World War Z, Man of Steel, The Lone Ranger - all kind of big movies in a summer ahead that promises more blockbusters than obscure indie films.

To help you plan your dance card we've outlined what's coming up from late May to mid-August including films such as Monsters University, a prequel to Pixar's Monsters Inc. and Pacific Rim where Guillermo del Toro has giant monsters fighting giant robots (which means it'll be easier to tell the good guys from the bad, unlike in the Transformers movies).

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Photo by Chris Curry

Mark "Scrapdaddy" Bradford doesn't waste any metal he finds

The 2013 Art Car Parade starts this Saturday, May 11 at 1 p.m. In this week's cover story "Enjoying the Ride" with story and photos by Chris Curry, we decided to highlight some of this year's entrants. Throughout this week, we'll run posts with video to give you a closer look at these dedicated artists.

Mark "Scrapdaddy" Bradford has built something of a leviathan in his latest creation called "The Char Car."

Using 15-foot radius industrial spools as wheels and scrap metal parts he found at a nearby machine shop, Bradford has welded, bent, compressed and scrapped an oversized rickshaw as well as a working, free-swinging rickshaw runner together. If all goes according to plan, the 20-foot-tall metal man he constructed will appear to be running the rickshaw, but in reality the contraption is driven by two motorcycle engines, one to power the vehicle and the other used to steer.

"I wish I had more time, because now I have to learn to drive it," Bradford said laughing. With an impending deadline fast approaching he still has a lot of hours to put in before he can say "finished" to the piece he named after his young daughter.

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The 2013 Art Car Parade starts this Saturday, May 11 at 1 p.m. In this week's cover story "Enjoying the Ride" with story and photos by Chris Curry, we decided to highlight some of this year's entrants. Throughout this week, we'll run posts with video to give you a closer look at these dedicated artists.

Randy Blair drives his "A Little Bit of Nonsense" all the time, not just in the Art Car parade. His 2007 Toyota Yaris is a magnet for all sorts of objects hanging on to it.

For instance, the Katy man has a Hot Wheels Mini Cooper glued on top of two busts of Superman, which in turn is glued to an Imperial Stormtrooper helmet from Star Wars."

Photo by Chris Curry

Randy Blair and his magnet car

The punchline: "You get a mini-cooper, double, super trooper."

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Photo by Chris Curry

Jill Johnson and her rolling memorial

The 2013 Art Car Parade starts this Saturday, May 11 at 1 p.m. In this week's cover story "Enjoying the Ride" with story and photos by Chris Curry, we decided to highlight some of this year's entrants. Throughout this week, we'll run posts with video to give you a closer look at these dedicated artists.

Jill Johnson, a Houston Heights native, started building her art car in 2008. The 1982 Chevy Blazer base has now been reclassified "L.I.O.N" which stands for "Like it or not."

She and collaborator Jeff Towns put the car together featuring 12 red hobby horses that flow from the bed. The truck started out as red and white but red and orange were more appealing to Johnson's tastes.

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In today's edition of the Houston Press we are announcing this year's winners of our MasterMind Award. For five years now we've handed out checks of $2,000 to three individuals or groups for doing what we believe is outstanding work in the Houston arts community.

As in years past, the 2013 winners come from different fields in the arts. Opera, stage and dance are represented this year and at this Saturday's awards ceremony during our Artopia party at Winter Street Studios, all three will show us a brief onstage sample of what made them winners.

Past winners have used the money they received to help them start new programs, move buildings or just pay the bills. We don't put limits on what they can do with the money they receive.

Equally, if not more important, many have told us, is the recognition they receive from the award, in the local community and beyond.

So without further ado, here's this year's winners. But go ahead and read the entire cover story by Night and Day Editor Olivia Flores Alvarez to get more details on three pretty amazing stories.

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Twenty-one-year-old Ben Vacas gained attention in the video game world as a top-ranked hunter in World of Warcraft. He moved from that to making videos about his experiences and that of other lead players. He was flattered when Machinima, a multi-channel YouTube network offered him a partnership.

They'd put ads on his videos and he'd get a cut of the revenue generated. Alas, the smart, smart gamer/filmmaker hadn't read the fine print and he came to find out that he'd signed away to whatever he made for the rest of his life and - believe it or not - beyond. His contract would never expire.

So he opted out. Said he'd never make another video if that was going to be his life.

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