::DRAG QUEEN BINGO!:: Ripped form the headlines of Facebook, today we bring you: Drag Queen Bingo! We're no strangers to Drag Queen Bingo at JR's, with it's wacky prize giveaways, gender bending antics, and some of our f Tonight's charity is the Montrose Counseling Center , so come on down and get ready to jiggle those balls, er, tuck 'em. Your first round is gratis, and each additional card is $3, well worth seeing......

The Orange Show Center for Visionary Art is hosting The Beer Can Opener this Friday from 7 p.m. until Midnight! Officially, the Beer Can House opens to the general public on March 1st, however, you can participate in the special preview party, which will be resplendent with zydeco & honky tonk music, barbecue and beer! Shuttling you to and fro are, ART CARS, of course (and, how cool, we might add) - the "to" part......

The 2008 NBA All Star team starting lineups were announced yesterday, and Houston’s very own Yao Ming proved to be a fan favorite. The Rockets’ big man was voted in as the starting center for the Western Conference squad, ahead of such luminaries as Amare Stoudemire (2nd leading vote-getter amongst Western Conference centers), reigning NBA Defensive Player of the Year - Marcus Camby (3rd), and Pau Gasol (6th). Yao was selected to start in the......

Here are a few books Houstonist thinks your friends and family won't use for doorstops (that's the fruitcake, right?). Everyone likes a good read, or at least a smart-looking book to sit on the nightstand. Give these a try. And shop at your local independent bookstore -- they can give you even more recommendations, and probably a good cup of coffee as well. Fun, mostly fiction books for people who are... Houstonians and/or architecture......

"We gon' rock it till the wheels fall off," the poet Nate Dogg once said. If he was referring to the Houston Texans' 2007 season (and we have no reason to believe that he wasn't), then the rocking will soon cease, as the wheels are at very least wobbling their way out of place as a prelude to actually falling off. The annual optimism has given way to the annual draft speculation, as the never-ending......

Somewhere, in the sea of hype surrounding Reggie Bush and Vince Young, Mario Williams has emerged as the strongest impact-player in the first round of the 2006 NFL Draft. Sure, Vince had a Pro Bowl appearance his first year, Reggie has the endorsements, and Joseph Addai and Laurence Moroney are key components of already-strong teams, but Super Mario has delivered on the promise that made Charley Casserly risk his job to pick him first overall.......

Local tech news in a compact, digital format. Local blog roundup Grand Stream Dreams has some defrag tools for you. Mike McGuff is back from Japan, check out the videos on his site. jkOnTheRun has some new reviews and apps for you to check out. HAL-PC Prepares To Party If you've been thinking of joining HAL-PC, now is the time because HAL-PC is getting ready for its annual Christmas party. The party will be......

It was a good weekend for football in Houston, whether that means the one with the pads or the one with the round ball. But there were things happening in the Houston sports scene outside of RFK and Reliant Stadiums. As we do every week, here's a recap of what the blogs are saying about your hometown teams: - The Dynamo are the big news today, so here's a fantastic live blog of the game......

Ok, it's officially time: skip a Sunday in front of the NFL, ignore Terry Bradshaw's fake hillbilly schtick and dozens of former players pretending that they're still relevant, and watch your Houston Dynamo take on the New England Revolution for the MLS Cup. Here's five reasons why the Dynamo game should take precedence over the NFL on Sunday: 1. In case you haven't noticed: Boston sports fans, once the loveable Charlie Brown-esque losers of the......

The Rockets have been afflicted with shooting woes on a couple of occasions already this season. But the injury bug had stayed away so far, leaving many people optimistic about the team's chances for a high playoff seed in the Western Conference. But then Tracy McGrady's elbow barged in to the discussion. In the waning seconds of a disappointing first half against the Lakers at Toyota Center, T-Mac collided hard with Lakers forward Luke Walton......

This past week was a study in contrasts for Houston sports fans: the Texans were idle but the Rockets played host to the most-watched basketball game in the world; the Astros made a trade that ended the Houston career of one of our biggest anti-heroes while the Dynamo set the stage for what may be Houston's first championship dynasty since the Rockets' run in the 90's. Let's take a look at what the blogs were......

The Rockets have come back from a loss to Dallas with an impressive win against the defending champion San Antonio Spurs. The Rockets came out with a quick spurt put on by Shane Battier who came out of the gates with back-to-back three pointers. Other than that, the first quarter was uneventful with the exception of Chuck Hayes getting an elbow to the eye from Tim Duncan that required him to get stitches, forcing......

With half of its Opening Day offense totting clipboards on the sidelines, and its defensive leader headed to the hospital with a busted hamstring, the Texans might have been justified in being pessimistic. Fortunately, for a team that's already been through more injuries than a Very Special Episode of ER, Sage Rosenfels and Ron Dayne wouldn't let them lose hope, allowing the Texans to escape Oakland with a 24-17 win. After starting hot in the......

Houston vs. Dallas. Does anything else need to be said? Robertson Stadium, which is located on the campus of the University of Houston, will be hosting two different versions of this great Texas rivalry. Tonight, the 2006 MLS Champion Houston Dynamo will take on FC Dallas in the second game of this home-and-home Western Conference semi-final playoff game. In the first game, which FC Dallas hosted, the Hoops took game 1 of this aggregate-scoring......

How sweet it is. They say revenge is sweet and the Rockets’ Tracy McGrady had a full helping of it last night with a 47 point performance against the Utah Jazz. The Jazz eliminated the Rockets in the 2007 playoffs in seven games and brought McGrady to tears after keeping him out of the second round once again. The Jazz had a lead as high as 12 points in the first quarter when they......

The Red Sox has permeated nearly every facet of Bostonist's lives. When they're not live-blogging the games, waxing poetic about the games, thanking Curt Schilling for his splendid work, or telling Dane Cook to watch his hair, they're watching certain presidential candidates hop on the Red Sox bandwagon (sorry, Gothamist). The Sox are so branded on the local brain that people are using the Series to spice up their sex lives. Speaking of spice, Bostonist......

Somewhere, Marvin Zindler is rolling over in what is no doubt a very lavish coffin. While this article in the Chron todaylooks into the health inspections at sports venues makes no particular mention of slime or its proximity relative to the ice machine, you can be sure that Marvin would've known and would've shouted it from the rooftops. Or at least from somewhere near Dave Ward's elbow. The stadiums reviewed under the auspices of the......

Oni-Con is Houston's original anime convention and it's held once a year. If you are not familiar with anime, please allow us to bring you up to speed. Anime is a drawing and animation style that originated in Japan and has been popular in America for quite some time with shows such as Pokemon, Sailor Moon and Dragon Ball Z. Maybe you've seen these animated shows on Cartoon Network late at night while channel......

In case you weren't familiar, there's a large university in Austin, with orange and white for their colors, and a big, drugged cow for a mascot. You may have also heard that their football team is usually pretty good, and that a couple years ago, they actually won a national championship in football. Their quarterback that year kinda flew under the radar, so you may not have heard about him, either: regardless, he was......

Did you see the news Uncle Drayton? Joe Torre said no to the Yankees. Now it's your turn to make a move and pick up Andy Pettitte. That's right, Houstonist said it: "Bring back Andy Pettitte!" We know, we know. He left us at the altar and bolted back to New York for the bright lights and big city, but everyone deserves a second chance. We need him. Pettitte has a player option of......

Good morning, Houston. We've run into some, uh, active parents of student athletes in our day, but we can't remember remember hearing about one who was actually banned from his kid's sporting events — until now, that is. Meet Joe Dalton, who has been barred from his son's Stafford High home football games because school district officials allege he assaulted a student. It happened at the last home game Dalton attended, where he said......

Kickers are lame. When kids play pickup football games, no one gets chosen first because they can split the uprights with a perfect field goal. Plus, they're only on the field about ten plays a game, if that. But tonight, Kris Brown is the toast of the town after leading the Texans to a nail-biter win over the Miami Dolphins at Reliant Stadium today. After suffering a heel injury on his non-kicking foot on the......

Wanna find a way to drink on Sunday and feel good about youself? We've been searching for this, and finally it's here. Join movie lovers and lushes alike, this Sunday Oct 7th, at one of our fav-o-rite Montrose watering holes, Poison Girl, as they drink for a cause. Is that the key to avoiding alcoholism? Aurora Picture Show Mini Fundraiser Sunday, October 7th, 5p.m. Poison Girl, 1641 Westheimer Drink up for Aurora! Houston's favorite watering......

Good morning, Dynamo fans. Ready to see the Orange in the MLS playoffs again? Well, playoff tickets will go on sale at 10 this morning. Depending on where the Dynamo finish in the standings, the team will play in the Western Conference semifinal match at Robertson Stadium either Oct. 27 or Nov. 3; pick your tickets up at Ticketmaster or the Dynamo's website. >> The scandal effect: TSU's enrollment has fallen to its lowest......

Local tech news in a compact, digital format. StartUp Weekend Houston "Startup Weekend is an idea, an experiment, a chance to gather the tech community and create a company over one jam packed weekend." If that interests you, head over to houston.startupweekend.com and get your reservation. StartupWeekend Houston is limited to the first 100 participants and space is limited. Andrew Hyde, Startup Weekend founder will be on hand along with Gwen Bell of Blogger,......

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......

Eddie Griffin 25, died Friday in southeast Houston when his SUV smashed into an oncoming train. Officials stated that Griffin's SUV exploded on impact after he ignored all railroad warning lights and sirens as he drove around the railroad barrier as the train was crossing. His body was burned so beyond recognition that he wasn't identified until yesterday when dental records confirmed his identity. The Rockets thought so much of Griffin's talents that they......

Is it possible for one of the worst trades in Astros franchise history to get any worse? Well, it did. The Astros announced that Jason Jennings will be out for the remainder of the year with a torn elbow tendon. Jennings finishes the year at 2-9 with a 6.45 ERA in 19 games. For the month of August, he is winless with a 8.06 ERA. Jennings was brought over from the Colorado Rockies to......

Chicagoist is gearing up for this weekend's annual Air & Water Show along the lakefront. In what's becoming an annual tradition around there, staff member Todd McClamroch even got to fly with one of the participants. Chicagoist's decidedly opinionated readership was also appalled that one of their staffers found a popular local brewpub to be a great place to bring a kid. They also think that an unlikely activist for immigration rights should just take......

The Chicago Cubs (and their inexplicable legion of local fans) arrived Monday at Minute Maid Park on top of the NL Central division, ready to put some distance between themselves and the Brewers in the standings. The Astros had other plans. Led by strong pitching performances by Wandy Rodriguez, Woody Williams, and Roy Oswalt, the Astros swept the series and bumped the Cubs below Milwaukee in the NL Central race. The offense was on for......