Picture originally uploaded by j-a-x.

Enjoy free visits to 14 museums on August 18th during the annual Museum District Day! For easy exploration, free shuttles will be available from 10 am until 5pm for visitors. Participating in this year’s festivities are the Houston Museum of Natural Science, the Children’s Museum of Houston and the Museum of Fine Arts. For a compete list of museums and other details, go here.

Museum District Day will feature fascinating exhibitions, hands-on activities, demonstrations and performances throughout the day. Fourteen museums will waive their general admission fee to offer the community the opportunity to enjoy the District’s diverse displays of art, science, nature and history.

Originally uploaded by B&M Photography.

I’ve never been much into baseball but with my recent bouts of disinterest with the Rockets, I may be in the market for a new sport…

Craig Biggio secured career hits 2,998, 2,999 and 3,000 Thursday night at Minute Maid Park. And for good measure he also knocked hits 3,001 and 3,002 including an 11th inning single that started a rally that saw the Astros win the game 8-5 after Carlos Lee slammed a walk-off grand slam - with Biggio at third - to cap a magical night at the Juice Box.

Read entire article here.

Apparently Texas State Representative Dwayne Bohac (R-Houston) has introduced a new Bill (HB2151 - Graffiti Accountability Act of 2007) which is well on its way to becoming law due to its “overwhelming support.”

Under House Bill 2151, a judge may now order a tagger to pay for or completely restore the personal or business property that was vandalized. If a graffiti offense is committed on public property, such as a traffic control device, a judge must, under HB 2151, order the vandal to replace or pay to completely restore it. According to the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDot), the cost of a neighborhood street sign typically runs between $200 to $350. A large, green overhead freeway sign can cost approximately $1,000.

You can find out all the intricate and under-reported details at the following site, which also will allow you to obtain a copy of the Bill in its entirety:

http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=80R&Bill=HB02151

Shame on the Houston Chronicle & Shame on Glen Johnson of the Associated Press!

Sorry again for yet another late reaction to something that really pissed me off the other day…

Did anyone catch the GOP Presidential Debate on June 5, 2007? Did you hear all the great things that Ron Paul had to say about our current state of affairs? Maybee more people would have if our local paper would have mentioned anything about it!

Here we have a highly respected Texas Congressman, who is leading in just about every unofficial poll, involved in a debate for the presidency and a local Houston (Largest city in Texas) newspaper not even writing about it to inform or entertain the public. They didn’t even publish one talking point of his or even mention his name in the article. I find this to be a travesty! They also cropped out half of his body in the photograph and he’s the only one cropped! Oh yeah, and he’s pushed out to the furthest side possible! This is the most conservative candidate in the Republican Party and our media is deliberately trying to push him out of the public eye. Why? You should be asking yourself the same thing. This is just one of many recent examples of support for Ron Paul being censored. I encourage you to do your own research on what this man has to say and come to your own conclusions.

The following video contains all of the talking time allowed to Ron Paul that night:

(You can find out more about Ron Paul’s history here: RonPaul2008.com)
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The Health Museum (1515 Hermann Dr.) is presenting the Candy Unwrapped exhibit from May 26 - September 3. The exhibit looks at the science of sweets through biology, chemistry, physiology and psychology of our love and desire for candy.

Climb on a sugar Crystal Mountain, check out the difference between flavor and tastes, learn about the history of chocolate and all sorts of other cool stuff. This looks like a cool event for kids and older sugar junkies/dentist haters alike. Wonder if they pass out tooth brushes as you leave?

See Yourself Through Their Eyes
Originally uploaded by jeffbalke.

Houston Metblog Photographer Jeff Balke has been posting some really great stuff lately.

I’m not a huge sports fan, but you can’t deny the visual appeal and personal feel of Jeff’s recent Astros photographs.

“A decade after Republic of Texas separatist Richard McLaren drew the attention of the nation to a far West Texas mountainside — not to mention about 300 state troopers — the prospect of growing old behind bars hasn’t altered his beliefs in the least.

In fact, the man who calls himself “Hostage No. 802782″ at a Panhandle state prison unit is surer than ever that Texas remains a sovereign nation.

“We didn’t start it,” McLaren said of the weeklong standoff that ended May 3, 1997, and left one of his followers dead. “We’re just the (keepers) of the 1836 constitution.”"

With all this immigration talk going around and La Raza trying to claim Texas as part of Mexico it’s hard to filter everything out and take a step back to study history. I can already predict a lot of people talking sh** about this but just keep in mind that because “the books” these days say otherwise it doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s the law. Omissions are obviously present and we should all be hearing this guy out. I don’t know how everyone else feels but I would be damn proud to support Texas Sovereignty. This would immediately free us from all the federal government restrictions and controls we currently live under. I’m still undecided and not sure what to believe here but rest assured that I will continue to investigate.

If you are interested, please take the time to read the following article…
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Kandace Simmons, Someone´s Laundry Dryer, 2005

The Museum of Fine Arts is hosting Eye on Third Ward , “a twelve-year collaboration between the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and the Magnet School of Communication at Jack Yates High School. Each year, select photographs taken by students present a new look at one of Houston´s oldest communities. Dating to 1840, Third Ward is one of the four original ‘wards’ of the city of Houston, precursors of today´s city council districts.”
The exhibit runs until June 24, 2007.

A thorough history of the six wards of Houston can be found here. Fascinating stuff….

So I’ve been really upset at the immigration situation lately and I think it should take priority over this unjust Iraq war. Especially if Bush REALLY IS concerned about the health of our Nation. I’m not racist. I am a fair person. Unfortunately things have gotten out of hand and now I am furious over illegals here. I don’t want my country to be a third world nation filled with sweatshops making inferior products for other countries around the world. That’s what’s going to happen if we give these people blanket amnesty. Don’t even get me started on the effects it will have on our economy (taxes) and benefits. Want to be an American citizen? Then follow the process and pay your dues. Otherwise I think you need to get the F*** out of here and go start a revolution in your own country. The La Raza movement is funded by the Bush family via Allen & Co. in Dallas. They want civil war on our streets and are making it happen. (Problem(Mexicans Want U.S. Land)-Reaction(Protests & Debates)-Solution(Amnesty & North American Union)). Anyway, Instead of detailing why I’m so upset about this stuff I’ll let Lou Dobbs do it for me. If you’re interested in hearing more about this I’d recommend watching some of his YouTube videos.

The Bush administration and the leadership of the Democratic Party are preparing to take another legislative leap at imposing a massive illegal alien amnesty on American citizens.

And the mainstream media is complicit in advancing this thinly veiled blanket amnesty. Instead of asking and answering important questions about why our immigration laws aren’t being enforced and why we’re permitting pervasive document fraud, the national media seems hell-bent on trying to obfuscate the issue, shamelessly playing with language, equating legal immigration with illegal immigration while obviously trying to preserve the illusion of objectivity.
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It’s funny how time slowly erases painful memories - until I listened to the radio this morning I didn’t even remember that today is the 60th anniversary of the Texas City Disaster - the worst industrial accident in US history.

There are of course many who have not forgotten the 600 people who were killed in the explosions or the atomic blast strength seismic waves that destroyed the wharf and were felt hundreds of miles away. Survivors, relatives, citizens and fire fighters all attended a memorial service today and were a part of the ‘We Remember: Texas City Disaster’ reunion photo. Photo of Texas City explosion wreckage thanks to University of North Texas Library