editor

I was with you until this one. I don't think people considering moving to downtown Houston (most likely from out of town) will care about this. They'll see two rail lines on a map and think it's great to be near the center of a developing transit hub. They won't care if it's at the surface or underground or a little of each. Intersecting surface rail lines, even in downtown areas, hasn't been a "disaster" in any other city where its done. I think using the term is just being dramatic to overstate your position. Although I'm already on the record about this, I'll reiterate for the newcomers (there's quite a few these days, welcome everyone!), I lived in downtown Houston from 2001-2003, and before that in Midtown from 1999-2001.

http://www.tvnewscheck.com/article/2010/09/14/45249/kazh-making-shift-to-englishlanguage Looks like there's too many Spanish stations going after the same small piece of Spanish-language advertising pie ($80 million in Houston), so the Vsallovision station (KAZH channel 57) in Baytown is going English ($400 million in Houston). At the same time, Katy's KNWS (channel 51) is going Spanish, and picking up the Azteca affiliation. The signals of the two stations are pretty much the same, so there's no coverage advantage either way.

I remember him. He was always very nice and polite. I didn't work with him very much; mostly he was Doc's helper, and then did weekends and fill-ins. Can't believe he was 59; he always looked very young.

I think all the predictions about water stunting the growth of American desert cities like Phoenix is a little overblown. It would all make sense, if urban planners, ecologists, and engineers ran the world and shaped cities. But they don't. Politicians, real estate speculators, and retirees are the real forces behind the growth of PHX. The more people move there, the larger the demand for water gets, the louder the electorate gets, the more willing politicians get to spend more money on fatter, longer pipes to bring in water from farther away. In the next 75 years I could see Phoenix having desalination plants on the California coast. Or even cheaper -- in Baja, Mexico. Money has a way of making the impossible happen.

I've looked at Phoenix from the roof of one of its tallest building, and Google Earth is pretty much spot on. There's an OK little downtown, and a minor secondary skyline to the north, but the rest is just a vast brown suburb, very much like I remember of El Paso and other West Texas places. I'm surprised people in Phoenix would think that Houston is smaller than Denver, though in terms of cultural awareness, Denver is the capitol of the mountain west, so that might account for some of it if the person you spoke to was a lifer. Everyone I've ever spoken to about Houston has known it's a very big city. Sometimes they're surprised that it's #4 in the nation, but never have they thought it's small or even mid-sized. This is going to sound a lot more bitchy than I mean it, but is it possible that your friend's dad is exceptionally stupid, or uninformed? After all, 50% of us are dumber than the rest.

This must be the top secret headquarters, then: And it looks like Metro is in on the deal! Stay away from the buses!

Please be specific.

A couple of months ago, I was approached by someone offering to sell me HoustonArchitecture.ORG, and I bought it. So now the question is... what do we do with it? As an old-school internet guy who cut his teeth sending e-mails with bang paths on a green-screen terminal, I'd like to keep the .org in the spirit of .org, and have it be ad-free, or at least non-commercial, and beneficial to as many people as possible. But I'm still not sure what to do with it. Suggestions so far: A web site about architectural tours of Houston. A directory of Houston-based architects and firms, with bios and contact information. A news portal with information about stuff going on in the Houston architectural scene. A social site for architecture students. Any other ideas?

DA Issues First Annual 'Year in Review' on Progress and Performance Houston, Tx - The Harris County District Attorney's Office has published its first "Year in Review" for the public. It describes the many and complex responsibilities of the office, the programs, initiatives and performance of the county's lead law enforcement agency in 2009, District Attorney Patricia Lykos announced Monday. The 35-page review is designed to bring transparency and key information to county residents about the operations and innovations of the District Attorney's Office. "It is a retrospective that is forward-looking, setting the course as we mean to go on," Lykos said. The review illuminates the work of the District Attorney's Office in its sworn mission of seeking justice. This includes programs and projects for crime prevention, protecting victims, arresting dangerous fugitives and streamlining legal processes. Some of the insights are on the sheer volume of criminal justice matters. There were more than 50,000 new felony cases filed in 2009. All cases including the justice court filings totaled 570,000. That is a filing rate of more than one each minute for all of last year. Charts provide data regarding the Top Ten offenses for juvenile felonies and dispositions of overall adult crimes. Readers learn facts as diverse as extraditions from as far away as Thailand, and the success of the Office in obtaining forfeiture of criminal assets, restitution orders and payments to victims. Summaries of specialty divisions' activities show the success of new initiatives to help victims and to protect especially vulnerable groups (children, families and the elderly) from predators. The review includes contact numbers for sections of the District Attorney's Office. "We do have the best job in the world - it is a profound responsibility and privilege to serve and protect our county," Lykos said in the introduction. To access a printable copy, just go to the Year in Review link under the "Our Office" listings on the homepage of www.harriscountyda.com .

Old movies and small towns. My mother-in-law does this at her local grocery store in the northwoods of Minnesota.

Rich people don't shop at the Gap. The stores I'm talking about are small boutique chains (usually under ten stores worldwide), or one-off boutiques and tailors. When it comes to "chain" stores (and I'm using the term loosely here to cover stores like Hermes, Culti, and the like), the rich don't often "go" to the store. If the store, itself, doesn't have a dedicated personal shopper service (and most do), the person usually has a relationship with one of the salespeople who knows what that person likes, and sets items aside when stock comes in, then phones the person to let them know they're bringing stuff over. Yes, I have a subscription to WWD. Back on topic: I mentioned this thread to someone I know who works at a Barneys New York branch that's not in New York. She said that she sees three or four Amex Black cards each week, and suspects that people who work at the flagship store probably see them on a daily basis.

I can say this much for it -- The Galleria has better people-watching than downtown. I didn't like the Galleria all that much when I lived in Houston for many of the same reasons expressed here. Now that I come to Houston as a visitor, I like it much better.

Hotels are so desperate they're throwing perks at just about anyone, whether you're loyal or not. For example, I'm a member of the President's Club at Fairmont Hotels. How did I get that? I signed up online. That's it. I've only stayed with Fairmont once, but I get my own no-wait check-in counter, free high speed internet, rooms on a special club floor with a private lounge, free alcoholic beverages and snacks after work, and lots more. I even get access to the business centers at ANY Fairmont hotel in the world, even if I'm not a guest. I've used this on a couple of occasions while staying in crappy motels without internet. This week I'm going to stay at a Fairmont for the second time, and I'm looking forward to all these benefits, even though I barely spend jack with them. I have a lot of frequent flyer miles (for me, anyway) -- About 400,000 between United and American. I don't get any special treatment, other than I cashed in some to fly free to Korea last year. For a while my wife was flying back-and-forth between Chicago and Minneapolis every couple of days because of a family situation and even though they were $39 flights, she took so many of them that she got Gold status on AA. That was very nice for both of us, because the early boarding, free luggage, and other benefits apply to everyone on the same reservation. It got us a free, unexpected, un-asked-for upgrade to the Business Class sleepy pods on a JAL flight between Tokyo and Seoul: I never slept so good, or snored so loud. The lovely JAL air hostesses put a post-it on me asking the other passengers not to disturb me. "One of these kids is not like the others. One of these kids is not the same. One of these kids does not belong. Do you know her name?"

I know several people who work in very high-end retail, and this sounds like a made up story. Sure, they don't see Amex Black cards every day, but probably three or four times a month. The card is the LAST thing a salesperson sees in a transaction, so the same level of customer service is given to every customer, regardless of how they pay. They are trained and try hard to treat every customer the same because (race/gender/sexual preference) lawsuits can ensue if they don't. The sort of people who shop in high-end stores are the ones with the time and money to sue a store and a salesperson just to be a jerk. The sales people rushing to attend to this guy's tantrum were likely just trying to get him to shut up and behave in a manner befitting the store. I doubt it was a response to his credit card. And for what it's worth, the TRULY rich people don't pay with American Express or any other card. The store sends a bill to their accountant. If you're still carrying around bits of plastic, you're still a wannabe.

How about Angelika goes to the Astrodome and makes the world's most kick-ass Omnimax theater!

Wasn't there an art house theater in Greenway Plaza? I seem to remember ruining a favorite shirt there (butter stain that never came out) seeing that awful Björk film.

Dakota Lofts.

Broadcast stations are subject to government regulation that newspapers aren't because there is a finite amount of radio spectrum for all broadcasts to use, so the precious commodity is rationed by the government. Newspapers can do whatever they want because, in theory, you can have an infinite number of newspapers, so they are not subject to regulation.

While looking at a map doing some research, I noticed an interesting road -- a little track that intersects Cowpoke Canyon near Driftwood, Texas called Buffalo Speedway. I always felt that Buffalo Speedway in Houston was about the most unique street name I've ever come across. Now I find out it has a friend outside of Austin. Who knew? Google Maps link: http://maps.google.com/maps?client=safari&q=driftwood,+tx&oe=UTF-8&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Driftwood,+Hays,+Texas&gl=us&ei=_aR-TJy9D4y2sAOxub31Cg&ved=0CBkQ8gEwAA&ll=30.074813,-98.025019&spn=0.007437,0.008272&t=h&z=17 <iframe width="425" height="350" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" src="http://maps.google.com/maps?client=safari&q=driftwood,+tx&oe=UTF-8&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Driftwood,+Hays,+Texas&gl=us&ei=_aR-TJy9D4y2sAOxub31Cg&ved=0CBkQ8gEwAA&t=h&ll=30.075417,-98.025405&spn=0.00325,0.00456&z=17&output=embed"></iframe><br /><small><a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?client=safari&q=driftwood,+tx&oe=UTF-8&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Driftwood,+Hays,+Texas&gl=us&ei=_aR-TJy9D4y2sAOxub31Cg&ved=0CBkQ8gEwAA&t=h&ll=30.075417,-98.025405&spn=0.00325,0.00456&z=17&source=embed" style="color:#0000FF;text-align:left">View Larger Map</a></small> I wonder if there are any more Buffalo Speedways around.

That's too bad. But there's not much I can do about it. Because it was a breaking news situation, it falls under Fair Use. This is not the same as when KHOU steals photos and entire articles from my web sites to use on its own web site after I deny its web producers permission to use them. And when I explain the situation on the phone to KHOU's #2 in charge he still fails to fix it, and when KHOU's patent company in Dallas violates the Digital Millennium Copyright Act by refusing to take the required actions spelled out under the law. That's just outright plagiarism, theft and copyright violation. I'm sorry, what were we talking about again?

This just in from HFD: Building Fire at 712 Main The Houston Fire Department responded to a fire at 712 Main about 8 p.m. last night, August 30, 2010. The fire was contained to the 27th floor of the structure. The 3-alarm fire was tapped out at 12:20 a.m. this morning with more than 270 HFD personnel responding to the scene. During the incident, seven firefighters suffered minor smoke inhalation. One firefighter was treated on scene and the other six were transported to local hospitals. All have been released from the hospital. Houston Fire Department Arson investigators and inspectors are currently on scene.

I lived in Midtown from 1999-2001, and downtown from 2001-2003. It wasn't that bad. Of course, the whole point of living downtown is that you don't care if the streets are torn up because you're walking, biking, and taking the free trolley (RIP) to 90% of what you need. If you lived in Midtown and downtown street construction was that big a problem for you, then you were not of the correct mindset to live in that location.

With the fire on the 27th floor, you know some of that gingerbread is going to get smoke damage. But then, this might be a blessing in disguise, as the entire top may have to be cleaned.

Found out about this from a Metro alert: More information: http://www.khou.com/news/-Firefighters-battle-4-alarm-blaze-at-Chase-building-downtown--101849338.html Here's the official Houston Architecture Info page about the building. And a pic of the beloved former Gulf Building:

I went when the theater first opened and had a great experience. It's sad to hear that it went downhill from there. Even sadder to hear that it's closed. I've noticed a lot of large theaters with bars in them these days. I've never seen any where the bar seemed to do any reasonable business, even when it was freely accessible to non-moviegoers, too.