Your ticket to free food

​Silly us, we thought everyone was taking Friday off instead of Monday to celebrate the Fourth.

So we made the deadline for entering our photo contest 8 a.m. this morning. We've gotten a lot of great shots, but we don't want to penalize anyone who was too busy clicking and celebrating today to upload what they shot.

So the deadline has been extended until 8 a.m. tomorrow to win free food and drink.
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Crystal Beach, via KHOU

​As the Fourth of July weekend loomed, Galveston's visitors bureau put out a press release "reminding the public that Island beaches remain oil free and open for business this 4th of July holiday weekend....The U.S. Coast Guard confirms that the spill remains more than 200 miles away from Galveston's shoreline."

Not so fast.

State officials are confirming in a press conference today that tar balls on Galveston and other beaches are from the Deepwater Horizon spill, the first time Texas beaches have been affected.
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Found beaten to death in a Heights house

​An 18-year-old man was discovered beaten to death in the Heights Thursday afternoon, police say.

Rigoberto Orellana of Houston, was found inside a home in the 1100 block of Nicholson about 1 p.m. Thursday and was pronounced dead at the scene.

HPD says simply they responded to a call at the address and found Orellana "had been severely beaten."

There are no known witnesses or suspects.

Anyone with information in this case is urged to contact the HPD Homicide Division at 713-308-3600 or Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS.
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What could go wrong?

​For those working today, I hope you all had a very happy and safe 4th of July weekend. For those blessed with a vacation day today, I hope your happy and safe 4th of July weekend continues. This post is actually for you.

I realize that many of you took in the city's fireworks show or depending on (a) how defiant you are of the laws inside Houston city limits or (b) just how far out in the sticks you live, you may have concocted your own symphony of explosives.

However, with the holiday today, some of you may have leftover Roman candles or bottle rockets (along with leftover beer) and feel compelled to keep the party going. You know, really show England who's boss! (That'll be the last time you tax us without representation, assholes!)

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Come out with your hands up.....

​In a major victory for irony last Friday, Houston SWAT officers arrested a man whose company is a major phone fundraiser for the Houston Police Patrolmen's Union.

Although the Houston Chronicle reported the basic details of a three-hour standoff outside a business in the 2800 block of Antoine July 2, Hair Balls learned today that the man who barricaded himself and at least three employees inside the building was John A. Merritt, owner of Public Safety Services, Inc.

Merritt has been charged with misdemeanor assault, for allegedly striking an employee with a police-issue flashlight. More >>

You can stop playing the lottery now, lady

​We're not the biggest lottery fans in the world (tax on the mathematically illiterate and all that), but if we had Joan Ginther's luck maybe we'd change our mind.

Last week Ginther traveled to Austin to pick up $10 million she won from some super extreme amazing give-us-your-money scratch-off ticket.

Which isn't unusual -- someone has to win, after all -- but it was the fourth time Ginther has won over a million dollars in the Texas Lottery.
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One of these people is a better actor than the other

​Inception seems like the best bet yet to save a summer full of dreary by-the-books blockbusters. Has there been anything released yet that's made you want to go to the movies? (We admit, we've never quite gotten into the whole Toy Story thing.)

Inception is directed by Christopher Nolan, it's over-the-top CGI looks like it just might be intriguing and not simply eye candy, and it stars Leonardo DiCaprio. So things look promising.

But we have five questions.

1. Ellen Page?
Ellen Page is the Sylvester Stallone of cheaply sarcastic indie movie heroines -- in other words, her range is not exactly her best feature. And she's supposed to be helping to carry a big-budget movie acting against DiCaprio? Okay, Nolan, you casted her so you must have seen something, but we're skeptical.

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Bring on your wrecking ball

​Tomorrow is D-Day for the blighted Park Place Apartments at 7410 Park Place. D as in demolition, as the city announced today it has finally won the long battle to tear down the 43-unit complex.

Demolition begins 9 a.m. tomorrow.

"This is one of the worst examples of neglectful ownership that I have seen" Mayor Annise Parker said. "The property is a neighborhood eyesore and a public safety risk. The owner has been given numerous chances to makes repairs or demolish. Each time he has failed to act. His time has now run out."
 
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The good stuff won't be free for much longer.

​My backyard flooded, I went half-blind on fireworks, and I am exponentially losing my agility. This was the week in TV Land:

• As if to taunt my very desires, Hulu announced last week that it's launching Hulu Plus, a paid version of the site that will allow users to access the growing catalogue of series as well as full seasons of current shows instead of just the "trailing five" episodes of each. (For those who love to pay for things but don't want to miss commercials, take heart: Hulu Plus will still show you ads.) I say they're taunting me because just last week I decided to start writing about older series you could watch on Hulu as an alternative to bland summer programming, a plan that's now going to develop some inevitable kinks. The subscription plan is still invite-only for now, though the company will also be issuing random invites to Twitter followers and Facebook fans. Hulu Plus will run you $10 a month and work with newer iPhones, the iPad, the PS3, certain Samsung Blu-ray players, and eventually the Xbox 360 and your eyelids.

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Whitting on the basepaths

​The University of Houston baseball squad wasn't very good last season.

There was some talent on the roster, but too often the team appeared dispirited and just didn't seem to be putting forth a full effort.

Though Rayner Noble had been a successful coach, and had won more games than any other Cougar baseball coach, the team looked as if it was tuning him out.

Several weeks ago, Noble and the Cougars came to a "mutually agreed resignation." More >>