So we're not sure what qualifies Leonard Nimoy to be an expert on this subject, but, we fully support feminist concepts, especially when negative stereotypes and cultural biases are put into question. So we're going with it. Especially considering Mr. Nimoy seems to have really tamed his raging machismo since his space-traveling days, as evidenced by the disturbing image seen at left. We commend him for growing as a person, and as a Vulcan. Tomorrow......

Good morning, Houston. As you might have noticed, we passed the night sans Humberto — but our friends in the Beaumont area weren't so lucky. The sudden hurricane made landfall early this morning and battered Beaumont with winds up to 62 mph and Orange with gusts of up to 85 mph, the Chron's Eric Berger reports. From across Southeast Texas came reports of knee-deep water, downed power lines and damaged buildings, including an apartment......

Local tech news in a compact, digital format. After a bit of a hiatus, The Tech Buzz is back. It's not new or improved, just back. iPhone Madness We're not going go too in-depth with the iPhone as it has been covered by just about every major media outlet in the U.S. this past week. What we are going to do is provide you with this link to two local geeks and their reports......

We at Houstonist love all things well-designed, especially those that are environmentally friendly, and you already know how we feel about certain kinds of real estate. Imagine our delight when we found them all together, hanging out at the Lawndale Art Center. Snapshot: Houston Design on View 2007 exhibits 85 pieces of art, images, models and other doodads from a variety of projects, both realized and not, throughout Houston. The Rice Design Alliance (RDA)......

Good morning, Houston. We're happy to report that we've found out the AIA and Google have combined two of our favorite things: architecture and Google Earth. Now there's a Google Earth layer featuring 3-D models of some of the structures on the AIA's list of America's favorite architecture, which brings desktop tourism to a whole new level. Among the buildings on the AIA layer: Pennzoil Place, the Astrodome and the Williams Tower, the three......

For Houston reality TV fans who have been waiting to see our city represented ever since Erica left The Bachelor, we have good news. This season - uh, cycle - of America's Next Top Model features a very pretty Houstonian. Meet Felicia. She's 19 and works as a sales associate. If she wins, she will receive a $100,000 modeling contract with Covergirl, a spread in Seventeen Magazine and representation by a top model agency. We......

Much beloved and sadly departed comedian Mitch Hedberg used to joke that comedy couldn't be like pancakes, exciting at first and then dissapointing by the the time you get halfway into them. Unfortunately, that looks to be an apt description of this weekend. Monday through Wednesday Things heat up slightly as high temperatures creep into the lower 80s through the early part of the week as the area falls under the influence of high......

A strong tropical depression (#4 this year) has formed off the coast of Africa and with it comes the heart of hurricane season. Though hurricane season runs offically from June 1 through the end of November, experts know that the busy season for hurricanes is August 15 through October 15 when waters reach their warmest temperatures and trade winds diminish leaving the atmosphere ripe for the formation of tropical weather disturbances. This current depression is......

Besides the downpour on Saturday morning, it has been, to quote a song, feelin' hot, hot hot outside in Houston this past week. We shouldn't be surprised. The middle of August through the middle of September traditionally offers up the hottest weeks of the year with temperatures in the high 90's, rainforest-like humidity and, to cap it all off, the heart of hurricane season. Yippee! Monday Through Thursday Our "lovely" summer weather pattern continues......

People who say, "Don't sweat the small stuff" have never been to Houston in August. Like a typical Houston later summer (yes, we said late summer), the mercury is rising and we all have an eye on the tropics. Fortunately, all is quiet in the tropics, but we are seeing some wet weather coutesy of a small tropical system. Mostly, it's going to be hot this week. Monday Through Thursday The early part of......

While Houstonist believes in preparedness and Tropical Storm Chris continues to churn in the Atlantic, it isn't time to start boarding up just yet. That having been said, the National Hurricane Center continues to monitor Chris and has yet to downgrade him to a tropical depression as had earlier been predicted. Chris continues to survive depsite many estimations and is aiming directly for Cuba with winds currently around 40mph. Current forecast models keep Chris on......

Welcome to August! Not only do the temperatures sore in the Bayou City, August is the peak of hurricane season. Up until now, we've been fortunate to avoid any significant tropical disturbances, but so has the entire US coastline. With only three named storms and no hurricanes, we are well behind the abnormally high 2005 season that, by this time last year, had already produced 7 named storms and 3 hurricanes including 2 major......

It seems that yet again someone has done something that will soon be viewed as indispensable to the modern world. The latest example of greatness from the Nietzschian overmen at South Korean manufacturer LG is the LP4100, a cell phone that can, and will, let you know when you have had that one chardonnay too many. A phone with a built in Breathalyzer?!? The He@# you say! Did Houstonist mention that the fabulous LP4100 will......

If you have a yen to make some art and no plans tonight, we suggest stopping by Helios for Painted Tuesdays, a weekly life-drawing session that's open to everyone, whether they're a Rubens or more MOBA material. If you haven't been to Helios before, you should check it out, figure drawing or not. Located in an old Avondale house, Helios is a local art organization showcasing independent art of all stripes in three performance......

Ready for a triple play of art to kick off the weekend? Check out the final shows of the spring season at Commerce Street Artists Warehouse tomorrow, where you can meet D.C.'s David Waddell, curator of CSAW's Play! exhibition. According to CSAW: "Play! exhibits the serious side of exploration, play and obsession through transforming everyday materials, personifying household objects and redefining space formally and psychologically." Nine artists are participating, including Meredith Cunningham and Katherine......

If somebody were to stop you on the street and ask you what's wrong with hip-hop in 2006, odds are you'd say something like "There aren't enough good role models." or "The Streets." You probably wouldn't say "There aren't enough quilts." Wait, you would? Wow, then does the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston have a show for you! After the huge success of their Beats of Basquiat series earlier this year, the MFAH, in association......

The shot from flickr user and houstonist photo contributor Get Ahead. It's a model from a Juvenile and Mike Jones video shoot (probably the video for the song "Way I Be Leanin."). Something about the mix of people (models, lighting guy) and the park setting makes this photo fun to stare at for a while. If you would like to Join the houstonist photo group, click here.......

So if you're paranoid, here's something else you might want to worry about: Your car's heated seats could kill you. Yes, KHOU found a guy who suffered serious burns from his car's heated seats, which reached a scorching 165 degrees. Not to make light of his case, but is it sweeps week or what? Al Davis, who was paralyzed by a car accident 20 years ago, has a 2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee with heated seats.......

SFist commeters pose for before and aftershocks when the mayor commemorates a 1906 earthquake...at 4:30 in the morning. A hot tip on the Chronicle vending machines comes in and the SFist war correspondent risks life and limb to post this dispatch from the frontlines. Houstonist announces their new Cops spinoff "World's Funniest Taser Videos" and the possible cancellation of their pervs' "World's Grossest Bathroom Videos" and PBS trains cams on cows at, uhg, MooTube. Also,......

Attention hipsters: You can now use your iPod to drown out that annoying road noise while cruising around Montrose on your Vespa. From Engadget comes news of a do-it-yourself Vespa stereo system with an iPod dock. The system, which puts an amp and two 4-inch Alpine speakers in the glovebox space, fits Vespa Stella and P-series models. Up top is a dock for your iPod (or non-iPod audio player). The system runs $299, which is......

So today is National Ding-A-Ling Day. Yep, that’s right. There’s a day for pretty much anything you can think of. No, it’s not a celebration of Chuck Berry’s 1972 novelty hit, but it’s to recognize bell ringers around the world. So drop another quarter in the Salvation Army kettle when you walk into Central Market today. Houstonist found it interesting that it was also Bob Barker Day. Is it a coincidence that these two celebrations......

Houstonist does not buy into the whole guilty pleasure thing. Either like something or don't, we say. But Project Runway, Bravo's reality TV fashionista slapfight, is almost enough to change that opinion. Houstonist tuned in each week not because we particularly liked the clothes, or Banana Republic, but because we had to have questions answered: Could Austin be any prissier? Could Robert be more useless? Could we possibly like Wendy less? The answer to all......

Chalk up another victory for decent, moral Houstonians: KHOU decided to move tonight's Victoria's Secret Fashion Show to a late-night time slot in favor of an interview program with the perky Debra Duncan. Channel 11 is pre-empting girls in their nighties for a home-grown special of its own. KHOU morning anchor Debra Duncan is hosting In the Spotlight, which includes interviews with Oprah Winfrey, Ricardo Chavira (Carlos on Desperate Housewives) and model/actress Brooke Burns (Baywatch).......