It's so very rare that I brag about 6° Lounge, and you KNOW I'm being sarcastic, because it's one of my favorite topics. Anyway, let me just tell you if you are one the maybe TEN Houstonians that were not here (really, the whole city was in 6° for the Martini Mix-off last Thursday,) then you missed a smashingly-good time. Congrats to our first place winner, Celise Keller of the Ruby Room, with her creation called the Jenna Jameson X-rated-tini. You'll see Celise's martini featured as the drink of the month in the September issue of ENVY magazine and it will also be featured on the Fall Martini Menu at 6°. The martini menu launch party will be called REMEDY and will take place on Wednesday, September 7th at 6° Lounge, so plan to be here. Freelance Bartender, Tony Hall, took second place honors with his Mint Chocolate ART-tini and Collin White of Mia Bella Restaurant on Lexington placed third with his 8" Banana Martini. The next Martini Mix-off will take place on Thursday November 3rd, so get your recipes ready. Here's the link to watch the video of the competition http://www.g3live.com/. G 3 Live is the official show of all the future Martini Mix-off competitions so you will always be able to see it on their show. Thanks to Houston Press, the Chronicle and ENVY for also being here. Celise will not be competing in the next competition and will be one of our judges so everyone else has a chance to win. Contact me to register, as space is rapidly filling up and we limit it to ten contestants, four have already signed up. Thanks to Theo Lapus and Kenny Haner for taking photos at the Mix-off and look for those on our site soon.

It's close to that time of the year when www.citysearch.com has its "Best of Houston" voting going on. The voting starts on August 25th. I guess you know where I'm going with thisI would love you forever if you nominate and vote for 6° as best happy hour, best place to see and be seen, best martini, best place to go on a first date, best 30+ singles bar, best bartenders, best after-work bar and best singles scene. Thank you for that. If you haven't ever checked out www.citysearch.com, I HIGHLY recommend that you do. It is an excellent resource for nightlife, spas, hotels, restaurants and other businesses. If you travel, you can use www.citysearch.com to get information for other cities. Again, may thanks to all of you who voted for 6° in the Chronicle's Ultimate Houston Awards. The results will be published next month and you are guaranteed an invitation to a celebratory party here, if we win.

For right now, it's time to vote for the Houston Scene Awards. Here's the link, but you will need to send your email of votes to info@hsm2.com. One vote per email address, and they DO check email addresses, so no cheating. You can also print the ballot, fill it out and mail it to the address on the ballot, by going to this link: http://www.hsm2.com/sat2.htm. There are 27 categories, and I hope you will vote for 6° in all those that we apply to. Again, there is no best newsletter or marketing director categories in this contest either, so suggest they add that for next year. I feel left out for not having those categories ever mentioned.

Fashion Group International of Houston and Emerging Leaders will present "Fashionably Loud, A New Designers' Showcase" on Thursday, August 18th, which will be an evening of high-speed fashion and rock and roll. Preview the works of Houston's hottest new designers including: Brigget Beatty, Alex Chapman (I went to college with him!) Kia Gardner, Ruby Marquez, Michelle Ngo and Silvio Ortega. Millennia models will strut down the runway to the sounds of local band "Friends of the Enemy." There will also be a silent auction featuring a chance to win round trip airline tickets. Proceeds benefit Houston Downtown Alliance Emerging Leaders young professionals group and Fashion Group International, Inc. of Houston. It all gets revved-up at Advantage BMW Midtown, at 2101 San Jacinto, beginning at 7:00PM. Tickets are $25.00 in advance or $30.00 at door and are available online at www.downtownhouston.org or by calling 713-658-8938. Cocktails will be provided by Absolut Vodka and appetizers will be from Fleming's Steakhouse and Massa's Restaurant.

After Fashionably Loud, you should SHIFT gears and roll into 6° for our new SHIFT Thursdays Launch party this Thursday. Brandon Silva is our new resident DJ and each Thursday he brings in guest DJs during the night so the mood is always shifting. You will receive the eflyer on Tuesday about or new Thursdays and the eflyer will be posted on our web site www.sixdl.com. Special thanks and appreciation goes out to our very own doorman, Mr. Brian Durand for his expert work on the outstanding design and also for coming up with the SHIFT name. Thursdays are off the hook at 6°. We will also have an Erotic Cabaret fashion show this Thursday brought to you by Bella Productions.

Breathe is a new Houston-based web site that caters to our city's contemporary culture. Breathe has transcended from an e-column to a blog site, and now to a high-end multimedia web site. The site features nightlife, restaurant, movie and concert reviews and listings, as well as music reviews, latitude (special events), gravitate (up and coming talents), fashion and much more. Jaquari Harris has created a website unlike any other in Houston, and after your first visit, you'll see what I mean. Breathe gives it's readers a mature, yet edgy outlook at what our great metropolitan oasis has to offer. Breathe is designed to take it's readers on a virtual tour that will keep them coming back as often as their mind, body and spirit will allow. www.breathemultimedia.com.

Looking for a great party with other single people and a super price on tickets to a Comedy Show? Listed below are three upcoming comedy events in three different areas of town, hosted by www.HoustonSingleSource.com. The new www.HoustonSingleSource.com has launched and it's red hot. As an introduction to all the new features on the site, you can get a free month. Here's the 411 on the comedy events. Friday, August 19th is the HSS South Side Comedy Party with Andrew Norelli. Cost is only $8 for Houston Single Source Members and non-members are $15. Join today at www.houstonsinglesource.com. Friday, August 19th is also the party on the West Side at ComedySportz Improv. Cost for that show is only $5 for HSS members and non-members pay $12. Last, but not least, on Thursday, August 25th is the Central part of town's event at the Laff Stop, starring Reno 911's Officer Garcia, the one and only Carlos Alazraqui. That show is only $5 for Houston Single Source members and non-members pay $15. Visit www.laffstop.com for more comedy details.

Check out the newest web site called www.TexasHappyHours.com and find out information and pricing for over 130 bars all over Houston. If you are looking for the happy hours for a specific day of the week in a certain area of town, just go to www.TexasHappyHours.com and click on the day of the week. Then, either browse all the listings for that day, or click on an area of town to narrow down the listings. Don't see your favorite bar? That's easy to fix, send www.TexasHappyHours.com information and it will be posted within a few days. www.TexasHappyHours.com makes every effort to ensure that the hours are the most current. Each listing has pertinent happy hour information as well as the last time the facts were updated. Texas Happy Hours periodically emails establishments to verify that their information is the most current, and forums are soon to come. Be sure to check it out the next time you meet your friends for happy hour. 6° Lounge is mentioned on the site, so I love it, already!

NEWS IN THE BIZ: Denver Huffmeister is bartending at the Tavern on West Gray. He is one of my favorites and participated in the Martini Mix-off, and he will compete again in November. Chris Lawless is bartending at Red Star. Chris Frankel, who set aside law school to pursue a career in the nightclub biz because he wants to own a bar someday, just got a job at Little Woodrow's. Come meet our new 6° happy hour bartender, the precious Marissa (also at the Whiskey and the Flat) who will be here from 5-9 on Thursdays and Fridays. Nell Russell will be at 6° 5PM-2AM on Wednesdays and you can also find Nell at the Market Square Grill.

This Saturday is the next Spoiled Boyz after hours party featuring Champa Moore and Josh Gram. These are spectacular parties, and this one will be Champa's last time to play at a Spoiled Boyz event because he's moving to New York soon. View your invite at http://www.spoiledboyz.net/html/newCalendar.htm. Hope to see all of you there!

www.BayouCityOutdoors.com invites you to play on Friday August 26th. Join Bayou City Outdoors, Shiner Bock, Sun & Ski, and Latin Fusion, live! Everyone is invited and there's no cover charge, but you'll want to RSVP early to avoid the line at the door. Get rockin' with Latin Fusion, enjoy a free Shiner Bock beer, Pepsi, and snack on Clif Bars while picking up the latest issue of Outside magazine. All the while you're mixing and mingling with fun, friendly, active Houstonians in a cool sports store with gear galore (hiking, biking, camping, skiing, wakeboarding, etc.) Everyone receives 15% off ANY non-sale item purchases, plus giveaways and lots of cool stuff during this event at Sun and Ski Sports Store at 6100 Westheimer, beginning at 6PM.

Pre-register by calling 713-524-3567 or on line at: www.bayoucityoutdoors.com.