dbigtex56

Sickening.

Yes, I do know. You're way off. Good thing you're not a betting person. Being a bigot isn't always the smartest policy.

Only looting I noticed during Alicia was from young white male firefighters. Man, they were the worst! No shame whatsoever.

Having lived through the disaster of 'slum clearance' and 'urban renewal' in the 60's, I shudder at the distinct possibility that the rebuilding of New Orleans will a ham-handed mess. While it's likely that many - if not most - of the most severely flooded buildings will have to be razed, there are many buildings of historic and architectural significance in New Orleans which might be needlessly lost due to wholesale demolition. Handing a contract to Halliburton with instructions to bulldoze a few square miles of one of America's most historic cities sounds like a recipe for another disaster. Better to take a bit more time, live with the mess for a while, and retain those parts which are worth saving.

Please notice that I pointedly did not engage in name-calling. My criticism was of Mr. Will's writing style, not of the man himself. For all I know he might personally be a humble, thoughtful person, and not at all like the pompous ass he portrays himself to be. If, for example, I was to observe "Your sister dresses like a slut", that's not the same thing as saying "Your sister is a slut". Big difference.

That one portrait hanging on the fence outside Jackson Square looks an awful lot like Ernest Hemingway.

It's when developers screw over clueless buyers. No...scroll up in this topic. You've gotta read it from the beginning.

(emphasis added) I agree that a longer yellow light might reduce red light running. However, the additional time should be in conjunction with the green light. In other words, a couple of seconds before the green light goes out, the yellow light comes on; they're on at the same time. This gives you notice that it's going to be green for only a few more moments. When the green light goes off, the yellow remains on for the usual amount of time. Merely extending the length of the yellow light as signals currently function will train people that they have even more time to run a red light.

Thanks for specifying the camera! I love those old rangefinders. If anyone saw "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow", it's the same camera that Gwyneth Paltrow used. It's affectionately known as "The Brick", due to its shape (and weight).

I suggest that the Houston Architectural Information Forum initiate the Haifies - an annual award given to whoever uses this board to its best advantage. Guess who gets my nomination? Excellent work, nmainguy! You're an inspiration to us all.

For those who (like me) find George F. Will's pompous-ass writing style nearly unreadable, let me sum up the article: The people of New Orleans are largely poor due to their immorality, and therefore got exactly what they deserve. The government has more important things to do. While Mr. Will feels as comfortable about drowning illegitimate babies as he would a litter of unwanted kittens, he still staunchly opposes abortion. Go figure. Mr. Will also believes that the only sacrifices that Americans made after 9/11 consist of longer waits at airport security due to the indignity of removing our shoes. He lightly tosses aside - nay, doesn't even mention - that a great deal of our resources are going towards a war fought in the name of eliminating terrorism. He doesn't mention that people are no longer allowed to take photos on NYC subways, or the questionable Patriot Act, which gives the government unprecedented powers over the individual. Even in Houston, our light rail message signs periodically flash warnings to report unattended packages and to report 'suspicious activity'. Do you think that would be the case if 9/11 had never happened? Instead, he tosses in some irrelevent data about the pork-filled transportation bill (passed by a majority Republican congress - but Mr. Will conveniently doesn't mention that little fact). No. The blame must be assigned to liberals. That's the rule. I do agree with Mr. Will that the epidemic of teenage births is a tragedy, unacceptable, and the source of many current and future problems. It's disheartening to hear about some single mother (age 19), her six children and two grandchildren camping out at the AstroDome (not a real case, but close). However that's a seperate issue. Mr. Will is using a national tragedy to promote his own agenda. It would be a poverty of thought to not recognize this.

The light rail and the fountains need to stay. They help give downtown a sense of place. However, I think the rail cars should be more visable. Paint them bright red. Not only would it give downtown a needed jolt of color, perhaps it would help to get motorists' attention and reduce collisions.

Merged with existing topic (same Forum, same title...)

Well shucks! Serves me right for being a cheapskate and not getting my GHPA membership. And I so wanted to see the Esperson Building, too!

I'm holding my breath. If real estate trends in Houston hold true, anyone with land anywhere close to the area is going to jack up their prices as if the thing had already been built and was thriving.

From the GHPA website: September 11: This month's tour has been canceled. All of us have been touched by Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath. To allow those in our group to deal with personal and professional matters in the storm's wake, we will not hold our regularly scheduled Walking Tour in September. We'll return to our normal schedule Sunday, October 9.

So how did the pictures turn out? Please share! BTW, the September walking tour has been cancelled, due to Katrina rescue operations.

You know what drives me crazy? Computer error messages (especially Microsoft). Right when I'm in the middle of some complicated operation, the computer will freeze up and this message will be displayed: This program has performed an illegal function and will be closed down. An illegal function, eh? Well, send in the Feds! Who the hell do I think I am, anyway, performing 'illegal functions'. No wonder you shut me down. I can only hope that you'll show mercy and allow me to bungle it up again. Or should I just turn myself in? Another: after Windows decides to get all constipated and stubbornly refuses to do anything, the only option is to turn the damn thing off and reboot. The cheerful message you get when it restarts:Because Windows was not properly shut down... - then "In order to avoid seeing this message again, always shut down your computer using the Shut Down function. And how, pray tell, is a person supposed to do that when your half-witted programming is what caused it to seize up in the first place? Smug little bastards! I'd like to hack into every Windows program and do some rewording. To avoid seeing this message again, buy a Mac next time. And another; First email I ever sent prompted this immediate response: Your message could not be delivered due to a PERMANANT FATAL ERROR. Not just an error - it's permanant. And fatal. I nearly soiled myself, thinking I'd ruined my friend's computer forever. Are programmers merely clueless? or do they have a sadistic streak?

Welcome to the Forum, Margaret.Ann.1958. Thanks for your recollections of this building. I especially like the quote, "Once someone told me meditators are not good managers, because when there are problems they just go meditate." Apparently, I rent from a meditator.

Here's the full quote: "What I'm hearing, which is sort of scary, is they all want to stay in Texas...And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this is working very well for them." Wanda Sykes was saying on Leno tonight, "No wonder no one wanted to get on the cruise ship. After that remark, they were afraid that Barbara would ship their asses back to Africa." Barbara Bush (file photo)

What would you call SoDo residents? SoDomites?

ToolMan, thanks so much for posting that link. In the last couple of days I've consolidated about 5 "new" threads about AstroWorld's closing. There were already at least three in which any of the comments could have been posted; but NOooo... When people stay on topic and utilize existing threads, it makes things so much easier for other HAIF members - and the moderators, too.

I don't know. But heck, I can speculate Perhaps it's to ensure that no utilities are damaged, nor other right-of-ways obstructed in the process of demolition; also proper disposal of rubble, no release of toxic materials into the atmosphere or displacement of native endangered species, etc., etc. Otherwise he might go dynamite the sucker, in a fit of pique.

The Westmoreland subdivision has to have the most strangely numbered streets in the city. Three streets (Emerson, Westmoreland and Marshall) begin at their eastern edge in the 400 block. The next block west is the 200 block. There is no 300 block, even though the blocks are contiguous. And unlike every other street numbering system west of Main St., the numbers get lower rather than higher as you go west. This has been confusing people at least since 1913, perhaps earlier.