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......

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......

::Open Mic Night at the Laff Stop:: We gotta admit, we are a little curious how a smoky, comedy club will, ahem, "stand-up" without, well, the smoke. Isn't that kinda, like, part of the ambiance? Is it unhealthly to call smoke ambiance. Hell, whatever. Since the smoking ordinace was passed (and half-ass enforced) on Sept 1st, we've noticed a few changes in some of our usual haunts. I mean, who is used to seeing 3......

Today’s Photo of the Day comes from flickr user and Houstonist photo contributor darkhairedgirl. Photographer's comments from the flickr page: "She saw me taking these shots and just sat there smoking, chatting on her cellphone with her hair wrapped in that towel acting oblivious. She didn't get up and walk away so I figured she must not have cared that I was shooting her so much." We're glad you got a good shot and......

Happy first weekend of September - and happy Labor Day weekend, too, for our American cities! Let's take a look at what's been happening around the Ist-a-verse. The deaths of two firefighters shook Bostonist this week. Boston's firefighters bent over backwards all week long - first, they fought flames pouring from the Boston Tea Party museum, and then a restaurant fire killed two and injured many more. Their efforts make everything else - like Tom......

Houstonist vs. Houstonist is a new feature in which two Houstonist contributors will face off to debate an issue that's relevant to life in the Bayou City. Want to join the debate? Hit the comments section at the end of the post. As we're sure you've heard, Houston's stricter smoking ban — which affects all but a handful of workplaces, including bars — goes into effect tomorrow. The push for the expanded smoking ban gained......

With 11th hour upon the citywide smoking ban taking effect (on a long weekend no less), all sorts of commentary from both sides are coming to light (no pun intended). Houstonist thought it would be only fair to have videos for and against the smoking ban...we also threw in a music video at the end for those who don't care about the issue. The music video is one of our favorites, Franz Ferdinand performing Jacqueline......

The smoking ban goes into effect on Saturday morning at midnight. Ring in the new era with Houstonist as we get together on Friday night to celebrate Houston's birthday, which is actually today. We're cranking up things at State Bar at 6 on the o'clock and want you to be there. You'll probably hear a lot from our opinionated staff about booze, politics, 600 sq mi (our photo show), live music, bar food and......

Good morning, Houston. Pardon us, but we seem to have lost our phone number. Can we borrow yours? Yeah, we know — it's lame. And apparently we're not the only one with a bad pickup line: Houston is the country's 14th best city for singles, according to Forbes magazine. We lag behind Dallas-Ft. Worth (No. 9) and Austin (No. 12), but we're far ahead of San Antonio (No. 28). On the bright side, Houston......

Chicagoist is gearing up for this weekend's annual Air & Water Show along the lakefront. In what's becoming an annual tradition around there, staff member Todd McClamroch even got to fly with one of the participants. Chicagoist's decidedly opinionated readership was also appalled that one of their staffers found a popular local brewpub to be a great place to bring a kid. They also think that an unlikely activist for immigration rights should just take......

Well, at least some new Mike Jones music came out this week. In spite of his oft-delayed second album, Adidas, MLS, and Jones teamed up to create an anthem for the Dynamo, entitled Houston Dynamo (Don't Play). The song is part of the "MLS Represent" album, which matches all 13 MLS teams with a local band or artist to create a fight song for the team. You can find the song here: you'll have to......

Westheimer Road is a long, thriving, paved snake of potholed infrastructure. It guides you into town from the Grand Parkway through Beltway 8 and Loop 610 until it brings you all the way into a cozy, little enclave of town we lovingly refer to as The Montrose. Not really the heart of Houston, because that would probably be the Medical Center, but more like the liver or one of the kidneys of Houston as......

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......

So here's something interesting about the city's full-on smoking ban, which is set to take effect in about a month and a half: According to KTRK, there's still no permitting process in place for cigar bars, one of a handful of types of businesses that are supposed to be exempt from the ban. Mike Shapiro, who owns a cigar bar downtown, is one of the people who's trying to figure out what's going on: "I......

Houston, are you having the BEST Wednesday ever? Well, if not, maybe Christian Finnegan can help. The VH1 hit gossip round up "Best Week Ever" comedian will be performing tonight at the Laff Stop on Waugh, through Saturday. Besides his star-bashing behavior on BWE, he currently is the host of TV Land’s interstitial game show “Game Time.” You also might have caught him on Comedy Central’s “Chappelle’s Show” playing “Chad,” the only white roommate in......

LAist was comped front row seats by the Dodgers due to Malingering being struck by a foul ball last week, and she came back with some great photos, and earlier made fun of 4th of July on Venice Beach. But the biggest stories of the week was that the Mayor's Hot Tamale was revealed, and that a Kwik-E-Mart was erected in Burbank. Phillyist was busy doing the Fourth of July up right, exercising their......

Not too long after having a minor heart attack, Frank Piazza drove down Bissonett to eat some healthy food at Cleburne's, heeding the advice of the cardiologist who fixed him up. On his way there, at the intersection of Wakeforest, he eyed an available corner suite in a strip center that used to house a Philly Cheesesteak Connection. The space, with its prominent location, long profile, and spacious windows, immediately caught Frank's eye. Already......

Good morning, Houston. So a record high 40,182 Texas high school seniors won't be graduating this spring because they failed all or some of the TAKS test, the standardized exam required to get a high school diploma. Overall, 84 percent of students passed all four parts of the test — math, science, social studies and English — but black and Hispanic students seemed to have the hardest time, with 28 percent of black students......

There's so much going on across the Ist-a-Verse that it's almost impossible to keep track these days. Fortunately, we do it so you don't have to! Londonist took a walk through Oliver Twist's London, thanks to a gorgeous map layer for Google Earth. They also caught up with modern-day fictional London, with the Fantastic Four and 28 Weeks Later. It was a week of insanity over at DCist. They started the week off with......

Jack Valenti, the long-time head of the Motion Picture Association of America and Houston native passed away today at his home in Washington. He was 85 and still suffering the effects of a stroke he had in March. Valenti was born in Houston to Sicilian immigrants in 1921, growing up on the still unpaved streets of the 1st Ward. He traced his love of movies to a string of jobs working in downtown Houston movie......

Good morning, Houston. If you're a smoker who's not a fan of the citywide smoking ban set to take effect this fall, here's something to be happy about: At least you don't live in Abilene, where a man was arrested on a warrant for smoking in public. Brian Wayne Hendrix was cited for smoking in public, a violation of Abilene's smoking ban, in late February; when he failed to show up in court, a......

Good morning, Houston. Are you a smoker? Are you home from work today? According to a new report, smokers take an average of 11 more sick days each year than their nonsmoking colleagues — that's a 43 percent difference. Of course, the research was done in Sweden, which has some of the highest sick-leave rates in the world, and much of the time off could be traced to factors other than smoking-related illness —......

Police are still investigating a fatal shooting aboard a Metro bus yesterday that was apparently triggered by a passenger bumping into another passenger. It happened around 11:45 a.m. on the No. 82 bus as it was inbound on Westheimer near Royal Oaks Club Drive: "The suspect was on the bus making his way through the center aisle when he brushed up against the victim," HPD Capt. Dwayne Ready told KPRC. The two exchanged words, and......

Black Math Experiment Lures David Arquette to the Proletariat Under the "Random Events" file, Houstonist sniffs out this unique show at the Proletariat tonight. Houston's own Black Math Experiment are bringing to town their self-proclaimed "muse and patron" David Arquette to meet and greet fans, and show clips from his recently written and directed thriller, The Tripper. The night will include a full set from The Black Math Experiment and Dewy Deputy Dawg himself previewing......

Good morning, Houston. If the thought of teeing off atop a downtown skyscraper gets you going, here's some excellent news: For the next week, you'll have the chance! It's part of The Glenlivet City Links, a 9-hole golf course and clubhouse that's touring seven U.S. cities. In Houston, the City Links — which includes a free course, a virtual driving range and a lounge — is set up on the 50th floor of Three......

What's Governor Perry doing in the Middle East? Lone Star Times has the scoop. His first order of business was to help dedicate a new Texas A&M University campus in Qatar. The campus takes up a sprawling 2,500 acres and is part of a deal between the Qatar Foundation and A&M to provide a full, four-year degree program in mechanical, electrical, chemical and petroleum engineering. We wonder if it'll make Qatar's top party schools list.......

Today’s Photo of the Day comes from flickr user and Houstonist photo contributor finna dat. Houstonist knows all about light rail. We just had our light rail pub crawl last week! These folks are on their way to The Whiskey in the hotel Icon for smoking cosmos, a signature drink featuring dry ice. While we can't vouch for them, we certainly endorse using rail to get from bar to bar. Remember, don't drink and......

The bit of good weather we've had has done wonders for Houstonians' social lives as people are getting out more and making -- and missing -- connections. Never fear. You can always go home and write about it on Craigslist! saw you at Explosions in the Sky You: cute blonde chick (21-24ish), walking around the back bar, fast paced, smoking. Me: clunky, goofy, bourbon, fluffy brown hair, glasses, off-kiltered, standing by the bathroom area.......

This Saturday Houston Ultimate Community (HUC) is hosting the Fifth Annual Huckin' for Laura tournament to benefit Houston Habitat for Humanity. Ultimate, as defined by the Ultimate Players Association, is: Player defined and controlled non-contact team sport played with a flying disc on a playing surface with end zones in which all actions are governed by the 'Spirit of the Game™. As defined by Houstonist, Ultimate is fun as hell and a great way to......

Good morning, Houston. If you really love being in your car, you may be in luck: According to former Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta, traffic in Houston is only going to get worse. His answer? Start planning now for new road construction and encourage people to take public transportation. Our advice: learn to multi-task. >> That ain't pretty: Looks like it could be the end of the line for a notorious Houston beauty school: On......