WIN FREE TICKETS FOR AN ENTIRE YEAR

StubDog.com is giving one lucky winner a FREE pair of tickets, each month, for an entire year. This is your chance to see the best events Houston has to offer, all year round on our dime!

It has always been our goal to provide you with great opportunities to experience all that Houston has to offer. StubDog has grown mostly by word of mouth, people like you telling your friends about us. That is why we want to reward you for all of your help. So tell a couple of your friends, co-workers, family members and anyone you think might be interested in great deals on great events.

Don’t miss this opportunity. Someone has to win.

Why shouldn’t it be you?

For more information visit StubDog.com

Any Houston native knows that Houstonians are suckers for the finer things in life– and wine and art may be two of the finest.  That’s why the city dedicates a weekend of each year to enjoying both, with “SpringFest.”

SpringFest is one of four major community events put on by the historical suburb of Old Town Spring, which was founded at the turn of the century as a quaint railroad town and remains Houston’s go-to spot for antiques and nostalgia.  The largest wine exhibition and tasting event in the area, SpringFest features fine wines and beers from more than 15 local wineries and microbreweries.  The fest also doubles as a massive art fair, where artists and craftsmen from all over Texas gather to showcase their original work, which includes everything from photography to hand-made furniture.  Meanwhile, local bands perform their tunes for festival-goers, and vendors offer gourmet treats and unique gifts.

The event itself is free, while tickets can be purchase for access to the wine tastings, the price of which includes a commemorative wine glass.  Ticket proceeds will benefit the Spring Preservation League, an organization of local shop and property owners dedicated to preserving and enriching the community of Old Town Spring.

The weekend of March 6, SpringFest patrons will soak up the spirit of Old Town as they enjoy some of the finest things in Houston– and in life.

While Texas has a relative small Jewish population (42,000 as of the 2000 census), Jewish Texans have a uniquely rich and colorful heritage.  From fighting in the Texas Revolution to Stanely Marcus founding Neiman Marcus in Dallas, the Jewish population has been integral in shaping Texas history and helping define what it means to be a Texan.  As such, Houston’s annual Jewish Film Festival is a must-go for any culturally-attuned Texan.

Presented by MFAH, the Jewish Community Center and Holocaust Museum Houston, the 6th Annual Jewish Film Festival will take place March 9-21, with screenings at each of the three institutions.  This year’s JFF features new documentaries, features and shorts from the international film festival circuit, curated by a committee headed by Susan Schneider and Irene Weingarten.  Among the eclectic selection of features is “Ajami,” a provocative drama in Arabic and Hebrew about life in the Jaffa neighborhood, co-directed by an Israeli and a Palestine, as well as “Flame and Citron,” the blockbuster true story that has been called the Danish “Inglorious Basterds.”  Documentaries include “Four Seasons Lodge,” which follows a group of Holocaust survivors on their annual summer retreat together, and “The Case for Israel,” an award-winning argument for Israel’s right to exist.

The Jewish Film Festival is a great way for Jewish Texans to celebrate their heritage, and for non-Jewish Houstonians to learn more about the Jewish experience.  *Tickets purchased before the end of the month will benefit the relief efforts of Doctors Without Borders.*

In light of the recent drastic decrease in donations to Haiti relief organizations, this month, StubDog.com, Flavorpill and more than a dozen venues and arts organizations in NYC, LA, Houston and Dallas are partnering to raise money for Doctors Without Borders.  All proceeds from tickets sold the week of Feb. 22 will go directly to the organization to support its relief efforts in Haiti and around the world.

Since 1971, French humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontieres) has been working to provide emergency medical assistance to populations around the world, specifically those affected by violence, neglect or catastrophe. In 1999, the organization received the Noble Peace Prize for its profound charitable impact.

StubDog is honored to work with such a prestigious organization; we hope the money raised will help enable them to continue their phenomenal work.

Participants in the “Unite for Healing Haiti” event include Ars Nova, ComedySportz, Crown City Theatre, Houston Ballet, Houston Family Arts Center, Main Street Theatre, Musiqa, Murder Mystery Los Angeles, OC Roller Girls, Pacific Resident Theatre, Pocket Sandwich Theatre, SPQR Stage Company, The Duplex, The Kitchen, Unity Theater, and many more.

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When most people think of Mardi Gras, a.k.a. “Fat Tuesday,” they inevitably think of booze and beads on the streets of New Orleans.  But there’s a south-of-the-Equator party city whose pre-Lent debauchery easily puts the Big Easy to shame: Rio de Janeiro.

From breathtaking beaches to the skimpiest swimwear on the planet, Rio is known for being excessive in everything it does, and why should Fat Tuesday be any different?  The city’s four-day festival preceding Lent, called Carnaval, is Brazil’s most anticipated holiday.  Revelers hit the streets in elaborate costumes to dance, drink and– well, sin– in a raging 24-hour party that many say is incomparable to anything in the US.

That said, Americans don’t have to be excluded from the festivities entirely, as major cities offer their own renditions of the Brazilian holiday next week.

In Houston, Kahlua Disco is hosting an all-night Carnaval celebration, which will feature the infectious sounds and revelous atmosphere of Rio.  The Samba Samba Dancers will don glittery costumes and dance to authentic Samba, axé and marchinha music, performed live by Katia Moreas and Pure Samba.  Renown Texas capoeira master Mestre Cafu will perform the traditional Brazilian art, which combines dance, singing and martial arts.

Meanwhile, the left coast will kick off its own celebration with Downtown LA’s 10th Annual Brazilian Carnaval at Nokia Live.  For the past decade, the event has been one of the area’s most anticipated Carnaval celebrations, usually selling out and drawing crowds of 3,000+.  The party includes authentic Brazilian food, drinks, music, and dance, and one lucky reveler will win a free trip to Brazil.  Headlining the show is legendary Brazilian trio elétrico Armandinho (often called the Brazilian Jimi Hendrix), Dodo & Osmar, along with renown percussionist Chalo Eduardo, who has performed with the likes of Santana, Sergio Mendes and Ricky Martin in the span of his 20-year career.

Mardi Gras may always be synonymous with New Orleans in the U.S., but its cool to know that there’s an even more raucous and sinful alternative, and it doesn’t require a trip to Rio.

What began as two buskers performing on the streets of Brighton, England has become a global off-broadway sensation that is still going strong after a decade and a half.  Now in its sixteenth year, touring percussion hit STOMP has performed in more than 350 cities and 36 countries around the world, continuing to be met with rave reviews and countless awards, and was named one of Entertainment Weekly’s top 50 greatest productions since 1983.

Creators Steve McNicholas and Luke Creswell founded the dance and percussion troupe STOMP in 1991, which performed in the UK for a time before touring the world and eventually launching into an off-broadway phenomenon with its 1994 debut at NYC’s Orpheum Theatre.  And while it’s hard to believe that a 90 minute show void of costumes, dialogue or any real plot could be so entertaining as to remain a hit ever since, STOMP has captivated audiences in a way that is unlike any other theater performance of its time.

The brilliantly chaotic show takes modern dance and slapstick comedy and pairs them with thunderous percussion –created using non-instrumental items, ranging from trashcans to tires to boxes of cereal– that sounds like fun and infectious tribal music.  Meanwhile, the eight performers’ unique personalities, communicated strictly through sound and motion, charm the audience without saying a word.

STOMP makes its return to Houston next week, and will feature a several 2010 additions, including fresh props and new routines, for an experience that promises to be more toe-tappingly irresistible than ever.

Any Gen Y-er who watched television in the 90s remembers Tom Green, the obnoxious yet hilarious Canadian darling of MTV who defined TV pranking and gross-out humor.

But today, Tom Green’s glory days as an MTV icon have long since passed, and after a somewhat embarrassing stint on “Celebrity Apprentice,” many would say the comic has been relegated to hasbeen status.  However, Tom Green Show fans will disagree– after all, who could deny that Green was funny in his heyday?   And sure enough, Green is ready to make a comeback…with a worldwide standup comedy tour.

Launched in the US in 1999, the Tom Green Show was hosted by Green and his longtime pal Glenn Humplik, and featured segments of Green performing outrageous stunts, harassing people on the street, and singing ridiculous songs.  The show was hugely popular, and when the plug was pulled in 2000 due to Green being diagnosed with testicular cancer, it remained a staple of MTV programming, even experiencing a brief revival as a late night talk show.

Though best known for his wacky sketches, Tom Green says his first introduction to comedy was via standup.  He performed in local clubs in Montreal as a teen, before launching into a briefly successful hip hop career.  The comic says he’s always wanted to go back to standup, and after spending months writing and practicing in L.A., he’s finally ready to give it another shot.

The tour launched earlier this month in Canada and will continue through April, with shows in New York, Chicago, Houston, Dallas, and other major U.S. cities.  Audiences can expect the same zany, interactive and totally unpredictable brand of humor that characterized the Tom Green Show.

Choosing a single organization that defines Houston’s super-diverse art scene might very well be impossible…But if we had to narrow it down to two, Fresh Arts and Glasstire would seem like pretty solid choices.

The Fresh Arts Coalition is a collective of small and mid-sized Houston-based arts organizations.  Founded shortly after 9/11 when most art scenes –including Houston’s– were struggling, the non-profit organization was created with the goal of uniting emerging arts groups with small budgets.  By sharing knowledge and resources, the organizations could grow and expand their presences in the community.  Today, Fresh Arts’ roster is a who’s-who of the scene’s most influential art organizations, including Talento Bilingue, Opera in the Heights, Main Street Theater, and Stages Repertory Theatre.

Meanwhile, Glasstire has long been the online source for all things Texas visual art.  Named for Texas native Robert Rauschenberg’s famed tire sculptures, the site has been helping to shape the scene for nearly a decade with its musings on Texas art and the art world at large.  While covering openings, et al. at giants like MFAH and Menil, Glasstire also keeps readers posted about goings-on at off-beat and under-the-radar spots like notsuoH.

Each year, Fresh Arts and Glasstire team up for a gala benefiting Houston art organizations.  Honoring the “-ball” theme of its predecessors (”Snoball,” “Fireball”), this year’s bash is dubbed “Be the Ball,” and will feature an auction of work from Houston’s hottest artists, and enforce a strict “Caddyshack couture” dresscode.  The fete, which was postponed last month due to snow, marks the start of a new year of Houston art– sure to be as fresh as ever thanks to FAC and Glasstire.

Judging solely from its name, one would expect the Houston Hobby Center to be a quaint community center that hosts quilting bees and scrap-booking parties.  But upon seeing the HHC, a visitor quickly realizes that it’s anything but a place for Texan soccer moms to do arts and crafts.  Made of 60-foot sheets of glass, the massive, architectural wonder known as the Houston Hobby Center was designed by reknown architect Robert M. Stern with the goal of catering to cultural connoisseurs from around the world.  The state-of-the-art entertainment complex, located in the heart of Houston’s arts district, is the stunning result of a $102 million dollar effort to create an opulent home for the region’s finest theater.

The HHC hosts acclaimed touring Broadway productions in the swank Sarofim Hall, an accoustically tailored 2,650-seat theater, while the center’s smaller but equally luxe Zilkha Hall welcomes more intimate performances from local theater organizations.

Among Zilkha Hall’s regular performances is “Uniquely Houston,” HHC’s program series that celebrates diverse Houston-based talent by providing small and local non-profit performing arts organizations with the resources they need to maximize the quality of their productions.  The 2010 Discovery series, a part of Uniquely Houston, showcases classroom-oriented music, theater and dance performances from Houston’s Musiqua and Travesty Dance Group.

But the extravagant HHC is still best known as an elegant place for patrons to experience world-class theater on the third coast, and the center’s calendar is dominated by some of Broadway’s most successful touring acts.  This season’s “A Chorus Line” is a nine-time Tony Award-winning production, and the longest-running Broadway musical ever, while “Cirque Dreams: Illumination” is the stunning sequel to Neil Goldberg’s Broadway hit “Cirque Dreams: Jungle Fantasy.”  And residing permanently at the Houston Hobby Center is Theater Under the Stars, an acclaimed production company whose internationally-touring performances have raked in Tony Awards since its 1968 founding.  Sarofim Hall’s domed fiber-optic ceiling brings the Texas night sky to TUTS’ for an even more breathtaking theater experience.

While its name may be unassuming, you can be sure that there’s nothing quaint or down-home about the Houston Hobby Center.

Uninformed residents of LA and NYC might scoff at the suggestion that Houston is one of America’s premier cities for fine art.  But the cultural loss would be theirs, for having never visited the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, one of the country’s largest and most impressive art museums, founded nearly a century ago and defiantly far from either coast.

The MFAH got its start in 1900, when a group of Houston civic leaders founded the Houston Public School Art League, an organization for “the encouragement of art and culture in the public school system.”  The first MFAH building opened its doors in 1924, making it the first art institution in Texas and the third in the South.

Seventy-five years later, the MFAH is a massive fine art complex that hosts 300,000 square feet of space for displaying fine art and welcomes more than 2.5 million patrons each year.  The museum’s collection is one of the most extensive and diverse in the nation, featuring more than 60,000 works of art dating from antiquity to the present and representing civilizations of Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas, while specializing in Italian renaissance paintings, French Impressionist works and American art.  The museum also boasts two art schools and has extensive community outreach programs, upholding the founders’ mission of bringing art to public institutions.

Aside from being a historically important fine art museum, the MFAH is known today for its outstanding film programming.  The Brown Auditorium at MFAH is Houston’s oldest repertory cinema, having sponsored film exhibitions since 1939.  Today, the theater showcases a wide range of vintage and contemporary films, and frequently schedules appearances by prominent figures in the art world.

So let oblivious Angelenos and New Yorkers laugh — Texas will never be a “fly-over” state to art lovers, thanks to the MFAH.