We know that American Idol Mania is almost a religious experience in certain parts of this country, but we will not, cannot recommend that you buy Blake Lewis’ new album. We just… can’t. Sorry. What have you wrought, Doug E. Fresh?! Listening to Alive 2007 will give you a sense of what the Daft Punk concert experience is all about. Well, you won’t have beer spillage on your shoes, or dudes smoking trees all up......

Texans DT Cedric Killings, who was almost paralyzed during Sunday's game against the Colts, arrived at the Texans practice facility yesterday, not to work out with his teammates, but to show them something none of them had expected: he was walking. A full recovery from the fractured vertebrae he suffered while attempting a tackle is expected, and he wanted the team to join in his celebration. Surgeons at Methodist Hospital stabilized Killings soon after the......

Kevin Everett may soon be a walking miracle. Just weeks after a brutal on-field collision almost killed him, and his doctors were convinced he would be a paraplegic, Everett was moved today from a Buffalo-area hospital to a rehab facility affiliated with Memorial Hermann Hospital. The goal: to have him walking within the next several weeks. A quick response by the Buffalo Bills' team doctor is credited with giving Everett the fighting chance he has......

If Amy Winehouse has inspired you to hear more fantastic women's jazz voices (rather than go to rehab), you're in luck tonight. The 2007 version of Jazz Cross Roads presents "Women in Jazz" showcasing the work of the great Sarah Vaughan through female jazz vocalists Kamil Bonner and Mickie Moseley and saxophonist Theresa Grayson. The women will perform both in small ensemble and with the Scott Joplin Chamber Orchestra. The evening is presented by the......

The Houston Light Guard Armory, 3816 Caroline, is one of Houstonist's favorite buildings in town, with its brick and limestone facade, arched windows, relief panels and imposing main entrance. Unfortunately, the building has been abandoned since we can remember — which means its street facade is overgrown, its windows have been smashed and its front doors are boarded up. But that won't be the case for much longer if the Buffalo Soldiers National Museum has......

There seems to be an usually low number of Missed Connections on Craigslist this week. That's got to mean that more of you are actually pulling the trigger on dropping some game. Nice work. Not everyone is so lucky. It appears as if Starbuck's sucks the assertiveness right out of folks. Perhaps it's the convoluted product names? No matter. Coffee lovers continue to seek their fix there. Even the cops at Starbuck's are getting......

Houstonist has heard a lot of suggestions on how to improve students' TAKS test scores, but Mayde Creek High School's approach may be one of the most unusual: Earlier this month, the school held three TAKS rallies in which students were divided by race. The three rallies — one for black students, one for white students and one for Hispanic students — didn't sit well with some parents, including Deon Franklin. "To me, that"s segregation,"......

Valentine's Day is only a few days away, and we here across the Gothamist network wanted to express would like to tell you, in the spirit of the holiday, just how much we love you, our readers. Don't let it get to your heads, though. There are plenty of things we love, you included. Just be glad you're not amongst the things we hate. SFist saw their beloved mayor enter rehab, and they loved the......

Good morning, Houston. In these days of strange diseases, air and water pollution, global warming and assorted health warnings, we sometimes begin to wonder if anything's safe anymore. And the answer? No, nothing. Example: Today, nearly a million Easy-Bake Ovens are being recalled because one can get one's fingers or hand stuck inside — and slowly nuked. Of course, Houstonist understands the need for safety, but now we're afraid to make dessert tonight. Life......

Last week, Houstonist mentioned that the long-abandoned Ben Milam Hotel's future was looking quite unstable. Between old demolition permits, the neighboring hotel biting the dust, and the worry that accumulates after watching a building sit for a couple decades, the outlook was not good. Good news may be on the horizon, though. Last friday, a construction permit was issued for Ben Milam's address. The construction is actually in the form of interior demolition, but that......

If you think traffic on I-10 was a bad repercussion of yesterday’s downpour, try being washed away from your nest. You would have to be a bird to have experienced that, but you get the idea. Rain storms usually cause a lot of phone calls to come into Wildlife Rehab and Education, a non-profit organization, and yesterday was no different. Among those the group rescued Monday were a family of cottontail rabbits flooded out of......

I was near the ballpark downtown this week and noticed an old building being torn down. Do you know what it is? Just the other day, Houstonist was talking to a visitor from Atlanta who said Houston should be proud of all its fine old buildings that have potential for redevelopment. As if to prove that we're decidedly not proud, the wrecking ball almost immediately moved in on the old William Penn Hotel at 1423......

Houstonist has the feeling things are getting bad for James Frey, the author of the gritty drug-rehab memoir A Million Little Pieces. It all started Sunday, when The Smoking Gun published a report indicating that a lot of Frey's claims in the book — from his cocaine-fueled binges to his role in a train wreck that supposedly killed his only friend as a teenager — aren't true. That led to reports that big-name Hollywood talent......