YMCA

Your All-Star Weekend Celebrity Guestbook

Rocks Off thought we'd stay as far away as the NBA All-Star Weekend hoopla as possible, so Friday night we went to see the wonderful Tift Merritt at McGonigel's Mucky Duck, where a friend of ours who works there told us he had worked out alongside Common and Ne-Yo at the Downtown YMCA earlier. It's ... More >>

Jingle Bell Run to the Eating...Our Words Food Truck Village on December 9

Between our ongoing Food Truck Friday series and our recent food truck court at Jones Plaza to welcome Anthony Bourdain and Eric Ripert to town, the Houston Press has been busy rounding up the best meals on wheels -- and we've got another great event coming up on December 9. The YMCA's annual Jingl ... More >>

The 10 Most Overplayed Songs at Mexican Weddings, Texas Edition

Earlier this month, Rocks Off contributor and all-around nice guy Jeff Balke enlightened us with this little list of songs that are standard operating procedure at weddings. But as much as I love "Twist & Shout" and "YMCA," in my very Mexican experience, those songs were not what I was used to heari ... More >>

10 Totally Played Out Wedding Songs That Will Still Pack the Dance Floor at Your Reception

Years ago, a wedding planner told me the basis of a successful wedding is remembering that primarily the ceremony is for the bride, the food is for the groom, the photos are for the family and the music is for the friends. While not 100 percent accurate, it does form the basis of a pretty successful ... More >>

Bastrop State Park, One Year After The Wildfire: Almost Ready For Its Close-Up

Just about one year after a devastating wildfire that torched much of its 6,000 acres, Bastrop State Park is getting ready to show visitors its made a comeback. Symbolizing the recovery is "a shade shelter originally built by the Civilian Conservation Corps at Bastrop State Park during the 1930s," ... More >>

Scouting Report: Trae's Son, Rapper Lil' Jared, Hits the Court

The kid shooting the free throw, that's Jared. He's a rapper. And this is kind of about him, but also about some other people. Because this is kind of about rap, but also about some other things. Jared's father is Trae tha Truth, which means a few different things: 1. He's probably very well-beha ... More >>

Jingle Bell Run

He Said, She Said: WTF Is With Fashion These Days?

Just as it is said that writing about music is like dancing about architecture, the same can be said for writing about fashion, though we know a few fashion magazines, blogs and crazed fashionistas that would violently differ. Even still at the end of the day, it's just fabric or animal skin coverin ... More >>

Six Dancing and Singing Toys for the Holidays with Video

The holiday season has crept upon us once again. There is nothing kids love more than toys that can bust a move. Dancing toys have always made the list of hot commodities during the Christmas season. Even some adults are amused and intrigued by their favorite characters moving to the beat. Here's a ... More >>

Westland YMCA on Fondren to Close

Bye-bye Y.​The 31-year-old Westland branch of the YMCA, on Fondren in southwest Houston, is closing at the end of the month. YMCA spokesperson Ann Herlocher tells Hair Balls the organization got an unsolicited offer for the building and land from the Westbury Christian School. "We had to con ... More >>

Seven Creepy (Or Beautiful) Pictures of the Downtown YMCA's Demolition

Photos by Monica FuentesComing down piece by piece.​Demolition is continuing on the charming old Downtown YMCA building, which is nestled among modern skyscrapers. The insides are being exposed now -- empty rooms, wall signs, even the scoreboard for the basketball court. It can all get prett ... More >>

Down Goes the Downtown Y!!!

Brittanie SheyGoing down.​Driving past the downtown YMCA last night about 7 p.m., the sun was filtering through what had become an empty, windowless hulk. Today there's even less of it. The trucks have moved in and started the takedown of the building, which looks charming and is quirky enou ... More >>

Summer Jobs: Top Five Ways to Get Employed

Somebody's got to roll the burritos.​It's just about summertime, when the heat descends and the bugs surface, reminding you that you do actually live on a swamp. And if you're a teen, there's another thing a'coming to bite you in the butt -- the summer job search. This season will be no picni ... More >>

11 Musical New Year's Resolutions For 2011

​Craig's Hlist stopped making New Year's Eve resolutions the older and more stubborn we got. We normally don't quit or change things forever unless we are forced to do so. ('Sup, ladies?) This makes it hard for us to keep any New Year's Eve resolutions. If anything, it's easier to change organ ... More >>

10 Good Differences Between 2000 and 2010

​Note: This was written by Richard Connelly and Craig Hlavaty We take a look in the print edition this week at a decade most of us would just as soon forget, the period from 2000-2010. But we have to admit not everything was bad. Cell phones, for instance, got a hell of a lot better. So loo ... More >>

Ten Songs We Are Sick Of Hearing At Football Games

Take that Crazy Train right on out of here, Ozzy. Thanks.​That sound you heard Sunday was the collective shattering of the playoff hopes of thousands of Houston Texans fans as the team suffered yet another home loss, this time against the hapless San Diego Chargers, bringing their record to 4- ... More >>

HPD: There Might Be A Serial Killer Downtown. Or Maybe Not.

Raquel Munday: Aggressive towing policy left her helpless​Over the summer and fall, three black women have been found strangled in and around the streets of downtown Houston.While some are starting to speculate that a serial killer is on the loose, at a news conference this week at HPD headquarter ... More >>

Unidentified Female, Bayou Body Count No. 243

Another woman found strangled downtown​Less than two weeks after a homeless person was found strangled to death near downtown's Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, another woman has been found dead "from neck trauma" at the old Downtown YMCA.The victim, whose name has not yet been released, was foun ... More >>

Five Best Places For Furtive Sex At The New Downtown Y

Some things never change​The vintage Downtown YMCA is about to close, a shiny modern facility is set to take its place, and one question demands to be answered: Where are you gonna have your furtive gay sex in this new place?When we asked around seeking what people would/wouldn't miss most about t ... More >>

Weiner Dog Races: The Brutal, Ugly Truth

Photos by Stephanie MezaFierce competitors​ Sam Houston Race Park hosted the latest edition of its Weiner Dog races, the biggest sporting event outside of the World Cup and Super Bowl combined.It may seem like fund and games, but in reality it makes MMA look like a ladies' tea.

The Village People

Smallish YMCA Fire Brings Big HFD Response

Photos by Chris VogelA lot of trucks responded for a smallish fire​As more than 30 fire trucks and 100 firefighters clogged up Downtown's Louisiana Street in front of the YMCA building this afternoon in response to a three-alarm fire, residents who had evacuated couldn't help but acknowledge the i ... More >>

The New Downtown Y Is Ready!! And So's The M!! The Rest Of The Building, Not So Much

Photo by Richard Connelly​ Groundbreaking was a little over a year ago, but already the new downtown YMCA is ready.Well, the "Y," at any rate, and pretty much most of the "M." Which is all it takes to start a "Young man" chorus of the Village People song.The facility is still scheduled to open som ... More >>

Dynamo Charities Cup

A little soccer, a little doing good - not a bad afternoon

The Burmese Come to Houston

Get in, get out. Refugees have a shrinking window of support until it's time to fend for themselves.

Heroic Iraqi Refugee On His Deathbed As Family Struggles to Obtain Temporary Visas to Be At His Side

Photo courtesy of Dario Lipovac​Houston's Iraqi refugee community is saying a painful goodbye to one of its most valued members. Now Marwan Hamza's friends are scrambling to help his family do the same. Hamza, 22, is on his deathbed at Memorial Herman hospital after crashing his car earlie ... More >>

The New Y -- You've Seen It From Above, Now See It From Inside

Yesterday we showed you what the new YMCA looks like from above as it's being built. The good people at Swamplot, the real-estate blog of Houston, have got their hands on what the place will look inside.Here's a couple; for the rest head to Swamplot. The entrance area: Slightly different from the d ... More >>

Houston Rugby Takes A Giant Step Forward

By the time Brad Allen finished his first-half scoring run, the Houston Athletic Rugby Club had the game in the bag. Now they're headed to the first Sweet 16 playoff berth in club history.   "It's a really big deal," says club president Will Wornardt, who searched records dating to the inceptio ... More >>

Amateur Sports Groups Are Watching The Flu Hype Warily

High schools in Texas aren't the only places where competitions are being canceled or delayed because of swine-flu fears. (Although the UIL has reversed itself a bit; regional track meets are back on.)All basketball games and practices in the South Texas AAU, which includes the Houston area, are off ... More >>

West U Doesn't Want Its Rec Center To Attract Outsiders, Maybe

West University is building a new recreation center on Bellaire Boulevard. And according to this West U Examiner article, the crappy economy sure is working out for those can't-catch-a-break West U residents, bringing in plenty of low construction bids. Turns out, though, that the new rec center won ... More >>

Digitalia: Microsoft Songsmith Corrects Artists' Glaring Oversights

Billy Idol, "White Wedding"... sort ofMicrosoft Songsmith, a music-making computer program, has already racked up plenty of Internet accolades based on its eerily terrible commercial, wherein normal, everyday people dealing with normal, everyday problems - such as being tasked to write an ad campa ... More >>

Houston Boldly Moves Forward with (Porn) Free WiFi

No Excuses Now -- The Downtown Y Is Working Again

Bummer: Downtown YMCA to Be Demolished

2007 Jingle Bell Run & Walk

The YMCA turns downtown into a North Pole race course

Music at the Y, Minus the Village People

Countdown to the 2007 Houston Press Best of Houston® Issue

Par for the Course

Forget the money crunch, let's play golf

Fit or Fat, Houston?

Pigskin Science

Get the goods on the gridiron at "Football, the Exhibit"

Shoving It

The Houston Area Rugby Club tackles New Orleans

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