Mother Nature has been teasing us – toying with us even. Here it is, late October and nary a sweater touched, a wool sock adorned, a scarf wrapped. The hair is still frizzy and the a/c continues to crank. But, by golly, the optimist in us has gone into full-fledged autumn-mode: dining al fresco. Every year, about this time of year, Houstonist wills the weather to get cooler by changing our dining strategy to all-al-fresco-all-the-time.......

We're going to be Texans-heavy this week because there's so much to be proud about at Reliant Park this week. And the Astros are depressing except for the rookies. - Battle Red Blog is still on Cloud Nine about the undefeated Texans. - DGDB&D continues to knock everyone else out of the park with their Texans coverage. This Man In Black homage to the Man Who Was Frequently On His Back (David Carr) is an......

Good morning, Houston. Do you feel like you're living and dying in 3/4 time? Need a margarita(ville) or two to pick up your spirits on this way-too-hot Monday morning? How about a vintage Jimmy Buffett video to help you through the week? "Come Monday" has long been one of our favorite JB songs, and what better time to listen to it than now? Plus, his girlfriend was super-hot, and we can't argue with that.......

With all of the rain we’ve been having, it’d be nice to just sit (or stand) indoors somewhere and enjoy some good music. So, that’s what Houstonist is going to do. Many good choices for this weekend – here are our picks: Tonight Jazz comes to Fitzgerald’s tonight. However, this isn’t your grandfather’s jazz. One of our local favorites, Drop Trio (pictured on the left), will be joining headliner O’2L (which features a member of......

So all day yesterday, we heard people complaining about about the Harris County commissioners' proposal to raise the cost of using the county toll road system — and we even added our two cents. But is the rate increase a done deal? No, according to KHOU, which reports that commissioners approved a "toll-setting policy" on Tuesday, with the actual toll increase decision still to come in another vote. Or yes, according to KTRK, which says......

Good morning, Houston. It's June 5 — does that date mean anything to you? It should: Six years ago today, Tropical Storm Allison made landfall on the upper Texas coast, bringing with it more than 40 inches of rain in some areas (and all the flooding that went with it). When all was said and done, the damages totaled $5.5 billion, making Allison the most costly tropical storm in U.S. history. Have any memories......

How could you forget? Houstonist wants to know: What is the least satisfying driving experience in Houston? First, we asked what was the most satisfying driving experience in Houston, and you told us with your comments. And then we made a Top 10ist about it. We even made a map so that you could track down the most satisfying drives in our great city. But things seem to have taken a negative turn. Now we......

We know we don't have to tell you what a stone-cold amazing city you live in. But, apparently, we do need to tell the folks over at Kiplinger. The publication recently ranked their best cities and Houston didn't make the list. But, you have a chance to vote for your favorite city in a reader poll now, and guess who's in third? Houstonist was tipped off to this poll by Houston Strategies. Kiplinger, from their......

Local singer/songwriter Lee Alexander has been working the pub and wine bar scene for the last few years, and it’s paid off. His CD Out of Place was on many local critic’s “Best of 2006” list and has received several regional music nominations and awards. Alexander plays tonight at one of our favorite wine bars – The Corkscrew. They are hosting a new Monday evening acoustic set, which puts Lee Alexander right at home (and......

The Houston Texans needed to do something to improve their offensive production. It's no secret that David Carr's tenure as Texans quarterback was growing short. Yesterday, the Texans inked a deal with Matt Schaub and ended speculation about the quarterback situation. Signing Schaub, second fiddle to The Vick in Atlanta, completed the trade terms and effectively placed Carr on the trading block. Texans GM, Rick Smith, left little doubt as to their intentions during the......

This was not a very happy week for the -ist network as one of our own, Phillyist co-editor Star C. Foster, passed away early in the week. Her wit, intelligence, and good nature shone through the site, making Phillyist an immensely fun read. She was loved by many and will be missed by all. Phillyist paid tribute to her this week with a heartfelt letter to her and an obituary. And now, the awkward......

After seeing pictures of how crowded the malls were this weekend, Houstonist is thinking of embracing this Interweb thing and doing a lot of our holiday shopping online — and we're not alone: According to a recent poll, Houston ranks sixth in the U.S. in online shopping spending for this holiday season. The AOL Shopping/Zogby International Poll shows that the average Houstonian expects to spend $527.96 online in the next four weeks — a fairly......

If you're Republican CD22 candidate Shelley Sekula-Gibbs, we guess it's pretty cool when the president comes to town to campaign for you — and if you're President George W. Bush, where better to get an enthusiastic reception than Sugar Land? So it seems only natural that Bush turned out yesterday to stump for Sekula-Gibbs, who is trying to win Tom DeLay's congressional seat on a write-in campaign. Bush's visit was largely instructional: "See, if you......

So it's less than two weeks until Election Day, and polling precincts across the state are having trouble meeting a Justice Department requirement, KHOU reports: There's a lack of Spanish-speaking poll workers in many Texas counties, and time is running out to find them. “Although we have the ballot translated into Spanish and Vietnamese, that’s just part of the process,” said David Beirne, Harris County Election Commission. “There’s still a check-in process. There’s still the......

Houstonist loves breaking news, but sometimes news on blogs exists in an echo chamber. Earlier we reported that a poll commissioned by KBH showed Bell within 5 points, which is what was reported on other blogs and confirmed by someone who said they were sure of the same thing and was in a position to know. Well, here's the real scoop from Kuff, who heard the same thing: Burka had heard the poll in question......

So there's good news and bad news for Gov. Rick Perry. The good news: According to a new poll, he should easily win re-election in November if things keep going like they are. The bad news: According to the same poll, a lot of Texans think he's kind of a sucky governor. Ah, politics. The poll, conducted by The Dallas Morning News (check out the results here), found that Perry leads the pack of five......

The Houston Chronicle's Ultimate Houston weekly Reader Picks poll allow folks to chime in opinions on the best of four categories. This week, polls are for ultimate Mexican restaurant, place to hear live music, bookstore, and Houston Texan. Ninfa's on Navigation, McGonigel's Mucky Duck, the Alabama Bookstop, and David Carr are in the lead, respectively. A couple weeks ago we found out that Barnes & Noble is planning to shut down the Alabama Bookstop, after......

Nearly a year after they were displaced by hurricanes Katrina and Rita, thousands of evacuees in the Houston area are still jobless and relying on government handouts to live — but the handouts are going to stop sometime (no, really, they might), and Mayor Bill White says evacuees need to get ready for that day by finding jobs. "For those who are capable of working, then the job search needs to be time-consuming and aggressive......

Even though the support continues to grow for the preservation of the River Oaks Shopping Center and Theater, many questions remained unanswered, and Weingarten has continued to keep their reticence. Rumors and some evidence throw a mix of names into the equation: Hermes Architects for the northwestern curved section, Wallace Garcia Wilson Architects for the highrise, and Barnes and Noble for an anchor. While concerned patrons, shareholders, and members of the community continue to......

It looks like the irritation over unemployed hurricane evacuees is growing among local officials: Earlier this year, Mayor Bill White said Katrina evacuees were welcome to say in Houston as long as they found jobs, and this weekend, U.S. Rep. John Culberson told reporters said he wants "deadbeat" evacuees to get out of town. "Time has long since passed for the able-bodied people from Louisiana to either find a job, return to somewhere in Louisiana......

>> World: British health food stores will sell tea spiced with hemp flower syrup and THC, the active ingredient in marijuana. "Iced Cannabis Tea" is also sold in Switzerland, Austria, Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain. >> Nation: Another crazy poll verifies something we never expected. This time, the U.S. is the No. 1 patriotic country out of 34. Venezuela comes in second. >> Texas: The Supreme Court's decision to uphold much of 2003's......

This year's governor's race may come down to a matter of nicknames — or so Carole Keeton Strayhorn, who hopes to make it on the ballot as an independent candidate, seems to believe. Strayhorn is asking to appear on the ballot as Carole Keeton "Grandma" Strayhorn, reflecting that she's campaigned as "One Tough Grandma" since 1998. It seems all her name changes — she started her political career as Carole McClellan, became railroad commissioner and......

So we all know that America has a short memory, right? As in, though the country was hit by three destructive hurricanes last year, a new poll finds that more than half of Americans living on the coast don't feel vulnerable to hurricanes. And though people said they would evacuate if a storm came their way, most don't have a disaster plan prepared. The poll, conducted by Mason-Dixon Polling and Research, questioned coastal residents from......

Houstonist is a cheerleader for our local teams and what could be better than a local college team in the top 20? Well, how about two local college teams ranked in the top 20? Rice (1) and the University of Houston (14) are both ranked in the top 20 in ESPN's current Baseball America poll and they hook up for three important Conference USA games tonight, Saturday and Sunday at Rice's Reckling Park. Rice, a......

Y'know, sometimes there's just not a nice way to say something, and this is one of those times: Young Americans, in general, are stupid. This doesn't have anything to do with our foreign policy or our infatuation with vapid celebrity couples — it's about a new National Geographic poll that shows we have no idea where the hell anything is. Among the findings of the poll, which surveyed 510 Americans between the ages of 18......

Federal authorities announced yesterday that Houston will get $40 million in FEMA reimbursement for housing Katrina evacuees, bringing the total Houston has received to $183 million. The city has issued more than 35,000 housing vouchers to 90,000 evacuees; the $40 million will cover housing expenses through March 31. Meanwhile, a Rice University poll found that many locals are suffering from evacuee fatigue. Three-quarters of Harris County residents polled said the thousands of Katrina evacuees......

Houston's MLS team announced its new name today: the Houston Dynamo. Oh. The name change, as you'll recall, is the result of controversy over Houston 1836, the original name, which offended some local Hispanics who are still sensitive about the Texas Revolution 170 years ago. "Dynamo," team officials say, represents the energy of Houston: "Dynamo is a word to describe someone who never fatigues, never gives up," team president Oliver Luck said today. "The new......

Cindy Sheehan led a protest in Houston yesterday targeting Barbara Bush, who protesters hoped to convince to tell her son to stop the war in Iraq [video] A woman has been arrested for selling drugs at a South Houston bakery; her boyfriend, the bakery's owner, was arrested in 2004 for doing the same thing Closing arguments resumed today in the trial of Max Soffar, who spent 25 years on death row but had his conviction......

First the management of Houston's soccer team asks us to vote on the team's name, then it announces the name, then the name might be changed, possibly — and now we won't know for sure until later this week, the Chronicle reports. "Any announcement regarding the matter has been pushed back until later this week," team president Oliver Luck said late Monday. The team and league had said last week that an announcement on the......

So Houstonist isn't alone in being less than thrilled with Houston 1836, the name of our new soccer team: Laurence Simon (of This Blog is Full of Crap fame) has launched 1836 is Full of Crap, where he's soliciting 1,836 alternatives to the name. Oliver Luck claims that the name "1836" won fair and square in an online poll to determine the name of the MLS franchise moving to Houston. However, I, among many other......