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mkultra25

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Everything posted by mkultra25

  1. mkultra25
    Isn't that the one on Parkwood? I had printed out the HAR listing several months ago intending to drive by for a look, but never got around to doing so until yesterday afternoon. I'd never really explored Riverside Terrace much before - there really are some jaw-dropping houses there. Glad to see this one's found a new owner who's not intent on demolition.
  2. mkultra25
    Last time I was in LA a few years ago, I walked a fair portion of the area in those pics, although it wasn't quite as crowded the day I was there. The Los Angeles Conservancy sponsors walking tours of LA's Broadway Theater District on a weekly basis, and I'd highly recommend those tours to any HAIFers who happen to be in the area. There's an amazing concentration of old theaters within an area of a few square blocks; you can see several of the marquees in the pictures. Although we weren't able to go inside all the theaters on the tour (some, like the gorgeous Los Angeles, are open only for special events), most of them were accessible. Los Angeles Conservancy
  3. mkultra25
    I'm still chapped about the loss of that One's A Meal. Now instead of a great place to eat with a long history in Houston, we have dueling Starbucks facing each other across W. Gray.
  4. mkultra25
    Wow, right across the street from the Signature Kroger? I can understand wanting to compete with Kroger, but it still seems odd to build an HEB in that location considering that Central Market isn't that far away.
  5. mkultra25
    Those are Mold-A-Rama machines - there used to be one on the observation deck of the Humble Building (now the Exxon Building) which I posted about previously in this thread. There's what appears to be a comprehensive list of Mold-A-Rama figures here, and the Houston Astrodome is on the list, but I've been unable to find a picture of one anywhere on the net.
  6. mkultra25
    Yep. I think Cardet's became the Latina Cafe when it changed ownership - at some point it was sold it to an Asian family who pretty much kept the menu (and some of the cooks) the same as it had been previously. I haven't been there in ages, but it used to be a favorite haunt - a friend lived within walking distance of it for several years. I can't remember when the name change happened, but I believe it was sometime in the late 80s or early 90s.
  7. mkultra25
    Seems like most megaplexes are really nice when they're first built, then over time the theater chains don't bother to maintain the facilities or the projection & sound equipment properly, which eventually leads to the situation you describe. Of course, it doesn't help that most patrons seem to be completely incapable of carrying their trash out and depositing it in the trash bins at the exits. Based on informal surveys I've read in the past, I think most people just throw garbage on the floor because they know that there are people whose job it is to clean up after every show. I would no more leave trash in a theater than I would toss it out of my car onto the highway, but I hardly ever buy anything at the concession stand at a movie anyway.
  8. mkultra25
    I used to go to the Pizza Inn on Dyna too, but when I think of pizza places on that street, the one I went to more often was Square Pan Pizza. It was at the far end of the strip center on the right as you approached Airline on Dyna from I-45.
  9. mkultra25
    Ah, Fandango's, home of the perpetual half-off-fajitas-for-two coupon every week in the newspaper (or maybe it was buy one dinner, get one free - effectively the same thing). I was a poor college student when Fandango's opened, and my girlfriend and I ate quite a few meals there on the strength of that coupon. I've had better fajitas, but you sure couldn't argue with the price.
  10. mkultra25
    Barbacoa's generally cheek, face, and head meat from cattle. Brains are "sesos". The true breakfast of champions is sesos y lengua (brains and tongue). Laredo Taqueria (Washington @ Snover, or the other locations at Fulton @ Patton and on Cavalcade just west of Fulton) serves really good barbacoa - actually, just about everything they serve is good. I'm particularly fond of the spicy fajitas - they're already plenty spicy, but add a dollop of the incendiary salsa verde and your sinuses will clear very quickly. The tacos are cheap, and they really pack the hungry diners in at lunchtime - there's usually a line at the counter you order and receive your food at that's almost out the door.
  11. mkultra25
    I'm mystified by the attraction to the "open plan" concept a la Meyerland as opposed to an enclosed mall. I can understand why the developers might prefer it, but the last thing I want to do in Houston in August is crisscross a vast asphalt or concrete parking lot on foot to visit several different stores. Still, Northline's been going downhill for years, and anything that rejuvenates it is better than letting it stand as is. Anyone know when demolition of the existing mall is scheduled to begin? I wouldn't mind walking the mall one last time before it meets the wrecking ball - lots of memories there.
  12. mkultra25
    Don't get me wrong, I'm not a big fan of megaplexes, but if you want to see a first-run movie, your options are pretty limited if you exclude the megaplexes. My absolute favorite place to see a movie is at the MFAH's Brown Auditorium, but they're a repertory theater, not a first-run one. For first-run, I prefer the River Oaks, the Angelika, or the Greenway, but again, the Angelika's the only one of those three likely to screen any of the big Hollywood blockbusters. As far as being even remotely convenient to where I live, that leaves the Edwards MarqE or the AMC Studio 30 on Dunvale, and both of those are still a bit of a drive. In the case of the AMC, the distance is mitigated somewhat by the fact that I almost always have a couple of AMC free passes laying around, so I usually wait until the pass restrictions are lifted after the first week or two a new film's in town, then head over to the Studio 30.
  13. mkultra25
    I'd consider the Cineplex Odeon (on Augusta, not the River Oaks one) to be a big loss - as far as I know, it was the last first-run theater in town that had the ability to run 70mm as well as 35mm. My fondest memory of it was seeing the 1989 rerelease of LAWRENCE OF ARABIA there - it was a stunning presentation of one of the greatest large-format epics. I miss the River Oaks one too, but more for its convenience than anything else - it was by far the closest first-run theater to where I lived. Seems almost strange now to think that at one time there was a large multiplex practically on Montrose's doorstep.
  14. mkultra25
    We used to live very close by to the Edwards Grand Palace, but I never went there more than a handful of times. I refuse to pay for parking at a movie theater, plus the last time I was there I nearly got run over by some idiot in a big hurry in the parking garage. At least when you go to the Angelika downtown and park in the theater district garage, they'll validate your parking at the box office. The best theaters in town as far as presentation standards (projection equipment properly maintained, picture always in focus and framed correctly, no blown speakers, etc.) used to be the Meyerland General Cinema, the Loews Fountains, and the Museum of Fine Arts' Brown Auditorium. The Meyerland GC's gone, and I haven't been to the Fountains in several years as it was much farther away once we bought our house, but the MFAH is still without peer; of course, they don't screen first-run movies.
  15. mkultra25
    Wow, I hadn't heard they were closing either. I remember when that place first opened, it was a big deal because it was the only megaplex in the area. Eventually it started declining and wasn't maintained very well. I think the last time I was ever there was when they were screening a rerelease of THE WILD BUNCH about five years ago - for some reason, it was an exclusive engagement that no other theater in town had, and I wound up catching it twice during the week or so that it was there.
  16. mkultra25
    It originally stood for American Machine & Foundry: About AMF but when they owned Harley-Davidson, it was commonly held to stand for something else.
  17. mkultra25
    I used to live not too far away from the Consolidated Arts Warehouse - saw Stick Men with Rayguns (Dallas-area punk band) there. There's a music magazine called "Left of the Dial" which published an issue a couple of years ago filled with vintage photos of Texas punk venues, and there were quite a few photos of Houston institutions like the Island, CAW, etc. in it. I was blown away when I saw it - I'd seen lots of photos of California and New York clubs from back in the day, but never such a concentration of Houston photos. I even spotted a couple of photos of shows that I'm pretty sure I was at. Anyone remember Paul Kittleson's Stegosaurus sculpture that was under 59 next to the CAW? I saw X on a later tour at Numbers - it remains one of the greatest live performances I've ever seen. I miss Real Records, which was located in the strip center on Shepherd where the Hot Bagel Shop is now and was run by Really Red's U-Ron. I used to haunt used record stores in my youth, and thought I'd hit the gold mine the first time I went to Real Records. Got a dead mint pressing of the Velvet Underground's first album there for ten bucks!
  18. mkultra25
    I've been watching that one on HAR for a while. Wish I could afford it. Thought about going to the open house last weekend, but I wound up getting sick and didn't make it.
  19. mkultra25
    We drove by the RO Shopping Center yesterday - along the wing where the Black-Eyed Pea is located, every business has already moved out except for the Pea and Jamba Juice. The Black-Eyed Pea has a letter posted next to their front door thanking customers for the past 30 years and listing the date for their imminent closure (can't remember the date, but it's very soon). Wonder if Weingarten's going to roll the bulldozers in the middle of the night as soon as they pull a demo permit?
  20. mkultra25
    There is a Scholz Garten, but it's in Austin - perhaps you're conflating that name with the other place you're thinking of in the Heights? Scholz Garten
  21. mkultra25
    What's ridiculous is that it didn't sell at $900K - the reserve was $1 million, and the owner declined to sell it when it didn't meet reserve. He should've taken the $900K and laughed all the way to the bank, as I seriously doubt he'll get anything close to that kind of offer again.
  22. mkultra25
    A postcard with a picture of the interior of Los Troncos was posted earlier in this thread - scroll up to post #317 to see it.
  23. mkultra25
    I did not know that!
  24. mkultra25
    For those who still subscribe to the paper version of the Chron, this was actually on the front page of the City & State section, not the Heights/Neartown one - apparently I should've had that second cup of coffee before posting.
  25. mkultra25
    Some good news in the Heights/Neartown regional section of this morning's Chronicle: a deed restriction which prevents razing the West mansion until 2012 has been discovered. How the West won
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