barracuda

The front end looks very similar to the Camry. I agree with the comments regarding Acura and Honda. Acura's styling in particular has become a turn-off. I also think they've ruined the Accord with mishmash styling and by making it a large car. Strange how a compact car becomes a large car over a couple of decades. It's still a decent vehicle underneath, but...ehh. I was also hoping the Insight might be a sportier hybrid competitor to the Prius, but the reviews seem to indicate that Honda took too many shortcuts. Too bad.

I'm amazed by the number of pedestrians in the 3rd and 4th photos.

I kind of like the Dodge Challenger, even though I don't typically like muscle cars. It looks menacing, and the fact that it's kind of rare make it more interesting (vs. the Mustang which is everywhere). It does look a little bloated though - I would try to make it a little skinnier. The problem I have with the VW CC is it's essentially just an expensive cosmetically altered version of the Passat. It has the front end of a Passat and the rear end of a Benz. The two don't seem to go together well - the front end looks too pedestrian for the overall look they're going for. If you primarily need functionality, the Passat is a fine car, but if you want something flashy, you might as well get an actual used benz.

The plastic body trim doesn't help much either.

Louis Black did an entire bit on those particular Starbucks being across from each other. Adding a coffee shop to the Barnes & Noble just makes it more comical. Maybe there's a lesson here about greed and brazen disregard to the pleas of the communities in which you operate. And maybe fewer people (myself included) will patronize those shops out of spite for Weingarten and their decimation of a local landmark.

The Leaf reminds me of the AMC Pacer. It's all relative. It takes more energy to produce a electric vehicles vs. a comparable internal combustion engine vehicle due to the battery packs. But electric power plants are far, far more efficient than any vehicle's internal combustion engine. And there are plenty of green electricity providers to choose from, resulting in environmentally friendly refueling. Assuming similar life spans, I would think the electric vehicle would be "greener" than any ICE vehicle due to the lifetime avoidance of gasoline and related environmental hazards and pollution.

Me too. It's one of the best views in the city. True. It's just the irony of what the two used to represent meshing in this way. The WSJ does fine reporting, although I think their editorials are still complete BS. Hopefully Rupert & Co. won't mess with the integrity of the journalism side of the house.

It's the combination that's bothersome. Regardless of the symbol, it's very unappealing aesthetically. It just looks unprofessional. A small, tasteful and recognizable cross would not be offensive in my view. But at the current size, which I feel is absolutely ridiculous, the cross takes on new meaning and reeks of someone's attempt to shove their religion in your face. There is no reason for it other to annoy and distract people. Couldn't the money used to build, install, and power it be better spent taking care of patients?

I wonder how it would fare based on attendance. It seems that any time I go by the place is packed. Also, there's something ironic about the WSJ publishing a positive article on skateboarding. The sport has entered mainstream acceptance, which is quite a change from when I was a kid in the 80's and every adult assumed you were a misfit for riding a skateboard.

True, but that's not the case for most of Midtown and it's not new or recent construction.

Is Midtown hip? In my view it's more a resting point for frat boys and downtown corporate dwellers wearing their Dockers dress shirts *untucked* than it is for edgy hole-in-the-wall places or really adventurous joints. But you're right, at least there are some nice gems amongst the mundane suburban joints/pharmacies/banks/strip malls that in my view litter Midtown. And yes, I'd rather see vacant lots than more suburban joints in Midtown. At least vacant lots allow one to hope for something better.

The rendering doesn't take into consideration the current traffic volume through that intersection. Actually, it doesn't appear to take anything about the intersection or neighborhood into consideration. It's just looks like a random street rendering based on someone's imagination without regard to the real world.

Perhaps Acura is trying to capture the Pontiac Aztec crowd.

I vote for Dolce Vita by far. I've had too many disappointing pizzas at Star Pizza, and their service is always terrible.

It looks like they may have attempted to, but construction ceased due to unknown reasons. You can see this single row of identical townhomes which were partially constructed on the north side of the block around 2007-2008. They have been sitting vacant and fenced off for over a year. I imagine due to the open window frames there is significant damage from Ike and other weather since they stopped construction. I'm not familiar with the builder, but at least one of the units was sold at one point.

More or less, but they hope to keep GMC because it is a highly profitable "professional" brand, relegate Pontiac to niche status, and sell off Saab. I was intrigued by the Passat CC until I read this review: http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/review-vo...agen-passat-cc/. Still, I think the CC at least looks great.

To add to your hijack...I think there are plenty of cases where certain people or businesses are depicted as monolithic entities with singular missions. The same thing has happened to liberals, conservatives, gays, etc. Defining groups under one label with one mission works both ways. People can organize together to advance social or business purposes, but for some it provides a means to oversimplify a situation and sometimes to inflame others against said entity, like blaming the media for making a V.P. candidate look bad or for failing to cover an event. I experienced this recently when I heard some folks on satellite radio bash the entire state of Texas following Governor Perry's comments about seceding. Why would anyone think that Gov. Perry's idiotic comments were representative of the entire state? Texas is not a monolithic entity of thought, but rather a state of roughly 25 million people coming from different backgrounds and different perspectives. The media is comprised of a diverse group of different entities and people with differing perspectives and goals. However, any given media outlet is going to have a certain level of editorial control. When a single media outlet orchestrates a political event, as happened last week, they are clearly trying to run people's lives and force feed pre-digested opinions to their viewers. Fortunately there are plenty of alternatives, and I think some media outlets do really try to be independent and refrain from bias in their reporting.

The bridge is kind of silly and completely unnecessary. I was also really opposed to all the other development at that end of the park, but last time I was there it definitely grew on me. If they could just do something about the smell of rotting organic matter that permeates the park, it would be great. You're problem is going on a Sunday. I wouldn't go anywhere near Hermann Park on a weekend unless a hurricane was close to bearing down on us. It's definitely overcrowded and uncomfortable with that many people.

I think it's a great way to preserve history, and I'm glad to see it's not going to be turned into more town homes. The remains of the church should provide a great backdrop for the small park.

I walked around Hermann Park on Monday. Much of the construction near the zoo was finished, but they were still working on a bridge over a small portion of the lake as well as some of the new buildings. I'm pleasantly surprised though -- the new buildings fit in better with the look of the Miller Outdoor Theater. Overall, the improvements look great (and much better than I expected or feared).

I think everyone can agree that people deserve access to affordable healthcare. I believe part of the problem with our current system is that a market-driven approach does not work well when weighed against the best interests of patients. Pharmaceutical companies are driven solely by profit. This works great in most industries, as competition eventually drives down the cost of goods. But the goal for a pharmaceutical company is to develop blockbuster drugs that have the greatest chance of huge profits. This means patent-protected drugs that nobody else can sell until the patent expires, guaranteeing the drugs will be expensive and out of reach for many. It also means drugs that require subscription-like use to ensure recurring income for the company. These companies are not interested in curing diseases - that would not provide the sustainable long-term income. They simply want to help with side affects so you are buying their products for life. It's also in the best interest of health insurance companies to weigh the numbers and essentially put a value on human life. It is beneficial to the bottom line if they don't approve expensive procedures if they can get away with it. You have to read the fine print in your insurance plan to find this out. The part I find bizarre is the way health insurance plans don't seem to emphasize prevention. Maybe it's because patients change insurance providers too frequently, but it would seem to be in their best interests as an industry to encourage and pay for reasonable expenses related to prevention, but many times this isn't the case. What happens when people can't afford health care is they wait until the problem becomes severe, then they end up going to the emergency room, thus incurring the highest possible cost for their health care. This simply gets passed onto those of us who have insurance plans.

^ x2, I hope so. It always seemed odd that a good chunk of Midtown is serviced by the post office down on Almeda when there was a distribution center right in Midtown.

It's the Pita version of Subway. I had one in Seattle and it was pretty good. It doesn't compare to some family-run shops (Shawarma King on Hillcroft is my favorite), but it's still good. It'd be great if they built one of these close by in Midtown.

Wow, even when repainted, that grille overhang is hideous! It looks like a giant bucktooth. Acura used to have some cool looking cars, but I see nothing interesting in their current lineup.

The look of the bridge is growing on me. Actually, the more people hate it, the more I like it. Houston needs more objectionable public art to avoid becoming boring.