Muse at Houston's Toyota Center

I saw Muse Thursday night at Houston's Toyota Center and the English dudes brought their A game. It wasn't that long ago I just saw them open for U2 at Reliant Stadium in October. They were great then, but last night's show went to a whole new level.

Muse in my opinion could be the next Pink Floyd (I called them the next U2 last time - I can change my mind - maybe next time they will be the new Beatles). The band's show had "a wall" theme that kept the band member's images distorted on the monitors until the end when "the wall" came down and the band was displayed in full color. And speaking of the monitors and stage...wow. I've never seen a stage like this one in an arena setting. Granted U2 goes nuts in the stadium setting, but Muse really brought something unique to a basketball arena setting.

The 80s appear to be coming back all over the place, and Muse's stage was no exception. There were lasers, wailing guitars, even a glimpse of the ship from the video game Galaga. Plus Muse just knows how to pull some 80s (and even before) rock stage presence to an alternative genre. I swear I caught them jamming some Zeppelin and Aerosmith at the end of songs. Oh and the stage platforms were totally KISS with a modern twist. And who still does a rocking bass/drum solo these days?

Overall it was a great show musically and visually.  But after seeing them in 2009, Muse does not need an over the top stage show to still bring down the house.

Photos on Flickr from the Houston Toyota Center show (not my photos by the way)
The video is from plugincharmed.

PIC: Genuine Horny Goat Weed in Waco

Murdock did some travelling down I-35 and landed in Waco. He snapped a photo of this Genuine Horny Goat Weed in a gas station bathroom.

Will you need this product for the weekend?

WFAA 8 wins another award

Another day goes by and WFAA 8 wins another award.

The WFAA-TV news series "Deporting Justice," which showed how thousands of accused felons — charged with crimes such as murder, rape and assault — are routinely deported, rather than face criminal prosecution, has won the prestigious Scripps Howard Foundation National Journalism Award.
The series, reported by David Schechter and producer Mark Smith with editor/photographer Kraig Kirchem, found the practice proliferated because local, state and federal law enforcement agencies simply fail to cooperate to ensure that accused felons go to trial. READ THE REST

Maybe I should post something when a Belo station doesn't win something.

Hubble 3D review at Wortham IMAX Theatre

I got a chance to see the IMAX production of Hubble 3D which is opening this week at the Houston Museum of Natural Science's Wortham IMAX Theatre.

To sum it up...it's breathtaking. This hour long documentary shows us Hubble's stunning photography in 3D IMAX glory and spectacular video of the astronauts repairing the aging telescope.

To create the film, an IMAX 3D camera flew onboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis, captured stunning 3D images of the intricate spacewalks required to service the telescope during the most recent mission last May. Shot by the STS-125 astronauts, this intimate look at the complexities of repairing the telescope will put IMAX audiences right there along-side the spacewalking astronauts. Hubble 3D combines this awe-inspiring IMAX footage with breathtaking up-close imagery of distant galaxies, the birth of stars and planets, and more - revealing the cosmos as never before.

The narration by Leonardo DiCaprio didn't even bother me like I thought it would!  The movie opens this Friday in Houston.

RELATED
- Review: 'Hubble 3D' launches viewers on grand trek
- Hubble 3D

3DTV coming to Texas from Panasonic

I reviewed the Sony 3DTV BRAVIA XBR-52LX900 last week and now I see that Panasonic is coming to Dallas and Houston with its version of 3DTV.

Visitors to the Panasonic Touch the Future Tour will be able to experience the world of 3D for the home with Panasonic's award-winning Full HD 3D Home Theater System featuring the VIERA VT25 Full HD 3D Plasma TV, the BDT350 3D Blu-ray Disc Player and Panasonic Active Shutter Eyewear.

4/6 - 4/8 Dallas - Grapevine Mills Mall - 3000 Grapevine Mills
4/12 - 4/14 Houston - The Warehouse - 4108 Dupont Street

Houston vs Dallas: Rail system

KTRK 13's Ted Oberg has a good story on the difference between the Houston and Dallas rail systems. The one in North Texas actually seems to be spurring development and making a difference in people's lives!

How a 1080 KRLD sports reporter found true love

The Dallas Morning News clues us in on the romantic life of 1080 KRLD sports reporter Andrea Pilcher Loftus. READ IT

The Pulitzer Prize committee has been notified about this article.

http://andreapilcher.com

VIDEO: Houston TV anchor falls behind desk

I called KTRK 13's Melanie Lawson to make sure she was alright before I posted this video. Anyone else I would have posted it immediately. She totally made the best of it and only proved once again why she is one of Houston's favorite television anchors.

(Forgot to put this in earlier - big thanks to @chrisatyoursix)

RELATED
- Gotta Know where former KTRK 13 met Heidi Jones is
- MARK GARAY: TV interview going away as we know it?

Disney and ABC fight to reinvent themselves

Two great articles came my way about Disney's/ABC's current troubles, and what the company is doing to turn them around.

Brain-eating zombies invade Disney in Iger plan to win boy fans

ABC News plans paywall by June

(Thanks Michael)

Fox 26 KRIV reporter Isiah Carey's story turns into Texas Chainsaw Massacre

When Fox 26 KRIV reporter Isiah Carey got handed his story assignment, I bet he didn't know it would turn into Texas Chainsaw Massacre. READ MORE

Turns out KTRK web producer Matt Aufdenspring worked on the Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2003 remake in another career. He even got to share a dessert with star Jessica Biel!

Tyler TV-newspaper partnership could point to future

Television newsrooms and newspapers team up in many cities, but the partnership in Tyler, TX could become more of the norm.

It seems that 16 reporters from the Tyler Morning Telegraph regularly appear on CBS 19 KYTX:

Telegraph Editor Dave Berry says that after some initial camera-fright, virtually every Telegraph reporter-including those covering business, the arts and religion-goes live from the newsroom, which is connected via fiber to KYTX's digs. Berry adds that many have enjoyed a heightened profile in the market since the partnership debuted in late 2009. "Newspaper reporters generally labor in obscurity," he says. "This gives us a chance to put them out in public."

Telegraph Publisher Nelson Clyde says the arrangement adds another dimension to both his reporters and the paper. "It makes us a multimedia company," he notes. "It makes [KYTX] one, too." READ THE REST

The article goes onto say that KYTX owner London Broadcasting would like to push this model to its other stations KCEN in Waco and KBMT in Beaumont.

I think government regulations will eventually be relaxed due to media pressure. Newspapers and TV stations will once again be able to be owned by the same company.  This will be the way the industry fights economic pressures - by consolidating. Good luck to the TV stations that don't combine with the newspaper.

Gotta Know where former KTRK 13 met Heidi Jones is

Former KTRK 13 meteorologist Heidi Jones was a very popular Houston television figure. Then she left the industry.

But now she is back.  If you've been wondering where she went, you can now catch her again in Houston on KTRK 13.2. Jones actually works as a meteorologist at WABC 7 in New York City. However she now has a side project where she hosts a technology show called Gotta Know on Live Well HD. You can see the show on the above video and see its Web site here.

Jones also writes a blog for WABC called 'Run with Heidi' (Full disclosure: I built this blog for WABC 7). Beyond that she has a personal Web site at runwithheidi.com.

If you watch ABC's Good Morning America, you might catch her filling in on the weather too.

KHOU 11 and Houston Dynamo team up again in 2010

KHOU 11 and The Houston Dynamo have renewed their broadcast agreement for the 2010 season we found out today. The station will air all non-nationally televised Dynamo regular season games on its digital channel, KHOU 11.2, and feature Dynamo ancillary programming on Channel 11.2 throughout the season.

KHOU is currently scheduled to show 21 Dynamo regular season games on Channel 11.2 in 2010, beginning with the April 10 contest against the Los Angeles Galaxy. Dynamo Insider, a 30-minute show featuring top plays and on-set interviews, will again air once per month throughout the season and KHOU 11.2 will also air replays of all 21 game broadcasts during the following week.

Like last year, the Dynamo will be featured in a five-minute segment on 11 News This Morning, Saturday mornings at 8:55 a.m. That means that for the second straight season, KHOU will air more than 100 hours of Dynamo-related content throughout its platforms. All Dynamo game broadcasts will include 15-minute pre- and post-game shows, hosted by KHOU sports anchor Matt Musil.

The Houston Dynamo will open their 2010 season on March 27 with a road game against FC Dallas. The Dynamo home opener will be on Thursday, April 1, against defending MLS Cup champion Real Salt Lake at 8 p.m.

Aldi discount grocery stores opening in Texas

North Texas is about to get a big discount grocery store chain called Aldi. It boasts low prices, not massive selections of goods.

I first read about Aldi in Time Magazine in 2008:

More fundamentally, Aldi concentrates on selling core, high-volume grocery products, like ketchup, cereal and coffee. Want a choice? Forget it. By offering a single brand, usually a private label in a single size, Aldi executives say they can substantially undercut conventional retailers on 90% of the products the store sells. Nor do customers have to make any trade-offs in buying private labels. Consider the sleek, dark 16.9-oz. bottle of Ariel Extra Virgin Olive Oil ($4.29). Or the 13-oz. box of Fruit Rice cereal ($1.69). "You wouldn't be embarrassed to have that on your counter," says Bill Bishop, a retail consultant. READ MORE

WFAA reports that Aldi is opening 11 stores across North Texas and will add more than 30 additional locations this year.

Coolest College Courses

The Huffington Post is going academic and looking for cool college courses:

Why sit in that English Lit or Econ 101 or Psych class when you can take a course on the Philosophy and Star Trek? (Thanks, Georgetown U!) Or iPhone Application Programming? (Go Stanford!) Or, our personal favorite, a class on the making of maple syrup (Loving you, Alfred U.) SEE THE CLASSES

If I was in college I would like to take a class on how to make a cool looking Facebook or Twitter photo for my profile.

(Thanks Brian!)

Meyerland Plaza gets a Best Buy

Big news for electronic/tech/music lovers in the Meyerland, Bellaire and Westbury area of Houston.

I snapped this photo of a "Best Buy coming soon" sign in the empty Meyerland Plaza Circuit City store.  Seems Best Buy is taunting Circuit City by moving in on its old territory and saying, "We are the last ones standing!"

I have no information on when this store is opening.  Looking through the window you can tell there is a lot of work to do on a mostly empty retail space.  So if you have the knowledge of how long it takes a Best Buy store to set up and open...please let us know.

Former KENS 5 anchor wants your vote

Jeanne Jakle in San Antonio reports that a former KENS 5 anchor is competing for a big honor and needs your vote:

Don Hammond, a popular newscaster on KENS back in the '90s, is a finalist in Redbook Magazine's, um, Hottest Husband of 2010 contest.

During his KENS tenure between '95 and '97, Hammond handled both the evening news -- next to Deborah Knapp -- and morning and noon news. He currently anchors the weeknight news for the Fox affiliate in Dayton, Ohio. READ MORE

You can cast your vote here.

90.1 KPFT's DJ Sun gets some press

DJ Sun of 90.1 KPFT's Soular Grooves gets interviewed by Spinner.com:

I started as a DJ as a sort of fluke. Making a mix of music on cassette tapes for friends in 1993, I was recommended to the host of a Galveston beach party. Everything sort of started there. I've been a DJ since then, with a radio program at KPFT 90.1 (Pacifica) on Saturday (nights). READ THE REST

105.3 FM The Fan KRLD gets new host in Gavin Dawson

You can learn a lot of interesting things by reading The Portland Tribune. Yeah, like 105.3 FM The Fan KRLD is getting a new sports host from the area:

Gavin Dawson, host of the Morning Sports Page segment on KXTG (95.5 FM The Game), is leaving to accept a job in Dallas.

Dawson, 34, will play host to an afternoon drive show on KRLD (105.3 FM The Fan). READ THE REST

The article says his final show up there will be March 23rd, so expect him in Dallas after that.

740 KTRH's Will Sterrett leaves for Dallas' KRLD

I am getting emails about this and now AllAccess confirms it. Newsradio 740 KTRH anchor and assistant news director Will Sterrett is going North on I-45 to Dallas' 1080 KRLD.