Houston in Life Magazine: The Ladies of The Bayou Club, 1946

Everything I Know About Parenting I Learned From The Addams Family Movies

I Look forward to a time when my daughter will be in school plays and the such. Until then, enjoy the following, and Happy Thanksgiving.

Wednesday Night Photo Post: Other Houston Photographers - BBQ B-Goode

GOODE CO. BBQ MASCOT, originally uploaded by ashkani.

"Tis the Season: Again?

While I like gifts as much as anyone, I have no real love of Christmas. It is the holiday equivalent of Disney World when I am a Bugs Bunny/Warner Bros. kind of guy (it's the Crip V. Bloods of animation.) Saccharine sweet, inescapable, and celebrated early each year. And the music...obnoxious ear worms that linger long into the New Year. But there are bright spots.

One such spot will be the Invincible Czars ar the Wortham Center on Wednesday. They will be doing their version of the Nutcracker Suite.

I had heard about them last year, and now if I can get up in the morning, I can actually see them play.

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Last year's first Christmas post, sounding much the same as this one - Neon Poisoning: Yes To This Nutcracker!

Houston in Life Magazine: Online Photos Thanks to Google

An aerial view of the city Houston.

View of downtown Houston area-skyscrapers, filled parking lots.

A view of Houston, Texas.

An online collaboration between Life Magazine and Google has millions of previously unseen photos now hosted online. There are loads of Houston pictures, but add "TX" or Texas" to narrow a search to the city. Otherwise you'll be seeing lots of "Whitney."

This article has info on the new project. There's some good stuff to be found and I'm already mining the site for future posts about Houston, as well as other interests.

Wednesday Night Photo Post: Other Houston Photographers - Houston, Texas

Houston, Texas, originally uploaded by 'bert.

No Such Thing As Too Much Giant Robot: Video of Michael Salter at RUAG

michael a. salter @ rice gallery | houston from michael a. salter on Vimeo.


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Another install video, this time from the San Jose Museum of Art


giant styrobot from michael a. salter on Vimeo.

More Houston Museums: Weird, Electric & Dead Popes on Display

Gulf Coast Electronics Museum, originally uploaded by favouritethings.

Just when I thought I had exhausted all the nuggets of cultural quirkiness in Houston, I find more. While I missed the latest Sunday Eyeopener Tour (NOT a morning person) by the Orange Show Foundation, their online post mentioned the Gulf Coast Electronics Museum. I am now working on finding out more about this newly discovered museum.

My hunt for the electronics museum led me to search Flickr and finding favoritething's collection of Houston shots, including the above shot. Although not pictured in her photoset, she mentioned the Museum of the Weird, a venue I thought long closed due to a lack of recent info. Google shows a museum of that name in Austin, looking just like a dime museum of oddities. Not sure if the Houston and Austin museums are related.

As for the long-ago visited National Museum of Funeral History I need to go again to see their dead pope exhibit. At 5,000 square feet of display space, I'm intrigued at what is taking up all the room.

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Posts on the Museum of the Weird and other Houston sights:

House of the Purple Worms: Second Half of Sunday With Min
Travel Maven blog: Quirky Houston flaunts cars, scars, and beer cans

Nothing to See Here: Read about Nothing Then Go See Nothing

I have a deep and abiding love of strange and unique locations, mainly because I can truly see the motivations in my own heart to make roadside attractions, strange sculptures and things that would generally annoy the neighbors. A lack of funds and the withering looks my sweet wife gives me on occasion keep me from constructing my own monument to the odd. There are places that are tangentially related to the roadside attraction, strange but intentional places, with purpose but not necessarily with explanation. That is what Nothing To See Here is about. To put on the map sights that deserve seeing, even if it is uncertain what you would take away from a visit.

I'm one of many who post to the site. So go see what there is to be seen.

Oh, My Blog - I Got Metafiltered

A Flickr picture of mine got pegged to this Metafilter post.

Could that post title get any more insular to net culture? Nope.

Wednesday Night Photo Post: Other Houston Photographers - Licenses

Texas tags, originally uploaded by hockey_bill.

Detail, originally uploaded by Rand McNally Pix.

Michael Salter @ Rice U. Art Gallery

Giant robots.  IRL.  Nice.

Michael Salter  - "Too Much" @ Rice University Art Gallery - Houston TX, originally uploaded by Mr. Kimberly.

Michael Salter  - "Too Much" @ Rice University Art Gallery - Houston, TX, originally uploaded by Mr. Kimberly.

Michael Salter  - "Too Much" @ Rice University Art Gallery - Houston, TX, originally uploaded by Mr. Kimberly.

The rest of my "Too Much" pictures here.

Obama in Concrete: Adickes to Do One More Giant Head

George W Bush, originally uploaded by Dr Curry.

Houston artist David Adickes will be adding to his presidential head collection. Apparently he got a request for Barack Obama's head... on Monday the 3rd!!!

DUH... DUH... DUHNNNNN!!!!!!!

David Adickes, originally uploaded by sara van buskirk.

Cheers to America

Opening Thursday - Michael Salter @ Rice University Art Gallery

Robot show at SJMA, originally uploaded by AstroGirl.

Building large robots is hard work. I should know, I've been working with artist Michael Salter on one of his styrobots. The standing robot above is from the San Jose Museum of Art. The Rice Gallery 'bot will be sitting, chilling in the corner.

It's another great show at the gallery. Every single person in the world should see this show.

Pictures of the installation and completed sculpture go online Thursday.