Good morning, Houston. If the dearth of new TV in the wake of the writer's strike has left you willing to watch anything, we've got some news for you: HTV, the municipal station, is launching a new program! Woohoo! Entertainment Houston, a 30-minute show, will focus on — wait for it — Houston's facilities, included the Wortham Center, Jones Hall, the George R. Brown Convention Center and the not-quite-finished Discovery Green. A new episode......

Save the bricks! While we have seen a lot of wasteful demolition over the past two weeks, we're happy to report that more and more parts of houses are being salvaged (and hopefully reused/recycled) - this week 5550 Candlewood in Briargrove (picture), 741 Rocky River in Tanglewood (picture), and 1314 South Blvd. in historic Broadacres (pictured) were stripped down and paletted up. 741 Rocky River is just down the street from the Ralph Anderson, Jr.......

Spent all your cash on girlie drinks and shattered dreams again this weekend, didn't you? No worries - Thriftster gives you the lowdown on cheap stuff to do until Paycheck Friday. Monday: If you're still in the Halloween mood, after all that blood red jell-o shot slurping and blacklight body paint application, hit the Lawndale Center's (4912 Main St.) retablo exhibit. Doors close at 5pm, which gives you plenty of time to nosh on some......

695 Rocky River - Tanglewood This week, the almost 5,000 square foot mid-century Tanglewood home designed by Ralph A. Anderson, Jr. (of Wilson, Morris, Crain & Anderson architects) met its demise - one in a series of many large (and large-lotted) unique mid-century homes in this close-in treed area to be replaced by even larger Mediterr-uscan-Spani-French style homes. According to the Houston Architectural Guide,The full impact of the Eisenhower era is visible here [in Tanglewood],......

Monday Night Movies at Domy Books A trip to Cafe Brasil last night confirmed what we told you last week. They are getting a big honking, new kitchen. All the more room to make those yummy pizzas. The roof of our mouth is still mad at our inability to control the yumminess. We've been loving the Monday Night Movies at Domy all summer long. And we especially look forward to stopping off at Brasil before......

The other day Houstonist popped into the Houston Center for Photography, that haven and support for all things filmic, to see a show entitled, "Japan." What especially intrigued us was the fact that the photographer, an HCP fellowship recipient, had been travelling in Japan while reading some of our favorite contemporary Japanese writers: slightly surrealist Haruki Murakami, cult-star Yukio Mishima, and the spare/smart Kenzaburo Oe. Says Amelia D'Entrone in her artist's statement, "A sense......

Meet David Purdie, a true AstroWorld fan: When he heard that the park was going to close, Purdie decided to capture its last days on film. With a hand-held video camera, he visited AstroWorld every weekend in October 2005, filming everything he could — from the drive down Kirby to the walk over the pedestrian bridge to the slow climb up the first incline on the Texas Cyclone. And then, when cranes and bulldozers moved......

We'll admit that we're not exactly business-savvy, and we'd rather read the comics, or even Ken Hoffman, than the business section. But today, Mary Flood's column about car crash lawyers and advertising caught our eye. We were surprised to learn that Jim Adler, also known as "The Texas Hammer," has even established a presence on Myspace. And what an elaborate Myspace it is! Mary Flood's column said that his page played the theme from Rocky,......

KHOU is speculating about whether U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales could return to his hometown of Houston if he ends up getting the boot in Washington. Gonzales, a graduate of MacArthur High School in Aldine, was a partner with Vinson & Elkins from 1982 to 1997, when he became the Texas secretary of state (from there, he was appointed to the state Supreme Court and then became White House counsel to President George W. Bush;......

So here we are in the first full day of a World Without Anna Nicole — and though she's gone, the news isn't likely to stop anytime soon. Today, the medical examiner's office in Broward County, Fla., will conduct an autopsy on Smith to see if it can determine how she died, and closer to home, experts say her legal battles will probably stay in the courts for quite some time. First, what we know......

OK, here's the situation: It's the Friday before Halloween you still ain't got no costume. Houstonist doesn't either. Defaulting to the standard the pimps-and-hookers costume theme of many parties is tempting us this late in the game. But, sometimes it's fun to take a break from your normal club attire and wear something original. Fortunately, Houstonist kicks ass at beer pong recovering from procrastination. We've been combing the InterWeb for about two minutes now. Here......

Even though we are way way past school age, we still get a little melancholy at the close of summer. Fortunately, our friends across the -ist network know that the shenanigans don't need to end just because the big yellow buses are back on the roads. So, grab your sunscreen and your favorite hangover cure, as we take a tour of end of summer fun from -ist cities all over the damn place. SFist Tourist......

God, we're so sick of Snakes on a Plane that we want to kill anyone and everyone that makes a "something on a something" joke. But then we realized that there was no way we could ever win this fight, and, hell, if you can't beat them, we might as well join them. And with that, you have the theme of this week's Gothamist network post. Austinist makes it easy for us, with Candidate......

Houston, we hear (and by "hear" we mean "moan about daily"), is hot. And what's better for hot days, really, than cold ice cream? Except the hot pepper ice cream someone in North Carolina thought might be a good idea. Somehow, people above the Mason-Dixon line have a reputation for a passion for the summer treat--They certainly have more ice cream stands...and a union of ice cream professionals. Houstonist, however, thinks it's time to celebrate......