Fringe

Yes, Piola is a pizza place in the Mix where the pizza is Italian style... not NYC or Chicago style.  I was there last night and the food is good.

Tried it last night. Really good pizza. Kind of like Grimaldi's, coal fired oven with thin crust and fresh ingredients but more variety and only one size (12").  It's now my second favorite pizza behind Grimaldi's. 

Thank goodness I have a six pack reserved at Ho Foods. 

I'm sure this will mean an increase in ticket prices next season. 

I stand corrected. It was burning pine needles. They were cheaper this year then straw/hay. 

The pumpkins were real as was the burning straw they were sitting on.  

 Fire seems to be located to the exterior of the Kirby store for now. The store has been evacuated. 

Did not know that. It's been a couple of years since I visited Ernies on Banks.  I like the Flying Saucer but it does get loud and crowded. I'm more of a Ginger Man kind of guy. I much prefer the Rice Village area to downtown anyhow. Plenty of bar hopping available within just a few blocks and several nice restaurants.  

Ernies is still around. It's s a big Rice hangout or used to be. Wasn't Deans supposed to be moving to Montrose area? 

I have a couple of questions Fringe.  Was the percentage of gay family members as high during that time as it was in the 80's and 90's?   Any historical info about the time period of Montrose's transition from straight to predominantly gay took place?  The beginnings?  Midpoint?  Effectively complete?   I heard the percentage back in the 80's and 90's was around 99 percent.  How are we doing now that Montrose has become fashionable again for some of the straights to start moving back in?   Is this the point where we say ?. . . "there goes the neighborhood."   I certainly hope not.

Back then we didn't care or even bother to notice who was gay or straight. Either you where a stoner or you weren't. It was the hair for the most part that defined who you where. Of course that was back when I had hair. 

i don't drive to go out, but downtown is easier to find parking then a lot of other spots. assuming you don't mind walking a few blocks.

Yeah but at a steep price that would pay for a couple of drinks. 

Yeah. I'm not much of a hopper. I prefer just to settle in at one place.  Maybe that's why I'm not a downtown type of person.  And I agree parking for some places on Washington is pretty bad if you don't arrive early.  I think a lot of people in the Heights enjoy being able to walk to a bar and not have to worry about drinking then driving. I know I would. 

I've never been a big fan of downtown (at least not since the 60's) but I would venture to say there is just to much competition from other entities that are attracting the same crowd that used to venture downtown. There has been so many new restaurants and clubs added in recent years in uptown, the Heights and along Washington Blvd. Those and places like the CityCentre have become the new hot places to go without the hassle of driving and parking downtown.  

My time living in Montrose was late 60's early 70's. Back then it wasn't gay bashing but hippie bashing. If you had long hair you were subject to it not only by local rednecks but frequently by the police.  

I think what stands out the most in my memory is how on the day of the Woodway Square fire Houston city council turned down a proposed fire department ordinance outlawing wood-shingled roof on apartments. They retracted themselves the following day.  There were a number of big fires because of wood shingles. My parents house in Meyerland burned because of wood shingles. They were attractive but terribly unsafe. 

Having spent a lot of time at the building as a kid when my father worked there and actually once working there myself in later years this is indeed great news. 

Love Street

It was a very groovy place despite this strange smoke that always seem to linger in the air.

Nice. Never have flown Frontier but now they are at Hobby I will give them a try. Anything to stay away from IAH. 

Wienerschnitzel, or "schnitzel from Vienna" is an Austrian dish made from flattened, tenderized veal coated in breadcrumbs and fried.  It looks like chicken fried steak and is usually served with a lemon slice.   It is also sometimes made from pork but in Austria the name is protected by law and can only be used for veal.   "Wiener" of course, means "Viennese" in German.   It always annoys me that this perfectly elegant European dish has had its name co-opted by a fast-food hot dog place.

Now you've made me hungry. May have to go to Rudi Lechner's after work. 

I used to go to the one on Hillcroft near Bissonet. I thought they were pretty good late night snack, but then back than pretty much everything tasted good. 

Huh?  I thought Chrysler just stopped production of it.

PT Cruiser stops production

I was referring (tounge-in-cheek) to the Infinity just posted. To me it looks like a PT Cruiser on steroids. 

http://www.abandoned..._in_houston.htm

Malibu Grand Prix photos

Any idea when those photos were taken? Is all that stuff still just sitting there today? 

It's nice to see someone continuing to make the PT Cruiser. 

What an SOB, trying to drive his car off. Would have probably killed an innocent bystander for sure. 

Yeah, I don't believe it's a city thing as much as a property management thing. It's the same at Rice University. No one will say anything when your just walking around snapping pictures but as soon as you drag out a tripod your going to be confronted.  Is a tripod to "professional" looking?  I don't know and I don't blame you for wanting to use one. That's just the way it is. 

He will go well with Chris Bosh.