It was a great evening of burning rubber, twisting metal, dollar hotdogs, and dollar beers at Houston Motorsports Park this past Saturday. Those onhand witnessed some excellent racing in a family-friendly environment.

Coming up out at HMS is

March 29th
TRUCKS DRIVE AMERICA “FREE NIGHT”
Free General Admission
ASA Pro Late Models, Pro Modifieds, Pro Stocks,
Allison Legacy Cars, Thunder Roadsters, Legends and Bandoleros

The Houston Metbloggers want to wish you and your favorite Dad a Happy Father’s Day! Here a just a few reasons we think our Dads are rock stars:

He was on the medical team of the first successful heart transplant using a baboon heart. His work was used by a team in South Africa that performed the first human heart transplant. My Dad was also the first surgeon to successfully perform a coronary artery bypass. My Dad lives like a rock star because his current wife is 28 (and he is 72), drives little Italian sports cars, and has four ex-wives. He also didn’t have me killed when, at the age of 14, I wrecked his BMW.
~ Pablo

My Step-Dad is a Rock Star because he doesn’t just take what life gives him and work with it, he tells life what he wants and works towards it. He is a hero in my eyes.
~Derek

My Dad is awesome because he is the most hard working, dedicated and intelligent man I know. He can make me and my brother laugh like no one else can and knows everything about pretty much everything - and that’s pretty darn cool.
~Katie

‘Fishing with Dad’ by very Houston cool ‘urban surrealist’ artist Tim Newton

So Jesse and the hot rod gang are back at the Continental Club (3700 Main St.) this weekend with the Honky-Tonk and HotRod Festival.

In Jesse’s words:

The HONKY-TONK AND HOTROD FESTIVAL at the CONTINENTAL CLUB in HOUSTON on MAY 19TH is lookin sweeeet… cars, bikes, 5 bands, (all killer…no filler), and booths galore (check our HTHR myspace site or the Houston Chronicle for details)…it cost NOTHING to bring your car and we’re giving away a $$$ cash prize for the best sled (we like it all…hotrods, muscle cars and lowriders)…starts @ 2:00 pm this year…Want rockabilly? Billy Bacon and the Forbidden Pigs…want hillgrass bluebilly?…the Weary Boys…Latino Rockabilly Ska?…ex Los Skarnales members the Umbella Man…Texas Songwriter?…Hayes Carll, (me and Brad and Lisa are backing him up…dayyymn!)…and then the JD Band gets it on w/ suprize guest…y’all know I love me some Houston Tejas baby.

Gotta’ love that guy. Be there or be square dudes.

Houston photographers were out in full force this weekend at the Houston Art Car Parade. Check out the brand spanking new Houston Art Cars Flickr group, some amazing images added to the Houston Metblog photo pool and these very complete Picasa galleries here.

I am particularly partial to all of the pre-parade party photos of the 20 wackos wearing firecracker hats to celebrate the Orange Show’s 20th Anniversary. FIRECRACKER HATS!!! Isn’t that like every single 8-year-old boy’s dream come true? Photos with many warm thanks to DeneyTerrio/Jaymac and Ed Schipul

The Art Car Parade was cool this year. As always, the crowd was quite diverse and there was no shortage of shows. For example, I picked up a flyer from a guy advertising a senior citizens food fight - awesome. I’ll do a separate post on that.
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Man arrested for traveling with his gun in the car tackles the system!

Locked & Unloaded: The NRA, ACLU & HPD
(As told to Richard Connelly)

Keith Patton of Katy has become an unlikely hero of both the National Rifle Association and the American Civil Liberties Union, and you’d think that’s not easy to do.

In Patton’s case, though, it actually was easy enough to do, if not to endure. He bought a gun in February and was taking it home when he was pulled over for allegedly speeding and changing lanes without a signal.

Just to be on the safe side, he told the officer he had an unloaded gun in his car. No ammunition anywhere, just an unloaded .357 Magnum.

The result: 27 hours in jail and about $2,100 in fees and attorney’s costs.

“I actually thought it was somewhat comical,” he says of the arrest. “I started laughing and I said, ‘Are you arresting me?’ And he goes, ‘Yeah, you think this is funny?’ And I said, ‘Well, I do, kind of. I just told you where I was coming from. I don’t even have any ammunition in the car — what the hell are you arresting me for?’”
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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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So I’m sure I’m a little touchy on this, as this is something that’s happened a few times now - but is anyone else sick of seeing large plastic testicles hanging from cars?

I’ve been stuck behind vehicles (typically of the enormous diesel guzzling pick-up truck variety) during rush hour a handful of times now and get tired of seeing those things swing.

Maryland legislators are working on a bill to ban them and all explicit vehicle decorations - do you think we should do something like that in Houston? Am I the only one who finds them repulsive? Vote and let us know how you feel!

And this ends the most random Metblog post that I’ve ever written. Thanks.

Beans Barton & the Bi-Peds has been a Houston institution for more than 20 years. The band will be playing tonight at Dan Electro’s Guitar Bar in the Heights, and the show is something that I think everyone should see at least once. It’s almost impossible to describe, but essentially you’ve got a rock opera involving aliens, open mic night, Elvis, poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Lawrence Welk and others rolled into a 2.5 to 3 hour first set that will blow your mind. During the songs the lead singer will be working on a painting, starting from scratch on a blank canvas at every show, and at the end of the night auctioning it off to benefit the Houston Food Bank. And get this: The last few performances of this show have ended in a cliff-hanger. When’s the last time you went to a rock concert and were left hanging at the end wanting to know what happened when the Dark Guitar was stolen?

Belly dancers start the show at 9:15, and the band goes on at around 10. Cover is $10. I don’t know if it’s an all ages show or not, but parents regularly bring their kids, so it’s at least family friendly. (With a band that’s been playing for 20 years, a lot of fans have started families of their own and tend to introduce them to the experience at an early age…) Dan Electro’s Guitar Bar, 1031 E. 24th St., (713) 862-8707 for more info.

Taken from my journal with a few edits:

I’ve never been so thankful in my whole entire life. This past Tuesday, my car spun around twice (taking up like 3 lanes which included the emergency lane) and my car almost fell off the freeway, and when my car finally stopped spinning, I was facing the oncoming traffic. I was like “Oh my God, please, don’t hit me.” Thank God for miracles like this. No car hit me, no scratch, just simply nothing. Except I’m quite shaken up a bit. I haven’t the slightest clue how I was so calm during that time. I didn’t even panic at all. My hands did all the work and I was able to control the car when it was spinning (desperate measures call for desperate times really).

And this was all because a car was about to hit the front fender near the driver’s side (like several inches away!).

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