Is it just me or have Pit Bull attacks been a little more frequent lately? I feel like there’s a new story every week or so about some mauling or another.

A miniature horse was attacked today, an 8-year-old girl yesterday (after entering a fenced in yard with the dogs, which does make the case a little different), 4-year-old Pedro Ruis Jr. was killed back in November.

Backyard Pit Bull breeders must be making a freaking fortune right now, as a recent Chronicle article reports:

“They are the most popular dog right now,” said Dawn Blackmar, director of the county Veterinary Public Health Department. “Rich people have them. Poor people have them. All different colors of people have them.”

The novelty of raising a breed of dog as a vicious fighting animal just doesn’t make sense to me. Owners get tired of them and let them loose (to roam and maul apparently) or bring them to the pound which really makes a sad story sadder – animal shelters don’t find many pit bulls to be adoptable. Geez, in some cities pit bulls in shelters are even taking other dogs places…

A recently formed Houston Pit Bull task force decided against working to ban the breed, but instead wants to find ways to regulate certain dog breeds. Not really sure what that means though – special paperwork, doggie licenses? Is that really supposed to work?

What do you think needs to be done? In the meantime, learn about what to do legally if you get bitten by a dog and don’t forget to Be a Tree!

Photo thanks to Flickr user anadah

Get your shopping gear on cuz we have HUGE sales for this Friday, November 24th! I must be silly, but I’m kinda excited for this event. I’ve never been to one before, so I’m planning to go with the family to get some early Xmas shopping done. *Hints*

But I have heard some outrageous stories of how people waking up like 4 in the morning just to be the first in line and then scrabble and hustle toward the most coveted items they want to get before it’s all gone! Talk about survival of the fastest, or is it the most strategic?

Known as Black Friday, the origin of this holiday is unknown, or at least that’s what Wikipedia says. I didn’t know that there are this many stores participating.

You can check them out with these two links below:

http://www.blackfriday.info/
http://bfads.net/

Good luck with the rush of the shopping frenzy! I’m not sure if the crowd is too nice on this day. If you all see a 5-foot Asian girl hidden under a stampede of feet, yeah, that’ll be me… *winks*

For all of us Houstonians that grumble about never having any cold weather, now you can have your icicles and eat them too. Tonight Southeast Texas is under a freeze warning from midnight tonight until 8am tomorrow morning.

This means I actually get to wear a scarf tomorrow. I am probably more excited about this than I should be.

Check out some freeze tips from KHOU here. Photo thanks to Flickr user eismcsquare

Hurray! The Houston Zoo’s baby elephant now has a name: Mac

Over 8500 people participated in the baby elephant naming contest and one lucky guy/gal scored a family zoo membership and a behind the scenes tour with the elephant family and their trainers. Baby elephants are furry and hilariously cute!!! Photo found via the Houston Zoo blog.

Hey, everyone! BIG REMINDER! This is for those who don’t really want to be an hour late because we’re changing our clocks this Saturday!

If you’re interested in its history, check out this site: http://webexhibits.org/daylightsaving/b.html.

*Note: Photo courtesy of Richard Bartholomew.

I am sure by now that everyone has heard of the supposed terrorist threats against seven NFL stadiums. Well, we can’t claim a winning record, but Reliant Stadium was one of seven stadiums reported to be on a list of sites where terrorists will set off “dirty” bombs.

The Department of Homeland Security is not giving much creedence to the threat for various reasons, but I know exactly why it isn’t a real threat. If you were going to cause some sort of mass terror, you’d want to do it against a team that can fill a stadium.

Ercilia Munoz Sandoval, a Houston janitor, was nominated for Glamour Magazine’s Woman of the Year award. She is one of 5,300 office building janitors fighting for better work conditions and benefits. From the Glamour magazine site:

Nominated by Amber Goodwin: “Ercilia Sandoval is my hero. I work for the Justice for Janitors Campaign in Houston, and Ercilia is a janitor at an office building. Along with thousands of her coworkers (predominately women), Ercilia worked all of last year to form a union with SEIU, and is now in the midst of a contract campaign with her employers. Ercilia and the other 8,000 office-building janitors in Houston make $5.15 an hour for part-time work, with no benefits and no health care. Health care is important to all of us, but especially to Ercilia, who was diagnosed with breast cancer a couple of months ago and is the mother of two children. She still fights on a day-to-day basis to help her coworkers so that they can win their contract and make Houston a better place for all working people. Please check out her story at www.houstonjanitors.org.”

Janitors across Houston may start striking today if negotiations with Houston-area cleaning companies don’t lead to a contract.

If you’ve been wanting to go to after hours this past weekend, you’ve undoubtedly heard the latest news: Eden, a relatively popular after hours venue, was the target of a police sting operation this weekend. The Click2Houston article incorrectly states that the sting occured on Saturday night; in fact, it occured on Friday (the 13th!).

For those of you that have never been to an after hours place similar to Eden, the scenario usually goes something like this: get to the door and either know the door guy or convince him that you are friends with someone inside. Proceed to pay a cover, and go inside a dark room, where electronic dance music pulsates away until early morning. There’s energy drinks, water, and other refreshments to keep you hydrated.

According to allegations, that’s not all that goes on during after hours. Recently, drugs have poisoned much of Houston club culture, leading many to openly and freely consume whatever they please without fear of gettng in trouble (anyone that has been out recently can attest to this). The recent sting will likely be a wake up call for many: not only were the bartenders arrested, but people that were on the property and were in possession of any drugs were taken into custody as well.

It’s unclear what lies for Eden; hopefully it can still survive after the effects of the sting. It would be nice to assume that there can be a place where people can go after the regular clubs close, sit back, and listen to some good music. I guess that isn’t an attractive idea to most people, which is why this happened. Will it happen again, with some other club, at some other place? For sure. Illegal drugs and after hours drinking are part of the Houston scene, and it’s something that we have to accept. I’m certainly a little shocked to hear about this, but I knew it was coming sooner or later. I expected the “sting” to involve the police rushing in and just closing the place down. I didn’t know they could arrest customers as well. For now, many people are freaked out and I’m sure that some of them will be taking it easy for a while.

So what do YOU think about the recent sting, and after hours clubs in general? Good, bad?

Several days ago, Hesam’s entry described how wonderful the cool weather was, and I couldn’t agree more. It was nice to feel the coolness for a change. Otherwise, there’s no such thing as autumn or winter in Houston!

This weekend, however, is anything but the cool weather we just had those several days before. It was raining on and off all day yesterday, and it then rained over night. Go outside and look at all the floods on the roads and streets! I did that last night, and the water was above my ankles! Just minutes before though, Chron.com reported that southeast Texas was under a tornado watch because of all the thunderstorms and rain we’ve been having. Stay safe and dry and be careful when driving, everyone! Very slippery out there!

*Note: Photo courtesy of Chron.com.

Today’s the day – Friday the 13th… that’s right – the day that all manner of bad things are supposed to happen. Careful of black cats and all – that is, if you suffer from paraskevadekatriaphobia. Nope, its not triskaidekaphobia… that is simply the fear of the number 13.

So what happens if you are born on Friday the 13th like myself? Obviously, its a good day. These are the days of great joy for me as I view them as an extra birthday or two during the year. And for the record, this is the last one this year. If you’re in the club of the Friday the 13th birthdays with myself and such other luminaries as Thomas Jefferson, Horatio Alger, Samuel Beckett, Fidel Castro and uh, well… Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen… then happy mini-birthday. If not, then by all means don’t step on a crack or spill the salt today.