editor

Ah, yes... the old neighborhood. Why are all the trees dead? And why doesn't anyone clean up the mess?

The article fails to mention that there's a Fox Sports Grill in Chicago. I wonder if other locations were also left out.

You're kidding. He wimped out ? Did he not think that copying someone else and failing to provide an original Phillip Johnson design, which was the reason for his being chosen for the project in the first place, would bring the ultimate criticism and damage to his reputation?

Maybe he was trying to get away from the stereotypical Johnson design. Maybe he was bored with it. When Ghery was commissioned for Chicago's Millennium Park he wanted to do something very very very different. The city said "no" -- it was paying for a "Ghery" and it wanted structures that looked like Ghery's. He was not able to turn his vision into reality. Of course, for a piece of a $450,000,000 contract, I'd put my visiion on hold, too.

Of course, not everyone thinks very highly of Johnson:

Lived in Glass House, Threw Stones

How Philip Johnson lost his way.

By Witold Rybczynski

Link

A great read, but I'm not sure it's fair to criticise someone for evolving their style. I'm a much different photographer now than I was ten years ago. Actors get better and change their styles over the years. So do musicians. Though I prefer old R.E.M. songs to the 90's R.E.M. songs, I recognize that they have changed and evolved (though they seem to have come full circle recently).

Of course, it's very much like Slate to cut someone else down, espeically after they're dead. Slate expends too much effort in pointing out other people's flaws, and relatively little time celebrating victories and the more pleasant things in life. I think it stems from their roots as fledgeling internet writers trying to build cache among the surfing masses by putting on a curmugeon attitude and a fedora to cover up their lack of journalistic credentials.

I think it might also be person-to-person. When I was alone I was less creative and artistic than after I got married. Of course, I married an artist, so that might have something to do with it.

From the Houston Architecture Info web site (natch):

Bank of America Center

Chapel of Saint Basil

Pennzoil Place

Williams Tower

UH College of Architecture Building

Of course, how much involvement Johnson, himself, had will vary. Some just have his company's name on them. I don't know much about him, so feel free to correct me on any of these buildings.

Perhaps someone a little smarter than me could list the projects completed in 2004, and the ones planned for 2005.

Now the question is -- will it actually be an "international festival" or will it be the same crappy art vendors and the same crappy food vendors selling the same stuff they sell at every festival?

I stopped going after the year it was supposed to be a French theme. There was virtually nothing French there. I think there was an Eiffel Tower made out of sand and a place where you could sample som wine. Otherwise, it was the same stupid art vendors selling non-French art and the same food wagons selling Mexican food. All Houston festivals look the same these days.

I like the building's design (given it's purpose and its function) and I like its proximity to the lake but the parking lot looks scatterbrained, even for a parking lot. I'm also thinking that the western portion of the complex could've done with a parking structure to help maximize space. That way, you could have a green feature in front of the building (due to the reduced parking space) that makes the complex look more appealing overall.

I wonder if they do that to keep the rice rocket kiddies from drag racing.

Because many people in Houston for a long time have been against rail transit. There are various reasons. Some think it costs too much. Others say it's unsafe. Some believe Houston isn't big enough for it yet. Some think it's a conspiracy by the car dealerships and construction companies (which do seem to have an unusual amount of power in this city).

Doing all the rail at once feels like force-feeding -- shoving it down thier throats. Doing rail a little at a time is more palatable. As Hosuton's population shifts from the old families that have been here for generations to new people from other parts of this country and abroad the old grudges are becoming less powerful.

The Houston rail fight has been going on for decades, and it's only gotten this far. But I guess that's a topic for another thread. This one was supposed to be about the Galleria.

Now, that's where the nice rides come in!

I've taken that ride in the hotel's complementary SUV limo. It's nice, but takes forever because the traffic isn't any better for the rich. Not that I'm rich. I was staying at Derek because the bathroom in my apartment was broken for the weekend, and they had a special.

With the exception of Atlantic City and Las Vegas I've been pretty disappointed with all other casinos. In the U.S., places like Chicago, Shreveport, Cincinnati, and others the "riverboats" are rarely anything more than casinos floating in a protected bathtub. The Cincinnati riverboarts (actually in Indiana) used to sail up the Ohio River because of a law that requred them to sail a certain number of times a day to keep their license. That may have been repealed since I lived there.

Even in cities like Vienna and Salzburg, the casinos aren't that great. The ones in Prague are more like holes in the wall than gambling palaces.

Everyone knows what a good glitzy casino should look like. I don't know why these other cities half-ass theirs.

Very interesting. I wonder if he's pals with Randall Davis. Isn't he in the process of building something in Vegas which is based on his Manhattan project in Houston?

Many cities that have low water tables have subways that don't flood. Much of the downtown tunnel system didn't flood during Allison, and the sections that flooded mainly flooded because of a failed bulkhead in the underground theater district garages.

You are absolutely correct. Look at Chicago -- the underground portions of its rail system are all well below the water table. In fact, two lines go underneath the Chicago River.

A better example would be Amsterdam, though. Almost the entire city is below sea level, and they have a subway.

Or we could just look at Houston -- in addition to the downtown tunnel system, there is the tunnel underneath the Houston Ship Channel. I've never heard of that flooding. There even used to be a second tunnel where the Fred Hartmann Bridge is now.

There's no reason not to tunnel beneath Houston other than irrational fear.

Culture and class can't be bought. Houston/The Galleria needs to learn that lesson desperately. Buying all your clothing at Neiman Marcus makes you no more of a sophisticate than sleeping in your garage makes you a car.

I live very near to San Jose, where those pictures were taken. The development is rather cookie-cutter, but the area still has a nice "feel" to it.

There is a great deal of wisdom in this.

My wife works in a place where rich people shop. A couple of days a week I will go pick her up after work, and if she's not ready I kind of stand quietly in the corner waiting for her. Mostly I observe people coming and going. There are people who are all outfitted in the latest really expensive styles who do a lot of dumb things, or ask dumb questions, or look uncomfortable, or who just don't seem to belong in the store. Then there are other people who come in totally casual -- sometimes in a sweat suit -- who look like they belong. I'm not sure what it is about them that makes them look like they belong there even though they're dressed worse than me. I think it's that indefinable point of "class." I always ask my wife who the shabbily-dressed people are and more often than not they're celebs or rich people I've heard of. I think this helps illustrate the point that you can buy stuff, but you can't buy class. If I could put my finger on it, I could make a bundle.

The bums don't bother me as much as the scammers who walk in the streets in front ot traffic.

You can thank the Chronicle for that. They used to be illegal until the Chronicle took the city to court so their "news boys" could sell in the medians. Now anything goes. Thanks, Chron. Thanks for making the city a better place to live.

Oh, thank God there's 50 acres of surface parking to absorb the Texas sun. I was afraid some trees or something might pop up in Sugar Land. Fortunately, we're safe from that horrible fate.

I know someone who recently moved to a Midwestern town built on an old Naval Air Station. He was complaining that it was flat and light brown and there were no mature trees. I said, "Dude -- you used to live in Sugar Land. It's like you never left!"

Yes, there's crime in Midtown . . . but there's crime in the Woodlands too. Many Woodland, and other well-to-do suburban parents are too focused on their careers . . . spend too much time on their commutes, that they have very little time with their kids. I've seen many stories/studies on this phenomenon. Both parents are pressured to excell in their careers to support their lavish homes/lifestyle, that they have little time with their kids. Parents compensate their lack of time with their kids, that they lavish them with fancy cars and expensive toys. Young kids (lacking proper adult guidance) many times end up commiting petty crimes. Isn't it curious that your typical pipe-bomb maker is a white suburban teen male? Remember the Kingwood girls?

The reason cases like the bored white kid bombers and the Kingwood serial robber girls get attention is that they are random crimes that could affect anyone. Typical crimes in places like The Woodlands are, as you said, caused by kids with too much time and too little supervision. They usually only affect their little cul-de-sac or people they know.

Crimes like the ones in Midtown are noteworthy because they are more random, and could affect anyone in that neighborhood. They aren't bored kids, and they are more likely to escalate.

On a side note, I'd like to just say publically that Carolyn Mungo is one of the few real reporters at KHOU, and should be commended for most of her reports. When she came down to Houston from Boston she had a reputation for being a real hard-nose reporter, and it's good to see that she isn't just filing puff pieces like so many others in the market.

Wingates usually have free Wifi. W00t!

HOUSTON (GlobeSt.com)

AUSTIN (Austin Business Journal)

I think they have different powers. Embassies have full ambassadors, and can do a lot more diplomatic and important paperwork things. Consulates are more like representative outposts of a particular country -- a notch above tourist information office.

Anyone have a better clarification?

Engineering students are no substitute for actual engineers, especially in situations where someone could be killed.

There is also a Mom and Pop on Waugh and also on Montrose.

Is it legit? I thought it was an "Adult" video store.

(Since when did "adult" = "pornography?")

Neither of the auto tunnels that were built beneath the Houston Ship Channel ever flooded (except for when the first one was flooded on purpose). Why would a subway?