mkultra25

Houston: Bud Adams moves the Oilers to Tennessee, and a lot of people remain fans. Baltimore: Bob Irsay moves the Colts to Indianapolis, and, well, people are still steamed many years after the fact.

Is that really a thing? Given how widely despised Bud Adams was for uprooting the Oilers and decamping to Tennessee, I can't imagine any real Houstonian doing anything other than spitting whenever they speak of the Titans.

Both of those factors could probably be minimized if this new facility were more like Friends for Life on 22nd (which, granted, is both locally-based and pretty well-funded, and that may or may not be the case with Best Friends). OK, it's a concrete box, but given that limitation they made it look as attractive as they could. I'd be fine with a few more animal shelters and a few less flavor-of-the-moment restaurants and bars, but then again my idea of mixed-use development skews much closer to that of past eras, when the term encompassed light industrial activity, rather than the retail + restaurants + residential formula that most people now take it to mean.

Try as I might, I'm having trouble seeing how that could be considered bad news.

I like In-N-Out, but not enough to drive far out of my way to eat there. When they build one inside the loop, I'm sure it'll have a place in my burger joint rotation. And as far as Stafford goes, Tornado Burger has everyone else beat hands down. I haven't worked in the Stafford area in roughly five years and I still miss the Spicy #1.

The "Like" button appears to work when clicked on, but any "Likes" given to a post are no longer visible to anyone else viewing that post.

A fine summary, and one that makes me wonder once again if the "like" button is ever going to be fixed here.

I had thought that there were only a couple of old-school bowling alleys remaining in the Houston area after Palace Lanes closed: Del-Mar Lanes on Mangum and Emerald Bowl on Boone Rd. But looking at Yelp, it appears that there are a few diehard AMF establishments out there. And the memorably-named South Belt/Ellington-area Armadilla Lanes II (the first one's still in Pasadena) looks like it would be well worth the trip for those who are interested in such things. https://www.yelp.com/search?cflt=bowling&find_loc=Houston%2C+TX Edit:

Can't think of ax[e]-throwing without recalling this great moment in television history: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0L5QC9ZJkM8

It closed (except for the Palais Royal and the Antique Center) at the end of March 2017. There are a couple of walk-around videos on Youtube that were taken the last day it was open: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1K3xSvM42zA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4O5Qza3-6U

Thanks for posting that. I never knew Al, but was acquainted with his sons, who were classmates when I was in junior high and high school.

As I understand it, the person who owned this site and kept it going for most of the last decade is no longer affiliated with it, and has not been for some time since he sold it to a new owner. The various issues that the site is currently experiencing did not manifest themselves until after the ownership change. Draw your own conclusions. There are certainly clues as to the new ownership for those who care to look. I'm not going down that road here as I generally have a strong antipathy for the currently-fashionable trend of social media naming-and-shaming, which IMO too often bears more than a passing resemblance to a toddler who's just discovered he's in possession of the launch keys to an ICBM.

Not a standalone revival theater, but the MFAH's film program is by far the premier repertory program in town, and has been for a long time. Its Brown Auditorium is a world-class screening room that has top-tier equipment, highly qualified staff, and impeccable presentation standards. They are just about to start a Bergman retro (with a few screenings held at Rice as well) in observance of Bergman's centennial. Edit: I guess I need to read for content closer, as I missed the important detail that you were asking if there *were* any other former revival houses. Others will no doubt chime in, but I think the Park I, II, and III on W. Gray (where Sur La Table is now) used to have a revival program, and there was also the Al Ray on Fulton.

That's too bad about DaCapo's - they made our wedding cake <mumble> years ago. But, like Hickory Hollow, at least they are the ones making the decision and going out on their own terms, rather than having their hand forced by someone else. Hard to begrudge someone a well-deserved retirement after a long and successful run in business.

Hickory Hollow is closing early next year - the property has been sold to Braun Enterprises. Their other location in Fallbrook will remain open. http://houston.culturemap.com/news/restaurants-bars/08-21-18-hickory-hollow-heights-restaurant-building-sold-closing-braun-enterprises-tony-riedel/

Now I'm really regretting not making an effort to go - the competition car themed one sounds tremendous. Wonder if someone associated with the event knew Jim Hall, and just called him up and asked him if he'd like to bring a Chaparral down from Midland to Houston? Thinking about that reminds me of a story I read on a Corvette forum some years ago - one of the members there was looking for a Mecom Racing Team decal, possibly for use on his vintage racing car, in the mid-1990s. He looked up the number for the John W. Mecom Company in the phone book, called, and managed to get Mecom himself on the phone after talking his way past a couple of assistants. He explained what he was in search of, and wound up having a nice chat with Mecom, who turned out to have some of the original 1960s-vintage decals left in his shop and sent the guy a couple.

Bloomberg was the only NYC mayor in recent history who did not live in Gracie Mansion. De Blasio and his family live there now (although I believe they kept their house in Park Slope and rented it out). https://www1.nyc.gov/site/gracie/about/about.page

Wow, I would've loved to have seen one of those midget races in the Dome. It had its share of notable motorsports events there, not least of which were the AMA Grand National dirt track motorcycle races. In 1972, Kenny Roberts won the first pro race of his storied career at the AMA short-track event at the Dome. And in 1975 at the AMA season opener, David Aldana debuted his infamous "skeleton" racing leathers. Sorry to hear that Classy Chassis is no more - I never made it to one of those, despite intending to go every year. How did it compare to the Keels & Wheels Concours in Seabrook?

That's a good one, and it looks largely original with little sign of ever having been remodeled since it was built.

There's one in close proximity to Garden Oaks - the Tropical Motel at N. Shepherd and Janisch, about a quarter-mile south of Pinemont. I realize a lot of folks consider these types of places to be eyesores, but I have a fondness for them as they are among the few remaining vestiges of a postwar working/middle-class Houston.

Yeah, the "Classy Chassis" concours has been at NRG Stadium - not sure if it's still being held there annually. On the other hand, there's a precedent for a slightly different type of automobile event at the Dome: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4oi9FkzttU

Following in Ray Miller's footsteps - perhaps this will be a new generation's "The Eyes of Texas", although given Dave's age he isn't going to match the 30-year run of that program. Speaking of "The Eyes of Texas", anyone know if those programs are accessible anywhere, or are they locked away in KPRC's archives?

I'd prefer to have all of the functions restored that haven't worked in quite some time. <insert broken eyeroll emoji here>

The Link button doesn't work, but you can paste the link directly into the body of the post. An error message will appear at the bottom that says "The link could not be embedded", but if you ignore it the link will indeed work once the post has been submitted.

There is a standalone Key Shop still in operation in the N. Shepherd Sears back parking lot. It has been in continuous operation there for close to (if not more than) fifty years.