Comment of the Day: Offensive Courthouse Paintings?

Categories: Courts, Whatever

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We have some great commenters here on Hair Balls, and it's time we paid some damn attention to them.

So we'll be highlighting a Comment of the Day each morning, from the previous day's work. Maybe two comments, even.

This will all be determined by a highly rigorous scientific formula involving wit, clarity and whatever else we feel like at the moment.

We wrote about how some of Houston's federal judges aren't happy with newly restored courthouse paintings, which they say show scenes reminiscent of slavery.

Some readers said the paintings merely showed history, but another questioned their use.

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Owls Stage The Comeback And Stun The Coogs In Game That Epitomized Both Teams

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The Owls pulled off quite the comeback in defeating UH on Wednesday night
​The Houston Cougars dashed off to a 13-0 lead against the Rice Owls on Wednesday night. The offense worked to perfection. There was some decent defense being played. But as the teams went into a timeout only 7:45 into the game, one couldn't help but sense doom hanging over the Hofheinz Pavilion court.

The Owls stormed back to lead 35-34 at the half. And though the score see-sawed back-and-forth for most of the second half, a win by the Owls seemed inevitable. An inevitability made final by Arsalan Kazemi's reverse dunk at the buzzer to make the final score 79-71 Rice over Houston.

The two teams that met Wednesday night were the proverbial two ships passing in the night. The Cougars (11-12, 3-7) are a talented team. Talented, but young. They lack height and muscle and on-court leadership. The Owls (14-11, 5-5) have a lot of young talent, but they're anchored by upperclassmen who refused to get ruffled or upset when the Cougars stormed out to that early lead, primarily because they knew they were getting good shots and that, as long as they kept taking good shots and playing good defense, the points would begin to pile up.

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Week in Photos: Tuna Poke

Categories: Art

Each week, we take a dip into the Houston Press Flickr pool and see what our talented photographers have been up to. We're looking for pictures that represent the best of Houston, from food to art to events, to secret hidden spots of beauty. Just drop them in our Flickr group right here. Maybe you'll see them in this spot next week.

As always, for more information on a subject or photographer, just click on the photo.

11 Vintage Valentine's Day Cards And Why They Are Really Creepy

Categories: Whatever

Love is in the air. Kids everywhere -- or, more likely, their moms -- are buying boxes of cheap Valentine's Day cards to hand out in the classroom.

It's a tradition that's been going on for years, and obviously it's not just for kids. But in days of yore, card designers could seem a little....creepy.

Like in these 11 examples.

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11. The drugs make him hunt
Those eyes and armed? The chicks'll be swarming at ya, kid.

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Last-Minute Valentine's Gifts (From Convenience Stores) She's Sure to Love

Categories: Whatever

Let's face it, almost every dude has been there: It's February 13, and you're just coming out of a K2-induced fugue state. Rubbing your bloodshot eyes and picking yourself off the floor of the abandoned tannery you're in for some reason, the events of the last 24 hours come trickling in: there was a giant talking bird that told you about this awesome party; or maybe it was just your friend, Pete, disguised as a giant bird. That's just the kind of thing Pete would do.

There were indoor fireworks, an awesome DJ, and an absolutely amazing platter of cold cuts. But then it hits you: you had meant to get your significant other a thoughtful, romantic Valentine's Day present yesterday, and you've nearly blown it. No time to go to the Galleria. No, you've got to hit one of the convenience stores you pass on the way home, crossing your fingers that there' a hidden treasure inside. Well, you're in luck, pal, because there's an absolute bounty in this places. Here are eight suggestions.

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8. No More Flakes-brand dandruff-eliminating shampoo
Does your baby make it snow when she shakes that otherwise gorgeous head of hair? She's probably just been too self-conscious to buy dandruff shampoo herself. Why not come to the rescue by sparing her the public pain of admitting to everyone at the checkout line that her sloughy, brittle head-skin is one of the reasons that the vacuum-cleaner bags need to be changed so often? Do you know what this gift says? It says "Now I can finally run my fingers through your hair without feeling all icky." She will melt.

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Mike Wiggins: Guadalupe County Judge, Former DPS Officer, Caught With Weed In Hotel

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Mike Wiggins denies nothing
​Mike Wiggins, Guadalupe County Judge and a former DPS sergeant, has been arrested for having weed in a College Station hotel room.

Wiggins, a Republican first elected in 2006 to lead the county, which is east of New Braunfels, was attending a convention there when the cops were called because a staffer smelled burning marijuana about 11 p.m. Monday.

Cops found a silver grinder, rolling papers and a plastic bag containing 20.1 grams of dope in Wiggins duffel bag after he consented to a search.

The Seguin Gazette reported:

Wiggins, who also served as Seguin's Department of Public Safety sergeant, said Thursday afternoon that there was nothing he could deny.

"It is what it is," he said.

Party on, Guadalupe.


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Tags:

Marijuana

Bill Belichick in Super Bowl XLVI: "Make Him Go To Manningham" (w/ Sound FX VIDEO)

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The play worked as designed, on both sides
​I got home from my show this afternoon and, having just finished up talking about sports for five hours, I did what I normally do -- turn on one of the sports channels on television.

Luckily (or perhaps not so luckily, if I had any designs on being productive), I stumbled across a marathon of Sound FX on the NFL Network. For those of you that are unfamiliar, Sound FX is a no-narrator, field-level version of game highlights where usually a handful of players/coaches are wired for sound.

It takes the game and turns it into a virtual drama, turns the players into characters, and sucks you in like a mosquito to a blue, fluorescent light. It is awesome.

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Midtown to Get 192-Unit Housing Unit for Homeless Vets

Categories: Spaced City

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​Groundbreaking is scheduled for tomorrow on an $18 million Midtown project that will include 192 housing units for homeless vets.

Near the old Days Inn on Travis next to the 59 underpass, the Travis Street Plaza will include housing and support services for homeless and disabled veterans. The location is at the southern edge of Midtown.

Funding comes from the feds and Amegy Bank, the Supportive Housing National Equity Fund, Inc., and the Houston Housing Authority.


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Kaleem Stephens: Tells Undercover Cop of Plans to Rob Armored Car with "Bin Laden-Style Gun"

Categories: Crime

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I'm gonna use a Bin Laden gun!
​Kaleem Stephens and his colleagues had big plans.

They were going to knock over an armored car, with the help of some employees on the inside. The take would be about $250,000.

The plans included Stephens using what he called "a Bin Laden-style gun" on the driver which, evidence showed, apparently meant an SKS rifle.

Unfortunately for him, the "inside employees" he was describing his grand scheme to were undercover agents from the Texas Department of Public Safety and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Stephens, 30, was sentenced to 12 years in prison today.

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Robbery

"Gulf of America"? Don't Stop There! Five More Equally Sane Name Changes Needed

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THANK YOU, Mississippi.
​A Mississippi lawmaker has completely and utterly disgraced Texas politicians by being the first to introduce legislation to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America.

And not because, as Stephen Colbert once put it when he made the same suggestion, "we broke it, we bought it."

No, Rep. Steve Holland wants it changed because it just should be changed, dammit.

We couldn't agree more, but we don't think Holland -- who would change his name to Holland-America if there wasn't already a shipping company by that name -- doesn't go far enough.

More name changes needed:

5. St. Tony: The Alamo City will not only lose its unpleasant Mexican-ness, it will find itself more hospitable to the Jersey Shore crowd, thus boosting tourism and tanning-parlor revenues.

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