A number of female artists chance it for a comeback on the charts this week. Prolific soul singer/songwriter Erykah Badu returns with her first album in five years, New Amerykah. -Watch a very cool music video for album single, "Honey," on Youtube -Read an interview with Badu at MSNBC -Badu will be featured in a new Tom Ford Fragrance ad campaign -Read an album review at EW.com -Buy New Amerykah Ethereal electronic star Goldfrapp is......

Tonight, catch Grammy award-winning R&B vocalist, singer/songwriter Jill Scott at Verizon Wireless. Frequent visitor Bob Schneider makes his trip from Austin a little bit shorter tomorrow by playing at the Cypress Saloon in northwest Houston. Local faves Orange Is In is opening, which makes for a great double-bill. Another local act, The Mighty Orq, will be presenting a lot of new material at his CD release show at the Meridian Friday night (you’ll probably......

Many artists make a living on the road, but few have been able to do it as successfully, and consistently, as Garrett Dutton. The Philadelphia native and his band, better known as G. Love & Special Sauce, have been churning out albums and have been known for their fantastic live shows for a decade and a half now. Their unique blend of rock, hip-hop, and blues, among other ingredients, has made them a crowd favorite.......

The Cohen House in Meyerland has drawn national attention once again - it was featured in the National Trust's Preservation Online in early December and now has been picked up by Architectural Record. It was also the subject of Lisa Gray's mid-November column in the Houston Chronicle, and our own building watch and obituary. The article sums up the history of the house and its ownership - how Bob Cohen built his dream home, moved......

There are so many freaking cool things happening this weekend -- here's just a list of what Houstonist has on hand. Please send us the rest. Thursday November 29th HOUSTON. IT'S WORTH IT. Book Launch Party At the Lawndale Parking Lot, 4912 Main Street 6:30PM-9PM Images from the book will be projected on North wall of Lawndale art center. DJ Pooks spins the tunes and there will be refreshments. Proceeds from sales of the......

Yo, Houston - the only thing better than pie? Why 24 hour a day pie - for that 2:30 a.m., we can't sleep unless I get we get us some French Silk, pronto - thing! Well, perhaps that's just us. You can even get a sugar-free pie made with Nutra-Sweet (insert Boudreaux joke here), a Bayou Goo, Lemon Ice Box, Sweet Potato and a fine assortment of cakes and cheesecakes. Where? Why where else? The......

For about 40 years, Houstonians have known where buy the best pies. Founded in 1967 The Flying Saucer Pie Company has been baking up a wide variety of pies daily, using the freshest available ingredients. Other than HoustonistMama, who is getting tired of baking for us, these are the bestest pies ever. We are partial to their line of cream pies! Whether you are ordering your meal pre-cooked, or popping your turkey or turducken in......

::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......

With half of its Opening Day offense totting clipboards on the sidelines, and its defensive leader headed to the hospital with a busted hamstring, the Texans might have been justified in being pessimistic. Fortunately, for a team that's already been through more injuries than a Very Special Episode of ER, Sage Rosenfels and Ron Dayne wouldn't let them lose hope, allowing the Texans to escape Oakland with a 24-17 win. After starting hot in the......

Beginning today and running through Sunday - the party is ON in Galveston! It is time for the Lone Star Rally, one of the largest AMA sanctioned events anywhere. Where to start? There will be a humongous amount of activities going on, and stuff. We'll highlight a few and let you bang the link to the website for the full list. First, there will be the Leather and Lace Ball and Halloween Costume Party at......

The Red Sox has permeated nearly every facet of Bostonist's lives. When they're not live-blogging the games, waxing poetic about the games, thanking Curt Schilling for his splendid work, or telling Dane Cook to watch his hair, they're watching certain presidential candidates hop on the Red Sox bandwagon (sorry, Gothamist). The Sox are so branded on the local brain that people are using the Series to spice up their sex lives. Speaking of spice, Bostonist......

Houstonist digs foreign comedy films because we don't always get all the jokes and sometimes that is more funny than the joke itself. Tomorrow night the MFA will be presenting Drained - the second, and final, film in its short Brazilian Film Series. What's that? You say you're an MFA member but didn't see this on the film calendar. Yep, "new shit has come to light." And, Houstonist is here to help you out. Winner......

The Orange Show Center for Visionary Art is kicking off its Fall with a fantastic afternoon for families, children, artists and all very cool persons who enjoy art cars! Saturday, September 29th from 1-4pm, head on over to Munger Street, home of The Orange Show Monument, for food, drinks and the return of the 2006 winner of the Mayor's Cup - Atomic Dog, created by Waltrip High School. Those of you who hit the Art......

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,......

Looking for art tonight? We gotcha covered. It's all over. Tons of it. Tonight, and all weekend long. Check out openings tonight at Diverseworks, Vine Street (Fotofest), UH Downtown (O'Kane), CTRL Gallery, Inman, Finesilver, Kinzelman, Glassell, Blaffer, Art League, and much, much more. We just got tired of typing. See: help wanted. b.s. Artblog has a nicely coordinated list here, and ArtsHouston weighs in with their picks here. Seems like the top of everybody's list,......

So, Houstonians, you think energy prices are higher than a proverbial cats back? We can power our world on biodiesel, wind turbines and solar power? You have the opportunity to experience what it takes to power a city of 3.9 million, courtesy of Chevron and the publisher of Economist magazine. So, bang here to try your hand at running "Energyville" and learn a little about energy supplies. Here's a blip from the Chronicle that gives......

It's time for another Photo of the Day Special Edition. Today we have photos and a video from our Happy Birthday Houston Pub Crawl that was held Friday, August 31. We had a great time downtown. We stopped at The State Bar, Cabo, Shay McElroys and Warren's. We got to meet and mingle with our readers as well as grab a bite to eat and put back a few. This event was a blast, but......

Local tech news in a compact, digital format. City WiFi Still On Hold It's been a few months since Mayor Bill White approved a multi-million dollar deal with EarthLink to provide over 640 square miles of wireless service to Houston and we are still waiting. Earthlink should have already started installing wireless nodes on light poles around the city but has failed to do so. EarthLink is still within time constraints set by the......

Callaloo, among the top literary magazines in the country, is sending four writers (all faculty from Callaloo's Creative Writing Workshops) to read in Houston for one night only. Terrance Hayes, Mat Johnson, Tayari Jones, and Tracy K. Smith will give a public reading Thursday, August 16 at 6:00 p.m. at the Ensemble Theatre, located at 3535 Main Street. These four writers have won more than a dozen national awards and fellowships; they are at......

Houstonist is happyist when we aren't working, when we are able to drive south on Shepherd from Allen Parkway to Richmond without encountering left turning jackasses, and when we get to hang out with our readers. We're celebrating Houston's 171st birthday with a pub crawl on August 31st. Join us for a stroll in and around the establishments in the Market Square area. Share your thoughts about the site and we may buy you......

Houston, it's time for the annual "Big Show" at the O'Quinn Gallery of Lawndale Art Center. Tonight and tomorrow night, beginning at 7:00 p.m. - and totally free to the public (the second best four-letter "F" bomb - FREE! We are partial to "Fart", too) the Big Slide Show is taking place. Now, what in the wide world of art-y and cultural-like stuff is this? Well, let us do some 'splaining to you, care of......

Tuesday, August 7 at 2pm is the last chance for the public to speak about the pending historic landmark status of the River Oaks Shopping Center, River Oaks Theater, Alabama Shopping Center, and Alabama Theater in front of City Council. Members of the public must sign up to speak by 12pm Tuesday by calling the City Secretary Anna Russell (713-247-1840), and people who have already spoken to City Council on this issue may not do......

Mixed Media Series at MFA It's baaaaaack! Yep, for the last few months every time an email from the MFA popped up in our inbox we hoped and prayed it was an annoucement of a new Mixed Media series. This week we were rewarded! Whoo-hoo! [The Deets] Find where art and music intersect on select Saturday nights at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. DJs spin and bands play against an arresting backdrop of......

MFA Special Screening [Film + Lecture] Last week, we told you all about the amazing Asian Art collection that is currently being showcased all over the city in various museums, the largest at the Museum of Fine Arts. In conjunction with the MFA's RED HOT — Asian Art Today from the Chaney Family Collection they will screen a.k.a. Nikki S. Lee and prsent a conversation with the Filmmaker, tonight in Brown Auditorium. Korean photographer Nikki......

Love butterflies? Houstonist does too!!! (and frogs!) Saturday is all about the butterfly as the Cockrell Butterfly Center holds a butterfly adoption from 9:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m.. For the low, low price of $15/per person (which includes admission to the Butterfly Center) participants have the opportunity to release a butterfly into the Center. Every butterfly parent receives a certificate of adoption, a gift and a mention online! As if that weren't enough, there's more!!......

The Orange Show Center for Visionary Art will soon be conducting a nationwide search for a new Executive Director, as Susanne Theis will be leaving August 31st to become the new Programming Director of Discovery Green, which opens in early 2008. Susanne has been with The Orange Show for more than 20 years. Under her guidance, The Orange Show has garnered international recognition for the world's largest and oldest Art Car Parade and each of......

Star-Spangled Salute with the Houston Symphony Why not get this week's festivities started early? And if ever we will suggest you driving OTB, it would be on a day where you can recover from the drive the day after. Tonight, the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion hosts "Star-Spangled Salute" with the Houston Symphony. This patriotic concert features "God Bless America," "Casey at the Bat" narrated by legendary Houston Astros player and former coach Larry Dierker, "Orange......

Tomorrow night at The World Famous Orange Show, for the low, low price of $10 - you can hear four brands of new folk music. QuadroFolkia will be headlined by Jana Hunter - backed by a full band! Now, we know we told you there was a burgling incident - however, we have been assured that the show will go on! If there is a merchandise table, you really should pick up her new CD......

Folk Legend Bert Jansch, who has influenced artists from many genres, including Neil Young (who refers to him as the acoustical version of Jimi Hendrix), Devendra Banhart, Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin), Johnny Marr (The Smiths), Nick Drake, Beth Orton, Noel Gallagher (Oasis) and Mike Oldfield, will make a rare live appearance at the Orange Show. Infused with American folk, blues and Traditional British Isles music, his style is singularly unique and his song-writing very affecting.......

MFA Special Lecture: "Collecting the Past and Illuminating the Future" MET Director and CEO, Philippe de Montebello In this rare Houston appearance, esteemed art historian Philippe de Montebello traces the history of collecting antiquities over thousands of years. As he brings the discussion of collecting into the present age, he discusses the growth of independent states and patrimony laws in the 20th century, as well as present controversies, and offers an analysis of today´s situation......