Firebird65

I lived in the Ella, T.C. Jester, W. 18th area back in the middle 70's and there was a very exclusive and secluded restaurant somewhere around there. I can't remember the name but I think it was a French restaurant. (I know that the Rainbow Lodge has moved to Ella and T.C. Jester but that is more recent.) Does anyone know what restaurant was there?

I think you're referring to L'Tour d'Argent, but I stand to be corrected.

in the enclave-eldridge corridor sueba has built away from the class b and c apartments that are housed next to the village school.

I used to live on Whittington down the street from the Village School. I HATED that school with a passion because they had all this land yet they would NEVER build a parking lot so that people coming to one of their upteen jillion evening assemblies could park somewhere other than on the street blocking traffic. Same goes when school let out in the afternoon all the parents would block traffic clear down the street waiting to pick up little Sally or Junior.

That school was a bad neighbor.

No one except true gearheads will ever claim that the GUMBALL RALLY is great art, but I love it.

Same goes with Smokey and the Bandit. There's certainly no art (or plot) there either.

Once a woman here at work was asking why movies like this are so popular with guys. "Shoot, what guy doesn't want to drive a fast car, drink beer and pick up girls? It's every guy's dream!" And I don't even drink and barely know anything about cars. LOL!

I really wanted to see the Gumball Rally when it was in theatres. But the gang, as it was, wanted to see Bad News Bears. Not that I came out on the short end cause that was a great flick too. But I had to wait years before I finally got to see Gumball Rally.

How did we ever survive without VCRs or DVDs?

Yeah, I only remember it as The Shamrock 6 Theaters. I can't stop thinking of all the movies we saw there. Stepford Wives, Gumball Rally, Deathrace 2000, etc. Nostalgia trip.

Those movie titles are a nostalgia trip. Gumball Rally - entertaining movie that was overshadowed by the more farsical and star studded Cannonball Run a few years later. Every now and then, the Speed Network will show it and I watch it every time. "Franco isa reddy! Nowa de race canna beegin."

Even to this day, I've never seen Death Race 2000. I remember it caused quite a stir back in 1975/76 when it came out and there was a video game based on the movie that debuted at that time (perhaps one of the first movie/video game tie-ins). I did play the game once at the local skating rink until they pulled it due to its controversial nature.

Stepford Wives was a great movie. They showed the remake a few days ago on cable and bleeeech, what a waste. Katherine Ross, what a hottie. I make sure I catch her movies whenever they come on.

Might as well sell Stratford High while they're at it. After all, it's located right next Tully. I'm sure that would work quite well as a multi-use development too.

Your idea from a strictly business point of view is quite sound. If I had a business where Tully Stadium is, I'd take your advice and run to the bank. But from a school district point of view, it makes no real sense. A school district doesn't exist to make money, it exists to educate students. It would have to be an extraordinary deal for them to do what you suggest.

But then, they have done such a deal in the past. They did sell a junior high school campus (I believe it was a junior high) on the Katy Freeway that now serves as a site for a multi-story high-rise.

Just to be clear, I'm not advocating the removal of SPISD's football program. Just a physical relocation of where the games are held. That's all.

In fact, they might just promise some share of the proceeds from the land sale to the athletics department in excess of what it'd take to relocate the facilities, so that everybody could come out ahead.

You're assuming the purpose of high school athletics is to make money. It isn't. Yet.

Hopefully that will never be the case, as the pursuit of ever more money has ruined college football. High school football is the last bastion of amateur sport, where one can go enjoy a game and watch players take the field pretty much for the enjoyment and experience of representing their schools and neighborhood. However, dark clouds loom on the horizon and that may not be the case for much longer and that's a damn shame.

Tully is a perfectly fine stadium located in fairly close proximity to all the SBISD schools. I'm still trying to figure why in the world you're advocating the district do anything whatsoever.

The first prototype for a cellphone I saw was in 1964. This guy opened up a cigarette lighter and said, "Open Channel D" Napoleon Solo even beat out Captain Kirk's Communicator.

Hey, totally off topic, but speaking of the Napoleon Solo, the American Life Network (which for me is on the digital tier) shows the Man From Uncle every Wednesday night at 8 p.m. Last night, they showed the unaired 90-minute pilot. There were some fairly major changes from this pilot and what eventually became the final show as we know it.

First, this pilot was entitled "Solo" not the Man From Uncle although the music and graphics were the same. Also, there was no Mr. Waverley. Another man played the head of Uncle. I think he was black, albeit light skinned. That would have been very ground-breaking for the time. Thirdly, while Ilya Kuryakin was in the show, he was not Solo's partner, but an Uncle headquarters technician. Solo basically worked solo.

Well perhaps the low turnout is an indicator that the land has a higher and better use.

Huh?!?

Those two have nothing to do with each other.

Has more to do with Spring Woods has a terrible team, has had a terrible team for a LONG time and that the demographics of the Spring Woods High School attendance zone has dramatically changed and these new residents don't much care for high school football. The value of the land has zip to do with that.

Wouldn't surprise me if SBISD did sell off a good portion of the parking lot. Seems like there's a lot more parking than is necessary.

My grandfather rode it out in the shrimp boat that he'd built in his back yard. He navigated it as far up Dickinson Bayou as he could, but after the storm, it was two miles inland, stuck in the mud of a coastal prairie. A total loss. He was unscathed.

With all the subsidence, if that were to happen today, I'd probably advise him to fix the boat where it lay and then wait a few weeks until the next inevitable flood and then float it back down to the bay!

Shameless bump. I'd really like to hear your stories, thoughts, etc. about Briarmeadow.

I'll let the thread die if none are forthcoming.

Thanks.

I live in Westchase, across from Briarmeadow. I've walked through it several times. Didn't grow up in the area, but I too would like to hear some stories, so I'll bump the bump.

Considering the health of the office and apartment markets in the Energy Corridor, does it strike anyone as a possibility that Spring Branch ISD might one day sell out their well-located stadium to developers, take the cash, and run? ...perhaps build a new stadium and sports complex somewhere in either the Addicks or Barker reservior?

That would be a little tough. Forget the environmental impact studies and flooding concerns such a plan would spawn. It's never going to happen for a very simple reason... neither of those areas is within Spring Branch ISD. Both are in Katy. HISD's westernmost boundary is Highway 6, but the Addicks reservoir across the highway is in KISD proper.

Tully Stadium was built in 1965 and is in great shape. Of course, when only 100 or so people come to the games (that's for both sides combined), it doesn't put much wear and tear on the facility. I went to an Aldine/Spring Woods game last year and I counted - yes, counted - just over 100 people. That's a shame. I've done a history of Aldine's football team and when we were in the same district as the SBISD schools in the mid 1960s, the same Aldine/Spring Woods game would draw over 5,000.

On the bright side, at least I didn't have long to wait at the concession stand.

The price of Shrimp sky-rocketed because the shrimp boats were afraid to go out due to the Nazi subs in the Gulf.

Interesting tidbit. I'd never heard of something like that. But it makes sense.

Houston theatre list

http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:8KlYY...t=clnk&cd=1

Not sure how far I'd trust that list. Very first thing on it is wrong. The Airline theatre opened in either 1949 or 1950 (most likely 1950), not 1955. I've seen ads for it going back that far. So if it's wrong on the first item, who knows what else may be in error.

Well, actually, I do. The Greens Crossing theatre opened in 1985, not 1990. And Deauville on the North Freeway opened in 1975, not 1990.

Oh well... it's a nice starting place for research.

There was also a siren at Northline Park on Nordling near Parker and Airline. I remember it going off while at the city pool there.

Does anyone know when the Melrose (ME ) exchange started? I grew up in Northline Terrace, and that was Hillcrest (HI) from 1955 on. But before the area got HI, it was ME. However, when I looked in old phone books for the exchange maps, I couldn't find anything for the areas outside the city (as this area was back then) prior to 1950. I know the area did have ME at least as far back as 1935, but know how much further back it went.

is 24hr ESPN radio now... Mike and Mike in the Morning adnd the Dan Patrick Show will broadcast live daily. Local sports and traffic will have a spot every 20 min. This will make it three 24hr sports radio stations in Houston.

I predict this is going to fail and fail miserably. ESPN is horrific and getting worse everyday. I sure don't watch their East Coast biased TV network, so why in the world would I want to listen to their New York/Boston-centric radio broadcast?

There's a reason why they do so well in the Northeast... because that's all they cover. So essentially, if you live in New York or Boston and tune into ESPN, it's pretty much local programming.

But if you live Houston and want to hear about the Astros/Texans and Rockets, it ain't gonna be on 97.5.

Sure, some national sports talk shows do pretty good. But mainly, as in the case of Jim Rome, it's because they have some kind of entertaining schtick. However, if you live in a major league town (which Houston is) you want to hear about the local teams.

Here's a fun game you and your friends can play during the next time there's a significant news or weather event. Go get a bottle (or two) of your favorite beverage. When a hurricane, snow storm, refinery explosion, corporate scandal, etc. has the media in a frenzy, call your buddies over, turn on the 5 a.m, 7 a.m., 11:30 a.m., noon, 12:30 p.m., 4:00 p.m., 4:30 p.m, 5:00 p.m., 6:00 p.m., 9:00 p.m. or 10:00 p.m. news and for every time the anchor intones about that station's "team coverage," take a swig!

Were you to play today during the impending ice storm, even the most liver-damaged frat boy would be under the table in about 10 minutes.

Do you know of any publications on the history of HISD or surrounding school disrticts? I got a good book several years ago on Pasadena ISD.

I don't know a thing about HISDs history, but there are probably several posters (including isuredid and vicman) who could help you on that. I know a lot about Aldine ISD, should you have any question on that district.

Thanks for your great info on Cedar Bayou. I liked that part about the basketball gym. That was funny. Call it a "home court advantage."

From my research on Aldine's FB team, I know that Cedar Bayou cancelled its 1943 season - ostensibly to conserve gasoline for the war effort. At least that's what they said. La Porte also cancelled their 1943 campaign, but they did so because a tornado from the surprise July hurricane of that year destroyed the school.

I only have Cedar Bayou's FB records for the years they played Aldine. I know they had a good team in several years, but during the time they were in Aldine's district, they didn't win any titles.

Game results

1942 Aldine 52 Cedar Bayou 0

1943 cancelled

1944 Aldine 21 Cedar Bayou 6

1945 Aldine 13 Cedar Bayou 6

1948 Aldine 27 Cedar Bayou 13

1949 Aldine 6 Cedar Bayou 6 (tie)

Aldine won series 4-0-1.

Cedar Bayou's record:

1942 0-9-0 (0-6-0 in 27-1A)

1943 cancelled

1944 5-2-1 (4-2-0 in 27-1A)

1945 7-2-0 (4-2-0 in 27-1A)

1948 4-5-1 (4-2-0 in 25-1A)

1949 6-2-2 (4-2-2 in 25-1A)

Is there any one that can pin-point the exact DATES of existance of PlayLand Park?

Best I can determine, and i stand to be corrected, was from 1942 to 1960.

Very nicely done! I lived in Northline Terrace for almost forty years and have been an Aldine Mustang fan since '59. This was almost too good to be true. I enjoyed the total package. Great work and thanks a million.

Thanks!

Funny thing... I had gotten so used to communicating to you via e-mail, I had almost forgotten your user name here. I kept thinking, "I haven't sent a copy to anyone named youbetcha." Then it hit me. LOL!

In hindsight, having a fireworks plant in the middle of a neighborhood doesn't really seem like a good idea to begin with.

Boy, ain't that the truth!

I work near Rosine Street. I wonder what's there now? Probably a condo although I can't quite see it from here.

Wonder if anyone there knows that history?

I don't know the answer myself, but I know who will. You need a poster named isuredid. He knows everything and what he doesn't know, he knows how and where to find. Have patience... I'm sure he'll come across this thread.

I had a chance to go through some of the stuff today....wow. Excellent job, Mark. Brought back a lot of memories. I graduated in '85, so we've probably crossed paths a few times back in the day.

Glad you enjoyed it. We probably did cross paths. However, I went to classmates.com and looked up my class and I swear, I had never heard of half the names that appeared as part of the Class of 84. I looked 'em up in my yearbook and apparently they did go to Aldine with me... maybe they are also wondering who the heck I was too.

The Aldine Mustangs have built a strong gridiron tradition on Houston's north side. From their humble beginnings as a winless Conference B team in 1936 to their state and national football titles in 1990 to their return to the playoffs in 2006, you can now follow the team from their first games to today.

As an Aldine High graduate, I've always wondered about the proud Mustang teams of the past and wanted to learn their story. I looked through books, searched the internet, contacted the school and the district, but couldn't find anything. Apparently, no one's ever done a history of the team. So I wrote one myself.

For the past year, I've researched the team's games and district standings going all the way back. I've put together a pretty definitive, one-of-a-kind history of the team as well as some interesting background on the Aldine High area. Now that I've finished, I'd love to share it with anyone interested and get a thread going here about the Ponies.

You'll follow all the great Aldine players of the past: from Wendell and Sam Cornwell in the 1940s to Don Burrisk in the 1960s to Darcy Davis and Derrick Johnson in the 1980s to Eric and Bobby Gray in the 1990s to Darnell Sims and Terrance Anderson of the current decade. You'll get J.D. Rogers' five TD game, Doug Womack's 300 yards rushing playoff game and the Mustangs' state record 65-53 barnburner of a win over Forest Brook.

Yes, the Mustangs have lined up some great teams between the hashmarks, be it at W.W. Thorne Stadium, Aldine Athletic Stadium (now William "Bill" Smith Stadium) and even something called Dads Club Field.

If you would like a pdf, PM me or send your request to aldinefootball@sbcglobal.net. There's no charge. It's free for the asking.

I have two versions available. The comprehensive version contains the scores and standings from 1936 to 2006, as well as the area history timeline. It's a large file (6.5 MB), so if you're on dialup and want this, you might want to consider using a file-sharing service such as yousendit.com.

There's also a 1 MB football-only version for those strictly interested in pigskin.

Either of these are gratis and I'm only too happy to share the fruits of my research with anyone else who, like me, grew up rooting for the Aldine Mustangs. Then once you've read it, let's start a discussion here about the proud Pony heritage.

At long last I've finished my history of the Aldine Mustangs football team. If you would like a pdf, PM me or send your request to aldinefootball@sbcglobal.net.

I have two versions available. The comprehensive version contains the scores and standings from 1936 to 2006, as well as a timeline of the history of the current Aldine High School/Airline Drive area. It's a large file (6.5 MB), so if you're on dialup and want this, you might want to consider using a file-sharing service such as yousendit.com.

There's also a 1 MB football-only version.

Either of these are free for the asking and I'm only too happy to share the fruits of my research with anyone interested.