Just when you thought that the return of actual baseball would distract us from the off-season drama, a Congressional committee has taken the first steps toward starting a criminal investigation of Roger Clemens on a charge of perjury in his testimony about whether or not he used HGH and other steroids. But what about McNamee? Thusfar, he's home free: a draft letter that mentions Clemens--and only Clemens, not his former trainer--was drawn up by the......

It's a struggle not to talk about how awesome the Super Bowl was last night, but since we're here to talk about Houston teams first and foremost, we'll have to stick to our mission. But how 'bout those commercials, huh? We went and looked at the GoDaddy.com Danica Patrick one online; who knew that she could put both legs behind her head while playing "Smoke On The Water" on kazoo? Here's what the blogosphere has......

::Your Beat is Nice Tuesday:: Houston's got it's own Music Tuesday tonight with four chances to see our diverse music scene in action:a surviving grunge rocker, a Texas Marine, a mock-yeah-ing-yeah-bird-yeah Hollywood star, and a string quartet. Pick your poison. Foo Fighter at Toyota Center Dave Grohl and his fighets of Foo visit the Toyota Center tonight in support of their 2007 release Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace. Having commemorated their tenth anniversary with a......

We usually run this column on Mondays, but the Clemens press conference inspired us to be petulant and storm out of things, so we walked away from our keyboard in a huff, drove back to our mansion in Memorial, and injected our kids whose names all begin with K's with horse steroids. After we calmed down and called our lawyer, we compiled this list of links. Here's what the sports blogosphere is talking about this......

With all the excitement surrounding the new Wu-Tang Clan record, what are some other bands you'd like to see return to the spotlight? We still say a prayer for a Fugees' comeback album, even though we know it's a lost cause. 8 Diagrams is the long-awaited new album from Wu-Tang, featuring the much-talked about Beatles' sample and guitar work by John Frusciante. Group members Ghostface and Raekwon have been vocal about their dissatisfaction with the......

The tryptophan has worn off, we all trudge back to work, and sit down to surf the web. Between another crushing Texans loss, the Aggies poaching one of the Texans' coaches, and the Rockets finally getting their act together, it was a busy holiday season for Houston sports. Let Houstonist do the surfing for you and bring you up to speed on what the web is saying about our teams: - Ok, this is just......

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......

Remember when you were a little bitty Houstonist and someone would read to you at night and you could just lose yourself in the story, abandoning all other thoughts of the day? Well you can still do it now, you know. In fact, you might be all the more eager to shed your quotidian annoyances now that you're grown. Here are a few places to hear some stellar writers read from their work: Friday......

This week, we learn that Jay-Z is officially out of retirement indefinitely, that heima means home in Icelandic, and that Chris Brown is like a real grown-up! So the new film American Gangster served as inspiration for Jay-Z’s latest album and made big bucks at the box office last weekend. Could this mean huge numbers for Jay-Z’s CD of the same name? -Read an album review in the New York Times -Watch Jay-Z on VH1's......

Good morning, Houston. We suppose Tex-Mex is finally official: The New York Times wrote about it yesterday in an article that looked at famed Mexican joints in Houston, Dallas and San Antonio. "Neon signs flicker above pastel storefronts promising excellent Mexican food in virtually every block of the city," the Times' Joe Drape writes of Houston. "The trick is to figure out which places will deliver on that promise." Indeed. Drape visited El Jardin......

Today Houstonist brings you an imagined interview with Derek J. Mortimer, the owner, founder, and visionary behind Hotel Derek. We recently sat down with Mr. Mortimer in the lobby of his flagship hotel to speak with him about his career. Thanks for agreeing to this interview, Mr. Mortimer. Or do you prefer-- --You may address Derek as Derek. Okay, Derek. Could you talk a bit about what inspired you to go into the hotel business?......

::Maurice Manning and Emily Fox Gordon Poetry Reading at Diverseworks:: Giving Houstonians a chance to hear tomorrow’s great writers today. The Inprint Studio Series, presented by Inprint in association with the University of Houston Creative Writing Program and Diverseworks, features some of the best young writers in the country, as well as alumni from the University of Houston Creative Writing Program and leading local authors. Now in its second season, the 2007-2008 Inprint Studio Series,......

It's baaaaack. We can't believe it's been nearly six months since the last installment of the MFA's kick arse series, "Movies Houstonians Love." How the heck did we cope for this long with out it? Must be those doses of Mixed Media that held us over. Tonight marks the return of a new slew of presentations of some of Houston's own professing their love for their favorite flix. This series includes flick pix from the......

With vivid colors and stylized storylines, anime has amassed a worldwide cult following. This contemporary Asian animation genre has its origins in Japanese manga comics, and the MFAH presents a sampling to accompany the MFAH exhibition RED HOT — Asian Art Today from the Chaney Family Collection (now through Oct 21st). Featured are a family favorite from South Korea distributed by the Houston-based company ADV Films, plus two instant classics from Japan. Tonight's Film......

Antonya Nelson, one of our resident writer geniuses here in town, recently placed *another* story in the New Yorker, and it takes place in Houston! Get a load of that! The story is called "Shauntrelle." Here are the opening lines: "It isn’t just a husband you divorce but a life. A credit rating. Certain friends—sadly, some of them small children. A mother-in-law, that innocent bystander. And sometimes it seemed to Constance that she had divorced......

Need to know just a little bit about something? Ask a dilettante. Is that a magic wand in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me? Yeah, that innuendo doesn’t really work on chicks. Dilettante will forgive you because I assume you’re caught up in Harry Potter fever. Not to be confused with Welcome Back Kotter fever, which died out years ago. I didn’t know they were still teaching kids how to read,......

Today’s Photo of the Day comes from flickr user and Houstonist photo contributor Polar Bear in a Snowstorm. Check out the smoothness of the water in this image of the Gus S. Wortham Memorial Fountain. Do you know who Mr. Wortham was and how important he was to our fair city? Honestly, we didn't until we did a little searching. According to the New York Times, Mr. Wortham was "a cattle baron and an......

Houstonist told you yesterday about the alleged "mob beating" that took place in East Austin on Tuesday, June 19th. Today, however, the Austin Police Department (APD) backed off of the troubling story, claiming that their initial press releases contained incorrect information, and that, according to Austin Mayor Will Wynn, "the city played a role in that." Additionally, as new details emerge about the murder, a new troubling element of the story seems to be replacing......

Jerry Seinfeld at Jones Hall What's the deal with Jerry Seinfeld? He's part of the brains behind Seinfeld, TV Guide's greatest TV show of all time, and Wikipedia reports that he's earned more money for the portrayal of a single character than any actor ever. Not bad, for a show about nothing. The man himself, Jerry Seinfeld, will grace Jones Hall with his presence this evening for two stand-up comedy shows at 7 and 9:30.......

The hype machine for the NFL bid of Galveston native Walter Thomas has officially kicked into high gear. Yesterday the New York Times ran a nice article on the enormous yet agile Thomas, and the piece quickly climbed up to the most emailed articles of the day. The guy's numbers are difficult to fully comprehend: he weighs 370 lbs, runs the 40 yard dash in 4.9 seconds, can do flips and cartwheels handily, and......

The gunman who caused an evacuation at Johnson Space Center's Building 44 earlier today killed a hostage before killing himself, the New York Times is reporting. The gunman somehow got a revolver past security and barricaded himself in the building, which contains communication and tracking equipment for space shuttles. The gunman has been identified as William Phillips, 60. David Beverley, the dead hostage, who was shot in the chest, was a civil servant who worked......

Senior Time magazine columnist Joe Klein will speak tonight at the Wortham Center on Islam, Iraq, and the War on Terror. Klein is "one of America’s most astute observers of politics and international affairs" and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He is the author of a number of books, including his most recent Politics Lost: How American Politics Was Trivialized By People Who Think You’re Stupid, a tirade against political consultants in......

If there's one thing we've never heard Galveston compared to, it's The Hamptons. Houston's Clear Thinkers was equally surprised when they encountered this comparison in a New York Times article. We guess it makes sense, since there has been a boom in beach-house building and buying among Houstonians in the past several years. Has the world finally "discovered the Gulf Coast?" We'll see. This blog says that we'd be better off watching for hurricanes, not......

Remember the 37-story apartment tower announced last May for a block overlooking Discovery Green? KHOU reports that foundation work began this weekend, when about 800 cement trucks dumped their contents into the big hole at the corner of Austin at Lamar. And downtown observers are all atwitter: "I think that Houston will see a lot more residential development downtown. I think this is a lead project for many to come," said architect Jeffrey Ryan......

So let's be honest: All weekend, you were sitting around thinking, "Sure, I'd like to know who the father of Anna Nicole's daughter is, but what I really wonder is: What's going on with Lisa Nowak?" Fortunately, the media provided a heathy dose of astronaut-related updates over the weekend. Here's what you might have missed: On Thursday, some friends had dropped by Nowak's Clear Lake home for a visit, according to an AP report carried......

On Sundays, Houstonist runs opinion pieces relevant to life in Houston. The opinions expressed below are entirely those of the author. Happy December 31st! Since our resolutions pretty much stay the same from one year to the next (lose weight, get a better job, spend more time with the kids, get the drinking under control, stand up to that troll under the bridge), we need another way to note the passage of time. People in......

Consolidation talks in the airline industry have reached Houston's Continental Airlines, The New York Times reports today: According to sources close to the companies, Continental and United Airlines are in preliminary merger talks because neither wants to be left at a disadvantage by a possible consolidation of US Airways and Delta Air Lines. The Times reports that Glenn Tilton and Larry Kellner, the CEOs of United and Continental, have met in person to talk about......

The Texas Department of Public Safety has plans to change the way Texans renew and change address information on their driver licenses. In fact, the licenses will have a complete makeover. According to KHOU, all changes will have to be made in person, which will cause an increase in the already-packed Motor Vehicle locations. Don't rush to make changes now, though - beginning in 2008, the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles will require everyone with......

Today, much local and national media coverage will deal with the 9/11 anniversary. Here are a few things you might want to check out: The Chron carries an AP article on national remembrances; if you're looking for more extensive coverage, check out The New York TImes, where you can read articles from today, revisit coverage from the days after 9/11 and get into the excellent Portraits of Grief sketches of the World Trade Center victims.......

Celebrate Ben Franklin's 300th birthday with the Bikini Bandits and Phillyist! (NSFW). Speaking of Mr. Franklin, send in a picture of Ben (or Ed Rendell) with a red tongue and win a free t-shirt. And they might have the next YearlyKos in Philly. You know who's going to be upset about those Bikini Bandits? The Houston school system. Houstonist also reports on some redevelopment shenanigans over a landmark theater. LAist's sex advice column on......