Calling all pooches! Oliver, a friendly (obviously, he's hosting this soiree) Golden Retriever is having a little canine social event, the Bow-Wow Bash at the Houston Arboretum this Saturday from 3 p.m. until 5 p.m. Please RSVP quickly here, to ensure your participation. There will be music and refreshments in the meadow and dog owners get poochie punch and a doggie bag with bottled water and a treat for their "party animal". Please be sure......

Fire Breather by Jeff Balke ________________________________________________________________ If you have a passion for Houston and photography, consider joining over 450 of Houston's best photographers in the Houstonist Flickr Photo Group. If Houstonist uses your photo for Photo Of The Day, submit it here.......

Today’s Photo of the Day comes from flickr user and Houstonist photo contributor Jeff Balke. Basketball season is right around the corner and these hardcore dedicated fans all tried out for this years Red Rowdies. The Red Rowdies are the loudest fans in the Toyota Center and their tickets are paid for by the Rockets organization. Next time you're at a game, look and listen for them, they'll be the one's cheering loudest in......

We're still reeling from the success of our first annual Houstonist photo show opening. Can ya blame us? Just look at the evidence! It's no surprise that an event filled with such wonderful photographers produced such wonderful pics — please continue to upload yours to the Houstonist flickr group, and remember to tag with "600sqmi" and "houstonist." Of course this exhibit and opening didn't just appear out of thin air (geez, wouldn't that have been......

Need to know just a little bit about something? Ask a dilettante. Don't telemarketers and bill collectors know that the long pause when you answer the phone or the (even worse) "please hold for an important announcement" greeting is just a signal to immediately hang up? They're already inhibited by caller id. Why do they make it even harder on themselves? -- Jeff Balke, Houston A lot of things don't make much sense, Jeff. Why......

Today’s Photo of the Day comes from flickr user and Houstonist photo contributor Jeff Balke. What a wonderful silhouetted shot of a child playing against the projection of butterflies outside the Cockrell Butterfly Center at the Houston Museum of Natural Science. If you have a passion for Houston and photography, consider joining over 345 of Houston's best photographers in the Houstonist Flickr Photo Group. If Houstonist uses your photo for Photo Of The Day,......

Rockets center Yao Ming got married yesterday, or two days ago, or perhaps last month (we're not good with the whole International Date Line thing here at Houstonist) to his long-time girlfriend Ye Li. Lest you think that Ye is going to look like a pixie next to 7'6" Yao, keep in mind that she's 6'2" herself. She's a basketball player on China's national team in her own right. Their children will no doubt be......

Today’s Photo of the Day comes from flickr user and Houstonist photo contributor Jeff Balke who provides us with this stunning black and white image of a backboard that's seen better days. If you have a passion for Houston and photography, consider joining over 270 of Houston's best photographers in the Houstonist Flickr Photo Group. If Houstonist uses your photo for Photo Of The Day, submit it here. For more great photography check out......

Today’s Photos of the Day comes from flickr users and Houstonist photo contributors Philosopher Queen, erci, cybertoad, mrp1001, presson_on, Jeff Balke, mx5tx and Graustark. These are all shots of local stadiums, ballparks and playing fields, all worthy of inclusion in todays collected Photo of the Day. Keep the sports related photos coming readers and contributors. Our Photo of the Day theme this week is sports. Submit your sports and Houston related images to our......

Today’s Photos of the Day comes from flickr users, baseball enthusiasts and Houstonist photo contributors sulla55, mrp1001, Jeff Balke, slight clutter and eschipul who have all, at one time or another, contributed these baseball photos to the group. Submit your sports images to our Flickr group as our theme this week is sports. If you have a passion for Houston and photography, consider joining over 270 of Houston's best photographers in the Houstonist Flickr......

Today’s Photo of the Day comes from flickr user and Houstonist photo contributor Jeff Balke. It's a shot of Astros mascot, Junction Jack giving us the thumbs up for a week of sports related photos. That's right, we have a theme this week and it's going to be sports. Submit your sports images to our Flickr group and have a great week! If you have a passion for Houston and photography, consider joining over......

Today’s Photo of the Day comes from flickr user and Houstonist photo contributor Jeff Balke. "Taken at the Houston Air Terminal Museum. This sofa was well covered with plastic wrap, protecting it from the decay around it." And Houstonist is glad you took this image before the couch decayed as well. Great shot, composition and lighting. If you have a passion for Houston and photography, consider joining over 200 of Houston's best photographers in......

Welcome fellow NBA fans to the first installment of the Rockets Report, a weekly discussion of all things relating to the Houston Rockets. Fortunately for us, we get to start on a positive note given the last few weeks. Yao Ming, sidelined for 32 games due to a broken leg, has been back for nine games. While he was out, the team performed well above expectations going 20-12, but no one would dispute the fact......

Today’s Photo of the Day comes from flickr user and Houstonist photo contributor Jeff Balke. This tree and his smaller counterpart sit on a small peninsula near Galveston near all the estuaries where fish spawn in the spring. Houstonist thinks those are some lucky fish to have a such a sweet spawning spot. If you have a passion for Houston and photography, consider joining almost 200 of Houston's best photographers in the Houstonist Flickr Photo......

This shot from flickr user and Houstonist photo contributor Jeff Balke is a stunning yet lonely image taken on the railroad tracks near the I-10 and 59 interchange in downtown Houston. As an added safety reminder, Houstonist doesn't recommend walking on railroad tracks. Did you know that a 150-car freight train traveling 50 miles per hour takes 8000 ft. (or 1.5 miles) to stop? It's true. If you have a passion for Houston and......

The shot from flickr user and Houstonist photo contributor Jeff Balke. At first look one might get the impression this is some sort of weapon-locking system. A fair assumption given that most antiques in the Houston area are gun related. This is no weapon, unless you're strong enough to swing it around and bludgeon someone. This is an antique film projector at the Heights Station antique shop in the Heights. It looks great in......

We know, it’s not Friday, but Houstonist is in the holiday spirit, and we received several good holiday-video requests, so we decided to extend Friday Afternoon Videos for the whole week this week. (Plus, it’ll help everyday seem like Friday!) We want to thank Houstonist Flickr Photo Group member Jeff Balke for telling us about this video last month. Going lounge seems to be the thing to do if you’re an aging rock star.......

The shot from flickr user and Houstonist photo contributor Jeff Balke. Our week of photos from Dickens on the Strand has suddenly turned a little odd. First it was just kids with funny hats and glasses. Now we've got sword weilding dancers. From the photog: "Bellydancers on 19th Street during the Dickens in the Heights holiday celebration last weekend. If more women carried these around, I think men would think twice about messing with......

The shot from flickr user and Houstonist photo contributor Jeff Balke. Who is Cochrum? And why does he/she/they get such a nice plot at the Glenwood Cemetery (home of Howard Hughes, William Hobby and Anson Jones)? We can't be sure, but we wonder if there isn't some relation to the Cochrum's of Kentucky that moved to Texas and brought with them their daughter Ella Cochrum, who later became Ella Fondren, husband of famous Houstonian......

The shot from flickr user and Houstonist photo contributor Jeff Balke. Yesterday we had a shot of a pumpkin patch at a church, today we go inside a church. This is at a Catholic church off of navigation, says Jeff. We think it's probably the Immaculate Heart of Mary Church. Wherever it is, it's absolutely beautiful. The detail is fantastic and we could stare at it all day. This was at a photoshoot inside......

The shot from flickr user and Houstonist photo contributor Jeff Balke. Busted! I'm fairly sure that it's not illegal or even frowned upon to capture one of the number-changers at Minute Maid Park, but Jeff does seem to be getting the old evil-eye. Maybe it's just because it's hot back there, we've heard rumors that it gets into the 100s back there on hot days. If you're a rabid Astros fan, check out the......

The shot from flickr user and houstonist photo contributor Jeff Balke. We've gone from buildings to the dogs this week. Here's another awesome shot from Jeff, this time of a competitor at the Reliant Park World Series of Dogs. According to Jeff, this little guy was "tearing up the course." I think it's important to not view this as a shot of a dog on an obstacle course, but rather as an athlete in......

Houstonist has never been much of one to mess with petitions, but we figured the possible demolition of the River Oaks Shopping Center (and the Alabama Theater) was as good a reason as any — better than most, in our book — to get started. So we're sponsoring a petition opposing Weingarten Realty Investors' plans to tear down the River Oaks center. If you missed the news this weekend, check out the Chronicle article. Here's......

The shot from flickr user and houstonist contributor Jeff Balke. Jeff says this is his favorite shot from the world's largest indoor amusement park at the Astrodome. The contrast between the bright candy stand and the Dome's enormous roof is fantastic. The roof, we're told, is 624 feet in diameter and rises 208 feet above the floor (that's about the width of two and a half city blocks and the height of an 18-story......

The shot from flickr user and houstonist photo contributor Jeff Balke. He's also a Houstonist contributor. This is at the Houston Arboretum and Nature Center, HANC, which reminds me... the 2006 Summer Camp series is going on all this month. If you're looking for something to do with the little ones you should check it out. If you would like to join Houston's best photographers in the houstonist photo group, click here.......