo: flickr user princessrica.......

::Double-Header Hump Day at Armadillo Palace:: Happy Hump Day, Houston! Where can you find the biggest hump in town? And no, we're not talking about down on Dowling Street. Why, the Armadillo Palace on Kirby! We're pretty sure it's the biggest "armadillah" west of the Mississippi. Join the American Advertising Federation of Houston & Ad2 Houston as they host thier monthly Networking & Social Mixer at Goode-Co.-Banquet Room-turned-rocking-beer-joint, Armadillo Palace (5015 Kirby Drive). The American......

Americans for the Arts' Vice President Policy and Research, Randy Cohen, makes a trip to Houston today to discuss economic impact of the arts results from a recent Cultural Impact Study, which Mayor Bill White formally introduced at the Business of the Arts Luncheon hosted by the Greater Houston Partnership in September. You can view a copy of the study here. This morning's discussion will convey how arts organizations can utilize the findings to......

Monday? Really? AGAIN? Not buying it. Ugh. Let us help you though it with a little spoken word for a rainy day. Join the Rice University English Department as they welcome Steve Gehrke and Nadine Meyer, husband and wife and both winners of the 2005 National Poetry Series, as part of the Cherry Reading Series. Both Gehrke and Meyer have been widely published and recognized for their poetic work. Gehrke is an assistant professor of......

Contemporary Dance Showcase at MOT Beginning tonight, Dance Source Houston presents a Weekend of Texas Contemporary Dance, to be held at Miller Outdoor Theatre. Now in its 13th year, A Weekend of Texas Contemporary Dance, presents a snapshot of the contemporary dance scene in Houston featuring new work and revivals of recent work. This artistic sampler features a range of choreographic styles set to music that ranges from classical to experimental. Featuring the best of......

Perspectives 158: Preview Reception at the CAM We've been thoroughy impressed this year with the diverse installations and programs that the CAMH has produced, and the next Perspectives exhibit, opening tonight, is no exception. Be among the first to see the latest Zilkha Gallery exhibition, Perspectives 158: Kelly Nipper, at a preview reception tonight, Sept 20th, with the artist. Kelly Nipper, the Southern California-based photographer and installation artist, will lead a tour of the exhibition......

We hope you are keeping the Spacetaker Optiks Gala on your radar, cuz it's been on ours for quite awhile. Bleep.....bleep...bleep..bleep, bleep, bleep. Yep, it's coming up. September 29th. Do you have your tix yet? Spacetaker September Artist Saloon This month Buffalo Bayou Art Park & Spacetaker, in conjunction with Winter Street Studios, present Sasha Dela, Jonathan Durham, and Dominic Walsh of the Dominic Walsh Dance Theater for the September edition of The Artist Saloon.......

We wouldn't go quite so far as to say that every day is an anniversary of 9/11, but there are several events happening around the city today to remember 9/11 and its victims. So hit them up, whether you're a firefighter, a civilian, or a troofer. >> Houston Fire Museum dedicates new statue: The Houston Fire Museum will dedicate a new statue titled "In the Line of Fire" to honor firefighters everywhere. The sculpture will......

Everyone knows that the Dynamo plays their games at a college football stadium, but did you know that they actually encourage college students to attend the games? It's amazing, but true! In particular, tomorrow night's match against Real Salt Lake (not to be confused with Imitation Salt Lake, which tastes about the same but has less sodium) is College Night for the Dynamo. The game starts at 7:30PM, and admission is just ten bucks with......

Looking for art tonight? We gotcha covered. It's all over. Tons of it. Tonight, and all weekend long. Check out openings tonight at Diverseworks, Vine Street (Fotofest), UH Downtown (O'Kane), CTRL Gallery, Inman, Finesilver, Kinzelman, Glassell, Blaffer, Art League, and much, much more. We just got tired of typing. See: help wanted. b.s. Artblog has a nicely coordinated list here, and ArtsHouston weighs in with their picks here. Seems like the top of everybody's list,......

The smoking ban goes into effect on Saturday morning at midnight. Ring in the new era with Houstonist as we get together on Friday night to celebrate Houston's birthday, which is actually today. We're cranking up things at State Bar at 6 on the o'clock and want you to be there. You'll probably hear a lot from our opinionated staff about booze, politics, 600 sq mi (our photo show), live music, bar food and......

Join Houstonist next Friday at State Bar as we party up for Houston's 171st birthday. Join Houstonist staff, friends, enemies and assorted local ne'er-do-wells as we sample the atmosphere at several downtown locales. Aspiring writers are encouraged to show up so that we can haze interview you. Secret handshake lessons start at 6:30. Houstonist's Party for Houston Friday, August 31st @ 6 PM State Bar & Lounge 909 Texas Ave. 713 229 8888......

Houstonist is happyist when we aren't working, when we are able to drive south on Shepherd from Allen Parkway to Richmond without encountering left turning jackasses, and when we get to hang out with our readers. We're celebrating Houston's 171st birthday with a pub crawl on August 31st. Join us for a stroll in and around the establishments in the Market Square area. Share your thoughts about the site and we may buy you......

Last week, Urbanist showed you all the hidden jems that lie in the Lower Montrose area. One of those, the Jung Center, tonight presents innovative multimedia artist Cameron Sands and dancer Paola Georgudis on an exploration of the the spiritual possibility in every corner of our city. Is there truly creative potential in every space? What about the concrete area around a trash dumpster in an alleyway – or a place you pass by every......

Today until 5:00pm is your last chance to catch works by students attending the Glassell Junior School of Art as they are presented at the annual Junior School Spring Exhibition. Works will be on view through July 31 in the Norma R. Ory Gallery at the Junior School, 5100 Montrose Boulevard. The exhibition includes more than 200 works created by students age 4 to 18. Media represented includes painting, sculpture, fashion design, and ceramics. Also......

Local tech news in a compact, digital format. Chronicle Tech Round Up The tech guys over at the Chron are pumping out the technology news and we are going tell you about it. ---Dwight Silverman Dwight Silverman reviews and discusses the newest version of the popular image editing software, Photoshop. The new version is called Photoshop CS3. Dwight also informs us that Houston is the 5th most e-mail-addicted city in the U.S. A fact......

Art Director's Club of Houston Hosts "Meet The Board" Social As you know, there are tons of events that go on each day in town. It's a tough job to pick just one to feature as the Daily-ist each day, but what would you do without us guiding you?! Resort to CitySearch? We shudder at the thought. Today's selection, however, was not a tough one. First off, we love this organization and all it's awesome,......

Next Sunday, June 24th, a photomarathon is set to take place in Hermann Park. Basically, after running 26.2 miles Participants will take 16 photographs in 4 hours based on themes only revealed at the start of the event. Each photo is then judged based on photo composition and creativity. This event is open to anyone interested in photography (as long as you bring your own camera and memory card) and costs $25 to register.......

Ok, as in the vein of Scholarly Pursuits, so must you Git Literated. Book time. One of Houston's few nonB&N bookstores, Brazos, is supplying those in need of re-love for the English language with some excellent material. Literature, that is. And by literature, we mean the byproduct of political celebrities. Specifically, John Kerry and Molly Ivins. Accordingly, June 1 and June 2. Friday, June 1, Brazos Bookstore welcomes Senator and ex-mightabeen president, John Kerry. Kerry......

Happy Friday and Happy St. Patrick's Day Eve! We said we'd recap, so you would have all of your choices for fun readily available, so here goes, with additional stufff, and stuff. Flogging a dead horse here, but, please be responsible, Houstonist won't be making your bail. Click any of the links below for more details! Tonight, from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., you can get warmed up for tomorrow at the Whole Foods on......

Thanks for your responses to the upcoming pub crawl. Lots of you are on the hook and are ready to raise a glass and grab some schwag. But, a few of you have emailed or commented saying that you can't make it to the launch from Flying Saucer. You've been asking, "What's the next bar?" or "What's the route?" We ain't spillin' it. We were planning to use a flare gun to guide the group......

Galveston is hosting the 23rd Mardi Gras of its modern era while New Orleans krewes roll for the second time P.K. (Post Katrina). Dedicated lunatics have been slowly building up their Mardi Gras revelry since the twelfth night after Christmas - the official start of the carnival season. But, the highest concentration of the most celebrated Mardi Gras parades, balls and general debauchery lands this weekend. Attendance for events in both cities is expected to......

Happy V.D., kids. We want you to know that we too are sick of hearing about Lurlene's bouquet of Tasmanian orchids. And, yes, we've already puked in the lobby ficus after some jackass in the elevator broadcast the fact that his vapid squeeze du jour, SaNdi (with a heart dot), ventured out in her Hummer to combat the sub-40 degree weather and bring him a half-caff-double-extra-fat super-no-balls cup of mango scented chai crap after......