::Lucy VIP Party:: If you haven't made it over to the Museum of Natural Science to see Lucy, the oldest hominid ever discovered, tonight's an excellent time to go. The museum is hosting a VIP party from 6-9PM which will be all about Lucy and other good things from Ethiopia, such as traditional coffee ceremonies, honey wine, music, native food, and of course, the lovely lady herself. Curator Dirk Van Tuerenhout will be there......

::Rice University Scientia Lecture: "Aspects of Memory":: If you are anything like us, the extent of your long term memory is directly dependent on well vs. premium liquor from yesterday's happy hour. Hell, we are still trying to remember where we parked our car this morning so that we can go to lunch. Rice University Scientia, an Institute for the History of Science and Culture, presents the colloquium "Aspects of Memory" by guest lecturer Rachelle......

A Rice scientist has created what the Chronicle is calling "the darkest substance known to man," a carpet of carbon nanotubes that's reflective of less than .05 percent of light directly shined on it, making it a hundred times darker than the paint on a black Corvette. (Why a Corvette? Don't ask us...perhaps they got to expense the vehicle for "testing purposes" and decided they might as well go all out. At least, that's......

Local tech news in a compact, digital format. In this edition of Tech Buzz we are going highlight the best and most notable posts and events of 2007. We covered a lot of technology and internet related Houston based stories this year and these are our top picks. Houston's Failed Citywide Wi-Fi Project The biggest tech story of the year was Houston's failure to secure and provide wi-fi services for our tech savvy netizens.......

When it comes to music in Texas, we all know that Austin pretty much has the scene in an awkward and uncomfortable chokehold position. Between South by Southwest, ACL and Fun Fun Fun fests, the state capital has music festivals down to a science. But instead of making that trek up 290 and finding the perfect seat between the broseph who can't stop talking about how cool it would be if DMB was on......

If you're anything like Houstonist, you haven't finished all your holiday shopping yet. In fact, if you're anything like Houstonist, you've barely even started. But don't worry: We're putting our gift lists together and pulling out some of our more inspired ideas to share with y'all. From music to DVDs to T-shirts to wet wipes, we've got you covered — but seriously, you probably won't want to give the wipes as someone's primary gift.......

::Lucy Lecture at HMNS:: Tonight is your chance to catch the discoverer (how weird does that sound?) of the infamous, Lucy, now on display at the Houston Museum of Natural Science. Special Lecture: Lucy's Legacy The Houston Museum of Natural Science Distinguished Lecture Series presents Lucy's Legacy, presented by Donald Johanson, paleoanthropologist and discoverer of Lucy. Lucy continues to be a diadem in the crown of hominid fossils and serves as an important touchstone......

Well, good news from the Texans, Cougars, and Dynamo camps. All three were winners this weekend. But there was a lot more going on in the Houston sports universe this week. Let's take a look at what people were saying: - Chronicle columnist Jose de Jesus Ortiz got called out for misdiagnosing the Astros offseason needs, and the commenter used complete sentences and no profanity. Intelligent comments on a sports blog (other than this one,......

Local tech news in a compact, digital format. So, Nobody Reads Your Blog? Mike McGuff sits down with Rick Calvert, CEO and co-founder of the BlogWorld & New Media Expo and they discuss how to get your blog read. Free Software Linkfest Grand Stream Dreams has collected a few Freeware links that he feels you should know about. Software ranging from password managers to dead link removal tools. There are quite a few links......

Get your Halloween partay kicked of a little early tonight at the Houston Museum of Natural Science at "Spirits & Skeletons", the spooky special edition of the Mixers series. See and get yourself seen tonight, beginning at 8:00 p.m. where the night kicks off with Danse Orientale Belly Dancers, questions answered by Fatima and her band of merry Psychics (Miss Cleo? Nah, she's busy with her hotline - Fatima has it all going on, anyway......

Need to know just a little bit about something? Ask a dilettante. I'm all for transportation by bike, but what's up with Houston bikers never observing stop signs and traffic lights? I almost run over and kill a biker every day, and it's always their fault. Maybe we need to add "bikes too!" to the bottom of every traffic sign and signal. -- Ophelia, Houston-upon-Avon Oh, Ophelia. You're missing the real problem with bicyclists: bike......

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......

::Inprint Brown Reading Series - Richard Powers & Jennifer Egan:: For the 27th year, Inprint presents one of the finest reading series in the country, giving Houstonians a chance to hear from and meet some of the world’s leading writers. From September through April, 14 renowned authors will come to Houston, many for the first time, sharing their work and insights. These authors’ works address pressing contemporary issues, taking us on a journey around the......

Local tech news in a compact, digital format. Socially Speaking The Chron picks up this article about Houston web based startups and their Houston connections. If you've been reading Houstonist and Tech Buzz, you've already heard about most of them! Phone + Podcast = Phonecast Found over at abc13.com is this story about listening to podcasts on your phone. It's Houston based phonecasting.com and by visiting their site you can get phone numbers to......

Ok, so every once in a while our own private obsessions creep into our picks for the Daily-ists. Hey, we're only human, and today's Rice lecture explores the most human aspect of us all: the brain. Yippee! (ok, enough joyous celebration of our favorite organ.) "Brain and Behavior: How We Create and Maintain Memory in Early Adulthood and Advanced Age" A lecture by Jessica M. Logan Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, Rice University No one......

HMNA presents a Special Lecture: Excavations at Aksum Tonight, the Houston Museum of Natural Science Distinguished Lecture Series presents Excavations at Aksum, Insights to the Early Christian Kingdom in Ethiopia, presented by Kathryn Bard, Ph.D., Boston University, and Rodolfo Fattovich, Ph.D., University of Naples. One of the oldest African kingdoms, Aksum arose in a high altitude region of Northern Ethiopia in the 4th century BC. This was a literate state that left writing in Greek,......

Houstonist recently kept you abreast of the “Humberto Incident”, where a low pressure system in the Gulf strengthened in less than 24 hours and slammed ashore, with sustainable wind gusts of 85 mph as a Category 1 hurricane, near High Island, causing power outages, localized flooding and wind damage. When storms give you little warning – the choice is already made for you to shelter in place. The media here is rife with preparedness information......

Good morning, Houston. We just don't understand the entertainment juggernaut (or is it "juggernette?") that is Hannah Montana: Tickets to her Nov. 11 Toyota Center show sold out in five minutes Saturday, and now they're going for as much as $1,275 on eBay — granted, that's for a set of four tickets, but still, wow. The markup through eBay and ticket brokers has left some parents shelling out big bucks to give their kids......

Calling all crafters, inventors, gearheads and crazy creatives - the ever-amusing Maker Faire wants YOU to show off your best projects, inventions and designs at Sunday's Maker Faire audition at the Houston Children's Museum (1500 Binz St). Confused? Maker Faire is: A two-day, family-friendly event that celebrates arts, crafts, engineering, science projects and the Do-It-Yourself (DIY) mindset. It's for creative, resourceful folks who like to tinker and love to make things. We call them......

Local tech news in a compact, digital format. Comcast Raises Your Rates In October Get ready to dig deeper to pay your cable bill because the amount you pay will be going up. Yes, that's right, Comcast will be raising your cable rates starting with your October bill. How much is this rate increase? Comcast says bills are going up 6.1% for all its subscribers. What are you getting for this 6.1% increase? Increased......

Local tech news in a compact, digital format. Houston, A Top 10 High Tech City According to Popular Science, Houston is ranked #10 in high tech cities. Popular Science ranked cities based on 36 technology indicators as well as expert and staff opinions. The best part of this survey is that Houston outranked Dallas, Austin and San Antonio. Richard Yoo and Hush Labs Richard Yoo and Hush Labs were recently featured in The Houston......

Good morning, Houston. So, how about this: According to Popular Science, Houston is the 10th most high-tech city in the nation — ahead of both Dallas (No. 27) and Austin (No. 53). The rankings were based on 36 indicators, including technology in science, the number of Wi-Fi hotspots in cities, and research budgets at local universities. The final ranking, then, had to do with more than the Internet: It took into account things like......

Lucy, the hottest old lady in the whole entire world, is getting written up everywhere: Forbes, Time, The Washington Post and of course The Chron. The 3.2 million year old hominid from Ethiopia is about to go on display at the Houston Museum of Natural Science on Friday with much fanfare and attention. The fossil is so very old and rare that paleoanthropologists are concerned about the damage that international travel, display and a potential......

Triple Threat Edition So we couldn't decide on one event for tonight, so we're giving you three. We are so damn generous some times. Besides, this week has been so long we figured you needed an extra long Friday to make up for it. Well, of course there's the Txt Me L8r SPIN Party at HCP that we'll all be at. Two of your favorite Houstonist contributors (wait, you have favorites, right?) will be participating......

Unless you've been hiding under a rock out in the suburbs (no judgment!) you probably have already heard about this Saturday's 11th Annual Museum District Day. If you haven't, well look at us telling you something you don't know about! Yep, folks, that's what we're here for. Here's your chance to view gallery upon gallery of Houston's finest art, all for the low, low price of FREE. Saturday, August 18th, from 10am-5pm, 14 Houston museums......

Good morning, Houston. If you'd like a little more Kinky in your life, you may be in luck. Erstwhile gubernatorial candidate and the bane of Chris Bell's existence Kinky Friedman said he might make another run for the office in 2010. This time, though, he's thinking about losing the independent label and running as a Democrat. Consultant Kelly Fero said, "They're going to be looking for real serious, legitimate candidates. Kinky should throw his......

Today’s Photo of the Day comes from flickr user and Houstonist photo contributor Jeff Balke. What a wonderful silhouetted shot of a child playing against the projection of butterflies outside the Cockrell Butterfly Center at the Houston Museum of Natural Science. If you have a passion for Houston and photography, consider joining over 345 of Houston's best photographers in the Houstonist Flickr Photo Group. If Houstonist uses your photo for Photo Of The Day,......

Behind the Scenes Tour at HMNS If the only thing dinosaur bones make you think of is Ross & Rachel's first, um, romp, then maybe you (like us) should look into one of the Museum of Natural Science's Behind the Scenes Tour. Tonight at 6pm, HMNS presents Behind the Scenes Tours: Hall of Paleontology Tour the Hall of Paleontology with David Schwimmer Temple, associate curator of paleontology. Learn the facts and fictions of the ancient......

HISD Superintendent Abelardo Saavedra announced Thursday that the district needs an $805 million bond issue this November to repair and replace aging schools — but the HISD trustees are expected to vote next Thursday on whether to put the issue on the ballot. Think that isn't much time to learn the details of a pretty big amount of money? You're not the only one: "I'm concerned about the timeline," school board member Greg Meyers told......

A UT study says that obese girls are only half as likely to go to college as young women who are not obese, reports the Chronicle. The study, which also tracked boys (in whom no correlation between educational choices and weight was found), studied over ten thousand kids over the course of several years. Statistics were adjusted for other factors known to affect college attendance in previous studies, such as income level and ethnicity.......