mkultra25

http://www.freepresshouston.com/houstonia-we-have-a-problem/ Surprised this hasn't shown up here yet. I think the ire regarding Houstonia's propagation of "Tampico Heights" is a bit misplaced, but the points made about the language of gentrification are spot-on.

+1. I despise digital gauges. In addition to analog gauges being easier to perceive in a steady-state scenario (constant speed or rpm), the same holds true during acceleration/deceleration. The needle sweeping across a gauge face will always be superior to an animated bar graph or LED digits.

If you don't have to have the absolute newest model, in the past I have occasionally seen brand-new, previous-year top-of-the-line V8 (5.0 R-spec) Genesis sedans discounted to $35-38K. I would expect similar deals to be had with a little patience now that a revised model is coming out. And certified used ones with low mileage (and the transferable 100K-mile warranty) are common in that price range. I'm not sure there's another sedan that can provide more bang for the buck at that price point.

Well, we used to have a world class auto museum, but it had such a low profile that few people knew about it. Jerry J. Moore had an astounding collection of Duesenbergs, Packards, pre-war Cadillacs, and many other classics. A fair chunk of them were tucked into a nondescript metal building off the North Loop near Yale bearing a modest sign proclaiming it as "The Antique Car Museum". Of course, Moore got into some financial difficulties before his death, necessitating the liquidation of his collection (among other assets). That said, I certainly share your dismay at the disposition of O'Quinn's collection. I'm fairly sure he had the largest and most diverse collection of anyone not named Jay Leno, and a museum built around it would have almost certainly been the nearest thing to the second coming of Bill Harrah's late, lamented collection that we're likely to see any time soon.

Hadn't seen that one before. Duly noted until I can set aside enough time to read it. Thanks.

Also JMH, which wasn't in the Village but was within shouting distance in West U.

I ran across this photo library of Houston car dealers on Photobucket while looking for a photo of the elusive Bill McDavid Oldsmobile neon sign. Some of these have been posted here before, but there are quite a few others I hadn't seen before. http://s1187.photobucket.com/user/automotivehistorian/library/Houston%20Car%20Dealers?sort=3&page=1

Majors Books. It used to be in the long-gone strip center at Dryden and Main and moved to a new location on Fannin when the strip center was torn down. http://www.chron.com/business/article/Majors-Books-to-close-after-decades-of-business-1602579.php

Disagree. The Admiral Motel's an exemplar of the area's local charm. I'm not aware of any prostitution rings going on there now, and would be sad to see it plowed under in favor of more featureless redevelopment.

Having read the article in the NYT Magazine, you will probably find this 2002 piece on Mack McCormick from Texas Monthly to be of interest: http://www.texasmonthly.com/content/mack-mccormick-still-has-blues?fullpage=1 And since you mentioned watching out for articles by Sullivan, on the off chance you haven't already seen it, there's this one from the Paris Review: http://www.theparisreview.org/letters-essays/6048/mister-lytle-an-essay-john-jeremiah-sullivan

Since you mentioned foreign newspapers and magazines, might you be thinking of Superstand? Not precisely a bookstore as much as a newsstand on steroids, but it matches all the other criteria in your description.

I have been looking for a picture of this sign for a very long time, and almost can't believe I finally found one. About the only thing better would be a video (the sign lit up sequentially as the rocket blasted off). This was located on the Gulf Freeway, and was always a prominent landmark on trips to Galveston.

Colleen's was fantastic. You could get lost in there for days browsing, and Colleen herself was quite a character. She had an awesome selection of Texana, the best of any bookstore in the city. If we're talking antiquarian bookshops (not necessarily the same thing as independent bookshops), in addition to Colleen's there was A Book Buyer's Shop, originally on Studewood until Larry McMurtry took it over and opened Booked Up there. A Book Buyer's Shop relocated to Shepherd in one of the houses along the curve between W. Gray and W. Dallas, and remained there until the owner passed away and his daughter liquidated the inventory. Booked Up closed down when McMurtry consolidated his inventory in Archer City in several huge buildings (now greatly reduced in size, as he recently sold off a significant chunk of his holdings), and the former Booked Up location now houses a dog groomer. Another place that had a very nice selection of collectible Texana was the Out Of Print Book Shop, on Times Blvd. in the Rice Village - not sure if they moved to another location or shut down. And of course Detering Book Gallery on Bissonnet, which stood tall among Houston's rare book dealers. Detering downsized their more common stock to re-emphasize their focus on the higher-end antiquarian market, and relocated from the house on Bissonnet (now the restaurant Antica Osteria) to a much smaller space within the Museum of Printing History on W. Clay. In 2008 it was rebranded as Graham Book Gallery when longtime Detering manager Oscar Graham bought the business upon Herman Detering's retirement. Gamadge's Book House was a relatively short-lived generalist dealer on Richmond - the exact location escapes me now, but it was in Montrose, I believe between the boulevard and Mandell. There was another shop that I can't remember the name of on Richmond just past Shepherd, across the street from the Sandman Building. Becker's Books on Westview is another place you could get lost in for days - it's another bookshop that's in a converted house, and they have a truly staggering number of books onsite in addition to an offsite warehouse. Most of these shops were in business during the 1990s and early 2000s. Just like new book shops, the Internet has brought significant changes to the collectible/antiquarian shops, but despite the number of shops that have closed in Houston over the past 25 years or so, I think the antiquarian trade as a whole is in decent shape. As the old joke goes, one makes a small fortune as a bookseller by starting with a large fortune.

And one in Baytown. http://www.someburger.com/About_Us.html

Anvil may be a lot of things, but it is definitely not a beer on tap kind of place. They pride themselves on being a "craft cocktail" bar. Not defending the attitude you got there, as I think it was unwarranted, but their target audience is people who geek out on obscure varieties of gin, homemade tonic (and other ingredients), and cocktails that are as far removed from well drinks at the average bar as it's possible to be.

That's a good-looking sedan. The Alfa website only shows (in addition to the 4C) the 2-door Giulietta and the subcompact MiTo. Agreed about the need for other models in the US. Alfas have historically been known for affordable Italian style and performance, and an $80K+ halo car isn't going to get them much of a US market share by itself. The automobile market is a lot more competitive now than it was thirty years ago.

Perhaps you should check out the bar at the Hotel Derek. http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g56003-d223167-r147933032-Hotel_Derek_Houston_Galleria-Houston_Texas.html

Glad to see Alfa returning to the US market. The 4C looks like a very nice car, but if the estimated sticker of $86K I saw is accurate, that's steep for a four-cylinder car, even one with 240HP and lots of carbon fiber. That price will put it in competition with Caymans and entry-level 911s, and I think Porsche wins that contest. I had an '81 GTV6 for several years. It was a fantastic car, but like most Italian cars of that vintage, it was definitely not a low-maintenance vehicle.

Prior to the 80s bust, newly-minted college graduates with chemical engineering degrees could count on getting entry-level jobs in O&G at starting salaries that were the envy of other graduates. Afterwards, they were lucky to get any jobs, at significantly lower salaries. I remember students entering college when the gravy train was still chugging along, but by the time they graduated the worth of their Chem E degrees had plummeted, and they had to make some unanticipated career decisions. The tail-end effects of the bust are now being felt in the shortage of qualified people to fill petroleum engineering jobs being vacated by retirees.

Nothing says "the 70s" like Keith Mansfield.

Every death in the Game of Thrones series, tabbed: http://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/1r175h/every_death_in_the_game_of_thrones_series_tabbed/

That would be a great title for a book on midcentury architecture. My parents' house was built in 1962 and the trim was painted turquoise for most of the following decade.

Clearly a frustrated commuter, although I suspect it's photoshopped.

Judging from the website, it doesn't appear that Scott Tycer's involved with this place anymore. I'm still curious as to why Cricket's shut down rather abruptly not too long after he acquired it.