Creative Houston

Third Coast Rap

Vice magazine explores the edges of culture, especially youth culture, around the world. In Houston they were impressed by a rap music scene filled with disciplined artists producing an influential sound that's often "slow and sticky." See the video report Screwed in Houston (may start with a long advertisement). We got this story from Matt Sonzala who tracks the evolution of Houston rap at Houston So Real.

Hot Premiere

Whether or not you can enjoy the premiere, you ought to see Hot Town, Cool City so that you can share detailed examples of Houston's home-grown creativity. The film is screening several days at the MFA for $7. The premiere is Friday, March 30 at 8:00 P.M. at the Museum of Fine Arts, introduced by Lynn Wyatt. After party hosted by METRO and Treebeards Restaurant.

Wine Bars

Reporter Dai Huynh covered the growing popularity of wine bars in Houston, with a mini-directory to about a dozen locations and interviews with bar owners. "Core drinkers are the 30-something segment, eager to explore..." Houston Chronicle: More Houstonians relax in the comfort of wine bars, 2007-Mar-21

Green Technology

Houston was recently recognized as one of the top ten cities for "green technology innovation," which is not surprising considering how many energy executives are launching startups in this area, supported by our large population of engineers. Discuss and learn more at Richard Florida's Creativity Exchange: Top Cities for Green Technology.

Uncovering History

Bayou City History by J.R.Gonzales (www.jr-gonzales.com): I'm a native Houstonian with an interest in local history. I've always been fascinated at whatever purpose some old, decrepit building served years ago. It's amazing to look at one area of the city and realize that a century ago, it may have been a bustling residential area, an industrial center, or even an old Army fort. I always thought that there were still some forgotten pieces of Houston's history just waiting to be uncovered.

Digital Classroom

An innovative Houston company, Prasolus, is testing a new education technology which supplies a PDA-type computer to each child... "Moving children from a paper-based classroom to a digital-learning environment has been key," [Founder Dr. Joe] Nichols said. "They live in a digital world. (The paper) world makes no sense to a kid, then we ask them to tolerate that world. I think they’re waiting on us. I don’t think we’re waiting on them."

Competitive Planning

The Rice Alliance for Business and Technology created the Rice University Business Plan Competition to spur entrepreneurship among Rice University students, throwing them into a race with students from other schools. Rice students don't usually win but they are guaranteed to learn how to compete for investor funding.competition..."the largest and richest intercollegiate business plan competition in the world. This year 36 teams from top MBA programs will be selected to compete...for over $300,000 in cash and prizes..."

Energy Cleaner

PetroLuxus is a product to watch, an environmentally friendly chemical that isolates hydrocarbon particles (oil or gas)  from both natural and man-made environments. Planet Resource Recovery expects to immediately make money with this proprietary product cleaning up oil tanks, tankers, and spills, but they also hope that it will eventually help extract hard-to-reach oil deposits.

Row House Movie

Rick Lowe and Project Row Houses are featured in a new documentary, Third Ward TX, premiering today at the South by Southwest Film Festival in Austin. The filmmaker is Andrew Garrison, who teaches film production at the University of Texas. I found out about this story because there's an Associated Press story circulating, and Houston Mirror had linked to the story in a Waco, TX newspaper. There does not seem to be any Houston coverage, even at the Project Row Houses web site. Nonetheless, this project is very good publicity for Rick Lowe, who certainly deserves it.

New Art Czars

In the March 2007 edition of Houston Paper City, Catherine D. Anspon points to "five fresh faces set to transform 2007's cultural scene."

• Christine Jelson West, new director of Lawndale Arts Center
• Franklin Sirmans, new curator of modern and contemporary art for The Menil Collection
• Chelby King, new director of Civic Art and Design for Houston Arts Alliance (formerly Cultural Arts Council of Houston/Harris County)
• Karen Farber, first director for the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts at the University of Houston
• Toby Kamps who joins the Contemporary Arts Museum as senior curator

Another day, another art contest

houstonpress.com Blogs: Click It.

Every month for the next year, all Houston-area high school students are encouraged to send us three samples of their photojournalistic work. Once the snaps start rolling in, we’ll have an online gallery where readers can vote. Up to four students will qualify for gift certificates each month and one talented photog will receive a $1,000 scholarship at the end of the year. Ka-ching! All winners will also be featured in the paper version of the Houston Press. The theme for the month of March is Animals – dogs, cats, rhinos, you name it.

Campaign for Creativity - H Texas Online

Competively creative? High school students are encouraged to demonstrate their creativity by competing for cash prizes in a new program from Culture Shapers.

Campaign for Creativity - H Texas Online.

Culture Shapers, a nonprofit organization dedicated to serving young artists, works to reverse this trend by supporting local students who have a passion for the arts. From photography to film, and painting to singing, the organization aims to help young Houston artists through unique citywide visual and performing arts contests, namely the Visual Arts Contest and the Young Voices of Houston Contest. 

Culture Shapers board of directors

What Wine Goes with Macaroni and Cheese? Champagne!

New Zagat Restaurant in Houston: Max's Wine Dive : 4720 Washington Ave Houston TX 77007, 713-880-8737

Chalk up another welcome addition to the happening Heights: this funky, fashionable arrival, one part diner, one part wine bar, offers fried chicken and champagne, Kobe burgers and Cabernet, haute dogs and Shiraz...you get the idea; its comfy leather booths make a great perch for people-watching, and the action lasts until at least midnight (and till 2 AM Thursday–Saturday); N.B. just leave room for the Big Ass Brownie.

The Houston Press review is pretty funny, and testy: http://www.houstonpress.com/2007-02-22/dining/haute-dogs-and-hotties/print

All the pros and cons are hashed at Citysearch: http://houston.citysearch.com/review/44673766