Pride Houston 2013

The Houston LGBT Pride Festival and Parade aren’t the only citywide celebrations. There are 10 days of official Pride events kicking off Thursday:

Pride Superstar Semifinals featuring Alyssa Edwards: Six local singers vie for a slot in the finale of this seventh annual singing competition. “RuPaul’s Drag Race” star Edwards guest judges and performs. Blake Hayes from Mix 96.5 FM hosts. 9:30 p.m. Thursday at South Beach, 810 Pacific. Free; 18 and older.

Eden — A Pride Girl Party: The first event for the women of the LGBT community, featuring Deejay Kittie. (Guys are welcome, too.) 8 p.m. Friday at the Usual, 5519 Allen. Free; 21 and older.

Pride in the Park: The Houston Dynamo take on Toronto FC during a game dedicated to the local gay community. 8 p.m. Saturday at BBVA Compass Stadium, 2200 Texas. $22 for 200 level seating.

Salvation — A Pride Pool Party: Open bar, light bites and lots of flashy swimsuits. Featuring Special K from KRBE (104.1 FM). 1 p.m. Sunday at the Morty Rich Hostel, 501 Lovett. Donations taken at the door.

Dine With Pride: Enjoy a meal at Gratifi Kitchen and Bar in Montrose, and a portion of your bill goes to Pride Houston. Monday at 302 Fairview.

Rock the Runway: A swimwear/underwear fashion show featuring male and female models. Hosted by Special K. 8 p.m. Tuesday at South Beach. Free; 18 and older.

REEL Pride: Screening of the documentary “Breaking Through,” which features openly LGBT political leaders discussing professional triumphs and personal challenges. Houston Mayor Annise Parker is featured in the film. 7 p.m. Wednesday at River Oaks Theatre, 2009 W. Gray. $10.

Pride Superstar Finale: The final four singers compete for the title and prizes, including time at Urbana Recording Studio (home of La Mafia), a cruise and an entry in the Pride Parade. 9:30 p.m. June 27 at South Beach. Free; 18 and older.

Wonderland Houston: Second annual circuit dance party featuring DJ Brett Henrichsen and cirque aerialists. Winter Wonderland is this year’s theme. 9 p.m. June 28 at Bayou Music Center, 520 Texas. $30-$75; 18 and older.

Houston LGBT Pride Celebration: The festival runs 1-7 p.m. June 29 south of Westheimer along Commonwealth and Yoakum streets. It features performances by celebrity grand marshals Jaymes Vaughan and James Davis (Team Chippendales from “The Amazing Race”), Alexis Jordan, Chanel Dror, Lauren Miller, Jess Walker, Christian Andreason, Kitten Kay Sera, Courtney Locke and more. The parade starts at 8 p.m. June 29 and runs down Westheimer between Dunlavy and Montrose.

Pride Houston After Party: DJ Drew G. plays his signature dance-pop mashups. “RuPaul’s Drag Race” star Jessica Wild performs and meets fans. 10 p.m. June 29 at South Beach. $15 advance, $20 at the door; 18 and older.

Rapture — A Pride Foam Party: Party in 10,000 cubic square feet of cubic foam on the dance floor. Don’t wear anything you really like. 9 p.m. June 30 at South Beach. Free before 10 p.m. by texting SOBE to 46786, $8 after 10 p.m.; 18 and older.


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Houston Food Park

The Bayou City is finally getting a food truck park.


Houston Food Park, 1504 St. Emmanuel, will mark its grand opening on June 22. Festival hours will be 3 p.m.-8 p.m. and approximately nine food trucks are expected to participate. Among them Yummyz Kitchen, Coreanos, POCKet to Me and Betton’s Comfort Food.

The park will be open for lunch daily beginning June 24.

HFP partners Jack Gillett, Ponce Tirzo and Miguel Villegas were spreading their message and reaching out to Houston’s food truck community this week via Facebook and Twitter. The trio are passionate about Houston and its vibrant food scene.

“Why does Houston have to play catch up to smaller cities like Austin?” Tirzo asked, referencing Austin’s long established food truck parks. “We want to change that.”

The Houston Food Park will be on the site of the former Meridian Club in EaDo. Tirzo says the space, as is, can handle eight to nine food trucks at any one time.

The HFP team are hoping to utilize a nearby parking lot once a month to accommodate as many as 20 food trucks. The expanded space will be a part of plans to make the Houston Food Park a venue for special events.

“We want to bring an urban festival scene to the city,” Tirzo said. “We want to celebrate arts, food and music in a setting that reflects Houston as the melting pot it is.”

To that end, the several events are already in the works, including a Retro Festival and a Beyond the Blacktop event. The HFP team wants to promote non-profit events that give back to the city.

Also in the works, a lounge and concert venue that will complement the food trucks.

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Kenny & Ziggy’s to be featured on History Channel

Look for Kenny & Ziggy’s Delicatessen to be featured on the series debut of “John Pinette, All You Can Eat” on the History Channel 2 on June 23.

Chef/owner Ziggy Gruber was taped talking about the Zellagebetsky, an eight-decker sandwich made with six different meats, Swiss cheese, cole slaw, Russian dressing and sweet red pepper on rye. Kenny & Ziggy’s gives a free slice of cheesecake to any customer who can eat the sandwich without any help. The Zellagabetsky, $48, is actually meant to be shared.

Kenny & Ziggy’s New York Delicatessen Restaurant is located at 2327 Post Oak Blvd. in the heart of the Galleria area. The restaurant is open 7 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 7 a.m.-10 p.m. Friday, 8 a.m.-10 p.m. Saturday and 8 a.m.-9 p.m. Sunday.

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Comicpalooza

Check out stars of Galacticon, comic books and more at Comicpalooza

Much in the same way a football stadium provides sanctuary for both the muscle-bound athlete and the freezing-yet-shirtless fan who admires him, comic conventions offer a meeting place for, say, the guy who writes a steampunk novel based on an album by Canadian prog-rock band Rush as well as the fans of such fiction, whomever they may be. The Texas International Comic Con, which also answers to Comicpalooza, arrives in the George R. Brown Convention Center this weekend. (The opportunity to temporarily rename it the George R.R. Martin Convention Center has either been rejected or not yet suggested.) Fans of science fiction, fantasy, horror, action and all sorts of once-maligned fiction genres in books, movies, TV and comics can gather in a place where no one will be judged for dressing like Boba Fett, where ideas and enthusiasms are shared and exchanged, where comic books are currency.

Texas International Comic Con

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Star Trek in houston

Famed Star Trek ship finds a new home in Houston

A piece of Star Trek history is coming to Space Center Houston, courtesy of some Trek fans that picked up quite the sci-fi prop at an auction last year.

Trek fans may remember the 1967 episode "The Galileo Seven", where the science officers aboard the Enterprise use a shuttlecraft called the Galileo to explore a star system. That prop was bought at an auction last year by collector Adam Schneider for $61,000. The prop's condition was less than stellar, and the trailer-sized vehicle was coated in rust. A Trek fan had bought in the '80s for just around $2,000.

Schneider is a part of a group of Trekkers that wanted to buy the Galileo for an extensive, fan-funded restoration project. Now that it has been restored to its '60s luster, it has been donated to Space Center Houston, where it will sit in the visitor center next to other very real spacecraft from NASA history.

Schneider says it is leaving the warehouse where it is being restored this month and will arrive in Houston in late July.

Space Center Houston spokesman Jack Moore says that the plan is to have Galileo installed at the complex by the end of the year. They are currently ironing out plans for the transportation of Galileo to SCH and its display once it arrives.

Original Article w/ Photo Gallery


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