Germany had been divided into four sections (governed by the US, Soviet Union, British and French), and the capital city of Berlin, deep in the Soviet sector, was itself divided four ways.

In 1948 the Soviets blockaded the city, refusing to let the Allies bring in food, coal or other necessities by rail or truck through the part of Germany ruled by the USSR. As Berlin at that point was a rubble-filled, crime-ridden, starving city barely staying alive, the Kremlin was gambling the Allies would simply leave and Berlin would become wholly Soviet.

Instead, without ever really deciding to do so, America and Great Britain launched the largest airlift operation in history. Night and day, through fog and awful weather, pilots took their lumbering planes filled with food into the city, forced to use an incredibly small air route that had them all but scraping apartment buildings and radio towers. As soon as one plane landed and moved off the strip, another bumped down behind it.

Now Mr. Loaf milking his most popular song ever is no shocker, but what did catch Miss Pop Rocks off guard was the strange familiarity of his television wife, who makes a quick appearance as she walks in carrying groceries and makes some comment about “no surprise bills.” I had to watch the ad multiple times before it hit me…

His wife is Mall Queen Tiffany. Like, 80s Pop Icon Watch Me I’m-Covering-Tommy-James-&-The-Shondells Tiffany.

Weird.

Eight immigrant youths from the Hector Garza Treatment Center, a facility for unaccompanied minors, have filed a lawsuit against a number of agencies, including the Houston-based Cornell Companies, a private company that runs the treatment center.

The allegations involve beatings from guards at the Garza center, which is located in San Antonio. On several occasions, the children were hospitalized, according to the lawsuit. Four San Antonio police officers were also named in the complaint for handcuffing and assaulting several teenagers after responding to a fight at Garza.

Alan Chambers was 43 when he successfully hung himself behind closed doors last year at Texas West Oaks Hospital. He’d been brought there after he cut his wrists at his wife’s office, then ran home where he ate every pill in his garage apartment and assembled a pipe gun just as he was interrupted by EMTs. Although he was supposedly under suicide watch, he’d been allowed to stay in his West Oaks room unsupervised after he had a fight with his parents.

Creative Loafing Atlanta has done its own report entitled “Forest Hill Academy: The children left behind,” in which reporter Scott Freeman finds some of the same conditions in existence as the Press has written about in Houston. Students are warehoused with little real instruction going on. Most of the kids put inside the alternative facilities are minorities. Their test scores are lousy. And the ACLU calls it nothing more than a pathway to prison.

Much of the story goes into CEP’s background, which is intricately woven into the history of the Texas Miracle, No Child Left Behind, former HISD Superintendent Rod Paige and George W. Bush. – Margaret Downing

Investigators first had to determine a key question: What’s a griffin? It turns out it’s a winged-lion thing, maybe three feet tall and made out of cast zinc, two of which sit on stands at the base of the Palace’s outside stairs.

Next they had to determine when the crime occurred. Which was harder than you might think, because it turns out the griffin had been missing for at least five days before anyone noticed.

The Galveston Historical Foundation reported the missing griffin this morning; GHF staff photographer David Canright then went back through recent photos he had taken.

In honor of this weekend's Art Car Parade, we've loaded up a bunch of photos from 1988, back when the Fruitmobile was fresh and the event was but a small part of iFest. -- Keith Plocek

I managed to catch four of the eight films screened during the Museum of Fine Art, Houston’s Latin Wave festival this weekend. I loved one, liked two others and one I, well, we’ll get to that last one in a bit.

First, what I loved: XXY by Argentine director Lucia Puenzo. The story of a 15-year-old hermaphrodite, XXY follows Alex and her family as they stumble through the maze of sexual identity and societal pressures. When Alex’s mom invites a surgeon and his family for the weekend, it’s not just a social call. The doctor has come to discuss corrective surgery for Alex; trouble is Alex isn’t sure she wants to be ‘corrected.’ Neither is her father, who wasn’t aware of the doctor’s real purpose. To complicate matters, Alex and the surgeon’s son, Alvaro, fall in love.

There’s been some chatter on Buffalo Sean’s blog about the prize, which is awarded by the oil-services company Hunting PC. Submitted works are supposed to be two-dimensional (no photos). According to the blog, artist Joan Fabian had her piece named as a finalist but was later disqualified. Jurors said the work wasn’t a painting; Fabian maintains it is. (Judge for yourself here.) There’s also speculation that the work was thrown out because it contains the word “war,” and oil companies are sensitive about that word. In any event, the artist has come to the conclusion that “The taste of oil barons really lacks.”

So, all you artistes, when applying for the 2009 prize that’s better than Viagra, stay on the safe side: Keep it 2D. Maybe stick to square and rectangular canvases. And…duh…cut the war stuff. – Cathy Matusow

Loved your Miley Cyrus shots and they’re certainly getting us a lot of press! Esp. loved the ones that included Billy Ray. Don’t worry about controversy surrounding these current pics. It’s great for business plus it’s sure to die down as soon as Mariah Carery confirms or denies her marriage to Nick Cannon.

Wanted to take a minute to pass on possible ideas for future shots with a young Hollywood theme. Let us know your thoughts.

12:39 a.m. at Club 2610

You know the drill. We hit the clubs. We bring back photos. You look at them on Monday morning. Enjoy.

1:40 a.m. at Zeppelin Video Lounge

Ditto. Just like Lay's (or crack), one is never enough.

We've just loaded up some photos from last night's opening party for the Latin Wave film festival at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Enjoy. -- Keith Plocek

Ranging in age from their mid-20s to mid-60s, the students in my class at the Glasscock School brought a wide variety of expertise and equipment. Over the course of eight weeks and through a variety of assignments, they expanded their grasp of the language of photography and hopefully made a few photos worthy of the mantel. As Confucious said, "One seeing is worth a thousand lookings." -- Daniel Kramer

Why is this so?

Why is Denise Richards getting her own show? Because she slept with her friend Heather Locklear’s ex-husband Richie Sambora? Because she was married to Charlie Sheen?

Because she had guest spots on “Saved by the Bell”?

Because she made out with Neve Campbell in “Wild Things”?

Because she was in “Scary Movie 3”?

Eight a.m. to noon, The trip out, and in from Mission Bend to Westchase: David Beebe and I like to think we are great urban adventurers, veterans of what is now over 130 miles of walking the city streets, and many hundreds more miles logged on the city buses. In other words, this shit ain’t exactly new to us. But in our most recent installment of the Sole of Houston, we acted like a couple of noobs.

The plan was to meet at my house near the Palace Lanes on Bellaire and walk down to Stella Link, catch the southbound #68 bus and head out to the West Loop Transit Center near Meyerland, and then transfer to the #33 South Post Oak bus, which would deliver us out to Hiram Clarke Park and Ride. We would walk back in from there all the way to Allen’s Landing and our customary two Martini celebration at Warren’s.

Beebe arrived at the house about eight a.m., clutching a hilarious campaign poster for his bid for Marfa City Council. It was a very nice day, absolutely the best weather we’ve had for one of these walks – mid-60s, low humidity, not a hint of rain.

We decided to walk down to the West Loop Transit Center, so we headed down Academy to Brays Bayou and followed it as it wound its way southwest.

The #33 bus arrived almost immediately after we made it to the George R. Brown-looking transit center. “Perfect timing,” Beebe said. We lined up to get on and Beebe’s face sank. “Man, I can’t believe I did this,” he said. “I’ve got like $90, but the smallest I have is a ten. I’m gonna have to pay ten bucks for the bus.”