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Instead of blogging, sprucing up their Facebook pages or attempting to reach a higher level on Grand Theft Auto IV, some dedicated Red Bull quaffers put all of those empties to better use. They created works of art far removed from those wooden guys with the Budweiser can torsos of the ‘70s. On display in the Galleria until July 25, “Red Bull Art of Can” features 47 pieces (many by local artists) of the ultimate in recycled pop art. – Bob Ruggiero

It turns out you do actually learn something new every day. Today we learned that Houston is too goddamn sensitive.

Our cover story this week was on the sad trend of indie bands bypassing Houston for greener, or at least greenerish, pastures. To illustrate it we had the noted artist Uncle Charlie draw a rocker flipping the bird to our fair city.

The date on the issue was July 10, 2008, but from the reaction it got it might as well have been 1958.

I’m starting to spot Smart Cars around town. Driving down Montrose, parked in the lot at my local Y.

They’re so cute, but I’m wondering…

Could you do it in a Smart Car?

I mean, they have great gas mileage (40 city/45 highway), they’re remarkably affordable (they start at $11,590), and they’re better for the environment than most vehicles (so lay off, Al Gore).

But can you do it in a Smart Car?

Feeling a little crowded?

You should -- Houston has just been declared the country's fastest-growing city. And that's according to the U.S. Census Bureau, so you know it's got to be right.

The bureau released a new study today on growth in U.S. cities between July 1, 2006 and July 1, 2007. No city added more residents in that period than Houston – almost 39,000 people, bringing the city’s population to 2.2 million.

Editor's note: The following announcement appears in this week's paper. Why are we posting it here? Because Houstoned is soon going to become Hair Balls, and we thought you'd like to know, since you are reading Houstoned, after all. We promise all the same great content; there's just going to be a lot more of it.

We’ve studied the matter long and hard, and we’ve come to this conclusion: There just might be something to this “Internet” thing after all. We’re thinking it can be a place where people read about stuff — on their computers! Or other contraptions! — and then comment on it. So, just as Barack Obama would say, we’re announcing a change we can believe in. As of July 14, 2008, Hair Balls becomes Web-based.

On the Web, it will be expanded, it will be updated constantly, it will become a destination for all who point and click and want to experience the sweat-drenched mystery that is Houston.
We won’t completely abandon our print roots for pixels. The hard-copy edition of the Houston Press each week will include a roundup of items from the blog. But you, as a savvy user of -cutting-edge technology, will have already seen what those poor, benighted readers who stick to print have been anxiously awaiting every Thursday.

“The Bachelor” has the rose ceremony. Tila Tequila’s got her keys. Tyra dramatically flips over headshots.

It’s got me thinking about CBS’s new reality show, “Greatest American Dog” which premieres July 10. I have to admit I’m getting a little nervous.

According to the show’s Web site, “Twelve extraordinary teams of dogs and owners from across the nation, from ‘pageant dogs’ to those simply trained at home, will live together and compete against each other in challenges that put the owners' ability to train their dogs to the test. Each week, the judges will eliminate one dog and their owner. The last remaining team will walk away with a $250,000 cash prize and the title of GREATEST AMERICAN DOG.”

Excuse me, did they say, “Each week, the judges will eliminate one dog and their owner”?

Anita's Bar and Grill, named after everyone's favorite drag queen, Anita Bump, officially opens today for business, but last night there was a cocktail party to kick things off. The place is in the Hollywood Super Center. Anita was there looking gorgeous and working the crowd, which seemed to be enjoying the open bar. In fact, when the free drinks dried up, half the crowd split. I missed the appetizers, so I can't report on the food, but I plan to stop by for some "drag queen chicken" soon. - Cathy Matusow

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has released a new report concerning the myth of the serial killer, titled "Serial Murder: Multi-Disciplinary Perspectives for Investigators."

The report highlights a couple Houston-area killers to disprove some myths. One is Coral Eugene Watts, who was arrested in the city and later confessed to 12 Texas killings. The other is Rafael Resendez-Ramirez, the Railroad Killer, who murdered a Houston doctor and teacher, among others, and was later executed by the state.

Among the biggest myths are that all serial killers are dysfunctional loners and white males. Also, turns out that all serial killers are not "insane or evil geniuses" or solely motivated by sex.

Saturday marked the first time in more than 20 years that the Houston area has seen a bullfight. Sort of. Actually, it was more like a Smackdown. Matadors fooled the bulls with their smoke-and-mirror red capes until the bulls were falling-down tired, then the matadors reached between the horns and snatched a velcro-attached rose from the bulls' back and voila, they were victorious and the crowd showered them with roses. Whatever. I just think those pink socks are cool. -- Daniel Kramer

Click here for the slideshow...

Okay, how can I start this post? I guess I’ll just state the facts. Susan Olsen, the woman who played Cindy Brady on “The Brady Bunch,” showed up hung over for an appearance on 107.9 FM The Jet in California, and there’s footage here of her running from the microphone to go yak inside the station’s bathroom.

Guess she tied one on with Kitty Carryall the night before, huh?

When I was in junior high, I was obsessed with “The Brady Bunch.” I watched back to back episodes on TBS every afternoon after school, and when Barry “Greg Brady” Williams’s tell-all Growing Up Brady came out, I bought it and read it cover to cover in one night. Of all the Bradys, even more than Eve “Jan Brady” Plumb, I felt like Susan/Cindy was dealt the rawest deal of the bunch as her character was essentially written as so stupid you wondered if she’d undergone a lobotomy. Plus, she was a total tattletale/wannabe. And as Susan aged, she was required to perform the “cutesy pie” role despite being well into puberty. (Remember the “Good Ship Lollipop” episode? OUCH.)

What a weekend. That third day makes all the difference.

Anyone else check out the downtown fireworks? We wound up watching them in White Oak Park, surrounded by Spanish-speaking families. Viva America!

The Geto Boys at Warehouse Live

Scarface, Willie D and Bushwick Bill couldn't be stopped on Friday night. Don't skip this slideshow, which features some of Bushwick's smooth moves.

Willie Nelson at Sam Houston Race Park

Willie and friends (and Trigger too) came to the horse track on Saturday night. We trailed the outlaws and gathered evidence.

A Russian journalist dies and once more Gabriel Allon, the mysterious Israeli agent/fine picture restorer, ends up back in Moscow, a place he loathes, a place where he almost died once.

Bestselling thriller writer Daniel Silva has gone to the new Moscow, one of sudden self-made millionaires working at the same level of intrigue as the old KGB. Allon has just gotten married to Chiara and is on his honeymoon in Italy, happily restoring a painting under an alias, when his employers call, asking for a favor. It seems a second Russian journalist wants to tell Allon and only Allon why the first journalist, his co-worker, was killed.

This meeting never takes place – the second journalist is killed right before Allon can get to him – and in short order, Allon has a full-fledged case on his hands. Rather than coming back the next night, Allon enters into an extended absence from the Old Master and his new wife.

As the daughter of immigrants (I’ve got you already, don’t I?), I’d like to take a minute today, on America’s birthday, and reflect on what makes America so grand. And before any of you accuse me of being facetious, let me tell you…I may be a left-leaning, “Democracy Now”-listening ex-hipster who screams obscenities at W. when he appears on television, but I love this country. So there. There’s been a lot of talk lately about the mess we’re in, about the fact that our economy is sucking it and people are selling plasma for gas and we’re in a war we can’t get out of. Yes, that’s true. That’s all true.

But I still love America.

America makes it possible to eat McDonald’s French Fries at two in the morning while idling in your Chevy listening to Bob Seger. America makes it possible for a person to become a superstar, lose that superstardom, and then earn it back again, only this time we love you even more. America makes it possible to drink Budweiser with Tex-Mex in the afternoon and Heineken with Italian in the evening.

Um, has anyone else seen the Trojan ad for that new purple vibrator you can wear on your fingertip? You have? You want to see it again?

I first saw the ad on late night cable, and I was initially stunned as I watched two bad actresses discuss Trojan’s new Vibrating Touch, a small massager that you can wear on the tip of your finger to massage your boyfriend’s bad back. (Just kidding.) Since then, I’ve watched the commercial about 30 times because it’s so bad it’s deliciously good.

Non-fiction writers who’d like to improve their long-form narrative style and would-be true-story book writers burning to find an agent might want to look into the Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Writers Conference of the Southwest ’08.

Sponsored by the Mayborn Graduate School of Journalism out of the University of North Texas, the weekend conference (July 18-20) is in Grapevine, Texas and offers a hard-working, hard-partying agenda. For instance, the party at the end of the first day’s events starts at 9:45 p.m.