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    A Heights Monster

    Tracking Lady Gaga's Houston adventure: From the St. Regis pool to Dirt Bar

    Chris Baldwin
    Jul 27, 2010 | 7:02 pm
    • Lady Gaga rules at the St. Regis pool.
      Photo by Sandy Pictorica/NPG
    • Even a monster star needs a coffee pick me up now and then.
      Photo by Sandy Pictorica/NPG
    • Lady Gaga and a friend keep it interesting.
      Photo by Sandy Pictorica/NPG
    • Gaga found some time for some kissing, too.
      Photo by Sandy Pictorica/NPG

    Lady Gaga certainly gets around — Houston.

    While Gaga has already moved on (set to play the Pepsi Center in Denver tomorrow night), more details of her two-day blitz through the Bayou City are emerging. This Lady likes to have fun — and to surprise her Little Monsters.

    The pop sensation stayed at the St. Regis (OK that's not such an eye-opener, there are only so many five-star hotels to go around). But Gaga's Monday afternoon fun in St. Regis' pool certainly was — with photos of it acquired by TMZ.

    In the shots, Gaga is seen kissing her long-haired boyfriend Luc Carl, sunning herself, playfully wrestling another woman as both of them rode piggyback on male friends, pouring herself a cup of coffee and posing for a photo with other pool goers.

    Imagine heading out for a leisurely swim at your hotel's pool and finding the Gaga one there.

    Even after Lady Gaga finished her second high-energy, sold-out show at the Toyota Center Monday night, she still wasn't done with Houston. Post concert, Gaga hit Dirt Bar in the Heights, her second trip to the area in as many nights (CultureMap previously reported on how Gaga ate at Spanish Flowers Sunday night). Dirt is known for its all black walls and non-belief in lighting, but even in that setting — and even with the bar enforcing a strict no-photo policy — Lady Gaga did not go unnoticed.

    By this afternoon, several people were already tweeting about Gaga's appearance at Dirt, including someone associated with the bar. Gaga's opening act — Semi Precious Weapons — were at Dirt both Saturday and Sunday night. Maybe, they passed along a good report.

    One thing's clear: Lady Gaga sure seems to have gotten a kick out of Houston.

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    Movie Review

    Toy Story 5 proves that Pixar's toy box still holds some surprises

    Alex Bentley
    Jun 18, 2026 | 3:30 pm
    Bullseye, Jessie, Atlas, Smarty Pants, and Snappy in Disney and Pixar's Toy Story 5
    Photo courtesy of Pixar
    Bullseye, Jessie, Atlas, Smarty Pants, and Snappy in Disney and Pixar's Toy Story 5.

    For fans of Pixar, the idea that it’s been over 30 years since the original Toy Story came out is a little mind-boggling. While the animation studio has had varying degrees of success with their other properties, they’ve always managed to make something special with each installment of their signature franchise. They’re now rolling the dice yet again with Toy Story 5.

    The story is mainly focused on cowgirl toy Jessie (Joan Cusack), who — along with Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen), Hamm (John Ratzenberger), Forky (Tony Hale), and others — is concerned that new owner Bonnie (Scarlett Spears) is falling prey to the scourge of technology in the form of the tablet Lilypad (Greta Lee). They’re worried that the “friends” she makes through games online pale in comparison to those she could play with in person.

    Woody (Tom Hanks) and Bo Peep (Annie Potts), living an on-the-go lifestyle but still in touch with the main group, come to help when Jessie goes missing while trying to help Bonnie. And — just because — a large group of new-and-improved Buzz Lightyears that have fallen out of a shipping container that has crashed on an island go on a mission that puts them on course to meet up with everyone else.

    Written and directed by McKenna Harris and Andrew Stanton, the film is a mixed bag, mostly because of the disjointed nature of the story. When the group was separated in previous films, things rarely felt out of sync as everybody was still heading toward the same goal. But the different factions in this film seem to be after something different, especially the wholly superfluous addition of the fancy Buzz Lightyears, whose ultimate purpose doesn’t live up to the time dedicated to them.

    There’s no way around it: While Jessie is a good character and has a lot of great moments in this film, the relationship aspect of the series is not as strong this time around. She mostly spends time with her mute horse Bullseye, but even when she interacts with new characters like Smarty Pants (Conan O’Brien), that ineffable magic is not there. Woody and Buzz have scenes together, but since they’re secondary to the main story, they don’t add as much to this film as they have in others.

    However, even if the film can’t live up to the first four movies, it still makes for a fun time. The storyline about technology turning kids (and adults, for that matter) into zombies is a strong one, and the way they incorporate different devices is clever. The large number of characters is unwieldy, but when the filmmakers truly dig down to the personal lives of certain toys or humans, the film is as effective as Pixar has ever been.

    Cusack, Hanks, Allen, and other returning voices are so attuned to their respective characters that you know they’ll deliver each line perfectly. People like Lee, O’Brien, and Craig Robinson are welcome additions to the group, but it’s tough to get used to new voices taking over for actors who’ve passed like Don Rickles, Estelle Harris, and Carl Weathers.

    The pitch-perfect ending of Toy Story 3 made the idea of Pixar making Toy Story 4 seem strange, but then that film proved the studio knew what it was doing. While Toy Story 5 is not a disaster, it’s not to the standard set by the previous films. It should finally be time to put the franchise to bed, knowing that the toys have given all the joy they can give.

    ---

    Toy Story 5 opens in theaters on June 19.

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