woolie

I intended to go, but life is complicated sometimes.

There are two cranes; one across the street from the main buildings (next to the art building or whatever, the one with murals) and another crane in front of the main building, which was a parking lot until now. They are building a ~4 story (trying to recall from rendering) new main building in front of the old main building and between its two 'eaves' on the former front parking lot. I don't know what the other building is. Anyway, it's in my neighborhood, maybe I'll go take some pics.

My objection to the surface parking is purely aesthetic. The runoff argument is a bit silly, actually. Let's take a look at how much surface parking is already in the area. This also shows how little of an "almost historic" neighborhood even exists -- and how little borders BCM. About 10 or 12 houses. In an area that's already been replaced with giant townhomes. These are some older renderings showing the approximate massing and scale of phase 1 and 2, respectively. They were posted earlier as attachments, but not in-line with the thread.

I don't think the Red line is a toy at all, I take it every day. It works very well. Of course I'd like to see better light synchronization and elimination of _ALL_ left hand turns, though. That could shave a few minutes off the trip.

Gah, scooped. Here is an image I took earlier today at the BCM Family Celebration. This rendering is from a different angle. Agreed that the surface lots MUST GO.

it's amusing -- currently the facade of the other buildings are still intact, but they've been completely eaten away from behind.

In a perverse way, I'm all for actions that increase the price of petroleum and other fossil fuels. $9 gas is the only way we will become weaned of our addiction. Hopefully carbon taxes can also be used to slay the other head of the hydra, coal. We should all be gung-ho about the proposed South Texas Project expansion. Houston uses a huge amount of natural gas for electricity.

I'll be obvious... think "UNIX guru."

I can go to Warren's or anywhere, really. I don't drink alcohol, though, I hope they serve coke.

We've left these two books in our bathroom as reading material for guests

I'm even scarier in real life than I am on forums. Anyway, I love meetups. Just name a time/place. I'll bring my camera.

Another reason to oppose zoning and heavy land use regulation...

cool pic, sharpfan.

the GET parameters passed in the URI (the ?param=value&param2=value2..etc stuff) is what it's complaining about. Just chop them off and hope it still works.

That was my first thought as well. But animal facilities in the TMC typically have very high security and 24h guard staff. One I know of even has anti-truck bomb barricades.

I saw the smoke from the Kirby fire today as I boarded the train. It was several huge puffs of black. Didn't see the St Lukes fire, although we did gossip a bit about the fire at the new UT-HSC building that occured a few months ago. The rumor is that it was arson by one of the contractors.

I can't wish him to hell because I don't believe in hell.

Absolutely not. Everything he wrote is grounded in fact and reality -- completely different from the "supernatural spirit world" people like Falwell claimed to divine.

I think you're thinking of the Kowloon Walled City. It had a population density of ~4m sq/mi by virtue of 35k people in 6 acres built wall-to-wall for 12+ stories. It was the result of a complicated agreement between the mainland and HK. It was torn down in '93. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kowloon_Walled_City http://www.twenty4.co.uk/on-line/issue001/...2/KWC/Main.html Kowloon, although, is still among the highest in the world at 110k sq/mi. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kowloon

There's a small front yard as seen in one of the pics. Fortunately we don't have to maintain it. A grassy area isn't on my list of requirements; a lot-line townhouse would be fine.

Better yet. Put arsenic in the water.

As others have said, many separate IP issues here. Utility patents, Design Patents, Copyright, Trade Dress, Trademarked Names, etc. They all have different terms and expiration dates. So currently, if the design patent is expired but the trademark is not, you can build a 100% reverse engineered Eames LC690 as long as you don't call it an Eames LC690 or use the Eames name. All Eames designs are copyable, e.g. Modernica, Steelform, but HM still holds the license to the Eames name. All MCM stuff is out of design patent protection. You can make as exact replicas as you like, or as you are physically able to. So you should judge ONLY on the quality of the piece; if it has a "license" to the design they are either pulling your leg or looking for snob appeal. The only thing 'licensing' gets you is the right to use the name and perhaps the original construction documents. On more complex pieces, these may be important if all the details cannot be successfully reverse engineered. I suppose I'm of the opinion that the creators knew the limitations of IP protection when they created and sold the designs, so they have implicitly agreed to allow copies after X years. So they can disagree with it, or delicate flower and moan, or whatever, but the fact is that they've agreed to the terms of IP law when they applied for patents, copyrights, and trademarks. So that's how it works. You shouldn't feel any guilt as long as the piece is high quality and the design you like. The only thing Knoll or Hermann Miller gets you is a bit of snob/label appeal and perhaps higher resale value down the line. Anyway, yesterday I bought two chairs similar to the Zographos CH70 design from Metro Modern on Milam. We're going to pick out the fabric for the re-upholstery tonight. Also bought a beautiful credenza, although I don't believe it has any significant designer's name attached to it. It was still quite expensive. Our immediate needs are a rug, bookshelf, and low table. Still thinking about the Nelson knock-offs. Not sure what do about the rug. Eames shelves are too expensive and maybe slightly too bold. I also still want the Eames lounge long term, but that will be a save-up because they're difficult to produce, I'll likely buy a real one. ps. I wish either Metro Modern or Metro Retro would change their name. I keep getting Joe's and Travis's store names confused.

<3 fiesta

What universe do you live in where a monorail is both more cost effective and more usable?

Third. We've eaten at Cali's two or three times a week for ~three years. We started going here after Mai's passed the point of no return (bad service, cold food) in ~2004. I ate at Mai's two or three times a week for several years before that, probably since I was 16 or 17 (~2000). I took my gf to Mai's on our first date in 2002. I am VERY loyal to restaurants I like. It takes many, many bad consecutive experiences to put me off a place permanently. Anyway, Cali's is fantastic. It's not the highest in haute cuisine, but it's a good filling meal at a reasonable price. Great downtown view as well. I like the salt toasted tofu, the chicken pho, the imperial rolls, the shredded chicken banh mi, and the beef brisket stew. My gf likes the same, with the addition of the garlic beef.