Monthly Archives: October 2009
Mad Men
| October 1, 2009 | Filled under Video |
“Good work, sycophants.”
That last line just illustrates how clever Sesame Street has always been at entertaining parents in addition to chillenz. Related: MObama to help Sesame Street celebrate its 40th birthday.
Heights Natatorium
| October 3, 2009 | Filled under Blog |
A long-simmering obsession with the Sutro Baths was reignited last night when I discovered the Houston Heights once had a bath house of it’s own, one that was unbelievable fed by White Oak Bayou.
From The Galveston Daily News on April 12, 1895:
“Houston’s new natatorium at Coombs park was thrown open to the public today, and in two hours after the opening every bathing suit in the house was out, and the jolly bathers were enjoying the fresh water. The tank has a capacity of 200,000 gallons of water and is 80×40 feet square, having a depth when full of from 4 to 9 feet of water.”
What is it now? If you look at the map on the cleverly-named Houstorian, you can see the park was once near Hallow Weed Cemetery, a burial place for Houston’s blacks at the turn of the century that is now completely overgrown and surrounded by lean-tos.
Fantastic
| October 3, 2009 | Filled under Video |
I love Wes Anderson but I’ve grown weary of his earnestness in recent films.
But this? This looks amazing.
Unsavory history
| October 7, 2009 | Filled under Internerd |
Yet another accolade for my ‘hood. Houston’s Montrose was named one of the Top 10 neighborhoods to live in in the United States.
Rosemary’s Baby
| October 8, 2009 | Filled under Internerd |
I try not to get too political around here, or too current event-sy, but the Polanski case has really got me all pissed off and some of the people who are coming to his defense are downright disappointing. Like this self-proclaimed feminist.
At the risk of sounding too didactic, I’d like to ask this favor of you. Please go read this excellent blog post about the definition and consequences of rape culture.
Anyone can play guitar
| October 14, 2009 | Filled under Blog |
I had a dream last night that I was in a band, on tour. My first tour. The tour was exceptionally nerve-racking not just because I suffer from stage fright and because I was on tour for the first time, but also because I have (both in real life, and in the dream) no idea how to play any kind of instrument. So in addition to getting from place to place, I was also trying desperately to learn how to play the guitar.
“Izzy” by James Ellroy
| October 14, 2009 | Filled under Internerd |
Izzy was out in back. Izzy was relaxing in the sun. What’s up, Daddy-O? Stray pit. Year old. She was too cool for school. Cocaine white and leather brown. She had cute in spades. Brooks felt kicked in the gut. Brooks felt his breath go. Brooks felt like he was going to boo-hoo-hoo. Fucking dog. Snap out of it, Brooksy. Snap-snap. Brooks caught himself — all stiff and starched. Bingo, baby. Open the car door, and Izzy’s in like you-know. Fucking L.A.
Pet adoption ads as written by esteemed authors both living and deceased, via the Houston Press. Fucking L.A.
Most flattering photo ever
| October 19, 2009 | Filled under Photo Album |
I went to the most awesome baby shower Friday for an awesome friend who will be having awesome twins come 2010 (maybe earlier). I post this photo because I ike to be reminded of how silly I look sometimes.
Big wheel
| October 20, 2009 | Filled under Shorts |
Bicycling has done more to emancipate women than anything else in the world. I stand and rejoice every time I see a woman ride by on a wheel. It gives women a feeling of freedom and self-reliance. — Susan B. Anthony
I bought a new bicycle this weekend and rode it to school today. More inspired than ever to switch to two wheels permanently. It must be the weather.
Gay marriage
| October 22, 2009 | Filled under Video |
He’s a little hard to understand in parts so here’s a transcript.
Morton’s
| October 26, 2009 | Filled under Photo Album |
Here was my Halloween costume this past weekend. No, I was not Catherine Deneuve from Les Parapluies de Cherbourg as someone suggested.
I say was my Halloween costume because the event I am going to on actual Halloween is a party where men dress as women and women dress as men. I am not sure which well-known male character I am going to dress as yet.
Did you know the phrase “When it rains it pours” is not just some easily-dispensed grandmotherly wisdom, but was actually a creation of the Morton Salt’s advertising agency in 1911. That’s why the Salt Girl carries an umbrella.
Meercat bad manners
| October 27, 2009 | Filled under Internerd, Photo Album |
Via the Houston Zoo Twitter feed. There’s something creepy about it, no?
He thought I was a banana
| October 27, 2009 | Filled under Blog |
If you’re wondering why I’ve been less-than-committed to blogging lately, it’s because I quit my crappy part-time job selling costume jewelry and am now working as the biggest journalism cliché of the early 21st Century — professional blogger.
Saturday, after the Halloween party I swung by Big Star Bar to catch the final show of Houston band GTRS (they’re leaving Texas for greener pastures, as if those exist elsewhere). I missed the band — we got there at 1:40 a.m. — but I did run into fellow Press cohort Hlavaty, who tried on CLH’s gorilla mask.
My favorite costumes of the night were Bunker and Fallon, who came together as smallpox and an Indian girl; Jen and Adrian, who came as the Octomom and Balloon Boy; Hazuki and Dmitry, who came as some nerd thing I didn’t understand (just kidding! She’s a dalek and he’s Dr. Who duh). I only just now realized that this guy was supposed to be The Dude and not Jesus. Seeing him in context with Maude Lebowski helps. All the pictures from the party are here.
Marc Brubaker’s photos from GTRS final Houston show are on Flickr.
Pale Horse, Pale Rider
| October 28, 2009 | Filled under Shorts |
Recommended humpday reading: If the swine flu thing has you remotely paranoid, try reading Katherine Anne Porter’s definitive short story “Pale Horse, Pale Rider.” Based on her own near-death experience during the WWI flu outbreak. I discovered and fell in love with Porter recently during a class that I hated, but it was almost worth taking the class for the discovery alone. Oddly, Porter seems to be one of the forgotten authors of the 20th century. Her other stories, all largely biographical, are also good.
I am so smart!
| October 29, 2009 | Filled under Video |
I say this all the time, and no one ever knows what I’m quoting. So if you know me, this is what I’m quoting.
Shaking hands and kissing babies
| October 29, 2009 | Filled under Blog |
I met Houston mayoral candidate Gene Locke last night. He gave me a shoulder massage.
He was at the V.I.P. opening of the new St. Arnold’s brewery (a.k.a. “The Newery”). I was there to cover it for Houstonist.
I’ve been pretty unsure of who to vote for for mayor. The candidates’ platforms seem indistinguishable to me. Do I vote for the rich white guy, the sexual minority, the ethnic minority, or the other ethnic minority? I’m still undecided, but I have this to say about Locke: I cracked a joke to him last night, he took that joke one step further, and as a result he seemed unabashedly human, funny and interesting. His wife, by the way, gave him the go-ahead on the shoulder massage.
The Legend of Boggy Creek
| October 30, 2009 | Filled under Internerd |
For Halloween: here’s a story my dad used to tell me when I was a kid. Dad loves ghost stories and on long late drives to Dallas to visit my sister* he used to try his hardest to freak me out. This one was especially effective.
*Happy birthday to little sis, who turns 22 today!
