You've left the water running, Mr. President.

The pseudointellectual parsings of Dubya's most recent batch of hacked paintings are dumb. The screengrabs, the half-finished backings, the skewed perspectives -- all of these paintings' realities illustrate that Bush remains a novice, whose talent, while extant, still needs progress before he can convey whatever's truly happening in his Iraq-addled mind. The promise is there, but the quality still lacks. Let's leave all armchair analysis aside.

Still, while we all look at the paintings with some brew of chagrin and confusion -- the ache in his topless, thousand-yard shower scene is as palpable as the economic crater he left behind -- we can also see where Bush may have reached to for inspiration. Leaving Cheney and Rove and Rummy to influence his horrific policy decisions, Bush seems to have reached out to other sources to influence the subjects and styles of his paintings.

Again, while this is all reading the tea leaves, Hair Balls wanted to share five theories as to where Dubya may have looked for aesthetic inspiration. Because, hey, who knows -- it's entirely possible Bush spent most of his days in the White House examining different strains of artistic history. Guy certainly wasn't studying up on much else.

More »

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.

More »

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.

More »

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.

More »

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.

More »

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.

More »

Obama mural targeted again.

Uh-oh, did we just put "Obama" and "kill" in the same line? We'll expect our Secret Service call any day now.

The Breakfast Klub's eye-catching Obama mural by Reginald Adams, which has been attracting attention at Alabama and Travis since 2008, has been defaced yet again.

It should be used to such treatment, which has been going on pretty much since it went up. Usually the method of vandalism/statement-making has been a blob of white paint; this time it seems to be more of an attempt to portray the president as seeing the world through rose-colored glasses (or communist-red-colored glasses, of course, since he's a pinko, as everyone would know if they simply took the time to visit any of the thousands of Web sites that painstakingly explain how Marxists have pulled off the incredible secret plan to put one of their own in the White House).

More »

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.

More »

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.

More »

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.

More »