CultureMap Countdown
Stories of the week: Paris, the Bachelor dust-up & Joel Osteen's multi-milliondollar mansion
Paris Hilton
Jake & Vienna in happier times
Joel Osteen
Photo by Cameron Blaylock
Photo by Gary Fountain
Paris Hilton sure seems to have a lot of friends. Chris Baldwin's defense of the celebutante after her false arrest for smoking pot at the World Cup was the most viewed story on CultureMap for the second week in a row, drawing hundreds of responses.
Fans gushed about Paris: "She's a class act of the first order!" one admirer wrote. Others were not impressed. "Seriously, Paris is brilliant?" one reader wrote in. "You're obviously the one smoking the ganja."
The dramatic confrontation between Jake and Vienna, who seemed so happy at the end of The Bachelor only a few weeks ago, also drew a lot of readers, with two stories making the top five. Our verdict: They're both a little crazy, but for once, we side with Vienna.
CultureMap was the first to report on Joel Osteen's recent real estate transactions. He wants to sell a vacant lot next to his former Tanglewood home (asking price: $1.1 million) after moving into a $10.5 million River Oaks mansion. The Lakewood minister, a leading proponent of the "prosperity gospel," certainly practices what preaches.
On my Facebook page, the discussion was heated.
"The property taxes on their one house could pay for 10 families to live quite comfortably," one critic wrote. "A far cry from my beloved little churches with holes in their roofs and the same Vicar for the past 30 years!"
"Good for him and his family," an Osteen admirer wrote. "No one seems to notice what actors, athletes, etc. pay for their homes. Seems like preachers, teachers, and law officers have a different code to follow. He has touched so many lives in a good way. Go Joel."
My favorite: "Please don't judge the Osteens harshly. Even if you believed in the virtue of humble living, would you want your kids to have to grow up in a rough 'hood like Tanglewood?"
Another story that elicited strong reaction was our seemingly benign story on a Fourth of July charity party at the home of John and Donna Speer. Because a dinner date with the host, Tami Ernst, drew frenzied bidding, we ran a playful headline that insisted no white slavery was involved. Some readers found the story and images of partygoers in Independence Day regalia disturbing, but Tami's friends came to her defense. The afternoon party raised more than $15,000 for Houston Children's Charity. Only in Houston!
I'm really excited about Katie Oxford's reports from the scene of the BP oil spill disaster. For the past few weeks, Katie has been on the ground and in boats in Louisiana, providing some of the freshest reporting I've read about the situation. I hope you'll check out her previous reports: meeting a Louisiana Indian who tells her like it really is, encountering some opportunists and finding beauty in the midst of the oil spill. A sample:
"For 45 minutes (while waiting for a can of oil) — I watched the easy flight of egrets, herons and cranes; saw white in the pelicans — as clean as my grandmother’s cotton sheets flapping on her clothesline; heard strength in voice alone of one horsefly, a sound similar to when my brothers got their burrs.
I was grateful that Russell sat in silence too. That he didn’t inject words into ecology. I looked away from this grand movie briefly to write what felt like music notes more than words ...
“The Quiet ... is so ... quiet is ... so quiet.”
Look for more reports from Katie, whose Tattered Jeans column runs on Wednesdays.
And check out Steven Thomson's audio photo essay on Lawndale's Big Show. Steven combined photos with the words of juror Paul Middendorf to tell the story in a much more vivid way. Press a button and hear Paul explain the judging process in his own words. We think it's a great format to tell a story — and there are so many stories waiting to be told in Houston. Look for more audio photo essays on CultureMap.
Most viewed stories:
1. Paris Hilton deserves more than an apology for that false World Cup pot bust
2. No matter how much ESPN pimps Brock Lesnar, it cannot make UFC any less dumb
3. The Bachelorette pulls Jake & Vienna back in for a throwdown: You thought the wrestler was good TV?
5. The Bachelor slugfest: Jake gets the last word but Vienna wins the match
Editor's Picks:
1. After move to $10.5 River Oaks mansion, Joel Osteen offers Tanglewood land for $1.1. million
2. An unexpected grave concern: Running out of oil in the middle of an oil spill
3. Blonde "Cute Young Thing" sold at auction, no white slavery allowed
4. Jurying the Big Show at Lawndale Art Center
5. The Real ER: Controlled chaos and bursts of drama mark a long night at Ben Taub
