Results tagged “holidays”

If you're into books or music, this is *not* the weekend to sit at home sulking. See our picks from what to do below:

  173 years ago, George C. Childress hurriedly composed a document at Washington-on-the-Brazos while only 150 miles away, the Alamo was under a brutal and ultimately fatal attack by the Mexican army. The document, which was written overnight at a hastily formed convention of Texas leaders, accused the Mexican goverment of ceasing to protect the lives, liberty, and property of the people of Texas.  It became the Texas Declaration of Independence. 

…the people of Texas do now constitute a free, Sovereign, and independent republic, and are fully invested with all the rights and attributes which properly belong to independent nations; and, conscious of the rectitude of our intentions, we fearlessly and confidently commit the issue to the decision of the Supreme arbiter of the destinies of nations.

And with those words, the people of the Republic of Texas declared independence from Mexico on this day, March 2, 1836. The Texas War of Independence had begun half a year earlier, on October 5, 1835, with the defeat of the Mexican army at the Battle of Gonzales by armed Texians who refused to surrender a cannon — the famous “Come and Take It” cannon — to the Mexican government, as it was their only means of protection against Indian attacks on the settlement. General Antonio López de Santa Anna, the recently-elected president of Mexico, had just the year before abolished the Constitution of 1824 — which very loosely governed Mexican territories, including Texas — and enacted a harsh, anti-federalist constitution in its place.  The new constitution took away liberties to which most Texian settlers had become accustomed, required that they convert to Catholicism, tithe 10% of their earnings to the Roman Catholic church and created the state of Coahuila y Tejas out of the former territory, with its new capital hundreds of miles away from the former capital of San Antonio.  Texian settlers were furious.

Will Ferrell may be the funniest male Saturday Night Live alumnus still living, which is part of what makes us so sad when he chooses less-than-quality film (, anyone?).

Moody Gardens Festival of Lights

That's right, folks, it's not a drive-in -- it's a glide-in! Discovery Green has been hard at work creating Houston's only outdoor ice rink for the holidays, which will have its grand opening tomorrow night!

After you've recovered from the coma-inducing tryptophan coursing through your veins tomorrow, grab your friends and family and head over to Post Oak Boulevard for one of Houston's favorite traditions: the 23rd Annual Uptown Holiday Lighting.

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.

It hardly seems like any time at all since 2007 began, but the fruitcake and incessant holiday music tells us that we've reached the end of December — which means it's time for Houstonist to take a few days off so we can eat, watch football, eat, open some gifts, eat, sleep, eat, visit with our families ... and eat. (Somewhere in the midst of all that, we can't help but think a few drinks will be in order, too.)

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.

So you've done enough shopping and the relatives are driving you crazy -- take an hour away from that insanity and go see some extremely fresh theater.

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 party Sunday night with The Machos.

Good morning, Houston. As we were sitting around Monday morning contemplating using a witch's extremity to keep warm, we started to wonder exactly how cold it's gotten in the city before — and, thanks to the Internet, we know! According to the National Weather Service, the record low temperature for Houston was 5 degrees Fahrenheit, which we hit on Jan. 23, 1940. Maybe more interesting, though, is the Houston snowfall record: Turns out we haven't had any appreciable snowfall since Dec. 22, 1989, when 1.7 inches fell. That's nothing compared with the blizzard of Feb. 14-15, 1895, when a whopping 20 inches of snow fell in the city. We couldn't find any photos from that storm, but we did turn up a few Bob Bailey pictures from a snowfall on Jan. 30, 1949. Enjoy!

Here you go Houston, more food and wine events for you to peruse. We are going to work to get you more than one Culinary Events posting per week, as the holidays can increase the number of events, dinners, fund-raising food and beverage activities and festivals. Also, we strive to give you some advance notice - as you can't always get your reservations or tickets, which ever the case may be, on the day...

Houstonist is pleased to see that the holidays haven't lessened the amount of folks who seem to be "a sandwich short of a full picnic basket." Still in doubt? Read on. Amazing Sex .... Why didnt i get your number? - m4w - 28 We made eye contact in the grocery store. You waited for me outside then we had amazing sex in your mini van. It was a blast and i would love...

Here we go, the big mother of all holidays. Love it, or hate it – it’s nearly December and whether you’re into Christmas, Hannukah, Kwanzaa or whatever else you may be into, December is a really bigass month. If nothing else, the streets are more congested, people drive even crazier than normal and the average Houstonian is pelted with food, drink and festivities. Yeah, we hate drinking and eating, we know how you feel...

There are so many freaking cool things happening this weekend -- here's just a list of what Houstonist has on hand. Please send us the rest. Thursday November 29th HOUSTON. IT'S WORTH IT. Book Launch Party At the Lawndale Parking Lot, 4912 Main Street 6:30PM-9PM Images from the book will be projected on North wall of Lawndale art center. DJ Pooks spins the tunes and there will be refreshments. Proceeds from sales of the...

The pumpkin is underestimated. It is underestimated and under-utilized like a trophy wife and a kept man. There is so much more that can be done than just gutting, carving and displaying (the pumpkin, that is). There's nothing that rings in the holidays better than the pumpkin. Since Thanksgiving is Houstonist's favorite holiday (all's to do is eat, drink, watch football and take naps...what's not to love?), we wanted to share with you all the...

It’s like Divas Las Vegas 2007 this week, but in a good way! Celine Dion, Alicia Keys, and the Queen of Soul all have new albums debuting on the charts. It took us a little longer than usual to warm up to Alicia Keys’ new single, “No One” from her latest album, As I Am. But now that we’ve heard it endlessly on the radio and on TV, and it’s formed its own repeat loop...

For about 40 years, Houstonians have known where buy the best pies. Founded in 1967 The Flying Saucer Pie Company has been baking up a wide variety of pies daily, using the freshest available ingredients. Other than HoustonistMama, who is getting tired of baking for us, these are the bestest pies ever. We are partial to their line of cream pies! Whether you are ordering your meal pre-cooked, or popping your turkey or turducken in...

Dammit, Houston *is* a literary town! Here's a slew of readings happening this week, from the hilarious David Sedaris to the wry Nick Hornby and the unbalanced Lisa Belkin. Her word choice, not ours. We love books. Wednesday, October 24th at 7:30PM William Henry Lewis and Justin Cronin at DiverseWorks 1117 East Freeway, *FREE* Two heavy-hitting writers with a bucket of awards apiece. Lewis is the author of In the Arms of Our Elders...

So, Houstonist noted that today marks the beginning of two religious holidays, holy days or observances and decided to dig a little deeper. We admit it, with one being Islamic and the other Jewish - we had visions of a highly divided Bethlehem. How does this affect Houston? Well, Houston is home to a melting pot of cultures and religions and understanding your neighbors, coworkers and friends is important. Plus, we were feeling a little...

In our Retailist weekly feature, we share local places to satiate your shopping needs and feed your consumerist tendencies. Have a great place for us to get addicted to? Email us and let us know! Oolala Gifts (833 Studewood) is the kind of happy-place that makes you want to celebrate obscure holidays, if only for extra excuses to s.h.o.p. We file Oolala in with our favorite Heights shops - as it has the funky...

Happy first weekend of September - and happy Labor Day weekend, too, for our American cities! Let's take a look at what's been happening around the Ist-a-verse. The deaths of two firefighters shook Bostonist this week. Boston's firefighters bent over backwards all week long - first, they fought flames pouring from the Boston Tea Party museum, and then a restaurant fire killed two and injured many more. Their efforts make everything else - like Tom...

Treasure Island Preview Party

All across the Ist-A-Verse (or at least the American parts thereof), writers and editors are in the midst of enjoying their three-day weekend. But after the week we've all had, we feel like the break is not only needed, but deserved. Just look at everything we've been doing! Gothamist headed into the Memorial Day weekend with a number of tasks accomplished. They worried about Long Islanders giving New Yorkers a bad name. They tried...

It’s bad enough trying to care for a sick child. Even worse is when illness strikes at night or on the weekends when your regular doctor is unavailable. Do you wait it out or endure a long, miserable trip to an overburdened emergency room for an ailment that probably doesn’t belong there? Can you afford to take the chance?

Need to know just a little bit about something? Ask a dilettante. I am confused about all the controversy surrounding the big chocolate Jesus. It seems to be a logical way to combine at least a couple of the disparate elements of the holiday that have always been particularly confusing to me (a giant egg-laying rabbit who bestows chocolate eggs to commemorate the resurrection of Jesus). So what's the deal? There are many questions regarding...

So far as we can tell, everyone survived the holidays and are settling back into their new year groove. Some of us may have pushed the limits of sanity further than others, but for the most part, we’re alive and kicking. Somehow Houstonist managed to pull a fast one on jolly St. Nick this Christmas, ‘cause the tree sure was stocked full of goodies. Santa must have overlooked that one thing that one night. Wheeew! Close one.

Musicians need more time to recover from the holidays than us regular folks, hence the short music calendar this week. Still, some good regional favorites will be in town, including Soulhat, Vallejo, Austin Lounge Lizards, and The Weary Boys. Here's the complete line-up for the week. Want to add your band to the calendar? E-mail us! (Local bands are noted with *) Wednesday Boston Chinks/*Something Fierce @ Rudyard's – punk/rock | 9 p.m. at...

Happy Holidays! Chances are, you're reading this the day after Christmas, back at your day job after all-too-short a holiday, and the last thing you want from us is stuff about the holidays. But that's just too bad. Because, see, here in the Ist-A-Verse, we do things ahead of time. It might be December 26 for you, but that's what you get for not checking your Favorite Local Blog on Christmas Eve. Austinist is...