Conversations @ The Center
Galveston Arts Center, Galveston
6:30 p.m. Thursday, free
What's it like to be an artist trying to keep up with technology? We've seen film give way to digital photography, artists wrestling with 3-D printers and musicians so overproduced that we'd be shocked to hear them live. Local artist J Hill (he's on faculty at the Glassell School of Art) will talk about how technology has always been a part of art making, and how it can actually improve the workflow, in a talk titled "Technology in the Middle." GAC's popular lecture series is back with a new lineup of speakers who delve into the intersection of art, science and technology. We'll also hear from Alex Goss, who has had some success with 3-D printing – he designed the cutest little miniature bathroom with an itty-bitty urinal and potty – in a sort of how-to titled "Drawing with Computers: The Digital Zen Garden." He teaches at the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, but you'll find his studio work under the name "YOUSCREW."
You tell a true story, and then the wacky folks at Houston Playback Theatre will make it come alive with interactive improv.
Photo by Anthony Rathbun Photography
The Jung Center
7 to 9 p.m. Friday, $10
Everybody can be a storyteller, especially when those touching, outrageous or comedic moments from real life are reflected back through the power of improv. Every night is different, and audience members shouldn't feel too guilty about schadenfreude; it's also quite therapeutic for the "story starter" as seeing those life moments retold through the prism of action and song can provide insight and catharsis. Come out for a few laughs and the realization that we are all connected somehow.
According to the Chinese zodiac, people born in the Year of the Rooster are honest, bright, communicative and ambitious.
Photo by Anna Veselova
Chinese Community Center
10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, free
Here's something to crow about: It's the Year of the Rooster, and they're pulling out all the stops for the 14th annual Lunar New Year Festival. Back in the days before alarm clocks, those punctual roosters made sure we didn't oversleep, and so we're entering a year of fidelity and punctuality. So don't be late, because this shindig has been supersized by the Houston Arts Alliance, with tons of dancing (Lion dances are at 10:44 and 11:24 a.m. and at 1:19 and 1:52 p.m.), music and martial arts performances, plus a bazaar with tasty Asian foods, arts and crafts. If you're feeling lucky, buy some raffle tickets for a crack at more than 60 prizes, including a cruise for you and your honey.
That cute kitty is named Wolverine, and he wants to know when Todd Richards and Marlon Azada, president and vice president of the Feline PAW Foundation, will let him go play.
Photo by Michelle Richards
Jimmy Burke Activity Center, Deer Park
9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Free to $7
9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday, Free to $7
Is your cat special enough to strut its stuff in the show circuit? Do you love football so much that you're ready to enter a raffle for a Texans football signed by Bum Phillips and Wade Phillips? Come out to this international cat show and check out the Bengals, Scottish Folds and Devon Rexes, then cast your vote for favorite cat or cage decoration and see if official judge and mayor of Deer Park Jerry Mouton Jr. agrees with your pick. Vendors and adoptables are on hand, and you can even channel your inner kitty when Put on a Happy Face transforms your visage with painted-on little whiskers
They might not be doing doughnuts in the parking lot, but you can count on some tasty confections with your coffee this Saturday.
Photo courtesy of Gateway Classic Cars, STL Showroom
Gateway Classic Cars of Houston
9 a.m. to noon Saturday, free
Weather be damned, Gateway Classic is doling out the doughnuts and coffee all year round now for its monthly Cars & Coffee. We can't wait to see what classic beauties are on deck: Just this month alone, the Houston branch received a silver-anniversary '78 Chevrolet Corvette, a turbocharged five-speed '93 Mazda RX7 and a '65 Ford Mustang V8 with overdrive. Sweet! If the weather sucks, they know you won't want to bring out your pride and joy, so it's okay to drive over in your daily transpo until the weather changes.
