The Houston Center of Photography will be holding their annual print auction tonight, Thursday, February 25th. Artists works by local, national, and internationally acclaimed photographers will be available for purchase by both silent and live auction. The photographs that up for bidding have been on view for the past month and I’m sure gallery-goers have already picked out their favorites. The best part of the auction is that 100% of the proceeds of the auction go towards the operating costs of the HCP.

The auction will be held tonight from 6:30pm-9:30pm at the Junior League of Houston, 1811 Briar Oaks Lane, Houston, TX 77027. Reservations are recommended and tickets are $95 and include cocktails, dinner, catalog, and seating. Auction items are priced separately. You can register to attend online HERE and tickets are still available.

This is a very cool way to get out and see some cool art and perhaps build your own collection at the same time! Happy Bidding!

Filed under: Art & Culture, Giving, Houston by Stephen : No Comments »

I’m not a very big fan of cupcakes…why have a tiny little treat when you could have a whole cake?

I also think that cupcakes are one of the more interesting food trends to happen in quite awhile – you can’t seem to turn a corner these days without hitting a cupcake truck. I suppose it all stems from the need for some kind nostalgic comfort food to make us all feel like carefree little kids again.

This past weekend I noticed on the Hamilton Shirts twitter feed that Houston seemed to be going totally cupcake crazy. As it turned out, on Sunday there was a “Cupcake Smackdown” held at the Block 7 Wine Company as a benefit to raise money for the local Houston Food Bank. Looking over the results on the Houston Press website, it seems that one bakery walked away with quite a number of the awards – and not without some cupcake controversy.

Ooh La La Dessert Boutique (with a location on Westheimer Pkwy in Katy and another Katy location on Park Row opening soon) walked away with a bunch of the big prizes. Owner and Pastry Chef Vanessa Newbill won for best cake texture and taste- red velvet/vanilla, best frosting taste and texture- red velvet, best overall appearance- red velvet, and a tie with Crave for best overall appearance- vanilla round. My favorite chocolate? Who even knows.

Not Ohh La La Cupcakes- but these look pretty good

While ultimately I think its nearly impossible to make a bad cupcake, and you’d like to try them for yourself..check out Ooh La La Bakery here. Let us know what you think- and which Houston bakery makes your favorite?

To donate to the fantastic Houston Food Bank- the link is here.

Filed under: Food & Drink, Giving, Houston by Stephen : No Comments »

On December 2nd, the Houston organization called Nameless Sound is hosting the second evening in their concert event series called the Nameless Lounge. This years fundraiser is going to be in honor of Curley Cormier, the legendary proprietor, band leader and host of The Silver Slipper, a 5th Ward Blues club. The Silver Slipper is a must stop Houston nightspot that was an early birthplace of Zydeco music, where such legendary performers as Lightning Hopkins and Clifton Chernier (who was called the “King of Zydeco”) first performed. Curley Cormier is going to perform at the event along with his band called The Gladiators.

Nameless Sound was established in 2001 to bring the best of international contemporary music to Houston, and they also support new ways of teaching in arts education. The organization presents local concerts along with helping out students from public schools, community centers, and homeless shelters.  Nameless Sound hopes to enlighten a new generation of artists and inspire new types of creative thinking.

If you are interested in supporting Nameless Sound, or if you’d like to attend this great event..click the link here.

Filed under: Art & Culture, Giving, Houston, Music by Stephen : No Comments »

Kelly Hamilton recently forwarded this YouTube clip to me of outspoken Texas Tech Coach Mike Leach. Coach Leach is very candid in answering a freshman’s questions about taking a girl out on a first date.

I think I’ll just let Coach Leach speak for himself:

Filed under: Giving, Sports, Texas by Stephen : No Comments »

It might be a little early to mention this great event, but perhaps you may want to do some forward thinking to plan ahead. This years 2009 Via Colori Street Painting Festival is scheduled for the weekend of November 21st and 22nd to benefit The Center for Hearing and Speech. Its a big street party in downtown Houston where over 200 artists come together to paint big sidewalk panels sponsored by clubs, individuals, and local businesses. The Center for Hearing and Speech is a non-profit, United Way agency that teaches children with hearing impairments speaking, listening, and literacy skills.

There are a number of different ways that you can become involved with the event; You can sponsor a square that comes in all different sizes and prices, or if you are artistic you can paint one of the squares, or you can even volunteer your time to help out at the event itself.  Taking place in Sam Houston Park (Allen Parkway and Bagby) admission is free for everyone, and hours are 10-6pm Saturday, and 10am- 5pm Sunday.

Filed under: Art & Culture, Giving, Houston by Stephen : No Comments »

A recent editorial in the New York Times mentioned this 1933 film Wild Boys of the Road to suggest parallels between children’s problems during the depression to what kids are going through today. While its easy to look at this clip with golden eyed nostalgia, it is quite interesting that it does mirror some serious issues that are happening today.

Now that today’s families are being stressed like never before, if you have the time or means you might want to think about volunteering with some local boys and girls organizations.  Here are a couple of great ways to get involved here in Houston:

• The Boys and Girls Club of Houston
• Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Houston
• Mission Houston
• The U.S. Dream Academy (nationwide)

Filed under: Giving, History, Houston by Stephen : No Comments »