Houstonist is happy that we secured our Wilco tickets a couple of months ago, now that tonight's show at Verizon Wireless Theater is sold out. Jeff Tweedy and company consistently make great albums, even if the style is inconsistent with each album. The Chicago-based band's latest, Sky Blue Sky, is a little more mellow compared to their last few releases, but this song, "Impossible Germany," (the video was recorded live) is one of the......

When you think of New Jersey, wistful romance may not immediately come to mind. But it's there - after all, the Garden State is the birthplace of Frankie Valli and Frank Sinatra. It's what inspires singer/songwriter and Jersey native Nicole Atkins' music, which carries a certain flair for both nostalgia and matters of the heart. Atkins has become quite the critic's darling, and with good reason. Her dramatic smoky croon and searing lovelorn lyrics are......

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......

Up and coming singer/songwriter Alice Smith [pictured] is scheduled to perform on the Ellen DeGeneres show this week. Monday -ABC, 11:05pm: Jimmy Kimmel Live, Maroon 5 Tuesday -CBS, 10:35p: Late Show with David Letterman, Lenny Kravitz -NBC, 10:35pm: Tonight Show with Jay Leno, John Fogerty Wednesday -CBS, 12:05am: Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, Collective Soul -NBC, 2:05am: Last Call with Carson Daly, A Fine Frenzy -CBS, 10:35p: Late Show with David Letterman, Ayo -NBC,......

The Queen of Hip Hop Soul, Mary J. Blige takes the stage at the latest installment of Vh1 Storytellers, airing tonight at 7pm on Vh1. Monday -Vh1, 7pm: Vh1 Storytellers, Mary J. Blige -NBC, 11:35pm: Late Night with Conan O’Brien, Super Furry Animals Tuesday -ABC, 7am: Good Morning America, Janet Jackson -CBS, 10:35pm: Late Show with David Letterman, Chingy with Ludacris -NBC, 10:35pm: Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Lupe Fiasco -ABC, 11:05pm: Jimmy Kimmel Live,......

Good morning, Houston. Remember the city's smoking ban, which went into effect in September? Well, so does KPRC. The station checked around and found something that will shock you to your very core: Houstonians are still smoking in bars and restaurants! No, really. One of the bars Channel 2 visited was Henry Hudson's Pub on the west side, where reporters found customers and the bartender smoking — and "we even bought a pack of......

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......

>> There are some big changes coming to Memorial Park: Houston's most popular park with a running trail and a burger joint is slated to get more improved features to help you sweat to the oldies. According to ABC13, Mayor Bill White's improvement plan will include a bridge across Memorial Parkway for cyclists and pedestrians, extended running trails, an improved tennis facility and a new shower facility for you dirty folks. Sounds pricey, huh?......

Fresh off his Grammy win for Record of the Year, jazz pianist Herbie Hancock [pictured] will perform on the View this week. Monday -CBS, 10:05pm: The Late Show with David Letterman, Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings Tuesday -CBS, 12:05am: Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, Wyclef -ABC, 10:00am: The View, Herbie Hancock -NBC, 12pm: Ellen DeGeneres, Raheem DeVaughn -CBS, 10:05pm: The Late Show with David Letterman, Ray Davies -NBC, 10:35pm: Tonight Show with Jay Leno,......

Tonight, Houston will host the U.S. debut of the first Western-style interpretation of the classic Chinese opera, Farewell My Concubine. With performances only today and tomorrow at the Wortham, this is a rare opportunity. The original Chinese opera will be performed by a Chinese cast and sung in Mandarin. Chinese opera has come to the United States so very infrequently that if you have any interest in Chinese music, art, opera or culture, you should......

Good morning, Houston. We freely admit that we don't like bugs, so we've tried quite a few home extermination methods — but we've never blown the roof off our house while doing it like Patricia Espiricueta of Galveston did. It seems Espiricueta was fed up with her home's roach problem, so she set off five bug bombs and left the house. While she was gone, the fumes hit a pilot light and exploded, lifting......

::KTRU DJ Night at the Proletariat:: Yes, folks the rumors are true. The Proletariat will officially be closing it's doors on Feb 3rd, 2008. We've had a few weeks to stomach the news, but still get a little misty-eyed when we think about those damn red walls being knocked down. Leading up to the closing, the Pro is hitting it hard, with some killer events scheduled to bring the prolific Houston dive down with......

::Hope Stone Dance Company premieres SEE Me:: How do we see? Do we need sight to know the world? How are we blind to ourselves? Tonight at the Wortham Center, under the direction of award-winning choreographer Jane Weiner, Hope Stone Dance Company wil premeire SEE Me, . While general admission is $25, Hope Stone, Inc. will open the 800 balcony seats free to at risk youth from local schools and after-school programs. Implicit in......

::World Affairs Council of Houston Presents:: The Putin Generation: How Russian Youth See Their World Ok, maybe you are not as fascinated with Russia as we are. Much so, to the point that a Tori Amos song spiraled us into a year long quest for researching the Romanovs and the mysterious rumors of Anastasia sightings worldwide. Ok, so maybe you're not the super Russia fan we are, but you gotta like Vodka, right? Right? Tonight's......

The first week of the new year is a light one for concerts. Still, there are some gems on the calendar, especially if you like local or country music. Tonight, check out the southern-rock flavored Houston band The Mighty Orq at Kelvin Arms. Tomorrow night, a trio of local rock/pop bands (including Ragged Hearts) play at Rudyard's. Mr. Bojangles pays a visit to the Grand Opera House in Galveston on Saturday. Did we miss......

Good morning, Houston. We're sure you're as excited as we are to get right into this year's news, so without further ado ... >> GOP pick for Harris DA expected this evening: Harris County Republican leaders said they expect to have a candidate for district attorney by 6 p.m. today, the deadline for filing candidacy papers. The move comes in the wake of a scandal centering on DA Chuck Rosenthal, who was asked to......

Tonight’s Texas Bowl is going to be a throwback to the days of the Southwest Conference with an exciting match-up between the University of Houston and Texas Christian University. From a football point of view, it’s a classic match-up of high powered offense (Houston) against a formidable defensive squad (TCU). It will be interesting to see how the Coogs respond in tonight’s game, their first without Art Briles who ran off to Waco to become......

Here's an abridged, holiday version of this week's music calendar. If you like Latin-rock, you're in luck. Tonight, Grupo Fantasma and their funky horn section returns to the Continental Club. Nearby, at Warehouse Live, Vallejo will be playing. Del Castillo visits Warehouse Live tomorrow night. Two good choices for Saturday: R&B songstress Erykah Badu performs at Arena Theater and Austin's Asylum Street Spankers - always a fun show - return to the Mucky Duck.......

Happy Holidays Houston! If you can stand more excitement after all of the festivities this week, we suggest tuning in for a re-airing of Justice's awesome "performance" on Jimmy Kimmel Live, and a brand spanking new Austin City Limits with Bloc Party and Ghostland Observatory. Monday -CBS, 4pm: Oprah Winfrey, Tony Bennett, Josh Groban, and Carrie Underwood -NBC, 10:35pm: Gospel Christmas -ABC, 11:05pm: Jimmy Kimmel Live, Jay-Z Tuesday -NBC, 8am: Today Show, KT Tunstall -ABC,......

Good morning, Houston. As we were sitting around Monday morning contemplating using a witch's extremity to keep warm, we started to wonder exactly how cold it's gotten in the city before — and, thanks to the Internet, we know! According to the National Weather Service, the record low temperature for Houston was 5 degrees Fahrenheit, which we hit on Jan. 23, 1940. Maybe more interesting, though, is the Houston snowfall record: Turns out we......

So Colbie Caillat is scheduled to sing on the Ellen DeGeneres Show this week. We mention this mainly because the lyrics to her hit song, "Bubbly," make us chuckle. Monday -CBS, 10:35pm: The Late Show with David Letterman, Travis -NBC, 10:35pm: Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Alan Jackson Tuesday -NBC, 12pm: Ellen DeGeneres, Colbie Caillat Wednesday -NBC, 8am: Today Show, Patti LaBelle -CBS, 10:35pm: The Late Show with David Letterman, Bonnie Raitt -NBC, 10:35pm: Tonight......

Perspectives 159: Superconscious, Automatisms Now December 14, 2007 – March 9, 2008 Opening reception December 13, 2007, 6:30-9:00 p.m. Sigh. This is Houston's last hurrah with Senior CAMH Curator Paola Morsiani, and we are sad. Having been with the CAMH for over eight years, Morsiani is heading north to become Curator of Contemporary Art at the Cleveland Museum of Art, an internationally renowned encyclopedic museum in the midst of a $258 million renovation and expansion.......

Good morning, Houston. Remember Mayor Bill's agreement with Clear Channel that would result in the removal of nearly 900 billboards across the city? Well, it's not necessarily a done deal after all: On Wednesday, six City Council members voted to delay the plan, saying they still had questions about its ramifications. The problem, they said, was that the deal would allow Clear Channel to move remaining billboards: "We're allowing new billboard locations to pop......

Good morning, Houston. Are you a local news junkie? Do you already know all the headlines we're covering here? If so, we'd love to have you: Houstonist is looking to build its news staff, and you're invited. You should keep up with what's going on in and around Houston and be able to put up a couple of posts a week, at least; some background in journalism is always a plus. If it sounds......

::NetSquared Meet Up: Careflash:: Ever wonder who the rowdy group in the back room at Stag's Head is every 2nd Tuesday of the month? We did, too. So last month we barged in. Ok, we were invited. And we found out where all the big hearted techies have been hiding, at the NetSquared Meetup! The mission of Net2 is to spur responsible adoption of social web tools by social benefit organizations. There's a whole new......

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......

Mary J. Blige is set to appear on The View this week. We're still reeling from her fierce performance at the AMAs. Monday -CBS, 10:35pm: The Late Show with David Letterman, Third Eye Blind -NBC, 10:35pm: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Liz Phair -ABC, 11:05pm: Jimmy Kimmel Live, Rilo Kiley Wednesday -NBC, 10:35pm: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Kings of Leon Thursday -ABC, 10pm: The View, Mary J. Blige Saturday -PBS, 10pm: Austin......

::Flash Yo Stache at Vinyl Ranch:: It's back all you Urban Cowboys and Girls: Vinyl Ranch at Leon's Lounge. And this time a little twisted (at the edges). Tonight's 4th installment of the honky tonk party at Leon's Lounge brings a whole new level to the shindig. Local charity Mustaches For Kids will team up with Vinyl Ranch creator, Dave Wrangler, to create a meeting of the 'staches! How perfect is this? Be on......

Looking for a little green space to stretch out those overworked holiday shopping legs? Check out Mosaic on Hermann Park's one acre, 7th floor amenity deck, as they host Hermann Park Conservatory's Urban Green for a Holiday Al Fresco event. Tonight's party will feature cocktails and canapes poolside, and all proceeds will benefit the Hermann Park Conservatory. Tickets at $30 and can be purchased at the door. We were bummed to learn this week that......

Good morning, Houston. 'Tis the season for strange missing persons reports: In Tyler, the latest individual to go missing is a 42-foot-tall snowman. The inflatable snowman was last seen at a Tyler tree farm Friday night; the tree lot's owner, Royce Wisenbaker, told the AP that he believes it was hoisted over a fence and carted away. The snowman is worth about $10,000, and a $1,000 reward has been posted for information leading to......