Houston.BloggersPub

Some are calling this the greatest invention of the 21st Century. Agree?

(Thanks Brian!)

I’m not sure just how effective this product is to trick your coworkers into thinking you are awake.

Guess it depends on how stupid they are!

[via Dwight Silverman]
(Image courtesy of Flickr user Funki Sock Munki)

Radio Ink gives us the Houston radio ratings for February:

Houston’s top 10 in February, by AQH share (Monday-Sunday, 6 a.m.-midnight):

Station/Owner/Format/Cume/Share

1. KMJQ-FM/Radio One/Urban AC/879,800/6.9
2. KBXX/Radio One/Rhythmic/1.3 million/6.1
3. KKBQ-FM/Cox Radio/Country/1.1 million/5.6
4. KTBZ-FM/Clear Channel/Alternative/1.2 million/5.3
5. KRBE/Cumulus/Top 40/1.4 million/4.7
6. KTRH-AM/Clear Channel/News/Talk/720,700/4.6
7. KODA-FM/Clear Channel/AC/1.8 million/4.5
8. KILT-FM/CBS Radio/Country/940,900/4.3
9. KLTN-FM/Univision/Regional Mexican/881,700/4.1
10. KHMX-FM/Clear Channel/Hot AC/1.3 million/4.0
10. (tie) KLOL-FM/Clear Channel/Sp. Contemporary/982,300/4.0

What ever happened to 1980’s teen director John Hughes. He was behind a lot of classics during that period. The LA Times found out…sort of:

JOHN HUGHES hasn’t set foot in Hollywood for years, but his influence has never been more potent. The king of 1980s comedy, Hughes now qualifies as something of a Howard Hughes-style recluse — he doesn’t have an agent, doesn’t give interviews and lives far away, somewhere in Chicago’s sprawling North Shore suburbs where most of his films were set.

But he has an entire generation of fans in the industry who grew up infatuated with his films, especially a string of soulful mid-1980s teen comedies that helped capture the eternal drama of modern teenage existence. They include “Sixteen Candles,” “Pretty in Pink,” “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” and “The Breakfast Club,” which no less an authority than Courtney Love once called “the defining moment of the alternative generation.” Any number of successful actors and filmmakers, from Judd Apatow and Kevin Smith to Vince Vaughn, Ben Stiller and Wes Anderson, are fans, having soaked up Hughes’ keen observational humor, love of mischief and shrewd dissection of social hierarchies.

READ THE REST

[via Perez Hilton]
(Image courtesy of Flickr user autoamerican79)

Time has the news about Adobe’s new free photo editor that debuted today - Photoshop Express:

A new website for editing, organizing and sharing your digital photos hails from a most unlikely creator — Adobe Systems, which is to digital imaging software what Microsoft is to word processors. And while Photoshop Express is arguably the most full-featured free photo program on the Web, the real surprise is that Adobe is willing to risk cannibalizing its own paid image-management products, which include the $100 Photoshop Elements and the $649 Photoshop CS3, in order to win over new users. “Express is for the casual user,” says Adobe vice president Doug Mack. “It’s an incremental market for us.”

READ THE REST

[via Murdock]
(Image courtesy of Flickr user Sushubh)

You know that I have been on this blog a long time talking about the unreleased Guns N’ Roses album Chinese Democracy. So I was elated to see the news about Dr. Pepper (my favorite soft drink) making a deal for the public if the Axl Rose’s opus ever surfaces. Axl seemed to be in a good mood about it too. I’ve pretty much stopped talking about the album which is now allegedly finished and in a legal battle. Go show your support for the offer here.

Another favorite meme of mine on this blog is Motley Crue. A 28-second low-quality clip of a new Crue song called The Saints of Los Angeles has hit the Net. I’m sure the band leaked it to get a little buzz. Who else would leak a 28 second, low-quality song other than a band who only wants to tease us, but not let the full cat out of the bag?

@Obscura points out the new Pennywise album is a free download for two weeks before going on sale. http://www.myspace.com/pennywise.

Like most other artists, Billy Corgan of the Smashing Pumpkins is angry with his former label.

Thanks to mikemcguff.com blog reader John M. who pointed out this news from Blabbermouth! Rush singer-bassist Geddy Lee and guitarist Alex Lifeson surprised the crowd at a Foo Fighters concert when they came on stage to play with drummer Taylor Hawkins during his drum solo. Then the three musicians then played “YYZ”, a song from Rush’s 1981 album Moving Pictures. There is some video through the link.

(Image courtesy of Flickr user Rag Muffin)

Update to the unfolding bat drama.

To be frank, while I did not come in contact with the bat, this still creeps me out so I can just imagine my more “panicky” co-workers flipping out and overreacting. Hopefully cooler heads will prevail.
A company that specializes in bat removal is coming out to inspect the building.

How to Twitter
Hear about this craze that I resisted for a while but eventually gave in to? Learn more so you can join the pod 2.0 people.

How to use Twitter to promote your blog
I have started sending blog posts to my Twitter stream. @treocast told me he is no fan of that. The above link’s author isn’t either. See what he suggests.

VIDEO: Twitter in Plain English
Lee LeFever of Common Craft, who produces easily understood explanations of the web, targeted Twitter in a video post.

Follow me on Twitter.

(Image courtesy of Flickr user fusion5)

Have you seen the rainbow colored house in Houston’s Midtown?

Over the past few months, Aerosol Warfare has been transforming DiverseWorks’s satellite space into a fantastical pop landmark in midtown as part of our latest public art project, This Old House. The 2 story Victorian home, given to DiverseWorks to use by the Brackman Family, was intended for storing DiverseWorks’s archives and to house touring artists but instead has become a project in itself. Through the addition of bright playful colors to each side of the house and large graffiti murals, Aerosol Warfare brightens up a corner of Houston that was once covered with Sesame Street characters.

MORE INFO HERE

(Image courtesy of Flickr user gonzilla247)

Slash says this is not Velvet Revolver’s last tour
VELVET REVOLVER guitarist Slash has dismissed reports that the band will split up following its current European trek.

Hidden ‘Easter eggs’ on rock albums
David Sadof talks about some of his favorite hidden tracks on albums.

Make Your Band’s MySpace Page Rock: The Basics
With MTV and VH1 wholly dedicating themselves to lame celebreality shows and terrestrial radio stations slipping into a classic rock coma, MySpace has become one of the last frontiers for musicians to get heard.

(Image courtesy of Flickr user Giuseppe Lambertino)