Results tagged “newjersey”

When you think of New Jersey, wistful romance may not immediately come to mind. But it's there - after all, the Garden State is the birthplace of Frankie Valli and Frank Sinatra. It's what inspires singer/songwriter and Jersey native Nicole Atkins' music, which carries a certain flair for both nostalgia and matters of the heart. Atkins has become quite the critic's darling, and with good reason. Her dramatic smoky croon and searing lovelorn lyrics are beautifully affecting.

Good morning, Houston. Hey, guess who's having a birthday today? Well, OK, it's technically not Houstonist — our second birthday was back on Nov. 20, but we figured that if the queen can have two birthdays, so can we. And so we're throwing ourselves a little birthday party tonight, and you're all invited. It starts at 6 p.m. at Monsoon Wok, Lamar at San Jacinto (yes, street parking is free downtown after 6). Six...

So, Ashby Highrise. Here in one of Houstonist's favorite neighborhoods, we're seeing lots of signs that say "Tower of Traffic" and "Stop Ashby Highrise", and we got caught in that protest the other day on our way to and from Rice campus. But one detail we'd missed until now came to our attention in a Rice Thresher article. The Thresher, Rice's award-winning weekly newspaper, has its ups and downs, but it's extremely under-appreciated by Owls...

Good morning, Houston, and a happy Labor Day. We're abandoning our usual posting schedule today in favor of all-American grilled foods and the Jerry Lewis Telethon. We'll be back with our regular schedule tomorrow, but first, how about some Labor Day trivia? Labor Day began in the 1880s as annual street parades to show "the strength and esprit de corps of the trade and labor organizations." In the early days, there was a movement...

Houstonist vs. Houstonist is a new feature in which two Houstonist contributors will face off to debate an issue that's relevant to life in the Bayou City. Want to join the debate? Hit the comments section at the end of the post. As we're sure you've heard, Houston's stricter smoking ban — which affects all but a handful of workplaces, including bars — goes into effect tomorrow. The push for the expanded smoking ban gained...

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...

From the tallest skyscraper in the City of Brotherly Love to Canadian tourism copywriting brilliance, here's what you should know from our -ist cities: This week, Phillyist took a gleeful listen to the White Stripes' exciting new release, watched in awe as their new tallest skyscraper was finally completed, found a cheaper way to get to Gothamist, invented a tasty new dessert, and brought back their Craigslist Round-Up feature with a bang. Bostonist watches...

In 1974, a young muscian from New Jersey traveled to play a show in a small music venue in the South. He subsequently wrote a lyric immortalizing the venue: "Hey Frank, won't you pack your bags And meet me tonight down at Liberty Hall." The song was "This Hard Land." The city: Houston. And the young muscian was none other than The Boss, Bruce Springsteen. “Now Playing Houston: The Liberty Hall Poster Show” will display...

If you happen to be in the Rosharon area this weekend, don't let it worry you if a bunch of people start falling out of the sky: They're skydivers, and they're trying to set a Texas record for the largest freefall skydiving formation. Their goal is getting 150 people involved in the formation — not easy, said diver Lou Tommaso, a New Jersey farmer with 5,400 jumps under his belt. "It's hard enough to get...

Spring time in Texas and Easter is Sunday. Bluebonnets are blooming on the roadsides of Texas highways and hordes of partying co-eds are migrating to South Padre Island for Spring Break. Thousands of miles away in Rimini, Italy a different group of Texans, known as No Tsu Oh, is migrating to a different beach in hopes of successfully defending their fifth world title. Paganello is a five-day frisbee related event held annually on the Rimini...

In one of the strangest stories to come along in a while, a Humble man is accused of having beaten a Russian traveler to death at a New Jersey Turnpike service plaza yesterday — apparently a random attack that police say might have been motivated by religion. The basics are these: Shortly before 12:45 a.m. Thursday, Michail J. Makarenko, a 75-year-old Russian who emigrated to the U.S. 25 years ago, pulled over with his interpreter...

Austinist gets arty with an interactive guide to SXSW, loved some local art galleries and a new art exhibit and lamented the possible loss of "Friday Night Lights" production to New Mexico. Bostonist was happy they finally found an Anna Nicole Smith connection to their fair city and that an Apple Store was opening up. They were less happy that new rules have been established limiting underage shows and that their Governor is spending...

Lanky: a New Jersey native who's proud to call Houston home. That’s music to our ears! And Houston’s proud to call Lanky theirs. In his tenure here in Houston, the singer/songwriter, guitar player has already notched several award nominations on his belt and has gathered the respect from fellow musicians and critics both inside and outside the region. He’s gearing up for his next show tomorrow night at DECO (510 Gray St.). He’ll be performing...

There's some news today on Metro's plan to expand its rapid-transit system: Two members of Congress from Houston have said they'll push for federal funding for more light rail, not the bus rapid transit lines Metro proposed for the northside, East End, southeast side and Uptown. The announcement from U.S. Reps. Sheila Jackson Lee and Al Green, both Democrats, came at a Metro board meeting yesterday where the agency OK'd negotiating with a team headed...

Sometimes, birthdays just don't turn out like you expect them to. If you don't believe us, just ask Nathaniel Jackson, a Texas City man who turned 23 Saturday — and got busted by New Jersey police for having 17 pounds of pot in his hotel room. Fort Lee, N.J., police say they found Jackson and his girlfriend Kimberly Burns, 26, putting the marijuana into bags in their hotel room. It seems the pair let the...

The Chronicle reports today about something missing from the menus at local restaurants — something Houstonist would never even have thought of eating: guinea pigs. The critters are popular fare in Peru, and one local importer hopes to start distributing frozen guinea pigs in Houston within a year. Mmm. Guinea pigs have been eaten in the central Andes — they're called cuy there — for thousands of years; in Peru, depictions of the Last Supper...

Let's take a look back at a week that raised this Zen koan: if Kevin Federline got into a wrestling ring with a wrestler, who would you root for? Austinist was in an entertainment state of mind as they covered the dickens out of the Austin Film Festival, depicted all the Big 12 football coaches as South Park characters, and interviewed Jose Gonzalez. Chicagoist talked about the passion as they bid adieu to Bell...

So now that Houston has passed its smoking ban, a lot of bar owners in the city are concerned that they'll lose customers to bars just outside Houston, where smoking is permitted. But they may not need to worry: If state Sen. Rodney Ellis has his way, the entire state of Texas will one day be a no-smoking zone ... so we won't die. “I mean look, there are a lot of things that will...

Houstonist loves its pets – well, some of us don’t have one, but we love our friends’ pets! Finally, our city is getting recognition for our pet fondness. According to AAA, Houston is now the most pet-friendly city for travelers. The survey is mainly based on the number of hotels and motels that accept pets. Houston leads the pack with 108 lodging choices for pets and their owners. We also have two off-leash dog parks...

So the results of the GMAC Insurance driving test are in, and there's good news: Texas doesn't have the dumbest drivers in the country. Finally, a list where we're not the worst at something! The test consisted of 20 questions based on state driver's license examinations where a score of 70 or higher is required to pass. According to the results, which cover all 50 states plus the District of Columbia, the three states most...

City Council today approved a $15 million contract for 1,500 ultra-modern parking meters on a wireless network that will let people pay their parking fees using cell phones, credit cards and dollar bills in addition to coins. Council chose ACS State & Local Solutions of New Jersey as the vendor for the system, the first part of which should be in place within a year. Matthew Silverman, Vice President of the company's transportation services, said...

Richard Causey, Enron's former chief accounting officer, pleaded guilty to securities fraud Wednesday, paving the way for Causey to (to borrow a phrase from our friends in the cartage industry) sing like a bird regarding the activities of ex-Enron Chairman Ken Lay and CEO Jeff Skilling. The former chief accounting officer lacked the status and salaries of his two co-defendants, but the plea deal will likely make him valuable to the government's case. Like former...

In a new twist to one of the most bizarre stories in recent years, New York real estate heir Robert Durst was arrested yesterday after he visited Galveston, violating the terms of his supervised release. Durst, you'll remember, was found innocent in 2003 of murdering his neighbor in Galveston even though he admitted to cutting up the neighbor's body and dumping it in Galveston Bay. Though he was acquitted of murder, Durst was jailed for...