editor

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.

That's not in Texas. It doesn't have a five-car garage obscuring the actual home.

In an ideal world, yes, this would work. But my observation has been that it doesn't. In Chicago, ads are allowed on all forms of transit. Video screens on the tops of taxis, and the sides of buses, plackards inside the buses, on the floors, ceilings, etc... But the problem is that the ads, more often than not, are old, torn, or simply outdated. I've seen ads promoting October flu shot clinics on buses as late as January simply because there aren't enough advertisers interested in mass transit these days. Take into consideration that Chicago is a big media market, the home of a bunch of big advertising companies (the Marlboro Man, Jolly Green Giant, Rodolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, and others are all from CHI agencies), and a huge transit city (CTA moves the entire population of Houston each rush hour). Yet there still isn't enough interest in transit advertising to fill even half of the fleet. One smart thing the CTA did, though, is sell all the ad space to a single company (Clear Channel, I think) for a flat rate. Something around $2 million a year. If Chicago only gets $2 mil for its massive transit system and transit audience, I doubt that METRO would get even half that.

I got an e-mail about the fire, and thought it was strange. Now I know it's twice as strange as I thought. Hopefully this will play out into a book-worthy drama, and not be swept under some rug somewhere.

Sadness.

Welcome back! Let us know when you get settled.

I hope the people in Fort Worth make a big deal of this. They deserve it. Funny that the biggest entertainment event of the year is happening in north Texas, and Dallas is snubbed two ways. I have visions of a debutante all dressed up for the ball, but left sitting on the stairs crying. Or maybe it's just really late and I'm too tired to post of HAIF.

I'm finally getting around to looking at a drive full of old photos I took. These are from last spring. The skyline is Chicago. The silvery building is the Trump International Hotel and Tower. And, of course, the black building at the end is the Willis (nee Sears) Tower.

Please keep this thread on topic. Don't let Niche bait everyone into another one of his self-aggrandizing tangents.

As a retired radio professional, I worked at three radio stations when I was in college that were entirely student-run, except for the engineer and the general manager. Each had varying levels of professionalism based on the university's commitment to the station. Student-run radio isn't necessarily bad. In fact, some student-run radio stations end up bigger and more influential than their host institutions (WFUV), or in some cases outliving the college (WSOU). I agree with you that student-programmed radio works best when the ratings don't matter, but you say that like it's a bad thing. Isn't that the whole purpose of the non-commercial portion of the radio band? That said, I'm in favor of the KUHF-KTRU sale, but I'm a little disappointed to hear that there will be more talk and not an aggressive expansion of news on the main channel. But full-time classical on KTRU is a good thing. Here's an idea -- UH should throw the Rice die-hards a bone and run KTRU's internet stream on KUHC's HD-2 or HD-3 channel. Sure, not everyone has an HD radio, but there are far more HD radios in cars (the primary radio listening venue these days) than there are internet radios in cars. For reference: KUHF KTRU