One good trip: I kept hearing about a place called Indigo Lounge, at 2151 Richmond in Shepherd Plaza, that opened in July. For a birthday party, a group of us checked it out. It has GOT to be Houston's hottest Latin Lounge. It’s said to attract a "Latin 90210-type crowd" whatever the hell THAT means, but on the Saturday we went, I can give you a first-hand account that the room was filled with some of the most beautiful people I’ve ever seen. Indigo Lounge is open for Happy Hour from 5pm-9pm Wednesday through Friday and the club hours are Wednesday through Saturday from 8pm-2am. The website is pretty cool too, www.loungeindigo.com. I’m a veteran of Houston nightlife, having been going out for 20 years and in the nightclub business for 9 years, and I can honestly say this was probably one of THE BEST "going-out" experiences I’ve ever had. I had emailed General Manager, Carlos Ibarra to let him know I’d be coming in. There was a line at the door, so when we reached the front (I’m not a snob, and I DO wait in lines) I asked the doorman, Armando, if I could speak to Carlos. The place was packed and so he might have been a little put-out by having to find Carlos for me, so he wasn’t as congenial to me as I’m accustomed to. He did his job efficiently, but was not the friendliest, by any means. Carlos soon appeared and was a kind and gracious host. The bar was busy, with about two or three people in line for each bartender, but the lines were moving quickly and I noticed that every guest was being taken care with a smile. I think that is one of the most important qualities in a bartender. I couldn’t help but notice two female bartenders, Mariana and Marissa, who were absolutely gorgeous ladies. We were quickly and efficiently served our drinks by bartender Brian Tooman, who I’ve known for several years.

Carlos introduced me to one of the owners and I was so impressed with the fact Indigo is owned by a woman. The overall visit was one I won’t soon forget. From Indigo, our posse headed downtown to Mint (511 Main) which is now called " 511" on Saturdays and I was impressed with the Latin crowd frolicking there that evening. It was a gathering of the "beautiful people" as well. From 511, we stopped by Slainte for a nightcap, and ran into a few other friends there. There is an after-hours place called 20/20 and the clientele is mostly people in the industry wanting to unwind after their shift and listen to great music before the drive home. I’m glad we stopped by because there were several people it was nice to see again. Bartenders OT from Opus and Wes from Suede, Manager of the Balcony at Home Plate, Jose, Mike Sosa security for everywhere, it seems, and 20/20’s manager, Sonny. It was a terrific evening.

Here’s a tasty dish; PHAT Tuesdays at the Gatsby. The recipe starts with $4 drinks all night long. Then, stir in DJs Chad, Klean Cutt, and Baby Jae (these guys really know how to get things cooking and they are guaranteed to get you dancing) Another important ingredient to know is doors open at 10pm and there’s a dash of house music from 10-12 and hip hop from 12-2, blended with MC Aggravated on the mic entertaining the crowd. Your evening will be served to you by Joe Applewhite and Ryan Echiverri, who have been promoting PHAT Tuesdays for over two years, strong! Several hundred people show every week, adding plenty of spice to the night, which is sponsored by www.vinylpimp.com.

Mikel Marketing recently celebrated their Fifth Anniversary with a stellar event at their facility in Midtown. Mikel is located at 2000 Bagby, Suite 112 and is a full service public relations, special events management and production company dedicated to helping companies enhance image, increase their visibility and build momentum. For more information on this company call 713-807-1133 or send an email to info@mikelmarketing.com to request to be added to their elite monthly newsletter. Congratulations to Mimi Dinh and her staff for a grand five years of business.

I found a cool website called www.collegebarscene.com that lists college bars across the country with ratings on important criteria such as the prices, the smokiness and the general level of attractiveness of the patrons. CollegeBarScene.com has been open to the public since May 2004. During that time, creators Brandon O'Brien and Eric Johney have added over 1700 bars from college campuses all across the country. The site allows members the ability to comment on all the bars and cocktails so other people can see which ones they like. In October, a Mixed Drinks section was added to the site. There are currently over 1800 mixed drink recipes. O’Brien, a senior in the School of Technology at Purdue University, said that one day last fall he was just driving around and the idea hit him: Wouldn’t it be nice to have a list of all the bars in the area? He and his friend Eric Johney, a senior studying computer graphics technology, spent much of the fall and spring semester setting up the site, creating all the graphics and code. "He told me about it last fall and I really liked the idea, so we pretty much spent months coding the thing," said Johney, who met O’Brien in their freshman-year high-school Spanish class in Carmel, Indiana. "We kind of had to learn a lot along the way." There are currently about thirty-nine Houston bars and nightclubs listed on the site, and the site’s members have ranked Houston’s very own Ruby Room as the most popular establishment. Also ranking in the top 10 is Dixie Chicken in College Station, and Slainte Irish Pub. Membership is free, and for all you club owners and promoters out there, it is also FREE to list your bar on the site. I’ve been in touch with Brandon and he is anxious to see how many new Houston members and bars will be added as a result of being mentioned in Queen of Clubs. There are also some forums on the site to discuss common College Topics, like sports, food, classes, drunken ramblings and a few others. I wish Eric and Brandon tons of success with this fantastic website. It’s a great one!

November 20th is the deadline for Sportsmonkey’s Breckenridge Ski Excursion. They are heading to the incredible slopes of Breckenridge February 24th-28th! Nightlife in Breckenridge will never be the same after the Sportsmonkey Crew blows through town. Packages start at $629.00. Any event or trip planned by the boys at Sportsmonkey (formerly Clubmonkey) is sure to be a blast. For further details on this trip or to see what other events or sports leagues are going on, visit www.sportsmonkey.com. Stay tuned for their Bi-Annual Pajama Pub Crawl in the Spring. Some of my other favorite Sportsmonkey events are the Annual Pimp and Prostitute Ball at Halloween and their phenomenal New Year’s Eve Bashes. Also, don’t forget November 20th because Six Degrees Lounge is opening and will take this city by storm! I’ll be there, will you? Six Degrees is at 911 Franklin and you’ll be pleasantly surprised to see where some of your old favorites, who’ve worked for other clubs, have landed.

Our lighting distributor for the Ruby Room is Trey Warren, and I think quite a bit of him, so I thought I’d let my dear readers know what he offers, in case you’re ever in the market for lighting. LBX specializes in club and restaurant lighting to create the right ambience and mood, but of course they can do home or office interiors too. We all know lighting is crucial in this industry, and it’s one of the factors that can make or break a club. LBX Lighting, Inc. provides lighting solutions, bulbs, and fixtures for both residential and commercial use and bulbs, transformers, and ballasts for both indoor and outdoor applications. I’m "wow-ed" by Trey’s expertise, customer support, and competitive pricing and he personally delivers light bulbs to the Ruby Room and his other customers free of charge in the Houston area. He’s a hottie too, and we all know the Queen’s rule that life is too short to conduct business with ugly men. Trey can be reached at 713-829-2800.

If you’re wondering what the funniest Halloween story reported to me was, let me just say it was an "incident" on Main Street that involved a woman’s thong and her "hairy assets." We’ll just leave it at that, because I forgot to say no X-rated versions of stories. Oh, and one last thing on the topic of "X-rated," wherever you see it, try X-rated, which is VERY pink, and is a sensuous fusion of ultra premium vodka, exotic natural fruit juices and has a touch of cognac. Trust me, it’s good stuff. The creator has an irresistible French accent and I had the opportunity to meet him through a liquor rep, so I tried a sample and enjoyed every drop.

Well, the end is here, so until next edition, be good my darlings…or if you can’t be good, at least be good at it.