2009-11-01/30 Monthly LOVIEE

I’m finding a lot more things that span more than one day, so I’m going to do some experimenting with the listing format, in an attempt to improve it. Feedback is, as always, appreciated. Yes, this one’s a bit light, but we do have Thanksgiving this month.

Friday 11-06 and Saturday 11-07

The Houston Area Arcade Group presents its 2009 Arcade Expo at the Crowne Plaza Houston Reliant Park, 8686 Kirby Drive. Fri 6pm-2am, Sat 10am-2am. $15 one day, $25 weekend pass, tickets available at Web site with discount for advance sales. Dozens of classic arcade, pinball, and console games all set on free play; an arcade game addict’s dream! The hotel is also offering a discounted rate for those coming from out of town. 09-M11-1

Wednesday 11-11 through Sunday 11-15

Cinema Arts Festival — A contemporary film and multimedia arts event taking place over five days. Screenings take place at multiple locations throughout Houston including: Alabama Theatre; Angelika Film Center; Discovery Green; Miller Outdoor Theatre; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Rice Media Center; University of Houston; Warehouse Live; and others. See the event Web site for complete details. 09-M11-2

Friday 11-13

Society for the Performing Arts presents the Trey McIntyre Project, Wortham Theater Center, 8pm. $22+. The new company of Houston Ballet’s former choreographic associate makes its Houston debut. 09-M11-3

Saturday 11-21

Artcrawl Houston 2009, 10am-9pm, free admission. 09-M11-4

Saturday 11-21 and Sunday 11-22

Via Colori, Sam Houston Park and the surrounding streets of Allen Parkway and Bagby. Sat 10am-6pm, Sun 10am-5pm. Free admission. A two-day street painting festival with food, live music, a scavenger hunt, facepainting and more. Benefiting the Center for Hearing and Speech. Join me, it’s going to be a blast! 09-M11-5

 

Recap: Fresh Fest (09-W43-10)

I’ll be honest here. I didn’t expect to get into this event enough to recap it. Admittedly, I kicked myself for leaving this off of the weekly LOVIEE when it originally scheduled (September 11), and I don’t even remember why I did. Suffice it to say: this was well worth the wait.

Before even sitting down I checked out the sample from Strip House, steak with some kind of sweet cranberry-looking sauce on top, with some kind of leafy greens on the bottom that may or may not have been edible (I didn’t tempt fate).I was rather impressed; I am assuming this sauce is some kind of acquired taste.

The evening’s performances started off with King David of Dance Houston hosting a hip hop dance workshop. I kind of tuned out of this a bit, but the kids apparently had a blast. I did take most of the time during this part of the festivities to check out the other organizations that were at the event:

After King David there was a short break while the lighting was set up for the next act, a pair of performances from the UH Dance Ensemble, Stolen Moments and Sharing Secrets. I caught most of both of these; the former had most of the group (about twelve dancers) and was a really involved routine, while the latter was a ballet-ish number with only four dancers from the group and was a bit simpler. Both were quite captivating, especially taking into account these were student performances.

Following were performances by Timothy Evers representing Mildred’s Umbrella and two artists representing the Community Artists Collective. I saw bits and pieces of both while I finished checking out the other organization tables I missed during the first round. If this seems like I spent a lot of time not paying attention to what was on stage, I’m sorry. To be fair about it, getting the event calendars of all these groups is one way I make sure the weekly and monthly LOVIEEs aren’t skinnier than an underfed stray cat. (Which gets me wondering if at some point maybe I should do a “behind the scenes” video for the terminally curious?)

And then it was time for the movie screenings from SWAMP and Aurora Picture Show, which I will admit I kind of have a soft spot for. It’s amazing what some of these artists can do with a video camera or, in one case, shining light directly onto film. We saw several short films, some of which were rather humorous (Frog Jesus being perhaps the most memorable in that category). Unfortunately I don’t remember any other titles besides the one; maybe someone who was there can help me out with those.

All in all, I had a great time and got to talk again with some of the people that help run these great arts organizations. The people behind the Fresh Arts Coalition did a great job with this event.

 

2009-10-27/11-01 Weekly LOVIEE

If this looks light, it’s probably because all the Halloween parties are in a separate post made yesterday. If it still looks light, it’s because I was too busy with that post to try to fill this one out. I’m sitting here writing this very late on Sunday night, with exactly one–count it, one–event copied over from the monthly LOVIEE. No Facebook event pages this week; I’m doing good just to toss this out there as is.

I’m also making a change to the weekly LOVIEEs. Possibly temporary, possibly permanent, I’ll see how well it works. Effective with this week the weekly LOVIEE will cover a period ending Sunday night (was Monday night), and will now be due up Monday at 6am (was Monday at noon). So yes, only six days, next week will start with Monday and cover a full seven days again.

Tuesday 10-27

Blind Pilot at House of Blues (Bronze Peacock Room), 1204 Caroline. Doors 8pm, show 9pm, $14. Folk/pop band from Portland, Oregon. Featuring special guest The Low Anthem. 09-W44-1

Wednesday 10-28

Out in the Silence screening at Rice University Media Center, 6100 Main. Free for college students with ID, $5 for others. Filmmakers Joe Wilson and Dean Hamer entered into a same-sex marriage in Canada; the former posted an announcement in the hometown paper of Oil City, Pennsylvania, igniting a storm of controversy and prompting a mother and her gay son to reach out to Wilson with a story about a school system which neglected its duty to protect GLBT students. The film is a documentary about Wilson’s return to Oil City. 09-W44-2

Thursday 10-29

Roky Moon & Bolt at The Continental Club, 3700 Main. 9pm, no cover. I describe this band as Rolling Stones, Loverboy, Foreigner, a light sprinkling of Elton John, and a few secret ingredients thrown in a blender. 09-W44-3

Friday 10-30

HTown ThrowDown Latte Art Challenge benefitting Coffee Kids, The Coffee Groundz, 2503 Bagby, 5-9pm. $10 suggested donation. 09-M10-9

2009 Emerging Filmmakers Fellowship Screening, Rice Media Center, 7pm. Free admission, please RSVP at the event’s Eventbrite page. A showcase of 11 narrative and documentary short films by both Texas and Mexican filmmakers, focusing on the topics of violence against women and modern slavery. 09-W44-4

Downtown & A Movie presents Young Frankenstein. Discovery Green, 1500 McKinney, 7:30pm. This is a Mel Brooks film which parodies the old Frankenstein movies. Presented by Downtown Magazine, Saint Arnold Brewing Company, and Emerging Leaders. 09-W44-5

Da Camera presents Italian Romantics at the Wortham Center. 501 Texas, $24-45. Guitarist Eliot Fisk teams up with the Enso String Quartet. 09-W44-6

Saturday 10-31

Walter’s on Washington hosts Dannzig, Davement, Grandfather Child, and The Burden. $7 if in costume, $10 if not. 4215 Washington. Doors 7pm, show 8pm. This looks like a great show for those just not feeling the whole Halloween party experience thing and just want to go to a straight-up concert. 09-W44-7

Sunday 11-01

Jason and the Argonauts screening at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 1001 Bissonnet. 2pm, free. This 1963 classic film is well known for its special effects which were almost ahead of its time. 09-W44-8

Celebrate Houston! Tlaquepaque Market Plaza, 708 Telephone Rd., noon-10pm, free admission. A celebration of Houston’s diverse cultures, featuring: Danza Azteca Teokalli, Sister Sister y los Misters, Los Pistoleros de Tejas, Karina Nistal Band, The Presidents, The Artery Media Project, and Latin Grammy winner Lizbeth Ortiz. Presented by the Houston Institute for Culture. 09-W44-9

 

2009-10-31 Special Edition LOVIEE (Halloween)

Sorry if this is light or if the quality is lacking. I honestly did the best I could.

This will not replace Saturday’s spot in the weekly LOVIEE; the non-holiday events will still go there.

Saturday 10-31

Alice in Wonderland Halloween Costume Ball at Pravada, 2815 S. Shepherd, 9pm-2am. See Eventbrite listing for current ticket price (will increase as event approaches). Attractions include a cash costume contest, an art cars exhibit and a Mad Hatter teacup ride. Costumes are mandatory, masks will be sold at the door for $5 for those without. 21+. 09-S-AHE-2

Zombie Prom at Mezzanine Lounge, 2200 Southwest Freeway #150, 7pm-2am. No cover. Free keepsake prom photo, $3.50 drink menu, costume contests for: prom queen, prom king, best group. 21+. 09-S-AHE-3

Pimp-n-Prostitute Ball at Lucky’s Pub and Warehouse Live, 801/813 St. Emanuel, 8pm-2am. $20 in advance, $25 at door. Costume contest, DJs, live music (MINIKISS, The Crisis, and others), $3 beers. Costumes need not necessarily fit the theme. 09-S-AHE-4

The Montrose Crawl, 6pm-3am, various locations on Westheimer between Montrose and Dunlavy. No cover. The spirit of trick-or-treating with an adult twist. The Web site has most of the info for this one, I’m not going to try and cram it all into a few lines. A percentage of the proceeds benefit the Houston Area Women’s Center. 09-S-AHE-5

Scream on the Green at Discovery Green, 1500 McKinney, 6-11pm. Free admission. Attractions include: Costume contests (adult, children, dog), puppet show, button making, face painters, magicians, caricature artists. DJ and dancing starts at 9pm. 09-S-AHE-6

Family Fall Festival hosted by Church in the Center, Schweppe Park, 1791 El Paseo St., 4-6pm. Free admission. Games, inflatable bounce house, cotton candy, arts & crafts. 09-S-AHE-7