We would like to take a moment to thank this week's advertisers on Houstonist. The 2009 Toyota Corolla, which encourages you to "Live the Dream for Less Coin." Gallery Furniture, where you can win $25,000 in furniture in their video contest. Joe Jackson's Rain, available now on Amazon.com. Busted Tees, which introduces three new designs a week. If you're interested in advertising on Houstonist or any other site in our network, check out our online......

We would like to take a moment to thank this week's advertisers on Houstonist. The 2009 Toyota Corolla, which encourages you to "Live the Dream for Less Coin." Gallery Furniture, where you can win $25,000 in furniture in their video contest. Obama for America, remember the Texas primary on Tuesday. Joe Jackson's Rain, available now on Amazon.com. Busted Tees, which introduces three new designs a week. If you're interested in advertising on Houstonist or any......

We would like to take a moment to thank this week's advertisers on Houstonist. The 2009 Toyota Corolla, which encourages you to "Live the Dream for Less Coin." Gallery Furniture, where you can win $25,000 in furniture in their video contest. Joe Jackson's Rain, available now on Amazon.com. Busted Tees, which introduces three new designs a week. If you're interested in advertising on Houstonist or any other site in our network, check out our online......

We would like to take a moment to thank this week's advertisers on Houstonist. The 2009 Toyota Corolla, which encourages you to "Live the Dream for Less Coin." Gallery Furniture, where you can win $25,000 in furniture in their video contest. Joe Jackson's Rain, available now on Amazon.com. Busted Tees, which introduces three new designs a week. If you're interested in advertising on Houstonist or any other site in our network, check out our online......

We would like to take a moment to thank this week's advertisers on Houstonist. The 2009 Toyota Corolla, which encourages you to "Live the Dream for Less Coin." Joe Jackson's Rain, available now on Amazon.com. Gallery Furniture, where you can win $25,000 in furniture in their video contest. Busted Tees, selling a special shirt to honor the New England Patriots. If you're interested in advertising on Houstonist or any other site in our network, check......

• Over a dozen people have been robbed at gunpoint on and near Lower Westheimer. HPD says that the robbers approach victims with a gun, rob them of cash, cell phones, wallets and purses and a then a black truck pulls up and the robber and accomplice speed away. • HPD has a new toy. It's a 12 ton armored truck dubbed, "The Bear" and it will be used by SWAT and can transport......

Good morning, Houston. So you say you're a Dynamo fan, eh? Well, here's your chance to prove it: The back-to-back MLS champs are auctioning off a chance to get close to the team's two MLS cups — literally. If you win the auction, the cups will be dropped off at your house on Christmas Eve and picked up Dec. 26; in between, you can do whatever you want with 'em (within reason, of course).......

Good morning, Houston. If you've been working on a list of things you can do with cow patties, we've got another item for you: You can make pens out of them. Just ask John Lopez of Poteet, who has gotten semi-famous in South Texas by making pens from ground-up cow patties. No, really — the ground poop is mixed with a plastic resin, milled into cylinders and fitted with pen parts; the finished product,......

Good morning, Houston. Remember Mayor Bill's agreement with Clear Channel that would result in the removal of nearly 900 billboards across the city? Well, it's not necessarily a done deal after all: On Wednesday, six City Council members voted to delay the plan, saying they still had questions about its ramifications. The problem, they said, was that the deal would allow Clear Channel to move remaining billboards: "We're allowing new billboard locations to pop......

Good morning, Houston. Are you a local news junkie? Do you already know all the headlines we're covering here? If so, we'd love to have you: Houstonist is looking to build its news staff, and you're invited. You should keep up with what's going on in and around Houston and be able to put up a couple of posts a week, at least; some background in journalism is always a plus. If it sounds......

Good morning, Houston. If you were an HPD cadet, you'd think you'd want to keep your nose clean — but apparently no one sent that memo to a cadet who was busted this weekend for allegedly buying and selling crack in southeast Houston. The man was caught off Scott and Nagle in the Third Ward; according to KHOU, he told police he had been smoking crack all weekend with at least two other HPD......

Houstonist has an active and amazing Flickr photo group. We receive many, many photos of Houston and the surrounding areas every day and unless you are an active visitor to our photo pool many of these photos go unnoticed. So in a weekly effort to bring you more amazing photos from Houstonist readers and photographers, we are going to feature a block of photos submitted to our Flickr photo group. The images will be dug......

There have been many epic songs (think "Paradise by the Dashboard Light”) and videos (think "November Rain”) in our lifetime, but no one has taken it to the extreme that R. Kelly has. Two years ago, R. Kelly released chapters one through five for his epic “Trapped in the Closet.” We’re bringing you those first five chapters, but if you want to see the remaining 17 chapters (you have nothing else to do this......

Finding new homes for old homes While these were listed as demolitions, it may only be partial - both 2506 Morse in Montrose (picture) and 347 W 27th in the Heights had steel beams outside waiting to lift and carry them away. While house moving isn't unheard of in Houston, we are (pleasantly) surprised, and also curious about where these smaller homes will end up since we all know the current trend is "build big"......

Houstonist has an active and amazing Flickr photo group. We receive many, many photos of Houston and the surrounding areas every day and unless you are an active visitor to our photo pool many of these photos go unnoticed. So in a weekly effort to bring you more amazing photos from Houstonist readers and photographers, we are going to feature a block of photos submitted to our Flickr photo group. The images will be dug......

::Nights on Blue Bayou: City Soundscapes:: Tonight brings us the second installment of the Buffalo Bayou Partnership's Nights on Blue Bayou series. An awesomely unique event, that brings Houstonians to the banks of Buffalo Bayou for a neighborhood block party-esque event under the stars. Nights on Blue Bayou: CITY SOUNDSCAPES is a multi-dimensional series of events on the banks of the bayou, beneath the historic Sabine Street Bridge, presented by the University of Houston Cynthia......

Good morning, Houston. There's nothing quite like a building implosion to lift our spirits at the beginning of the week — if, of course, it's a building we won't miss. That happened to be the case with the Crowne Plaza hotel in the Medical Center, which was reduced to rubble Sunday; click the link for video from KHOU. (Be prepared to wait — there's a lot of buildup to the big moment in Channel......

Good morning, Houston. We admit that we have a thing for interview shows, so we thought we'd take a second to note that NBC's Meet the Press, the king of Sunday morning TV news, made its television debut 60 years ago today. Meet the Press began life as a radio show in 1945 and moved to TV a couple of years later, and it hasn't stopped since. Now, MtP is the longest-running show on......

::MFA Presents Movies Houstonians Love:: "Singin' in the Rain" Guests Speaker: Lauren Anderson, Houston Ballet We are big fans of this MFA series, as past participants include Bun B, Barbara Bush, Larry Dierker, and Mayor Bill White. Tonight's film, "Singin' in the Rain," will be presented by principal ballerina, Lauren Anderson, who danced with Houston Ballet from 1983 to 2006, starring in classical ballets, appeared across the world to critical acclaim. In January, Anderson assumed......

With a zero percent chance of rain, a high of about 75 today and 51 tonight, this gorgeous weather and these amazing temperatures make today's Daily-ist an obvious one. Get outside! That's right, get outside and enjoy these wonderful and rare, beautiful days. Soak up some sun, have a picnic, go to the park, enjoy something nice to drink, relax and just have fun! Date: Today Time: Right now Place: Anywhere you want to......

It’s hard to believe that it’s been over 20 years ago when the band The Cult united rockers with club-goers with the single “She Sells Sanctuary.” Other classics followed, including “Fire Woman,” “Love Removal Machine,” and “Rain.” The band faded from the spotlight last decade, but they have a new album out now and plenty of Cult followers to cheer them on. (Check out the first single "Dirty Little Rock Star") The Cult arrives at......

Good morning, Houston. How better to end the week than with a little soul searching — and when better to do it than on Evaluate Your Life Day? Yeah, we know, it used to take hours (days, even) to find your true self, but the good news is that you can get things taken care of much more quickly these days: using online quizzes, you can figure out whether you're CEO material, which celebrity's......

Good morning, Houston. Imagine it: a penthouse apartment in the Galleria area, complete with your own personal dome. Nice — and did we mention it's free? Or at least it is for one guy who's been squatting in the attic of an Uptown business: According to KTRK, he's set up a pretty sweet pad, with cable, a flat-screen TV, surround sound, air conditioning and a bathroom. It's a pretty sweet deal for the guy,......

Good morning, Houston. There's a new weapon in the battle to make Houston the most beautiful city in America: Beginning next week, commercial property owners will have to hide their Dumpsters behind a building, wall, fence, berm or shrub. Officials said they hope the rule — which City Council approved six months ago — will help increase property values and make properties safer (and, of course, prettier). Anyone who violates the ordinance can be......

Good morning, Houston. Have you ever been lounging around on the couch, curious about how the state of Texas spends its money but frustrated because you can't hop online and find out? Well, cheer up: Now you can, thanks to a new feature on the state comptroller's website. The database allows users to search the $74.5 billion in expenditures from fiscal 2007 by agency, payee and spending category. For folks with the ability to......

ArtsHouston Happy Hour at Salud Winery You may remember this event from a few weeks back, when an impending downpour postponed it. We thought it too good not to mention again, so here goes. Sans rain. This evening, join the ArtsHouston staff at Montrose's newest wine bar, Salud Winery (3939 Montrose) from 6 to 9pm. All drinks are $2 off and free munchies will abound. Classical guitar will be provided by James Napier. Salud offers......

Good morning, Houston. Are you registered to vote? Do you need to make changes to your registration? Better take care of it fast: Today is the last day to register or alter your registration if you want to vote in the Nov. 6 elections. Voters in 34 jurisdictions will elect candidates this year, and the state has 16 bond issues on the ballot — and, of course, there are big-ticket items like HISD's $805......

Good morning, Houston. If you've walked — or driven — downtown or in Midtown lately, chances are you've noticed the fancy new "countdown signals," which flash the number of seconds pedestrians have to cross an intersection before traffic lights change. They'll soon be installed at more than 300 intersections in neighborhoods with high amounts of pedestrian traffic, including the Medical Center; though they cost $1.3 million to put up, officials say the efficient LED......

Good morning, Houston. If you've lived here a while, you probably know that the city is prone to livestock running amok — so it shouldn't be too surprising that Third Ward residents found a pair of ewes loose in their neighborhood yesterday. Some neighbors and a KTRK crew tried to catch the animals and eventually chased them to the TSU campus, where a Harris County sheriff's deputy and KTRK photographer Ben Lutman made a......

Good morning, Houston. It's always nice to see our fair city get some love from outside — so we were happy to hear that Lester Holt and a crew from the Today show were in town filming yesterday for the show's "Cities They Love" segment. The point of "Cities They Love" is to showcase off-the-beaten-path attractions, so Today visited the Beer Can House, took a ride along Buffalo Bayou and checked in at the......