Heights Happenings: April 6 - April 13, 2011

Wednesday, April 6, 7 PM- 10 PM: Sons of Perdition (view trailer here) at 14 Pews

• Sons of Perdition is an award-winning documentary which takes viewers inside the lives of three teenage boys after they escape from the Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints compound on the Utah/Arizona border, the oldest polygamist community in the United States.
• The film is directed by Tyler Measom and Jennilyn Merten and produced by Julie Goldman, Tyler Measom and Jennilyn Merten.
• Talk-Back after film with award-winning director Jennilyn Merten
• $8, 800 Aurora St

Friday, April 8, 4 PM: Hand rolled cigars and Cuban music at Heights Cigar Lounge

• Manny Lopez and crew from El Cubano will be at the shop hand rolling cigars
• Live Cuban beats created by KonClave
• 240 W 19th

Saturday, April 9, 8 AM - 2 PM: Heights Odd Fellows Garage sale

• Odd Fellows Lodge, 115 E 14th St
• Clothing, household items, costumes, furniture, Audubon art prints, books and other media, lamps, appliances, electronics
• These are art car types, so there is bound to be some interesting stuff!

PLAN AHEAD:

Saturday, May 21, 5:30 PM- 10 PM: Great Taste of the Heights

• One of my FAVORITE Heights events, GTotH features good food, live music, drinks and fun. Great family event, too!
• On line sales coming soon, so check the website. Presale passes will be $20, or $25 at the event

OUTSIDE THE HEIGHTS:

Thursday, April 7, 5 PM- 7:30 PM: Soccer Festival with the Houston Dynamo

• The Houston Parks and Recreation Department (HPARD) invites you to join the Houston Dynamo and Texas Children's Health Plan for a free community soccer festival!
• Meet Dynamo Diesel, Dynamo Players and Dynamo Girls and enjoy inflatables, prizes, face painting and giveaways! Come support your hometown major league soccer team!
• First 100 children will receive a Dynamo game ticket
• For additional information: http://www.houstondynamo.com/upcomingappearances

Saturday, April 9, 10 AM- 6 PM: 5th Annual Midtown Art in the Park

• A boutique style fine art festival that features live music, fun food, artists demonstrations and more all under the old oaks of Baldwin Park. This year's festival features 75 fine artists, local bands Days Drive and The Selfless Season, The Ensemble Theatre’s Tribute to Michael Jackson, the sweet sounds of Clory, Life Painting on stage by Nubia Seibert
• Visitors can register for one of 3 Painting Parties with Happy Hour Studios sponsored by Central Bank
• The famous Midtown Graffiti Art Wall will be reinstalled
• Elizabeth Baldwin Park - Midtown Houston, 1700 Elgin @ Chenevert

Saturday, April 9, Noon - 5 PM: PRETTY LITTLE THINGS - Vintage pop-up shop

• LadyLux Vintage has assembled an eclectic group of vendors of vintage and repurposed items. Shoppers will find great deals on fabulous vintage clothing, home decor, accessories, and jewelry.
• DJ Mark will be spinning some fun tunes, making this the afternoon party you won't want to miss!
• Heights Beatniks will be one of more than a dozen vendors
• Hosted by Griff's Irish Pub, 3416 Roseland (Montrose area)

IN OTHER NEWS:

A Letter from Love Elementary's PTO President

As you probably know by now, we within the Love Elementary community have been deeply involved in a campaign to save our school from closure due to massive cuts to the budget of HISD. Closure of our exemplary community school will not only affect the hundreds of families, teachers and staff from our school, but all of the schools in the Heights.

The information that has been shared with us, indicates that EVERY school in the Heights will be affected by this. If this proposal moves forward, the 428 students at our school will divided between the 3 schools in relatively close proximity.Though nothing seems to be decided yet, the schools as of now are: Harvard, Field and Sinclair. And again, this will not only affect Love, Field, Harvard and Sinclair, but ALL Heights area schools. Many who attend these 3 schools will be rezoned to others. Many who choose these schools, but who are not zoned to these schools will have to return to their zoned schools and all of schools will be rezoned
If this proposal is allowed, approximately 143 Love students will be coming to these 3 schools next year. What does that mean for YOUR school?

We all know that the Heights is experiencing a baby boom, and with the help of city officials, and Heights community leaders, we are gathering the demographic data that reflects the fact that ALL elementary schools in the Heights need to stay open.
We already have the support of many heights community members rallied behind us, but now we need YOUR help. We need the administration to know that all of the schools in the Heights area are united in this campaign to keep our schools open.

Members of the HISD board and administration will be coming to our school for a community meeting next Thursday, April 7. We urge you to attend this meeting and share with your school's community. If you would like to say a few words or write a letter, please let us know. We will be putting together a packet for the HISD representatives with Demographic and other data, petitions, and letters of support.

Here is our online petition: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/savelove/
We also have a special facebook page for this campaign: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Save-Love-Elementary/183201738391323

Thank you! Please let us know if you have any questions,

Bronwyn Lauder, President, Love Elementary PTO
w.g.lovelementary@gmail.com

*Views expressed in this letter are the personal views of Mrs Lauder and not the views of Love Elementary

Houston Arts and Media Fundraising to complete Comedy Documentary

• Houston Arts and Media has launched a drive to finish Stand Up Story, a documentary history of the stand up comedy boom in Houston. The story is centered around the nationally famous Comedy Workshop Annex that flourished here from 1978 to 1990, producing scores of internationally known comedians such as Bill Hicks, Sam Kinison, Janeane Garafalo, Brett Butler and many others.
• The return to full production status is led by the launch today of a project on Kickstarter, a website designed as "a new way to fund & follow creativity". That recipe will hopefully prove to be a perfect vehicle for Houston Arts and Media. The project features a short fundraising film that includes portions of interviews with Janeane Garafalo, Comedy Workshop owner, Paul Menzel, and others. Donors to a project receive awards at various funding levels. The top level for Stand Up Story receives a private show by two of the comedians featured in the movie.
• The Kickstarter project can be accessed at http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1835462509/stand-up-story-a-comedy-documentary
• Over a dozen interviews with comedy alumni from the club have already been shot including some done by Dos Dogs Productions, Wildcatter Productions and other local media professionals prior to the project being taken over by HAM. A website dedicated to the movie is also up and running at www.standupstory.com
• Houston Arts and Media continues to work on several other projects such as an eight-part feature length documentary series called the Birth of Texas that covers the diverse history of the state from 1820 to 1845. The one completed title in that series, Houston: A Nation's Capitol, is an award winner at WorldFest 2011. Other HAM endeavors include partnering in the city website, HoustonPreservation.org and the current exhibit, Bayou City Noir: The Photography of Marvin Zindler, at the Museum of Printing History. They also continue with Neighborhood to Neighbor, an ongoing oral history gathering project that has already placed the stories of scores of Houstonians in the Houston Public Library’s Houston Metropolitan Research Center and Rice University’s Woodson Research Center. Material from these interviews will also enhance the first of HAM’s books, the two-volume Historic Schools of Harris County.
• Parties interested in supporting these efforts through donations or volunteerism should contact Houston Arts and Media via e-mail at info@houstonartsandmedia.org. Contact: mike@houstonartsandmedia.org. Phone: 713.686.9244