Did you miss My Morning Jacket’s stop in Houston a couple of weeks ago? If so, set the DVR to this week’s Saturday Night Live, when the band makes in appearance to promote their upcoming album, Evil Urges, out June 10th. You also can catch musical legend Smokey Robinson on NBC’s Today this Tuesday, or the double header of Cher and Tina Turner on Thursday’s Oprah. MONDAY KT Tunstall (PBS – Tavis Smiley), 10:30......

• The woman who left her six children home alone while she ran off to Africa to meet a man she met on the internet is headed back home. Shanell Monique Mosley has been charged with child endangerment and abandonment and authorities will be waiting for her when she arrives. • A man who backed up into an HPD car during a car chase last night after a traffic stop got away by fleeing......

Local tech news in a compact, digital format. NASA Plans TV Coverage Space Station Holiday Delivery NASA Television is planning to provide live coverage on Wednesday, December 26th when the International Space Station will receive a post Christmas gift, a new shipment of food, fuel and supplies as well as holiday gifts. Check your local listings for coverage of this event. Grand Stream Dreams Grand Stream Dreams has been busy this week. He's got......

December always brings some good mini-festivals, and this week is a good example. It starts tonight with the KILT 10-Man Jam, featuring many popular country radio stars. Tomorrow night, the husband/wife team of Bruce Robison and Kelly Willis come into town for their annual Christmas show. Saturday, Chron.com showcases some of the best local talent in their concert at Warehouse Live. Finally, KRBE's annual Jingle Jam brings pop radio's favorite to the Toyota Center......

Animal Collective’s new record, Strawberry Jam, was one of the most talked about indie releases of 2007. The experimental rock group's [pictured] national television debut on the Conan O’Brien show re-airs tonight. Monday -NBC, 11:35pm: Late Night with Conan O’Brien, Animal Collective Tuesday -FOX, 9am: Morning Show with Mike and Juliet, Wyclef Jean -NBC, 12pm: Ellen DeGeneres, Snoop Dogg Wednesday -FOX, 9am: Morning Show with Mike and Juliet, Gloria Gaynor -NBC, 12pm: Ellen DeGeneres, Ryan......

Henry Dittman and Joan (justjoan) are the hosts of the Internet-based travelogue called The Smart Show sponsored by Holiday Inn Express. By now you're probably familiar with the H.I.E. ads that purports to convey savant-like intellect on its patrons. "I'm not a vascular surgeon, but I stayed at a Holiday Inn Express last night," says a broke writer after requesting a scalpel from the O.R. nurse. Despite having a title sponsor, The Smart Show does......

Ghostland Observatory’s Thomas Turner and Aaron Behrens just might be the hardest working men in the electronic/funk-glam/rock music biz. In less than two years, the Austin, TX duo have released two records and have toured from coast to coast, all while running their own music label, Trashy Moped. The band’s latest CD, Paparazzi Lightning, is a high-voltage rocking dance record that the Dallas Observer says would “do Daft Punk, Giorgio Moroder and Freddie Mercury......

Good morning, Houston. We admit that we have a thing for interview shows, so we thought we'd take a second to note that NBC's Meet the Press, the king of Sunday morning TV news, made its television debut 60 years ago today. Meet the Press began life as a radio show in 1945 and moved to TV a couple of years later, and it hasn't stopped since. Now, MtP is the longest-running show on......

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......

Good morning, Houston. Looks like we'll have a tougher time cracking out those fake Benjamins next year: The $100 bill will soon be getting a high-tech makeover to thwart counterfeiters. The key feature: 650,000 tiny lenses embedded in each bill, which will magnify the printing so that the portrait of Benjamin Franklin appears to move up and down or side to side, depending on which way you move the bill. "It makes for a......

This past spring, Houston's own Spain Colored Orange lent one of their new songs, "Who Am I," to a skin cancer public service announcement. The television commercial was directed by Whitey from Jackass. We know it wasn't filmed in Houston – a big man prancing around in his underwear downtown would have caused too much of a stir here! Spain Colored Orange will be on stage with Austin's Invincible Czars tonight at Rudyard's. The......

More than 1,000 people gathered at Congregation Beth Israel yesterday morning to bid farewell to Marvin Zindler, the legendary TV personality who died Monday. The theme of the funeral — attended by a variety of TV news colleagues, religious leaders and others — was the years of work Zindler put in on behalf of people who needed his help. That's how KTRK anchor Dave Ward remembered him: "On television, as you know, he was flamboyant......

Houstonist landed her after departing from a small media market town where the most colorful television news personality was the local weatherman with the bad toupee - think Brick from Anchorman. Naturally we were blown away by the loud delivery, blue sunglasses and long earlobes that were Marvin Zindler. His ear splitting delivery of his tag line - "MAR-vin ZINDLER, EYE-witness NEWS!" - emblazoned the phrase in the memories of Houstonians despite hearing it only......

Good morning, Houston. You might want to grab a drink before you get started on this morning's news: According to KHOU, a shift toward growing corn in Mexico could lead to a spike in the price of tequila. It seems a lot of Mexican farmers are getting rid of their blue agave fields to make way for corn, which is in demand thanks to the growing popularity of ethanol — and as the amount......

This video comes from a 1988 television appearance by current presidential candidate Rep. Ron Paul. In 1988, Dr. Paul ran for president as a libertarian candidate and appeared on a talk show hosted by notorious nutcase Morton Downey, Jr. We're glad that Ron Paul seems to have chilled out a little since '88, and also that he's no longer inclined to insulting overweight kids. We're not saying we support Ron Paul (actually, we were......

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......

So we're all familiar with the Emergency Alert System, right? It's the thing that breaks into television and radio broadcasts to let us know about emergency situations, from explosions or terrorist attacks down to severe weather. Well, the local EAS system is on the blink right now — and, ironically enough, it was taken out by severe weather. The antenna for the radio-based alert system is atop the 31-story Five Greenway Plaza, and it seems......

Good morning, Houston. We've seen various incarnations of Google, but this one was new to us. Blackle is a search engine that is very similar to Google, but with a darker color scheme. And it's not just Google for the depressed - it's meant to save energy. A predominantly black screen requires less energy to display than Google's white background. One blog said that Blackle could save 750 megawatt-hours a year (or $75,000), if......

Over at the Chronicle's City Hall blog, Mike Snyder notes that veteran television newswoman Linda Ellerbee has taken a stand in the controversy over proposed special protections for the Old Sixth Ward. Ellerbee grew up in Houston and is planning to move back here from New York City; she's scouting out houses in the Sixth Ward and said she's been keeping up with discussions about protecting the neighborhood. Among the proposals from Mayor Bill White......

So, Houston cable subscribers, the much-talked-about day is here: Today, Time Warner cable service in the city officially becomes Comcast cable service. Feel any different yet? You probably won't unless you go looking for the TV Guide Channel or west coast feeds of the Disney Channel and Encore, which have been dropped from the cable lineup. In their place are 20 new channels, some of which KHOU has listed: high-definition versions of Starz, The Golf......

Houston-area congressman and presidential candidate Ron Paul will appear on Comedy Central's The Colbert Report tonight. Paul has quickly distinguished himself from other Republican candidates with his libertarian views and his now infamous exchange with Rudy Giuliani in a debate last month. Paul asserted that the 9/11 attacks were triggered by American involvement in the Middle East, to which Giuliani replied, "That's an extraordinary statement, as someone who lived through the attack of September 11,......

Need to know just a little bit about something? Ask a dilettante. Since hurricane season begins Friday, Dilettante thought it might be time to share the tips that have seen her through various weather “events” over the years. Print this up and tape it to the inside of your bathroom cabinet in case of emergency. - If you are faced with an imminent flood, tornado, hurricane or other natural disaster, the first thing you must......

Good morning, Houston. If you're a fan of the Early Show, you probably caught Mayor White's national television appearance Monday morning. He appeared on the show seated between two foxy ladies, Caroline Kennedy and Doris Voitier, to discuss his receipt of the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award. Like we told you before, he and Mrs. Voitier are sharing the award for their outstanding public service during and after Hurricane Katrina. This award......

The times, they are indeed a-changin' in your cable box, y'all. Just when you were getting used to groaning at the horrific Time-Warner commercials, which we think were meant to be "cute" and "quaint" but actually just looked "terribly unprofessional" and "dumb", your Time Warner cable is becoming Comcast. So, now that we've brought you up to speed, what does this actually mean for Joe Houstonist, cable subscriber? Well, not a heck of a lot......

Hot Town, Cool City Premieres on PBS Remember when we went on and on about the Hot Town, Cool City movie premiere? Well, in case you missed the sold out showing at the MFA, you are in luck. Set those TIVOs, HTCC will be playing tonight on PBS @ 10:00 pm. We haven't been this excited about PBS since Mr. Rogers went off the air. The movie, directed and written by Houstonian Maureen McNamara, offers......

|| Game Date: April 23, 2007 || Game Location: Toyota Center, Houston || Playoff Round: One || Series Record: Rockets 2 - Utah 0 || Final Score: 98 HOU - 90 UTAH || Box Score: Utah @ Rockets Info from NBA.com ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ First Quarter: It was all Boozer. I never wanted someone to miss a shot so much in my life. Bozo, Boozer would not miss. Finally at about seven minutes into the......

As we watched the ultra-classy Larry Birkhead celebrating his little bundle of cash solemnly announcing that he was the father of Anna Nicole Smith's baby last week, we foolishly breathed a sigh of relief. "Finally," we thought, "the media can turn its attention to something else. Bring on the Imus!" We should have known better. Over the weekend, the AP reported that Howard K. Stern, Smith's former attorney (and ex-baby daddy contender), has filed suit......

Calling all cute committed couples for casting: The ABC television network will be in Houston today and tomorrow, auditioning newlyweds to participate in the upcoming reality show Dream House. From what we understand, the basic premise of the program involves several married couples competing to win the home of their dreams—a dream-house, if you will. Representatives from ABC will be at The Tasting Room lounge tonight at 9 PM and at Max's Wine Dive......

We don't know about where you are, but it seems like spring can't decide whether or not to happen. Some days are warm, some days are cold, and sometimes you aren't sure which. Baseball may have started up (and soccer/football winding down) but it still seems cold out there. Unless it's not. Anyways, onto the -ists. Austinist happily anticipated fall's Austin City Limits, even though they're not fully recovered from South By Southwest. In......

Tomorrow night is the Ultimate Fighting Championship's debut in Houston at the Toyota Center, giving the budding mixed martial arts fan base a chance to see a big-league card in person (and not on a television screen in Hooter's, for once). UFC 69's headline fight will be a bout between defending welterweight champion George St. Pierre and feisty contender Matt "The Terra" Serra, but the heartwarming story will be that of middleweight Mike "Quick"......