The Rockets have come back from a loss to Dallas with an impressive win against the defending champion San Antonio Spurs. The Rockets came out with a quick spurt put on by Shane Battier who came out of the gates with back-to-back three pointers. Other than that, the first quarter was uneventful with the exception of Chuck Hayes getting an elbow to the eye from Tim Duncan that required him to get stitches, forcing......

We were hoping that the nearly posthumous landmark designation and demolition-delaying rain spells might have given Weingarten Realty that last little bit of time to ruminate over their plans to demolish the River Oaks Shopping Center - unfortunately, according to Cherry Demolition, the bulldozers move in Tuesday to begin the demolition and make way for the big box anchor Barnes and Noble plus a four story parking garage. We were sad to see places like......

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......

Looks like Priscilla Slade's trial may be held in Houston after all: On Monday, state District Judge Brock Thomas denied her lawyers' request for a change of venue, though he could still change his mind after screening the jury pool. Slade's attorneys asked Thomas to move the trial to Travis County last month, claiming that heavy media coverage of the former Texas Southern University president's alleged spending spree with $2 million in public funds meant......

Chances are that we all know Alfred Eisenstaedt's iconic Life magazine photo of a sailor kissing a nurse in Times Square on V-J Day — easily one of the most-recognized photographs in American history. In the half-century since that photo was taken, there's been a lot of speculation over who, exactly, the sailor and nurse were: In the midst of the celebration, Eisenstaedt didn't stop to ask names, and there were apparently a lot of......

While SFist cringed at the fatal dose of crime littering the Bay Area, it found solace in Hillary Clinton's San Francisco campaign headquarters opening, which featured loads of exposed mammary glands. In other news, SF Taxi Commission ruled that Satan's cab must keep its (in)famous medallion number, 666; and in an un-fashion-forward frenzy, San Francisco Fashion Week (chortle) bars bloggers from covering and getting smashed at their shows and parties, respectively. Also, they found a......

When we first saw publicity shots of Marc Broussard a few years ago, back when his first full-length CD Carencro was released, we were afraid that he was going to be another teeny-bopper. It only took one listen to figure out that he wasn’t trying to be the next Justin Timberlake – this boy truly has soul. He proved it with “Home.” The Louisianan just released his follow-up to that sleeper-hit album. SOS: Save our......

Tomorrow's special election to fill the vacant at-large city council seat has been in the local news often enough lately. But there's something else on the ballot that hasn't been given as much long-term publicity: a proposed Constitutional amendment. In the state of Texas, amendments to the Constitution must be ratified by a majority of voters - even if those voters only make up about eight percent of the total voter pool, which is the......

So you know how Lakewood Church pastors Joel and Victoria Osteen have taken a vow of poverty, right? Yeah, yeah, we're kidding — but if you're anything like Houstonist, you've wondered at one time or another exactly how much the Osteens are worth. (Go ahead, admit it.) Turns out we're not the only ones: Reginald McKamie, the attorney for Continental flight attendant Sharon Brown, asked a judge yesterday to make the Osteens' net worth public......

Good morning, Houston. If you spend your days worried that an asteroid will slam into Earth, killing us all, this probably won't do much to ease your mind: NASA says it can identify all the asteroids that could hit the Earth, but it's not sure it has the money to do so. The agency estimates it would cost $1 billion to find at least 90 percent of the 20,000 potentially hazardous asteroids and comets......

Houston law firm Fulbright & Jaworski is still in damage-control mode over a recruiter's use of language during a recent visit to Duke University. If you haven't heard about the incident, here's what happened: In the course of speaking with some Duke law students, an unnamed Fulbright attorney told a story about Leon Jaworski's defense of a black man on trial for murder in Waco in the 1920s (which we assume was the 1929 case......

The Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo is just days away, but the trail riders are pulling into town tomorrow. The HLSR Trail Ride began in 1952 as a publicity stunt with four cowboys. HLSR 2007 features 13 groups consisting of thousands of riders with some traveling hundreds of miles in the saddle. Those of you who like the cowboy way (no, not the crappy movie) should be able to catch an eyeful of traditional......

It’s been almost three and a half years since The Shins released their last album Chutes Too Narrow. Since that time, their popularity has soared – mainly thanks to Zach Braff for showcasing two songs from 2001’s Oh, Inverted World in the movie and soundtrack Garden State. In that movie, the lead female character explains to Braff that The Shins will "change your life." They may or may not change your life, but they just......

Houstonist is always excited to find out our city has been been recognized as a "top" destination for anything. Over the last few years we've been awarded with having one of the nations most visited museums (HMNS), boasting the 2nd most theather seats in the nation, and even one of the top places for relocating singles. With all of this recent attention on our metropolis, it's no surprise that the nation's socialites would soon......

Fed up with all the publicity and laughs garnered by Snakes On a Plane, scorpions have boarded planes. In the latest incident, a scorpion wound up in a Vermont man's pants and stung the man twice on the leg during a trip from Chicago to Vermont. It is believed that the scorpion boarded the United flight during the previous flight from Houston to Chicago. This follows on the heels of Monday's traveling scorpion incident during......

Sunday. Usually, a quiet, contemplative day in the Blogosphere. But not here in the Ist-a-Verse. Nonono! Just look below and see all of the wild and crazy stuff our staffs are up to. In Austin, bands are beginning to confirm for SXSW and the rumor mill is up and running. Good thing, too, because we all know how much Austinites love live performances. Austin also found itself in the national spotlight, with Longhorn Legend......

You knew it was coming, right? The Chronicle and ESPN are both reporting that Jeff Bagwell will hang up his helmet this week after fifteen seasons, all with the Astros. (We saw him in our first 'Stros game....in 1992.) The 1991 Rookie of the Year, who won both league MVP and a Gold Glove in 1994, Bagwell is the Astros' all-time home run leader, and also has the most RBIs and runs scored. The announcement......

So we figured people in Acres Homes, and maybe in other neighborhoods, would be nervous about the potential serial killer(s) who has murdered six women. But KHOU reports on a segment of the population we didn't really think about: prostitutes. Seems they're afraid, too — so much so that some are considering career changes. Fifth Ward is miles away from Acres Home.But it was close enough for Tiffani Drakes, 24, to still be afraid. “He......

One of the jurors who found Andrea Yates not guilty by reason of insanity last week is speaking up now, saying the verdict was all right, but what the local justice system really needs is a way to find people guilty but insane. Lucille Kelley told KPRC she didn't want Yates to be acquitted, but also didn't want to send her to prison: Instead, she wanted Yates to be under state care for the rest......

We guess Don Bauer's fund-raising effort for the Pasadena police department couldn't have had better publicity if he'd paid for it. Bauer, remember, is the guy who put an errant tire from a July 21 police chase on eBay, hoping to raise money to help Pasadena police pay for repairs to cruisers that were damaged in the chase. Things rocked along until Friday, when eBay pulled the listing, saying it violated company policy on charity......

Wednesday Pennsylvanian Nick Castro draws his muse from the likes of Dead Can Dance and other semi-Gothic, lush bands. Unlike DCD, Castro manages to throw in some good melodies. Equally captivating local bands Georgia’s Horse and Inoculist open. Music: “Winding Tree” 8 p.m. at the Proletariat | info Thursday Even though we have our own top-notch 80’s cover band Molly & the Ringwalds, there’s room for more in the Lone Star State. Austin’s Spazmatics......

Now that Anna Nicole Smith has got a Supreme Court win under her belt, she might be making room for something else: Several media outlets have been reporting the former Playboy playmate and widow of J. Howard Marshall II to be pregnant. In an e-mail statement to the Associated Press, Smith's lawyer Howard K. Stern said, "If Anna Nicole is pregnant, she obviously doesn't want anybody to know yet," and that "If she's not......

So TSU's embattled president Priscilla Slade has decided to defy the university's board of regents by talking about her questionable spending — we could say Slade went public, but in reality, it's anything but public. Slade, remember, is accused of spending hundreds of thousands of dollars of university money on personal expenses not allowed under her contract. Last week came news that she spent nearly twice her personal allotment in 2005 and nearly $650,000 in......

Wednesday Not quite punk, but not sweet pop either — somewhere in between is where you put The Academy Is… Touring with Panic! At The Disco, who are enjoying a Fall Out Boy-ish hit with “Only Difference Between Martyrdom and Suicide Is Press Coverage.” Music: "Checkmarks" 8 p.m. at Warehouse Live | tickets and info Thursday Brooklyn duo The Honorary Title’s album Anything Else but the Truth offers up clever lyrics and good alternative-pop.......

All the publicity surrounding the Lay/Skilling trial has reminded Houstonist how much we like a good courtroom drama — the on-screen kind, that is. We started thinking about our favorite trial-related movies and were disappointed to realize that all the really good ones were made a long time ago. We suppose Hollywood doesn't think today's audiences have the attention span to watch that kind of thing, so instead of smart, gripping trial stories, we......

So the lawyers for ex-Enron bigwigs Ken Lay and Jeff Skilling have been looking at questionnaires sent to potential jurors in the dynamic duo's trial on conspiracy and fraud charges in connection with Enron's collapse. Hang on to your hats, becuase what they found is a shocker: People around here really don't think much of Ken Lay and Jeff Skilling. Of 280 potential jurors who returned polls concerning their feelings about Enron, 80 percent had......