CultureMap Countdown
Porcupine Tree, Jim Parsons and history of 420 make the list of CultureMap'smost-read stories
Who knew Porcupine Tree is so popular?Photoby Diana Nitschke
Should marijuana have its own holiday?Photo courtesy of WebMD
Jim Parsons has a lot of new fans.
CultureMap is getting around.This past week, The Alaska Dispatch cited Shelby Hodge's scoop that Sarah Palin had pulled out of the "Barbara Bush Celebration of Reading" and The Huffington Post provided a link to Caroline Gallay's story about director Joe Ballarini's interview with Michael Huffington. (The Houston oilman was an investor in Ballarini's movie, Father vs. Son, which recently won the best premiere at the Houston International Film Festival. Huffington also had a bit role in the film.)
Readers also heavily debated two columns on either end of the spectrum in our Green Living series: Evan O'Neil's piece on how some Houston companies are cozying up to eco-friendly organizations to burnish their image — a practice known as "greenwashing" — and Larry Bell's belief that global warming is a hoax. Our series ends April 30, so a wide range of green living stories will be showcased in CultureMap this week.
But the most read stories for the week of April 18-24 covered an eclectic range of subjects, including:
1. Waldo's, treasure maps, and plenty of weed: The history of 420
2. Forget Kate: Dancing with the Stars' wardrobe malfunctions the real hot story
3. Apple's secret police fall to arrogance in top secret iPhone caper
4. Don't let Europe's secret Porcupine Tree pass you by
5. Houston parking lot theater: Big Bang Theory's Jim Parsons looks back at his humble, local start
in addition to the green series stories, editors's picks of the week include:
1. Continental merger: Is our hometown airline taking off for the Second City? — Sarah Rufca is incredulous that if Continental and United merge, Houston will likely no longer be home to the new airline's headquarters.
2. My hairdresser left me for another man — How one Houston woman handled the news that she was losing her stylist, with tips on how to find the perfect hairdresser.
3. Tony Vallone makes a move on Montrose with new Italian eatery — CultureMap was the first to learn the famed Houston restaurateur's plans for a new casual but hip place in the old La Strada lower Westheimer location.
