Houston Art Car Parade

The 29th Annual Houston Art Car Parade was this past weekend, and I had the good fortune to be able to attend. I missed last year's when the weather was kind of sour so I was very glad that the weather held up this year. This year's parade featured almost 250 Art Cars weaving through the west side of downtown Houston. I made sure to get there several hours early to stake out a good spot near the front of the parade (and close to the drink tent!). I took pictures of several of the Art Cars that caught my eye (below), but I also wanted to share some quick thoughts about the cars and the parade:

1. Every city needs an art car parade. The entire atmosphere was fantastic, with food and drink trucks rampant and people everywhere in costumes. Multiple roads were closed for the parade and everyone was in a great mood having a great time.
2. The parade could use fewer political messages. It seemed as if every 3 or 4 cars was promoting a controversial political topic (legalizing marijuana, gun ownership, etc.), and while they certainly had a right to do so, it distracted from the effort that others put into their cars.
3. Speaking of effort, I can't imagine how much time and money people poured into some of the cars (just look at the shell car in the first pic below!). It would not surprise me to learn that many cars required a small fortune, and considering they do not get paid to drive their car in the parade, some of the Art Car owners seem genuinely insane.
4. It is surprising how many people still have roller skates and roller blades. Seemed like everyone was rolling through the streets checking things out. Those wheels made it easy for people to get around, while simultaneously making it feel like it was 1992. 
5. The strangest thing that I saw during the entire day was not one of the art cars, but rather a tiny woman in jogging clothes walking what appeared to be a 7 foot tall Woolly Mammoth with black fur. The contrast of the tiny woman and huge mammoth/dog was very noticeable. The creature could have swallowed her whole. I forgot to take a picture because it was such a strange sight.

If your city does not have an art car parade (which it probably does not), then you should make plans to attend next year's parade in Houston. It will be the 30th Parade, and I hear that plans are in store to make it the best one ever. Let's look at the pics of the cars from this year's parade. Clicking on any picture will enlarge it so you can see things closer:

This Art Car was covered in all sorts of seashells

This Art Car doubled as a zeppelin.

World famous Crapper Car. The driver was sitting on the crapper

The Art Car was one of my favorites. Lobsters on the hood and the fish on the sides all moved in unison like a school of hipster fish

I've caught a bass that big before. I swear

This Art Car was smoking a ginormous cigarette. I hope it knows that smoking can cause Radiator Cancer

A cockroach for an Art Car. Yuck

This Art Car was carrying a T-Rex that breathed smoke

Art Car depicting the rock band Queen

Another view of the Queen Art Car and Freddie Mercury

This Art Car had a flying superhero on top

Texas-themed Art Car

Wonder if this is from the Jurassic Park movies...

Potheads probably wanted to smoke this Art Car made of grass

A peacock Art Car. Very creative

Mexican Wrestling, or Lucha libre!

These wrestlers were having an actual wrestling match on the car. Unfortunately, I did not see anyone get body slammed on the roof

This dude made himself into a hospital patient. Very clever

Never figured out how he was steering the bed

A Spider-Cycle. This thing legitimately scared several children near me LOLOLOLOL

Not really sure what this was. A unicron-zerbra-rocking horse-on wheels?

Absolutely gorgeous day to be outside at the Art Car parade

This guy must have spent a decade getting this car decorated just right

One of my favorites - an old guy dressed as Elvis driving a guitar. he also had an Elvis head on a skateboard that was controlled by remote control

Beautiful car. Reminds me of a wooden Delorean

Santa Car. Kind of cool. Definitely weird.

My Texas

Shortly after moving to Texas in 2014, I discovered Josh Abbott Band. Their music is fantastic and provides listeners with the sounds of what it’s like to live in Texas, including West Texas where front man Josh Abbott is from. One of their songs is titled “My Texas” and Josh Abbott sings about characteristics and places in Texas that if you haven’t seen, then you “ain’t met my Texas yet.” For anyone visiting or moving to Texas, it might represent a bucket list of sorts to check off, especially as Texans tend to restrict their travels to within the state. At 790 miles long and 660 miles wide with beaches, deserts, near-tropical green spaces, Texas has it all. And after living in Texas for almost 3 years, I have completed a good portion of Josh Abbott’s My Texas bucket list, which I wanted to share with you below. I thought I would list each place he sings about, and provide my thoughts if I have been there, with links or pictures where appropriate:

Josh Abbott’s Texas	My thoughts
Climbed up Enchanted Rock	(never been here but I definitely want to go)
Drank a cold Shiner down in Luckenbach
Taken your baby to the River Walk	The River Walk is a must-see in Texas. Make sure you take the boat tours of the entire River Walk, then go check out the Alamo.
Floated down the ol’ Frio	I floated the Guadalupe, which is close enough!
Heard Red Dirt music on your radio	Red Dirt music is everywhere in Lubbock. I used to walk by the Red Dirt Rebel radio station everyday on my way to work at Texas Tech University
Eaten Cooper’s down in Llano
Been to the Houston Rodeo	Houston Rodeo is one of my favorite things in Texas. Especially the World Championship BBQ Cook-Off that kicks off the whole rodeo
Sang “Carry On’ at a Pat Green show	I sang Carry On with Pat Green when he opened for Josh Abbott, so I should get double points for this
Seen an Abilene sunset	Abilene sunsets are pretty nice. Feels like you can see the whole Wild West when watching the sun go down there
Caught a trout in Port A
Heard the words to Corpus Christi Bay	Corpus Christi Bay is a classic Robert Earl Keen song. Keen is from Houston
Seen fireworks on PK	(never been to Possum Kingdom, which is a state park just west of Dallas, but it looks pretty awesome)
Had a kolache when you go through West
Heard of the Larry Joe Taylor Fest	Not only have I heard of LJT music fest, but I went a few years ago. One of the craziest weekends I have ever had but the music is fantastic there
Think polished pop country sounds the best	Polished pop country is trash
Been to the Ft. Worth stock show
Sang along with Cory Morrow	Got to sing along with Cory Morrow at the Houston Rodeo this year
Seen a hill country sunset	I’ve seen a  hill country sunset AND sunrise. Both are really nice
Hiked through Big Bend
Had your hair blown back by a Lubbock wind	Lubbock weather can be nuts. The night I moved to Lubbock, the wind and rain were so crazy that it was raining sideways and flooded my loft.
Been somewhere where they call you friend	They call you friend everywhere in Texas
Been to the San Antone rodeo
Sang “Everclear” at a Creager show	If you ever go to a Creager show, make sure you are prepared to get soaked with beer, because when he plays “Everclear” everyone goes nuts
Seen an El Paso sunset	El Paso sunsets are really cool, especially if you watch the sunset over the mountains that run through the middle of the city

If I had my own “My Texas” song (or bucket list), I would include the following:

• Sat on the Front Porch at Blue Light Live

• Park your car on the beach at Mustang Island

• Drank a Call-A-Cab at Tom’s in Lubbock

• Watched the Longhorns play at Memorial Stadium

• Sit on a rooftop bar on 6^th street

• Sang “She Likes the Beatles” with William Clark Green

• Thrown a tortilla at the Jones

• Watched the Aggies Midnight Yell

• Eat fresh caught seafood in Galveston

• Spend an afternoon on the USS Lexington 

• Nachos and DP Shootouts at Chimy's

• Late-night Taquitos at Whataburger

Front Porch at Blue Light Live in Lubbock

Sunset over El Paso mountains

Looking out to the Gulf of Mexico from Galveston Island

Sunset at Larry Joe Taylor Fest while William Clark Green plays "Rose Queen"

Pat Green!

Chuck wagon races at Houston Rodeo

My wife and I enjoying the BBQ Cook Off before the Houston Rodeo

Houston on a dime

I am incredibly cheap and have no shame in admitting that. A sucker for sweet deals, free stuff, and buy-one-get-one offers, I might be the most frugal person alive. When I first moved to Houston, I was worried that my frugalness might be coming to an end, that I would be forced to shell out my hard-earned dough at a higher pace just to get by as a result of higher costs of living in the Bayou City. $1500 a month for rent? My bank account screamed in terror. $200 a month to park at work? My body braced for a steady diet of Ramen noodles. $15 to park downtown?!? Hope my family enjoys homemade Christmas presents! 

To counter the expenses of living in a large city, I found ways to save, which I wanted to share here for other Houstonians who are either: A) also frugal or B) tired of The System always bringing us down. So read on about how I save money and then get out there and watch your pockets fill with cash:

1. Take the train. Parking downtown is free after 6 but if you can’t find a spot, you are stuck with parking garages that charge a $12-15 flat rate. Yuck. Not to mention the cost of driving to downtown, which might mean burning through half a tank of gas while stuck in traffic on I-45 or 288. I solved that problem by living near a metro rail line. It costs $1.50 for each trip, which is good for 3 hours. $3 to get downtown and back saves quite a bit on parking and gas. I also live close enough to my workplace to walk. All the money I have saved by not driving to work should help me retire by age 50. Suck it.
2. Go to free movie screenings. Before I moved to Houston, my wife and I paid to attend an average of one half a movie per year (which equals 1 movie every two years, in case you are bad at math). That poor woman. She missed out on seeing 3D and IMAX versions of The Hunger Games, Gravity, Guardians of the Galaxy, etc. and was forced to see them on redbox at home (in my defense, we did see Frozen in the theaters). In many cases, I would wait until the best movies were available to check out at the local library FOR FREE because redbox increased their prices from $1 to $1.50, WHICH IS A FULL 150% PRICE INCREASE! I am not a Kardashian and therefore cannot afford such obnoxious price increases. Anyway, I found out that many Houston movie theaters provide free movie screenings, which has enabled my wife and I to see almost any movie we want and not pay a damn dime to do so. Take that greedy movie execs! If you want to save money and attend free movie screenings, check out the Contest tab at backstageol.com and redcarpetcrash.com, click on any movie at advancescreenings.com,  or sign up for movie screenings in your area at sonyscreenings.com or lionsgatescreenings.com. You’re welcome.
3. Watch cover bands. My favorite bands of all time include Oasis, Nirvana, Sublime, and Rage Against the Machine, none of which are currently together in their original lineup (although you could argue Sublime is mostly still intact), and two of which have tragically lost their lead singers. And being the poor chap that I am, there is no way I could afford to see George Strait or Madonna (just kidding, who wants to see Madonna?) or other huge music acts. Enter the House of Blues in Houston, which regularly schedules cover bands, enabling me to see a short and fat Dave Grohl lookalike screaming “You know you make me breakout!!!!” And the best part? I pay ZERO AMERICAN DOLLARS to do so. I don’t even pay Mexican dollars or Canadian dollars. I simply signed up for the House of Blues newsletter and paid attention to their emails, which frequently announce shows you can attend for free by RSVPing by email. For an analysis of one such show, please read this blog post. Make sure you follow the House of Blues on twitter and facebook as well because they post contests for free concert tickets, which apparently are not that hard to win because I have won free tickets to at least 5 shows. I am not lying when I say that I have never paid to attend a single show there, including several non-cover bands.

   

   I saw The King of Pop for the price of a glass of water at Houston's House of Blues
4. Watch non-cover bands. In addition to the House of Blues, if you like going to concerts for free, make sure you follow Blackhorse Limo on twitter and keep an eye on their website. They host a free concert series where all you have to do for tickets is RSVP by email. Previous bands that have played include Theory of a Deadman, Puddle of Mudd, Saving Abel, Buckcherry, Dokken, Seether, and many more. Not bad for costing a total of nothing.

   

   Tickets to see Scott Weiland: $0. Seeing a classic rock artist perform months before he passes away: priceless

   
   

   
   

5. Watch live sports for free. Blackhorse Limo also regularly holds twitter contests where they give out Houston Rockets, Dynamo, and Astros tickets. I have never won any of the contests, but it is not for lack of trying. If I never win one, my life will feel incomplete.
6. Attend fan fests. If you are a big sports lover like I am, you can never get enough sports. I love being inside a team stadium and seeing its features, and also checking out the view from different seats. The best way to do that without paying money to get inside (outside of breaking in, which I highly discourage), is to attend the fan fests. The Astros, Rockets and Dynamo all host fan fests in their offseasons where you can go inside their respective stadiums and participate in various activities. About one month ago, I attended the Astros fan fest where I saw a tiny horse, watched some band play “Livin’ on a prayer”, then received a pack of baseball cards from 1989. The total amount of money I spent was NADA.

   

   Close up of me reaching for a fly ball at the Astros stadium

7. Get other stuff for free. Finally, the Houston Press has a contest page on their website where they give out all kinds of free things, including tickets to sporting events, movies, concerts, food festivals, as well as merchandise and other swag. It is worth checking out once in a while.

Hope you have enjoyed this list of ways to save money in Houston. PLEASE RETWEET TO SAVE A LIFE.