editor

When I saw that headline I thought of the scene in Home Alone where the kid runs around the house with the music blaring and gets his first shave.

If you like listening to jazz stations online, check out WDCB. Really good stuff. I'll try your WWOZ.

They didn't ask her for any at the border. They asked for my DL, and when they saw it was Texas made a lame joke about, "So how many guns do you have in the trunk?" I guess the Canukistan border guard was too busy trying to be witty to think about asking her for ID.

Thanks for the pics! There's some really great new stuff gong up there. I'm originally from NYC (Brooklyn born), but have only been back twice in the last 20 years. HAIF has a sister site called New York Architecture Info. If the other 400+ photos are on Flickr, you can add them to the site's Flickr pool.

In my experience, ORD, YMQ, YYZ, CDG, and HKG are very tight making sure all documents are perfect, with YYZ and YMQ even having American ICE agents stationed there to handle things instead of the locals. WIT was tight, but I haven't been through since service was transfered to SPX, so I don't know if it's still a big deal, but it used to be. The second biggest illegal immigrant group in Chicago is the Irish. When there are those national immigration marches, the Irish always have a HUGE contingent. I think I read in the paper that there's something like 50,000 illegal Irish in Chicagoland. In 2002 my wife and I drove from Seattle to Vancouver. Getting into Canada was a breeze, but getting back they wouldn't let my wife through because she didn't have documents. I had my passport and Texas DL, but she didn't have anything. We were held up at the border for about a half an hour before they let her in. My understanding is that if push comes to shove and you have no documents, you have the right to sign an affidavit swearing that you're a citizen and they have to let you in. All that may have changed in recent years, though. Still, I can't imagine that no one ever loses their passport in an airport overseas while coming back to America. There has to be a mechanism in place to handle these circumstances.

Pipedreams! Thank you so much. For the life of me I couldn't remember the name of that program. It's fantastic, and a great companion to With Heart and Voice, which I think KUHF used to also run. I just looked it up and it turns out both are available in my area, and even on a station that just went HD a couple of weeks ago I've set an iCal alarm, so I won't miss them.

It's actually closer to Blue Ball, PA.

I'm not sure that's true. I remember reading in an ACLU brochure once that you don't even have to give your name. Of course, then the police have the right to take you to headquarters and fingerprint you to make sure you don't have any outstanding warrants. But I believe you have the right to absolute silence. Hopefully RedScare will chime in and let me know if I know what I'm talking about or not.

Sounds awful to me. Didn't we fight a 30-year cold war against just this sort of thing? I'm starting to understand why I keep hearing the phrase "Soviet America." If I'm not crossing a border and not in the act of committing a crime, the police should leave me the hell alone.

Ugh. Can't stand Fresh Air. Well, more to the point -- can't stand its host. I'd forgotten about KPFT. I used to listen to The Prison Show sometimes. It was compelling in some sort of way I've never been able to identify. Some of the shows you mentioned are obvious ("Blues Brunch"), but some aren't. Like, what's The Mason Jar about?

For some reason I've been listening to a lot of public radio lately. I'm not sure why. Years ago I used to listen all the time, but something turned me off to it. Now I'm exploring public radio a little more, especially since it's much easier to listen to the programs I want when I want thanks to the intarweb. My old favorite shows were A Prairie Home Companion Hearts of Space With Hearts and Voice A cooking show from WVXU A quiz show from WHA Marketplace Right now I'm listening (via internet) to a public radio station on an indian reservation in Wisconsin, and the inclusion of the occasional indian song is pretty cool. What are you favorite public radio shows (doesn't have to be NPR -- the world of public radio is much larger than that)?

There's a sign on Interstate 80 in Pennsylvania noting that the town of "Scotrun" is the next exit. For two years I drove by it thinking it said "Scrotum."

I can see the region adding three million people, but denser? The region still has plenty of space, and no authority that's compelling people to build more densely than they already are.

A lot of people have made great models on their own with toy bricks. Now Lego has an official architecture web site. Only five buildings so far, but I bet more will come. I've seen the Sears Willis Tower and John Hancock Center models in the gift shop in the basement of my building, and they're very simple, but still neat.

http://wausaudailyherald.com/article/20090724/WDH0101/90724123 I've been here. I'm not at all surprised that every word on this highway sign was misspelled except "exit."

These days people have to remember lots of user names and passwords. It can be a real hassle. So, if you don't want to, or simply can't, remember your HAIF login information, there are two things you can do. 1. Link your HAIF account to your Facebook account. This way when you visit HAIF, instead of entering your HAIF information you can click on the "Facebook" icon and enter your Facebook information. Or, even better, if you still have a Facebook cookie set on your computer you will be automatically logged in without having to enter information. To set this up, click on "My Settings" in the user drop-down box, then click "Profile" and then "Manage Facebook Connect." 2. Use your OpenID. This is a project which allows people to use the same username and password on bunches of different web sites. It's similar to Microsoft Wallet, which became Microsoft Passport, which became .NET Passport, which became Windows Live ID. But OpenID is much less evil. A lot of people already have OpenID logins and don't even know it. I was surprised to learn that the iChat ID (AOL Instant Messenger) I set up seven years ago works as an OpenID. If you use any of the following services, then you already have an OpenID: Google MySpace America Online AOL Instant Messenger iChat IBM Blogger Flickr LiveDoor LiveJournal SmugMug WordPress and more First, you have to link your HAIF account to your OpenID. To do this, click on "My Settings" in the user drop-down box, then enter your OpenID URL in the box provided. What that URL is depends on the service you're using as your OpenID. If you're using your AOL ID, then the address would be openid.aol.com/xxxxxx of course replacing the x's with your AOL screen name. Blogger is even easier. Use xxxxxx.blogger.com -- simple. Click this link to find the format for several services. Once you've done this, when it comes time to log in to HAIF, click the "OpenID" logo and enter your URL. By remembering this simple URL you can log into not only HAIF, but tens of thousands of other web sites like Kmart, the BBC, IBM, PayPal, and more. If OpenID seems complicated, don't worry -- it's not. Click this link for a great web page with a brief explanation. Need help? PM an administrator. Yahoo! supports OpenID, why can't I use my Yahoo! ID on HAIF? Because Yahoo! is a little ahead of the curve. Yahoo! supports version 2 of OpenID. HAIF is still stuck back at 1.1. Until our software provider upgrades its implementation of OpenID, there's not much we can do. It's not a high priority for the people who write the HAIF software, and doing it ourselves is beyond our technical capabilities.

It's a picture of a bunch of HPD officers with some guy handcuffed and bent over the trunk of a squad car while they search his pockets. It happened right below my window years ago (back when HPD cars were still blue), so I took a picture of it.

Nice campus, and great pictures. I'm aware of HBU from its business school (I think), but I've never been there, so thanks for the pictures.

Lots of cities have museums documenting their histories, and they're often the first place I visit as a tourist. Of course, there are lots of people who don't believe Houston should touch The Big T-Word with a ten foot pole, but then they're not the decision-makers, anyway.

So, when the nuns sold the hospital did they sell the professional building as well?

The Journal broke out of its Old Grey Lady stereotype back in the 90's. It hasn't been the paper most people think it is in more than a decade. Sure, there's still a lot of density, but there's a lot of good, readable, interesting content as well. When America gets down to seven or eight newspapers, I hope that the WSJ is one of them.

DA's First Hot Check Warrant Roundup Follows Record Restitution Houston, Tx - The first-ever District Attorney's hot-check warrant roundup resulted in 28 arrests and bonds by Friday morning, after an unprecedented amnesty period collected a record amount of nearly $130,000 in fees and restitution, District Attorney Patricia Lykos announced. Lykos credited the success of the roundup to the coordination and assistance with law enforcement agencies in Thursday and Friday sweeps at residential and business locations throughout the county. District Attorney's Investigators combined for the arrests with Sheriff Adrian Garcia's Office and all eight of the Harris County Constables' Offices. Many hot check writers had avoided arrest by making good on their hot checks, under the terms of the first District Attorney's Amnesty Offer announced earlier this month. From the July 6 start to the end of the amnesty program extension on July 24, more than 400 people paid the Division $129,745 in fees and restitution to be distributed to the hot-check victims. John Boone, Chief of the District Attorney's Check Fraud Division, said the final week resulted in record collections of more than $60,000 - about double what is received during a typical week. He warned that check fraud is an offense of theft, a serious crime that can carry long-term financial and personal consequences for offenders. Boone said the program achieved its goals, both for victims and the criminal justice system. "The amnesty payments enable us to expedite the return of the money to victims, which is especially important during this time of economic uncertainty," Boone said. "Bad-check writers who did not pay up are now under arrest and in jail. The sweeps show that we mean business -- this type of crime will not be tolerated in Harris County." The DA's Check Fraud Division plans more arrest roundups in the future, Boone said.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204119704574238073660408040.html?mod=googlenews_wsj#articleTabs%3Dinteractive The main article was about how Portland, Oregon became the skateboard capitol of the world. But the interactive graphic lists Houston's downtown skate park as one of the ten best in the nation.

Scott Kelby Worldwide Photowalk 2009 - Downtown Houston B&W -, originally uploaded by I-SEEN-IT. Black and white adds drama to this downtown scene. The darkened bridge leading to Memorial Parkway leads the eye to the bright lights of the big city. Thanks to I Seen It for the pic!

Scott Kelby Worldwide Photowalk 2009 - Houston Downtown -, originally uploaded by I-SEEN-IT. I Seen It's panorama of downtown Houston does a great job of using neutral colored clouds to bring out the color and detail in the city's buildings.