AtticaFlinch

Formerly Catholic hospitals that resemble protestant megachurches are happenin' places to party. Whenever I bring visitors in from out of town and drive past St Joe's, they always say to me, "Man, I wonder how big the dancefloor is in there."

All those refineries in Pasadena and Deer Park should be chock full of tourists and 24-hour party people. When you fly into Hobby at night, those are the best lit places along the entire Gulf Coast.

Yes, they're attention-getters... for the tourists. They serve as attention- repellents to the residents though. It makes a portion of the city virtually unusable to people who actually live there. How many Manhattanites actually visit Times Square?

So that's why Houston can't attract very many tourists! We haven't been targeting the moth demographic!

Yes, you must. I recommend boat loads of puff paint and a bedazzler. You'll have more pizazz than an Elton John/Madonna/Barbra Streisand concert.

Way to make this personal, guy. First, it's Flinch, not Finch. You're confusing me with my namesake Atticus Finch. While I may share many of his values, I cannot claim to have anywhere near the fortitude demonstrated by Harper Lee's character. Second, we often disagree, that's for sure. And while I crack jokes about religion and politics, I'm respectful of other people's religious beliefs. However, I don't respect intolerance and I don't respect violence in the name of God, any god. In fact, I'd like you to point out the specific comment that I wrote that left your religious sensibilities all asunder. Why don't you go through my entire post history and point them out? If you're offended because I abhor violence in religion, which may very well be the case considering your particular invitation to attend your concert (I guess you've got to do what you can to fill a seat for a prog rock concert these days), then I can't reason with you anyhow. Third, I'm confident my beliefs wouldn't fade from view simply because I'd have to speak to someone face-to-face. It's obvious you don't know me if you'd think that. And all that aside, threats of violence, for whatever reason, don't sit well with me. If you think I'm going to crumple like a fading violet simply because you threatened to fight me (what are you, in the fifth grade? You gonna make me eat a knuckle sandwich?) then you're sadly mistaken. Of course, I may take you up on the offer someday. I might just want to hear the poor man's Steve Perry fronting the poor man's Dream Theatre someday. When that day comes, I'll make sure my presence is known, no worries. It shouldn't be difficult to stand out in a crowd of ten people. Also, I may be classless, but I'm no wimp. I guarantee your personal assurance that a fight with me being a good idea would fade when you met me. Funny thing is Gary, I think it's you and your "ILK" who poison this site. I think you poison the entire idea of rational debate. The difference between you and me is I at least participate in the debate rather than sit around wringing my hands and crying that people disagree with me. Most of your post history is you complaining about how the site's no longer as good as it used to be, which is a common lament about all sorts of things for conservatives. Stop moaning and whining, and take a second and remove the log from your own eye before you try to remove the speck from mine.

I'm offended you didn't offend me on purpose. Unintended offenses are the most offensive, don't you think? Kinda like when a defensive tackle makes an interception and then a cornerback has to block for him?

Really? I think you're confusing religion and politics. That tends to happen with Republicans. Zing!

I really like the idea of putting the heads all around the city. Maybe they could be kept centralized within the loop or something, and that could easily fit the desires in that other thread looking for a marketable Houston landmark. It certainly would be unique.

Lighten up. I hate to disappoint you. Edit: And for what it's worth, when I was a kid I saw some Christian concerts there too. It was Carmen and Stryper if I'm not mistaken.

If that was free in coach, I'd never fly another airline.

I think the upgrades were a condition of landing the iPhone contract. Apple made them improve, not the consumers (at least directly).

Perhaps they could just put Maruchan Ramen Noodles on board and still provide it free. That stuff is way cheaper than a wilted lettuce sandwich.

I don't know. I kinda like it. Flying is such a mundane, prosaic task these days, I really don't mind a break in the monotony. For some reason, probably due to the intensity of the ambient noises associated with flying, I find it difficult to concentrate on a book, so I usually end up doing the sudokus in the in-flight magazine. That can only keep me entertained for so long, so if a wannabe comedian talling bad jokes or a wannabe Beyonce singing Boys II Men's "It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday" takes a little time behind the intercom, it's ok with me. Amen to that. Flying out of IAH makes me feel like cattle going to slaughter, while flying from Hobby makes me feel the same but in a much smaller abatoire.

Those websites make instant the price shopping, and as price is often the decisive factor in consumption these days, regardless of quality, those sites in turn instantly make more amenity-laden choices less attractive. I don't know how to make more clear what I'm saying, though I admit maybe I'm at fault for expressing my point less than adequately. It's like having a McDonald's, a Burger King, a Wendy's, a Jack in the Box and a Beck's Prime all on the same block, and you really want a burger but your only factor in making a decision as to where to eat is based on price. If all you want is a burger, and if one of those places is as easily accessible as the next, you probably won't shop at Beck's Prime. More to the point, if Beck's has trouble communicating to the general public that their product is superior, or worse, if the public couldn't care less about quality over cost, then Beck's had either downsize and devote themselves to a smaller, appreciative group of consumers or start mass-producing crappy hamburgers. In that example, the ease of access to all those burger joints is those travel websites, and considering Continental doesn't want to downsize, they're now mass-producing crappy burgers. I realize the prices are the same from the travel websites to the airline websites, but the big thing is that all those prices are in one place.

Ultra-competitive pricing is great for the consumer (strictly in terms of dollars) but bad for the airlines. In order for Continental to compete with a Southwest or a JetBlue (competition which Priceline, Orbitz and Cheaptickets forces with their itemization), they have to remove a ton of amenities. Most people couldn't care less about inflight food or even the skill level of their pilot if they can save $30 on their roundtrip. Anyhow, my point about the food not actually being "free" is that if the food is left on the menu at no additional cost, the airlines would have to cut costs elsewhere in order to remain competitive. While I realize the price of the ticket won't go down, they probably won't now have to lay off any maintenance staff or tenured pilots.

You don't think so? So... how do you think the airlines pay for the food? Do they magically conjure it up? It may have been an expense on their balance sheet regarded completely separately from their ticket revenues, but I assure you that you're paying for that meal in the cost of your ticket.

It wasn't free. It was just bundled into your ticket price. But considering that extra cost multiplied several thousand times over daily caused those who provided free lunch to be less competitive with those who didn't provide lunch, it makes more sense to just dispense with the cost altogether. I like cheap tickets as much as the next guy, but when I'm faced with concession stand prices for a bag of almonds, I recognize my own culpability in the matter. I'll still use Priceline, Orbitz and Cheaptickets to get my tickets, and I'll just fill up before I hop on board. It'll be just like going to the movies - and when my pilot's a pimply faced teenager because no adult would work for what an airline can pay, I'll recognize my culpability in that too.

I for one am going to miss the microwaved chicken cordon bleus and the sandwiches with wilted lettuce.

Got it here... ...but totally missed the point here. How many people have your login info?

Deleted non-G posts be damned. I think I've found a solution that would satisfy both your evil secret lair needs and citykid's signage-as-character needs:

I had a professor in grad school who used it at least once a week during lectures. He was in love with the concept. Had he not already been married, I don't think it would have been too far-fetched to have expected him to take the concept on a nice romantic dinner and gotten down on one knee. I, on the other hand, used to sit back in class and wonder, "Who is this Occam, and how does his shaving implement prove anything?"

It won't spill into the park. That area won't ever be anything but a park. If anything, it will expand, and already is expanding, south, east and west, and you may see even more development run-off trickle north of the park into the neighborhood Google Maps calls Binz.

The movie Crazy Heart had a substantial portion of its running time set in "Houston". I use the quotations because excepting the establishing shot of the main character's Suburban driving down Memorial with a shot of the skyline in the background, I don't think any of the rest of Houston was actually featured. I think the actual filming was done in Los Angeles.

No, that's next door. That's the lot I was referring to when I wrote this previously: