This is the second time David A. Brown has won the nod for Best Photographer; the first was in 2010. His most recent show, "New Works by David A. Brown: trying to find my way...," at the Jung Center of Houston, featured large-scale photographs of reflected images — that is, a multitude of images, all simultaneously seen in the same space (for example, Brown shot through store windows and captured the scene outside on the street reflected over the inside of the store). Brown is working on a new series, and while we've seen only bits and pieces of his latest work — a "chopped and screwed" technique that incorporates the passage of time — we're excited about what he's got coming up.

If the geeks from The Big Bang Theory ever open their own bar (coming in Season 12!), Neil's Bahr would have already beaten them to it. This nerdgasm of an EaDo lounge, cattycornered to Warehouse Live and Little Woodrow's, offers vintage gaming platforms hooked up to heavy-ass console TVs, at least one flat-screen forever tuned to The Simpsons, various Lego sculptures, and more comic books than you can shake Deathstroke's staff at, both in the racks next to the upright arcade games and stashed in various coffee-table nooks. Seriously, if Sheldon, Leonard, Howard and Raj didn't have their bathroom routines and girlfriends to attend to — and were real people, we guess — they'd probably sleep here.

Suzanne E. Sellers's trompe l'oeil at 1621 Milam has a sentimental place in our hearts. The building it covers was home to the Houston Press offices for some 15 years. The trompe l'oeil adorns two of the building's four walls, showing faux storefronts, windows and doors. Sellers completed the mural, which at 12,000 square feet is thought to be the largest in the city, in 1994. Two more of her murals once adorned downtown buildings, one a market scene on the side of Treebeards restaurant and another, called Muted Hues of Houston, on the side of the Houston Club Building. The market scene was lost during building repairs, and Muted Hues is currently covered by construction equipment, with a parking structure being built in front of it. Only the 1621 Milam mural remains intact and completely visible.

Ah, George — don't ever change your ways. Don't ever change your laid-back, neighborhood pub atmosphere, with your friendly bartenders, pool, darts and cozy patio. For eight years, you've been a smile at the end of a hard day. Your prices are just right, even when it's not happy hour. You lack pretense and artifice. You're not a place to be seen. You're a place to see friends. And with your HD flat-screens, you're also a place to see the game. You'll be seeing us again soon, we promise.

New bands show up on the scene just about every week, but not too many make the kind of splash that BLSHS has. In less than 12 months, Chris Gore, Rick Carruth and Michelle Miers have become one of Houston's most popular local acts, winning new fans by the score with each passing gig. Some of that might be because similar acts like Chvrches are suddenly in vogue in the indie world again, but BLSHS is no knockoff. Gore and Carruth put their heads together to swirl elements of trance and trap music into classic synth-pop that fans of Soft Cell or Heaven 17 would easily recognize, while Miers simply has one of the most enchanting voices in town. Their success has been almost instantaneous: Shortly after making their Free Press Summer Fest debut (where they outdrew several more established acts), BLSHS was nominated for several Houston Press Music Awards including Best New Act, Song of the Year ("If I Fall") and Local Recording of the Year for the Abstract Desires EP.

The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, which recently welcomed brand-new presenting sponsor Huntsman, is celebrating its 25th anniversary in style this year. It's been one of the nation's top-grossing concert venues for many years, but in June the Pavilion was featured in Billboard magazine, which saluted the 16,000-capacity amphitheater as a cornerstone of the burgeoning Montgomery County township. And after drawing more than half a million people through the turnstiles in 2013, this year the Pavilion looks ready to break more records and invite more accolades. Just get a load of its stellar silver-anniversary season: Arcade Fire, Jimmy Buffett, Journey and the Steve Miller Band, John Legend, Nine Inch Nails and Soundgarden, Lionel Richie, Mötley Crüe, Lyle Lovett and Robert Earl Keen, Ringo Starr's All-Starr Band, Drake and Lil Wayne, Arctic Monkeys, and much more including a record-breaking, show-stopping, first-time appearance by Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band.

Even if all you know of horse racing is what you saw in Seabiscuit, you can still have a grand time betting on the ponies at Sam Houston Race Park. Admission is cheap, parking is easy, and the food and drink are affordable. They offer live Thoroughbred racing from January through early March and and live Quarter Horse racing from late March through early May with simulcast racing 364 days of the year, and from time to time they even have ostriches and camels, too, if you're looking for something a bit more exotic. Place your bets and root for your new favorite four-legged creature. You don't even have to wear a floppy hat.

There are lots of reading series in town, but the Poison Pen Reading Series is the only one that's set in a low-key neighborhood bar. And the only one that offers such an eclectic lineup of literary types. Locals such as Robert Boswell, Katherine Center, Antonya Nelson and former Houston Press staffer Jennifer Mathieu have all appeared at these monthly readings on Poison Girl's patio. Earlier this year, internationally known writer David MacLean (a former Houstonian and one of the founders of the series) read from his latest release, the memoir The Answer to the Riddle Is Me. Crack a Lone Star and have a listen next month.

In recent years, Landmark River Oaks has won six Best of Houston® awards: five for Best Movie Theater and one for Best Film Series. The multiple wins can be credited to its physical structure and programming. The theater was built in 1939, and its art deco interior has understandably been modified over the years, with changes including the conversion of the balcony to house two small screens. But the modifications have been conservative and restrained, and much of the interior stands intact, with the original grandeur still visible. The theater's programming is eclectic, made up mostly of indie and foreign films along with the robust midnight screening series. There are also frequent exclusives, and premieres by Houston filmmakers are becoming more and more regular. It all makes for a stellar moviegoing experience.

The sad reality is that Houston is not exactly the best city in the world if you're a train enthusiast. The good news is that in the world of park trains, Hermann Park has one of the best anywhere, and it's something that every single person reading this should experience at least once. On your 18-minute trip, you'll see some of the prettiest sights Houston has to offer. Talk about a nice way to get around the park on a hot summer afternoon. You can even take things up a notch and become an engineer for a day, with your own cap and bandanna. Laugh all you want, but you're never too old to experience the joy that comes with a good train ride. Hop on and see.