crunchtastic

Happy 25th Anniversary to Jean-Michel Jarre's Rendezvous Houston!

Indeed!!! Most of the people who complain about how behind we are compared to Atlanta or Denver or wherever, weren't downtown or just outside witnessing this close up. Or tripping, but hey.

And as I have said numerous times, if the people who were against the ordinance were really for preservation, they would have come forward with ways to make a better revised ordinance rather than sending fliers out trying to kill off the historic districts altogether. ]

no, some of us against the ordinance want to see the city focus on the actual issue of preservation, starting with commercial properties in highly visible districts. Unlike you, I actually know firsthand of what it takes to actually keep a 100 year old frame house standing. It may look nice on the outside, but underneath the granite counter, it's $10s of thousands of a commitment for a 2-1. You and your short-timer urban adventurer friends will leave the Heights for West U or the suburbs soon enough for your latent gated-community dreams, meanwhile I'll still be here, in my old house. My old house that's been pictured in the Chron next to the headline "preserving a piece of history" -- no thanks to you or the ordinance, of course.

Here is some hysterical language:

http://blogs.chron.com/houstonpolitics/2011/03/the_gestapo_at_city_hall.html

Maybe CM Jones will be the anti-preservationist candidate for mayor.

Looks like you found another place to post your sob story about lot value and having your view ruined. It also appears there are quite a few people who would rather suffer Jolanda Jones' antics than than your social engineering agenda masquerading as preservation.

Think again! While hysterical preservationists have hysterically celebrated phyric victories in the Heights and Montrose, the sealed bidding process for this highly visible and legitimately historical structure has seemed to slip under the radar.

http://www.cbre.com/usa/us/tx/houston+corp+services/property/hisdcage

Totally unsurprising. The COH will put the preservation boot up the arse of non-investor homeowners who live in merely old structures no historical value, yet completely ignore the commerical buildings and districts that do. Lacking the political will and money to take on actual historic preservation, they bully the little guy instead to claim the win.

Something barracuda said earlier has been bugging me all day. Would I really have to apply for permission just to replace my front door? Really?? I have to replace my own 100 year old door that's been warped, shimmed and planed to death. As it is, I'll need to have a new one custom milled to fit. It's just unconscionable to me I'd have to ask permission from a committee.

Whole parts of the Heights still have open ditches for drainage, and you have to permit a door? Sorry, but Onion Creek, a mac n cheese place and a couple of antiques stores ain't all that. Boy am I glad I chose the east end instead.

When I left the office today I could see that the barricades were down on the Allen Parkway side and a couple of people on the bridge. A news van was there so I don't know if it was open, or they were doing a spot or what.

No leaf or debris build-up yet in the art that I could spot, but it shouldn't take long. I think we should turn them into giant change jars, and when they get full, use the money to trade in for more sculpture.

Guys check out what I saw parked in front of El Patio the other day "Mobile Cigar Lounge"... very interesting.

http://www.styxlounge.com/

hmmm...that gives me an idea. I've never been on the Washington Ave shuttle--can you smoke on that? Cigarettes, weed, cigars?

Eh, Minorcan tapas are so much better.

Yay, please do it! I don't have much room for visitors in the house, and everyone bitches about staying downtown.

City Streets was way tacky, but for some reason we kept going there for happy hour when I first moved here back in '01. It did have some redeeming qualities, like if you get too belligerent at the piano bar you can move over to the karaoke bar, then if it happens again you still have options without driving!

Wow, it was still open then? I went there early on, and I left town in 95. Proof of concept, I guess.

'fresh out of college' is not the only target here. It will be a draw for downtown workers 20s and up who probably wouldn't go clubbing on Washington Ave, but love to get their extended happy hour on.

My wistfullness for happy hour buffets and 3 for 1s aside, this is mostly likely a fail because they will have a hard time filling up late night and weekends, unless they can find a way to piggyback on the culture crowd wo are already there for the theatres (unlikely). Plus it's on the 'wrong side' of DT relative to other club action. The parking is very convenient and (to me) relatively inexpensive, but the threatre district underground is a total mess on big show nights.

It's about time someone brought back the good ole' hi-volume, low-cost meat market. There's a whole new generation of 20 something office types who may now get to experience the joy of $3 wells and hundreds of potential uh, love matches all under the same convenient roof.

ahhh....I can hear the extended club mix of Blue Monday like it was yesterday.

Several more in this part of town... a couple of rather large ones down Telephone Road. It's a booming business to say the least.

That old service station at Telephone and Dumble does the business as a bus depot. Gotta watch for peds when one is arriving and departing, because everyone queues up at the tacgueria across the street.

Ew, pennant flags.

Ew, looks like someone is flying their pretentious flag.

Frumpy, middle-aged white collars need bars too. I'm pleased to see the facelift hasn't changed that.

macht schnell!

ok, so I don't have many chances to use my only German.

This sounds like one of those places where someone decided what sort of skimpy waitress outfit they wanted to use and built the theme around that.

So what is where the Roll-N used to be? Is it "upscale"?

I'm trying to remember the name--we drove past a couple of weeks ago and saw a sign that said something like The Depot--and I believe with a little tag that said 'neighborhood bar'. Which leads me to believe it's not lounge-y but probably nicer than the Roll-N.

Speaking of bars, I hear the D&W in my hood has its mardi gras tree up. Time for a visit.

I stayed in for NYE and actually watched some of it on Channel 13. After about 90 seconds of lighted hula-hooping, we switched the channel to Andy Cohen. Gina Gaston seemed a lot tipsy and was sporting black leather gloves, despite it being 60 out. Looked like the kids were having fun, though.

Maybe this is an anecdotal sign of economic recovery-- the quality of fireworks shot off by my neighbors was much higher this year than in the past 2, and only 1 gun shot that we heard.

My favorite view of downtown is from the west side, coming over the Durham bridge over White Oak bayou, and to a lesser extent Shepherd on the bridge over Allen/Memorial (it's closer and the angle is better but there is some tree blockage), just before the sun comes up. The natural light makes downtown look awesome before the sun pops above the horizon. Every morning I come that way, I wish I had my camera (and 2 extra hands).

Exactly. Anyone can look good at night with the right treatment. But how do you look at daybreak?

Dude.

Really?

This AND Bob Dylan?

I know I've said you need to get out more, but...wow.

I can only wish I never heard of Trans Siberian Orchestra. ugh. double dog ugh. Like a crappy Kansas tribute band with Highlander thunder effects and a glockenspiel.

These pics just reinforce my beef about the completely ass-backwards nature of so-called preservation in this city.

Rather than Sue Lovell and friends jack-booting homeowners, why aren't we focusing our collective efforts on commercial and industrial structures-- all over the city? Because the city lacks the wherewithal to do the hard work of raising funds or interest to do so. It's easier to push it off on the small guys, the non-investor homeowners, and claim we're preserving 'neighborhoods,' than to tackle much more expensive, useful and visible sites.

Excellent, *rubs hands together*, the Weingarten empire must fall.

The story as I heard it... Wiengarten raised the rent again and Mandola decided he'd gather some investors (some long-time employess have some skin in it) and build instead, and the guys that own Ibiza/Catalan will open in the vacant RO center space.

Tony Mandola is building a new Gulf Coast Kitchen and will relocate from the River Oaks Center location.

Will post details if I get some. My admin asst. knows the family from way back and seems to have the inside scoop.

I'll be there all next week. I'll report back on how the ta's are received.

it means thanks/later/see ya

It bothers me when people say "cheers" at the end of a phone call or email. I work with a lot of english people, so I get this a lot. I just don't follow the origin of it. "Cheers"...sounds like you are declaring that there should be cheers all around, as if some great success just happened. No, we just talked about some crap for work.

Next time you talk to your English co-workers, when you're done just say "ta". (as in ta-tas). The snooty Londoners will wonder who you've been talking to behind their backs.

If I have to hear 'chef-driven restaurant' again in this context I'm going to have a seizure.

Christ on a cracker! How much gastropubbin' and slow food cocktails do the Good People of The Heights need in a 5 mile area? Clearly not that many, because it's easier to use the prescribed anti-walmart talking points rather than keep the 'chef-driven restaurants' like Bedford and Textile viable in one's own neighborhood.

Curious how no one wants crappy chains, but yet the Heights manages to keep the Creeks (aka the home of the dry, overpriced burger) hopping. Style over substance, apparently.

I second 20th st Dad's Chacho's motion.