May 2004 Archives

31 May 2004

No Tourney

I see that my Coogs faltered in the C-USA tourney (here in Houston) after pulling the upset of East Carolina, and as a result, no NCAA bid this year. Their record just didn't justify it, even though they played the toughest non-conference schedule in the country.

C-USA got four teams in the tourney, and I thought heading in that TCU and Houston were both on the bubble. TCU effectively played their way off the bubble and in by winning the tourney. C-USA was not going to get another bubble spot, especially not for a team barely over .500. So there you go.

Still, it was an exciting finish for the Coogs, who played some really good baseball down the stretch despite being in a major rebuilding year. I can't wait for next season.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 05/31/04 21:55 | Sports | Technorati | Comments (2)

Float Trip Musical Thoughts

Our float trip crew wandered down to Roxie's Roost just off the river to catch a couple of bands Friday night.

I knew the Burtschi Brothers were headlining, and I've been wanting to see them.

A late addition to the mix was Micky and the Motorcars, who opened. They are, of course, fronted by Brauns (brothers of the brothers in Reckless Kelly).

I enjoyed their show, although I'm sad to say we kind of petered out by the time the Burtschis came on. Floating will do that to ya.

Speaking of Brauns, I came to another realization over the weekend: I really like RK's Under the Table and Above the Sun now.

I've mentioned before that I've had a hard time getting over the band's old sound (when they had a different guitarist and bass player who wrote some of the tunes and sang backing vocals). Well, that's what old CDs are for, I guess. I'm into their sound now, and played that disc a lot over the weekend (my poor fellow campers).

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 05/31/04 21:48 | Music | Technorati | Comments (0)

Back

I survived my Annual Memorial Day Float Trip.

Despite the pessimism about the weather (because of recent experience), it was BEAUTIFUL.

Warm and sunny most of the time, just a 30-minute downpour as we came off the river the last day, and even that served to cool things down and take the dust out of the air (both good things). It cleared out in short order and the rest of the day was fine.

It was definitely the best one of these things yet.

And I see that Dave seems to have been a hit here. Many thanks to our guest blogger! Since I can't seem to convince him to go with his own blog, maybe we need just to bring him on board permanently here. Hmm....

I hope everyone had a great weekend. Back to unpacking and getting ready for the work week for me. Blar.

(06-01-2004 Update) Callie has posted a much better Float Trip Post Mortem.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 05/31/04 20:32 | Other | Technorati | Comments (0)

30 May 2004

Inspirational Lyric of the Moment

OK, this is the final inspirational lyric for the weekend. And I include only it because I can. Plus, it might help Kev's street cred. And Lord knows what kind of searches this might attract.

"If you watch how I move you'll mistake me for a playa or pimp/ Been hit wit a few shells but I don't walk with a limp
- 50 Cent, "In Da Club."

Fa schnizzle, ya'll.

Posted by David Hamby @ 05/30/04 16:20 | Music | Technorati | Comments (3)

Sports and Nattering Nabobs

After reading back through my previous entries, I have been a nattering nabob of negativity. I will attempt to be much more positive for the remainder.

I have failed in my sports reporting duties here. To make up for that, I thought I'd do a quick search of the sports news sites to find the progress of UH during the C-USA tournament. I could find nothing on the major sources I usually depend on -- EPSN, SI, and Yahoo sports. Instead, I had to go to the UH athletics site. Further proof that college baseball gets no respect.

UH had a good run through the C-USA tournament making it to the semifinals, and utlimately brought their season record above .500. But I'm not sure a semifinal appearance in the tournament will be enough to get them into post-season play, but they finished strong.

As for the Big 12, OSU had a great run through the tournament by making it to the finals against an unlikely Missouri team this afternoon. They should be favored, but that hasn't meant much in this tournament. First-year OSU coach Frank Anderson has done a great job bringing back the tradition of OSU baseball. I hope to see it continue.

The Texas losses were surprising, but the team was hurt by conduct suspensions. I was glad to see the coach holding key players accountable for their infractions.

However, the biggest flameout of the Big 12 tournament was OU, who ended up getting run-ruled by 6th-seeded Baylor. I would make a comment about OU coach Larry Cochell's post-game comments, but I'm trying to keep this positive.

But the biggest story out of OU athletics during the past two weeks would have to be the success of the OU softball team, who made it to the Women's College World Series tournament by beating 1st-seeded Arizona at Arizona. Even though the softball team ended up being eliminated from the WCWS, they deserve credit for making it to the tournament.

Posted by David Hamby @ 05/30/04 16:13 | Sports | Technorati | Comments (0)

28 May 2004

Inspirational Lyric of the Moment

Looks like the area where Kevin and the gang are doing their float trip got some thunderstorms last night. So, in that spirit, I offer the following:

“I’m no stranger to the rain
I can spot bad weather,
And I’m good at finding shelter in a downpour.
I've been sacrificed by brothers,
Crucified by lovers,
But through it all I withstood the pain.
I’m no stranger to the rain.”

- Keith Whitley’s “I’m No Stranger To The Rain.”

Posted by David Hamby @ 05/28/04 13:18 | Other | Technorati | Comments (1)

Wooo, pig. Sue me!

Sure, I know that most of the Texans checking out this site likely couldn’t care less about the state of affairs of the University of Arkansas, but former Arkansas basketball coach Nolan Richardson’s federal discrimination trial in Little Rock has really turned into a three-ring circus that is divisive not only to the university and its supporters but to college athletics throughout the Midwest.

Richardson is suing the university saying that he was fired because he was black and outspoken, while the university contends that the former coach his public comments and activities show he wasn’t committed to the program.

So far, the trial has brought the usual suspects from the UofA administration – chancellors, regents, and AD Frank Broyles. But other notables providing testimony or depositions include former U.S. Rep. Jay Dickey, Nebraska AD Steve Pederson, Arkansas football coach Houston Nutt, legendary track and field coach John McDonnell, ESPN analyst Chris Mortenson, and now Oklahoma State basketball coach Eddie Sutton.

Smearing other university coaches and administrators to try and prove his points is self-defeating. Sutton certainly is no saint, but he clearly is not racist. His track record with developing minority assistant coaches should not be doubted.

Richardson’s defense team – much like Richardson himself – is trying to find conspiracies where there are none. AD Frank Broyles may be insufferable. He may be insane. He has long outlived his usefulness in the day-to-day operations of Arkansas athletics. But he had good reason to fire Richardson.

The basis for Richardson’s dismissal was established long before he was fired: his teams were no longer competitive in the SEC; his graduation rate was an embarrassment; his tirades against the media, the administration, and the world in general grew increasingly bitter and sowed the seeds of division within the state. The final straw came during his meltdown after a loss at Kentucky where he made comments drawing a parallel between his situation and “coming over on a slave ship.”

I’m not sure how many slaves made $1 million+ annually. I’ll try to get back to you on that.

He then publicly offered to have the university buy out his contract. Does that sound like someone committed to the future of the program?

Richardson says he has become a “tainted” commodity among the basketball community because of his lawsuit against his former employer and his general outspokenness. Gee? You think so?

He has since turned down interviews and coaching opportunities with schools like Oregon State and UTEP, where he is particularly revered because of his past connections there. He said they didn’t pay enough.

I guess some might admire his stance that he won’t lower his standards to accept a lower-paying job. But, I think he has to take a hard look in the mirror and realize that he is, indeed, damaged goods. If he truly wants to coach and positively impact the lives of young men via the basketball arena, he will have to come off his high horse and the accept the reality that he is a bitter man with a huge chip on his shoulder. Those aren’t particularly strong qualities for the public relations component of a head coach’s job description.

Posted by David Hamby @ 05/28/04 13:17 | Sports | Technorati | Comments (1)

27 May 2004

DANGER TRAIN Strikes Again

Many thanks to the sharp-eyed reader, CJN, who let me know about Danger Train Accident #41.

Thank goodness my hometown (Tulsa) isn't world-class like Houston. Although I should probably do my civic duty and share the stories about the Danger Train with our local Citgo employees who are considering relocating to Houston. Our drivers have a bad enough time managing to avoid each other, without having to factor in a renegade light rail system.

And now if you'll indulge me a little Ozzy moment:

"Mental wounds not healing/
driving me insane/
I'm goin' off the rails on the danger train!"

Posted by David Hamby @ 05/27/04 21:41 | Other | Technorati | Comments (0)

Inspirational Lyric of the Moment

“Money talks / but it don’t dance” – Neil Diamond’s “Forever in Blue Jeans”

Posted by David Hamby @ 05/27/04 18:05 | Other | Technorati | Comments (1)

Shock’n No One

What if the country music industry held an awards show that didn’t really matter and wasn’t relevant to anything? Oh, wait. That’s already happened. It’s a sad state of affairs that Toby Keith can walk off with a fistful of awards for his bombastic and tuneless attempt at making music. Yeah, I know he’s from my home state and I should have some pride in his accomplishments.

But I don’t.

And, oh yeah, the Academy of Country Music gave out a Casino of the Year Award. Huh? Where was the recognition for "Feminine Hygiene Product of Year" award?

Posted by David Hamby @ 05/27/04 18:00 | Other | Technorati | Comments (4)

When the Kev’s Away …

Whenever Kevin hands me the keys to blog when he’s out of town, I get a little giddy with the power of it all. Which may be an indication that I need more hobbies. I do, but that’s a topic for another day.

But then I get writer's block, so I have to scramble for interesting tidbits to share with his audience. So, looking back in the memory bank, I recalled that earlier this year I had a fling with making anagrams from the names of friends, family, and co-workers.

In the interest of full disclosure, I came out as “Bald Hyman Voided.” My wife was “Lamebrain Seem Shy.” And our poor daughter became “Barely Human.”

Kevin? “Devil we think.”

How appropriate. Strange that he didn’t share that with his blog kingdom.

In his absence, I'll share a few random thoughts, but I realize that most of you should be out enjoying your three-day weekend.

But for the rest of you, I'll attempt to keep you up-to-date on UH and Big 12 baseball scores. Or not.

One last note: Kevin has made me promise that I won't change the color scheme to orange and black or post photos of Eddie Sutton or Les Miles. But, we'll see...

Posted by David Hamby @ 05/27/04 15:07 | Other | Technorati | Comments (1)

Outta Here

Our guest blogger's probably going to keep ya'll updated on things like... OSU baseball, instead of my Coogs.

Ah well. :)

I'm outta here. Hope you all enjoy the Memorial Day holiday. Think about our veterans and our soldiers. Thank one or more for their service if you can.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 05/27/04 07:44 | Other | Technorati | Comments (0)

26 May 2004

Wish I Could Have Seen It

Coogs get the win in their first game of the C-USA tourney, 9-5 over TCU.

I should have been out there cheering 'em, but there's this little thing called the Float Trip that I had to gear up for, and I'm still not done packing or burning MP3 disks or about half a dozen other things. Urgh.

With the win, they get to play the best team in the conference (and maybe the country), East Carolina, tomorrow. Another urgh.

Coog relievers turned in some good work, and probably Roberts and Lincoln could pitch again in the tourney if UH goes deep. And now they're set up with Mock, Varner, and Sumerlin the rest of the way. Not bad depth there. Good to steal the win on Day One without using those guys.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 05/26/04 23:31 | Sports | Technorati | Comments (0)

25 May 2004

Ho Hum

It's looking like we'll have a guest blogger while I'm away on the float trip starting Thursday....

The excitement is building. :)

Oh, and the weather forecasts that were nice a few days ago are, predictably, starting to go to crap. I knew they would.

One more day of work to plow through tomorrow before my long weekend begins. Blar.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 05/25/04 23:59 | Other | Technorati | Comments (4)

It Seemed Like A Good Idea At The Time

Doesn't it make you Houstonians feel proud to know that your brand new police chief is part of a grand jury investigation?

Grand jury subpoenas were issued Monday night and city leaders were being called in for questioning after learning the City of Houston accepted a two-bedroom suite at a downtown hotel as a gift.

The downtown Hyatt $775-a-night two-bedroom suite has been occupied by the city's new police chief, Harold Hurtt, as a temporary residence since March 11.

Mayor Bill White's Chief of Staff Michael Moore said it is not uncommon for the city to cover lodging costs while a new department head looks for a house.

However, when another business pays the tab instead, prosecutors said the city could be caught committing a crime.

"We checked with (our lawyers) before we did anything and (they) said it was fine. We're all about saving taxpayer dollars," Moore said.

But even though the mayor's legal team approved the deal, Harris County's top prosecutor said they could be committing a crime, violating laws that ban gifts to public servants.

"One of them has to do with benefiting a public official or offering a benefit to a public official who may regulate you or regulate what you do," Harris County District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal said. "Just because you can do that in private business, doesn't mean you can necessarily do that in government. We're restricted by other aspects of the law."

I'm sure Rosenthal and White and Moore and Hurtt will get to the bottom of it.

Meanwhile, I'd like to try out a $775/night hotel suite sometime. I knew I should have done law enforcement instead of all that political science crap. *sigh*

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 05/25/04 22:00 | Houston | Technorati | Comments (1)

24 May 2004

Lovett

I know some of the less conservative readers here aren't necessarily big fans of all that we're doing over at Chronically Biased.

That's fine.

But even if you don't like our political or media-crit stuff, I'd encourage you to go over and read Dan Lovett's articles. Lovett's a Houstonian and Texas Hall of Fame broadcaster, and he's just been cranking out some fascinating copy for us, and cranking it out so fast that I can't keep up (I'm sitting on a few articles right now).

We're having some fun over at Chronically Biased, but I must say that it's just been an amazing honor to edit and post Dan Lovett's copy. I'm like a kid in the candy store, getting first crack at this stuff.

Go have a peek at what's posted so far if you're so inclined.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 05/24/04 22:32 | Other | Technorati | Comments (10)

World Class!

Is there any aspect of the new Main Street rail development that was not thoroughly botched by Lee Brown and friends?

Here's the latest:

As Houston's long, hot, muggy summer begins enveloping the city, thirsty train riders and downtown pedestrians are likely to indulge in the cool refreshment that 20 new water fountains on Main Street would seem to offer.

The only problem: 16 of the fountains do not work. And of the others, two emit barely a trickle of water. And if that wasn't bad enough, the water is so hot it's likely to cause the drinker to immediately spit it out in disgust. The remaining two fountains produce, at best, room-temperature waves that shoot out so strongly that one is likely to get splashed in the face.

"There is a leak somewhere in the irrigation system and the fountains are hooked into that," explained Jodie Sinclair, spokeswoman for the Houston Downtown Management District, which installed the black fountains as part of numerous amenities along the rail line. "If you turn the drinking fountains on, you will activate the leak, wherever it is.

"We are still searching for it."

The fountains -- the only public outdoor fixtures of their kind downtown -- were finished late last year in time for the Jan. 1 rail opening. Most of them have yet to quench anyone's thirst.

Texas Sterling Construction installed the 10 fountain pairs, randomly scattered from Bell to Commerce streets, as part of its contract with the Metropolitan Transit Authority to construct the light rail's downtown segment.

Metro spokesman Ken Connaughton said the contractor met with the management district last week about the problem, "but we don't know how long it will take to isolate and repair the leak."

There's a shocker.

Memo to METRO: it is not world class when you can't even get a drinking fountain to work properly.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 05/24/04 19:54 | Danger Train | Technorati | Comments (1)

23 May 2004

It WILL Rain. It ALWAYS rains

Various forecasts are predicting nice weather for my annual Memorial Day Float Trip in NE Oklahoma.

High 80s, low chances of rain (at least for this time of year).

I'm not buying it. Not for a minute. I don't think we've missed rain or had warm weather throughout a float trip since we've been doing 'em (about six years now).

If it works out that way, it'll be great. But I think meteorologists (not weathermen, as Dan Lovett points out) are conspiring to catch us unawares. We won't let them. :)

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 05/23/04 19:46 | Outdoors | Technorati | Comments (8)

I'm A Year Late

Okay, so I'm a little slow to the party.

Heard "Living In America" by the Sounds... somewhere this weekend, and thought it was fun.

Their CD was only released a year ago. :)

From what I read, they're a non-American band playing heavily 80s-influenced American music.

For someone who gets out frequently to see Molly and the Ringwalds (although not so much lately), it sounds just about right. May have to add their entire CD (yes, I'm an evil download previewer, but downloaded MP3s are inferior and I always buy).

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 05/23/04 17:05 | Music | Technorati | Comments (4)

Buying Gifts

I generally don't like for people to get me birthday gifts or make a big fuss. Ditto for Christmas.

However, I *do* like to get myself birthday gifts (egotist? yeah, probably), and hadn't had the opportunity to do so yet (busy few days).

After playing around some with portable MP3/CD players combined with FM transmitters that don't work very well in Houston (because we have lots of stations at the low end), I just decided to bite the bullet and replace the car CD player with a CD/MP3 deck. It's being installed right now, and they've really gotten inexpensive.

I think it will make long drives much more pleasant. The deck also has a handy auxiliary input on the front faceplate, so it will be easy to find out how live minidisc recordings have turned out while driving also. Very cool.

Happy birthday to me. :)

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 05/23/04 15:20 | Other | Technorati | Comments (2)

22 May 2004

Tulane Unsportsmanlike Wave 5, UH 4

The Coogs lost a one-run ballgame to Tulane today, on a pitiful game-ending call from the home-plate umpire. Rob Johnson was called out for going around on a check swing with the tying run on third base when he CLEARLY did not go around on a BALL (yeah, I'm a homer, but I also had a great vantage point on the front row behind the home dugout).

Terrible.

Tulane's coaching staff completely embarrassed themselves, their players, their university, and Conference USA early in the game. Two consecutive coaches got ejected for arguing a (correct) call that their runner interfered with a defensive play (he was ruled out). They refused to leave the field. For 10 or 15 minutes. One had to be restrained by another umpire from going after the guy who made the (correct) call. Finally, the UH Police Department showed up in their dugout, and the two ejected coaches finally left (I kept yelling for the Paddy Wagon -- go figure). The UH PD remained in their dugout the rest of the game. I've never seen that happen since I've been watching college baseball.

It was really a bad show of sportsmanship. Those coaches should be censured by the conference, maybe even suspended. There's just no place for those kinds of antics on a college baseball field. Even worse, one of those coaches was tossed on Thursday night. They seem to have some real attitude problems.

So, that concludes the regular season. Coogs go into the C-USA tournament (to be held at Cougar Field) hot, and with a rested pitching staff. Aside from East Carolina (one of the best teams in the country), UH is playing as well as anyone in the conference. Winning that tourney may well be the only shot they have at making the NCAA tourney. Regardless, it's been a great season. This team has battled injuries and setbacks and the toughest non-conference schedule in the country, and never backed down. From eight games under .500 at one point not long ago, they've finished a game over, despite injuries to some key players (Cooley, Breen, Mock, Lincoln, Stewart). Some of those guys are back now, and it feels like a new season. Go Coogs!

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 05/22/04 19:49 | Sports | Technorati | Comments (0)

21 May 2004

Coogs 3, Tulane Blue Wave 2

The Coogs played their best baseball of the year tonight, and won their second straight against Tulane by the score of the 3-2.

And yes, I do know that Tulane is the Green Wave. But for whatever reason, they were wearing Carolina blue jerseys tonight. Looked very strange with their green trim. No idea who came up with that idea, but it's a bad one.

The Coogs moved two games over .500 for the first time all year, ensuring a winning regular season (with one game left tomorrow afternoon).

Go Coogs!

Obviously, I've not made it out to see live music. No time, too many projects and a need for some sleep.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 05/21/04 23:35 | Sports | Technorati | Comments (2)

RRB Tonight

RRB The Randy Rogers Band hits the Firehouse tonight.

I'd like to see Randy, but I'm already planning on Cougar baseball, and following it with the Firehouse would make for too LONG of a night.

Still, his new Radney Foster-produced CD will be released sometime this summer, and my guess is that our Randy is going to get so big afterwards that it will be hard to see him at the smaller venues (Firehouse, Innkeeper) that I like.

Decisions, decisions.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 05/21/04 17:33 | Music | Technorati | Comments (0)

Annoying Stunts

It's always nice to be heading in to work, and get caught in a nasty Galleria traffic snarl because some gas station thinks it would be fun to team up with a radio station to do some free gas promotion during rush hour.

At least that's the reason described on AM 700 traffic news, which I heard AFTER getting held up by said snarl.

Thanks a lot, Mobil station at Richmond and S. Rice, for making my commute a pleasant one. And thanks also, whatever radio station that helped out with this.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 05/21/04 07:57 | Houston | Technorati | Comments (3)

20 May 2004

If You Discover You're Yelling Something Really Stupid...

So, if you're at a college baseball game, and you're yelling something really stupid....

You really have no choice.

You could back down.

Or you can just keep on yelling it, and advertise your stupidity proudly in favor of the home team.

It's an even better thing to do on your birthday. I highly recommend it. :)

Hey, we finally won a one-run ballgame against a good team, 3-2. I'll yell stupid things all weekend long if that's what it takes. Go Coogs!

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 05/20/04 22:25 | Sports | Technorati | Comments (1)

Reader Participation Time

Quick question for you web designer types....

I have this preference for multi-column, tableless pages that will scale to different sizes of screens.

Do you think that's the best way to design?

Or is it really better simply to design a page that looks good at 800 pixel width, and if people have a larger resolution, there's just a bunch of blank space to the right side?

I refuse to go below 800, although a PDA/Printer-Friendly page is useful for those folks. But what about the scaling versus fixed-width issue? Any thoughts?

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 05/20/04 18:19 | Web Stuff | Technorati | Comments (8)

19 May 2004

Busy, Busy

Slow posting is probably going to be the rule here for about 24-48 hours or so because... there are big goings on at work, there is Cougar baseball, there is this matter of turning 34, and there is my new girlfriend to tend to (she has the initials CB, and resides on a webserver).

No worries. Just looking forward to seeing the last regular season Cougar home baseball games starting tomorrow. Go Coogs!

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 05/19/04 23:40 | Other | Technorati | Comments (2)

18 May 2004

The Houston Mud Festival Flop

As I suspected would be the case, the most recent International Festival was pretty much a flop:

The Houston International Festival recorded its fourth consecutive decline in paid attendance during its windy, rainy debut in Reliant Park, figures released last week show.

Only 27,061 tickets were sold this year, down 58.3 percent from 2003 and by far the most precipitous year-to-year drop since 2000-2001, said Jim Austin, president of the city's traditional cultural rite of spring.

Citing low attendance, coupled with the fact that no rain insurance was purchased for the rainiest day, organizers estimated the festival fell about $600,000 short of its anticipated revenue goal of $1.2 million.

"In this business there are good days, and there are bad days," Austin said. "This was a bad day."

Yes.

And nobody seems really to peg why the lifeless mud festival had such a dreadful showing:

This year's attendance was down both weekends -- including the fair-weathered but windy opener April 17-18 -- but Austin blamed the weather. He said it was the worst festival weather he has experienced in his 18 years with the event.

"Our impression was that attendance was a little lower than average (the first weekend)," Austin said, citing winds that blew so hard staffers had to disassemble structures to keep them from blowing over. "It was not a great environment. We did think the wind kept people away."

One year, Mack Brown blamed the wind for one of his recent HUGE losses to Oklahoma. It was only a little less believable. We would note, of course, that the downtown buildings of past festivals might have acted as a good windbreak.

This year, festival promoters hoped that robust attendance would favorably showcase the event's new venue at Reliant Park. The talent lineup included Los Lonely Boys, Lucky Dube, Emmylou Harris, the Flatlanders and a host of performers from Thailand, this year's featured country.

The move to the Reliant Astrodome-area site came after City Council essentially quintupled the cost of using the festival's old downtown location.

The city previously had waived fees for services such as street closing and security. Three years ago, the council voted to charge the festival a percentage of its admissions and concessions income, a policy that last year cost the festival $51,000.

At least some festival-goers were dismayed by the move.

But Austin argued the new site has merit.

There were some good acts, but there was also one less stage this year and the venue was not attractive.

It's interesting that "some festival-goers" were dismayed by the move, according to the story. I would suggest that the rest of us just stayed home. Moving the thing to a venue that turned into a lifeless combination of concrete and mud was one of the silliest decisions recently made in this city.

I don't think the city did everything it could to accommodate the festival downtown, but is it REALLY that unreasonable to ask the festival to contribute a little more money for the city's expenses, considering the promoter was hoping to take in $1.2 million off the thing, and was charging $12 per head?

For many years, the downtown Houston International Festival was one of the best big events in this city. Nice job ruining it, guys. I can't even blame it on Lee Brown.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 05/18/04 23:13 | Houston | Technorati | Comments (3)

Star-Telegram Sports

The Fort Worth Star Telegram reports that the Oakland Raiders signed released Cowboys running back Troy Hambrick.

Why?

Also, the same paper has a nice feature on Roger Clemens by Randy Galloway (although I could do without the Mosquitoville reference from a cowtowner, especially when all of our sports facilities are actually in HOUSTON instead of suburbs).

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 05/18/04 20:44 | Sports | Technorati | Comments (2)

17 May 2004

Things That Make Me Shake My Head

A few months ago, I "fired" my Farmer's agent because I was sick and tired of some of the (inattentive) practices of that company. I switched to a company that has a relationship with my place of employment, and offers a discount.

Over the weekend, I got a letter that reminded me why I dropped my Farmer's insurance.

The Farmer's district manager was calling my attention to some award my (previous, "fired") agent had won, was singing said agent's praises, and was effectively telling me how lucky I was that I was that agent's customer.

Isn't that just stupid on SO MANY LEVELS?!

Nice job, Farmer's.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 05/17/04 17:56 | Other | Technorati | Comments (4)

16 May 2004

Prop One Passes (Overwhelmingly)

Prop. One passed overwhelmingly yesterday.

Some of the press coverage makes it sound like Mayor White now has a mandate to run roughshod on the pension plan.

I hope he doesn't treat it that way. I think people support reasonable negotiations, and surely some reconsideration of the DROP and Plan C benefits are in order.

All of those points are negotiable, and the Mayor should now go to the Pension Board and get serious about negotiating. The LAST thing he should do is ignore the Pension Board and go right to the State Legislature with a unilateral proposal next session. We all need to remember -- that means you, Houston media as well as those of us who voted -- that this opt-out vote is the FIRST step in this process. Meetings between municipal executive officials and pension board officials should be the second step, and final passage of a new plan in the legislature the last step.

I hope everyone who was so fired up by the expensive campaign for a Yes vote on Prop One will remain as interested in the issue as details are being worked out.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 05/16/04 15:47 | Houston | Technorati | Comments (0)

Coogs Win Series

The baseball Coogs get the win today, 8-4 over Louisville, to take the road series, two games to one.

That puts them at .500, 28-28.

To get in the NCAA this year, they probably need to sweep this week at home against Tulane, and do quite a bit of damage in the C-USA tourney (being held at UH this year). Strength of schedule would help a lot more if UH had pulled a few more wins against some of those teams.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 05/16/04 15:40 | Sports | Technorati | Comments (0)

Remembering Ardmore

There's an article in today's Washington Post about Texas redistricting and the likely impact this fall.

It doesn't really break any new ground in reporting on this topic, although it was kind of interesting reading of the acrimony between Martin Frost and Pete Sessions.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 05/16/04 02:13 | Texas | Technorati | Comments (1)

15 May 2004

UH 12, Louisville 2

It's been a long hard climb, but the UH baseball Coogs got their record back to .500 today by taking the first of a doubleheader at Louisville, 12-2.

Kevin Roberts, who busted out of a mini-slump last weekend, led the charge, going 5-5. Even better, Jake Stewart made an appearance. Stewart was cruising towards C-USA All-Freshman status before dislocating his shoulder a few weeks ago. Getting him back in the lineup for the final stretch run to try to win their way into the tourney is very good news indeed.

(Update) They didn't stay at .500 long, letting Louisville rally in the nightcap to take the win, 7-5.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 05/15/04 20:12 | Sports | Technorati | Comments (0)

Bye Bye

Cowboys running back Troy Hambrick, who opened his mouth way too much during Emmitt Smith's last season, got his chance to show what he could do last season.

The answer: not much.

The Cowboys have now cut him after nobody would trade for him.

Good move.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 05/15/04 10:48 | Dallas Cowboys | Technorati | Comments (0)

Danger Train: Collision #40

The Danger Train suffered collision #40 yesterday:

A motorist ran a red light near flower shops along Fannin and crashed into a MetroRail train Friday night, the 40th collision for Houston's light rail system, officers said.

The man, traveling westbound on Rosedale Circle, hit a train southbound on Fannin at about 10:30 p.m.

It's not the only place where METRO mass transit vehicles were wreaking havoc in our city:

A husband and wife were injured when a Metro bus hit them as they were walking from a University of Houston parking lot to the campus for a graduation ceremony Friday night.

Witnesses said the pair were hit by a bus turning from Cullen onto Elgin on a green light about 7 p.m.

The woman, thrown 20 feet into the middle of Elgin, was in serious condition at Ben Taub Hospital.

Diane Manigold, a witness, said the man was knocked onto a grassy esplanade and got up and tended to his unconscious wife before ambulances arrived.

20 feet?! Good gawd.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 05/15/04 09:50 | Danger Train | Technorati | Comments (3)

14 May 2004

Brazosport News

Check out the Brazosport News and Banjo Jones, who's taken advantage of the new and improved blogger to revamp his site.

Very nicely done!

So let me get this right -- Blogger, the service on which many of us got started, has added all sorts of new features to its service, including comments, and kept the thing free.

Meanwhile, the MT people have managed to go and annoy one of the most loyal, rabid user bases in the... history of user bases with their new licensing and pricing schemes.

Sort of reminds me when Toopees, a longtime coffeeshop in Montrose, was bought by new owners, who decided to start pushing for client turnover. Apparently, they thought they weren't making enough money from their devoted coffee shop loungers. What they didn't realize was that their main clientele (feel free to ask if you don't know what I'm talking about) was super super loyal, and after the shop started treating them badly, they left. So the shop certainly got its turnover. Not long after the new owners chased off the main customers, the place was on the auction block and it's now a nice Italian restaurant.

Lesson for MT? Beats me. I 'm just in a storytelling mood tonight. :)

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 05/14/04 22:56 | Web Stuff | Technorati | Comments (7)

Technical Difficulties

Well, I was so worried about how Chronically Biased would handle the stress of a big radio audience that I didn't stop and think about spillover traffic on my little personal site.

I was already planning on moving this site to a more robust host.

Let's just say those plans were accelerated this morning because of the extra traffic, especially since there were no real problems at the debut site.

As always, if you find something broken, please let me know. This move was done courtesy of adrenaline and Pepsi One. :)

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 05/14/04 10:21 | Web Stuff | Technorati | Comments (0)

Chronically Biased

Owen's already announced this on his site....

But today, a little project we've been working on with Dan Patrick over at KSEV launches: ChronicallyBiased.com

Some of you will probably be pleased that my Chron criticism is going to have a new home, although I imagine there will be some snark left for here. :)

Anyway, go check it out. It was Dan Patrick's vision, but it obviously reflects things that Owen and I have been doing on our own blogs for a while.

It's modeled on SmarterTimes.com and ChronWatch.com, but it's definitely distinct from those two. We hope you enjoy!

Also, be sure to check out the initial feature from the family of Leroy Sandoval. That Chron misbehavior more than any other drove me into this project (as distinct from pounding on the Chron from these pages).

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 05/14/04 07:30 | Houston | Technorati | Comments (10)

13 May 2004

Movable Type Grows Up

Movable Type is officially a business now.

I don't begrudge them that, but my gawd -- that pricing structure is just wack.

But hey, there's always the limited free version, with the caveat that you don't have access to their paid installation or an upgrade path or other things people might take for granted.

If one can judge by the trackbacks, folks aren't all that impressed, especially with their new licensing terms. I'd look over the licensing terms myself, but it seems that part of their server has fallen over tonight. Nicely done!

The licensing terms were the major reason I moved off of Movable Type some time ago, to an open-source blog tool that's proven much more flexible for me. I highly recommend it to anyone looking to move.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 05/13/04 20:42 | Web Stuff | Technorati | Comments (1)

Random Thoughts Nobody Cares About

Alabama by Cross Canadian Ragweed is one fine song.

But I can't decide which version I like better -- the original, or the version remade for the latest CD.

Any Ragweed fans have any thoughts on this?

(Update) I think I think (to copy SI's Peter King) that the version on the new CD came from a much better master. That's to say, the newer version sounds better, but I think I prefer the way they play the original. :)

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 05/13/04 19:39 | Music | Technorati | Comments (1)

They Call That Landscaping?

Here's a completely goofy question for you kind readers.

When I say landscaping, do pleasant thoughts of neatly trimmed lawns and flowers and hedges and such come to your mind?

Because that's what comes to my (weird) mind.

So let me ask you further -- why oh why do so many landscaping companies come out, and insist on putting that manure-fortified tree bark around trees and shrubs?

It doesn't look particularly good, and the SMELL.... well, it's about what you would expect manure to smell like.

And they call it LANDSCAPING?

Ugh.

So, I guess it's probably good for the plants, fertilizing and all. But my gawd, it's just horrible for a week or so.

I just say this because they come out about once a month and do this at work, and they just did it this week. Nasty.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 05/13/04 16:43 | Other | Technorati | Comments (2)

12 May 2004

Gotta Love This

Orrin Judd found this one:

Texas Rangers: recalled pitcher Frank Francisco from Frisco of the Texas League (AA).

Ha. That's great. Even better than Sheriff Tommy Thomas. :)

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 05/12/04 22:34 | Sports | Technorati | Comments (0)

Silver Glove - Rained Out?

I thought I was going to miss the UH-Rice baseball game tonight, as I was meeting with some folks.

As it turns out, Rice had to cancel the game because their field was too wet.

Kind of hard to believe, considering that the Coogs got in a 3 game series a couple of weekends ago when it rained ALL weekend. In comparison, Texas A&M also had to cancel games that same weekend.

Makes me appreciate Cougar Field all that much more. That place drains really well. Very sad that we're down to the last three games of the season there. :(

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 05/12/04 22:26 | Sports | Technorati | Comments (4)

You've Got To....

He may well Kiss An Angel Good Morning While we leave most of the accounting of folks about to enter the other world to Mr. ~~Larry~~ Laurence Simon, I just can't pass up this one.

Country singer Charley Pride is apparently having some difficulties, right here in Texas even:

Country-singing legend Charley Pride is recovering in a Dallas hospital from surgery to remove a subdural hematoma, said his personal manager, John Daines of Dallas.

A subdural hematoma is a blood clot in the brain that occurs when blood from a torn vessel collects between the brain and its protective covering inside the skull.

"He's doing great," Daines said by phone Monday morning as he was leaving the hospital. "He's alert and awake." He said Pride, 66, is expected to make a complete recovery and might be released today.

Maybe.

Or, it could very well be that Charley Pride will quite literally be going the way described in his biggest hit song, "Kiss An Angel Good Morning."

Sorry, I just couldn't pass it up.

Anybody have Charley on the Death Pool, I wonder?

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 05/12/04 00:26 | Music | Technorati | Comments (2)

11 May 2004

Coffee Sellout

Okay, I've succumbed.

There's a franchise of a certain corporate coffee behemoth that's on my way to work, located right by the 59 Diner.

For the last few weeks, I've been stopping there pretty regularly and starting my day with a venti redeye (a large coffee with an added shot of espresso).

It's good. The staff there is really friendly. And I stop there pretty much every day now.

I still prefer the non-chain shops in Montrose for more leisurely stops, and I might even stop in the mornings if there was one as handy as the corporate behemoth.

But there isn't. And my redeye has become a necessary part of the day.

There, I've confessed. I feel better.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 05/11/04 08:39 | Other | Technorati | Comments (9)

10 May 2004

Welcome, Howie!

Greg Wythe checks in on Tom Delay's opponent, who's bringing in Howard Dean to "help."

As a partisan on the other side, I love it.

If I had to advise poor Mr. Morrison as a consultant, though, I don't know what I'd tell him. Dean probably will fire up the base and bring in some donations, but the base isn't enough to win that seat, and the negatives probably far outweigh the positives.

Back to my partisanship.... Come on to Texas, Howie, we'll be glad to have ya! :)

As for Morrison, I really enjoyed this answer a while back from Kuff's interview with him:

I went to this deal the other day with the teachers, when they were protesting at DeLay. There were all these ladies coming up there, these three really nice ladies, the Fort Bend County Democratic Women, they’re like a hundred years old, three of them. They were, like, "Oh, we’d like for you to come and speak." And I said, "I’d love to speak." And these three or four soccer moms walked up, and they said, "We’re registered Republicans, but can we come to your meeting?" And so they all think they’re Republicans, because that’s the hip thing to be, you know, and that’s where all the rich guys are and all that, but really they’re just Democrats and they don’t know it, ’cause their rights are getting trampled on, they just don’t realize it. And they think, "Oh, the Republicans are going to take care of us." Well, I’m not sure that’s true.

Yeah, I'm a Republican because it's the "hip thing to be, you know." And I'm surely a rich guy (because all rich guys like me are still paying off their grad school student loans, right?). But really, I'm just a Democrat and I don't know it, 'cause my rights are getting trampled on, I just don't realize it.

Imagine that last in a Dylan voice. It could almost be a folk song. Albeit a condescending one.

Just one correction, though -- most of us Republicans do NOT think the party is "going to take care of us." We don't expect it, and we don't want it. That's why we're Republicans. I'll take care of myself, my family, and my friends, thank you very much.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 05/10/04 21:24 | Texas | Technorati | Comments (4)

You Go Scott!

Man, Scott Chaffin has all the fun.

And what do I do?

Go see an occasional college baseball game and spend the rest of my time on a yet-secret web project.

My priorities are all messed up. :)

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 05/10/04 21:11 | Other | Technorati | Comments (6)

09 May 2004

Danger Train: Collision #39

Yes, dear readers, you're correct if you're thinking there's been a skip from our last update (Danger Train: Collision: #36) to the current crash number.

It's not for lack of effort on my part that we've missed out on the details of two collisions. I scour the local news sites daily for such excitement, and so far as I can tell, those accidents just weren't reported.

I'm sure METRO was happy about that.

Anyway, here are the details for #39 from ABC-13:

For the 39th time, a METRO light rail train has been involved in a collision.

It happened just before 7am Sunday in the medical center. A METRO spokesperson says a truck tried to get into a lane shared by both vehicles and the trains on Fannin near Dryden. Investigators say the truck's driver failed to yield to the train.

No one was hurt.

Say it together, kids: We're World Class!

If anyone has details of the two missing collisions, please share. :)

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 05/09/04 23:46 | Danger Train | Technorati | Comments (4)

The Dumb/Pretty Channel Scores

Inadvertent honesty from KHOU-11?

Next week voters will decide whether the city can retroactively reduce pensions.

That is, effectively, the power voters will be handing back to the city if a majority votes Yes on Proposition One.

While we may like and trust Bill White to do the right thing, would you really trust, say, Lee Brown with the ability to initiate reductions in your retirement funds? Or someone (gawd forbid) even more incompetent?

Just something to consider.

(Update) Annise Parker has an op-ed in the Comical today that's comprehensive in its proposals for fixing the pension mess (though I wonder where she got her $2 billion number). Like Kuffner, I do find it curious that she doesn't mention Proposition 1.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 05/09/04 23:26 | Houston | Technorati | Comments (1)

Happy Mother's Day

Thanks to all of you for putting up with us little sh!ts. :)

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 05/09/04 18:21 | Other | Technorati | Comments (0)

Coogs 8, Memphis 6

Baseball Coogs get the sweep for the weekend.

It got a little close at the end, but many more good things in this one than bad, including: another nice outing from Austin Sumerlin, an excellent relief appearance from Garrett Mock (who's been injured), and Kevin Roberts definitely emerging from a mini-funk to start driving the ball again (and he made a nice play in the outfield -- he does it all).

The Coogs desperately need to get a midweek win against Rice next week. The Owls will probably not be in a very good mood after unexpectedly losing a couple of games (already) at Hawaii this weekend, so I don't know what to expect next week.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 05/09/04 16:14 | Sports | Technorati | Comments (0)

08 May 2004

Coogs 6, Memphis 2

Kevin Roberts stepped it up and pitched a gem tonight, to lead the baseball Coogs to a 6-2 victory.

This guy wasn't even a regular starter at the beginning of the season, but he's stepped in with a big bat and some nice performances as the #2 weekend starter of late. He's probably my favorite player on this year's squad, at least with Jake Stewart injured (love to watch that guy run down balls in center).

On a negative note, the umpiring crew working this series is the worst I've seen this year, and they were particularly terrible tonight. But it always seems to fire the home crowd up when we get to yell at the umpires. :)

Anybody know why Cole Bruce got tossed? Probably for telling the umpires how bad they were. I'm sure the CoogFans crew will get to the bottom of it.

(Update) By the way, for the handful of Memphis fans who came to Cougar Field? You're good baseball fans, and it's cool that you follow your team with such dedication. But just a word of advice -- ditch the blue pom poms you all were swirling when your team occasionally had a spark. That looked really gay.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 05/08/04 22:31 | Sports | Technorati | Comments (0)

The Sound Of Silence

I wonder why the folks (the Comical, bloggers, and other journalists) who have been SO concerned over who's donating to anti-rail PACs or Tom DeLay charities or the like are so unconcerned about the well-funded Keep Houston Strong PAC that is spending so much money to get people to vote for Proposition 1?

Surely such well-intentioned guardians of the public interest don't just become interested in this topic when they're personally opposed to the individual PAC/group/politician. Surely.

Still, I've yet to find any reporting (or even concern expressed) on this topic. If it's out there somewhere and I've missed it, please do leave me a link or send me an email.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 05/08/04 14:13 | Houston | Technorati | Comments (2)

Houston's Pension Controversy - Part 8

Mayor White has announced plans to revamp the pension plans for Houston police officers:

White vowed to structure any deals to make sure employees had no incentive to retire before they are implemented. But he called for monthly police pension checks to start after 25 years of service, not the current 20, which results in many 42-year-old pensioners.

He called for the repeal of a rule in which pensions are based partly on an officer's final paycheck and partly on his last year of service. This has allowed officers to quit immediately after getting a raise and reap its full benefit, and to work certain types of extra hours in their final year, inflating their pension payments.

Instead, benefits would be based on an average salary over three years, like many other pensions.

White also called for a significant lowering of interest in officers' deferred retirement accounts and an end to the $5,000 bonus given to retiring officers. And finally, he suggested they contribute 10.25 percent of their paychecks instead of the current 8.75 percent.

The story says that he continues to promise that he will not attempt to reduce benefits for officers already vested in the plan, a promise the story says he has made to municipal employees regarding their pension plan.

If that's true, and he's only proposing changes for future hires, then there's no need for him to tie this to the Proposition 1 vote, because the state constitutional amendment that the vote would be opting out of does not in any manner affect the ability of municipalities to change benefits for future members of a given pension plan. The language is not ambiguous, and the mayor is misleading when he suggests it is.

One reason I will be voting no on Prop 1 is that the Mayor (or any future Mayor) does not need to win that vote in order to "opt out" of changes to the pension plan for future employees (municipal and now police). Since the Mayor says he has no intention of trying to change pension benefits for vested employees, then there's no reason to remove the constitutional safeguard against municipalities doing so. And since his promises have no binding force on the mayor who may take his place in six years, I see a pretty good reason not to remove the constitutional safeguard that an overwhelming majority of voters across the state approved.

For the record, I do agree with the changes he's proposing to the police officer's fund, as I think they make good fiscal sense. They just aren't really linked to the Prop 1 vote.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 05/08/04 08:48 | Houston | Technorati | Comments (0)

07 May 2004

Frenchy's

Allison Cook compares the Pollo Campero chain to Frenchy's (over near UH) and, unsurprisingly, finds that Frenchy's wins.

Well, duh.

I've never been to the place, but longtime Houstonians swear that Frenchy's makes the best fried chicken you'll find anywhere.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 05/07/04 22:38 | Houston | Technorati | Comments (5)

UH 9, Memphis 2

Good solid win for the baseball Coogs tonight. Lots of power on display, and some good defense for the most part.

Only five home games left this season (plus the C-USA tourney here in town). Gotta savor 'em.

(Update) Matt Varner, the UH starter, had 10 Ks. It was a deceptive figure, because it didn't seem like he had his best stuff, and he struggled some early.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 05/07/04 22:05 | Sports | Technorati | Comments (0)

War Coverage

Texas Media Watch checks in with an update to their report card on the Texas press's coverage of the Iraq War.

Some permalinks sure would be nice on their almost-blog.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 05/07/04 17:10 | Texas | Technorati | Comments (0)

Tax Tax Tax Tax

Jack Smith makes the argument for a state income tax in today's Star-Telegram (along with the case for sales, property, and gasoline taxes).

Tell ya what Jack -- the day you start advocating a constitutional cap on the amount of revenue the state of Texas can take in (similar to Missouri's Hancock Amendment) as hard as you advocate more "revenue streams" (translation: spending) will be the day you might actually persuade me that a state income tax is desirable. But they'll have to be linked.

Otherwise, I have to disagree with you, Jack -- a state income tax is a nonstarter, and kudos to those Republicans you don't like who've pledged it will remain a nonstarter. If the state income tax is such a great idea, I urge Texas Dems to stake their comeback on it.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 05/07/04 17:06 | Texas | Technorati | Comments (0)

They Don't Want To Be World Class

Remember how certain Houstonians just fell all over themselves to create an entity to boost hotel/rental car taxes to fund new sports stadiums in town?

Well, the folks in Dallas don't seem nearly so interested in doing so:

Fearing the negative impact of having the nation's highest hotel occupancy tax, Dallas' hotel association has voted to oppose a proposal to use a boost in the hotel tax to help fund a new stadium for the Dallas Cowboys, the group said Thursday.

"We're not opposed to the stadium," said Frank Naboulsi, chairman of the Hotel Association of Greater Dallas. "We just don't want to pay for it."

Cowboys owner "Jerry Jones has the means to pay for his own stadium," said Mr. Naboulsi, general manager of the Fairmont Hotel in Dallas, a major convention venue.

Late last month, the Cowboys submitted a proposal to Dallas County under which the county would pay $425 million toward the cost of building a new $650 million, retractable-dome stadium for the team in Fair Park.

The county's share of the pot would come from a 3 percentage-point boost countywide in the tax on hotel rooms and a 6 percentage-point boost on rental car taxes. If approved, that would take the hotel tax rate in Dallas – which is struggling to reverse a drop in convention business – to 18 percent, the highest in the country.

Don't they know? Just having a choo choo is not enough. To be really world class, you have to tax hotels and rental cars to build playpens for millionaires and affluent pro sports fans!

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 05/07/04 16:32 | Sports | Technorati | Comments (1)

Stalag Coughlin

The Tom Coughlin era is definitely under way in New York, and some players are not happy:

When Tom Coughlin was hired, he vowed to push his players hard to make the New York Giants better. But several Giants and the NFL Players Association believe the new coach has already pushed too far.

The NFLPA and the NFL Management Council are investigating Coughlin and the Giants for possible violations of the NFL's offseason workout rules, NFLPA executive director Gene Upshaw confirmed Thursday night. Upshaw also told the New York Daily News that he has received complaints from seven to 10 Giants players.

He also said Coughlin was "on notice," and vowed "we will get him" if it turns out he has broken the rules.

"(The Giants players) believe what is going on in the offseason is not within the rules we agreed to," Upshaw said. "We don't care if they get a new coach. He has rules, we have rules. If he doesn't want to live within our rules, we will get him."

About all you're going to do is get the whiniest players of the bunch cut. Given the pathetic effort put out by that team last year, that's probably not such a bad thing.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 05/07/04 16:26 | Sports | Technorati | Comments (0)

06 May 2004

Pension Plan News

News24 does a little reporting on the pension controversy. There's quite a bit of information that hasn't appeared in the Comical lately (apparently, Comical reporters aren't very good at searching their own archives).

Greg Wythe also forwarded this New York Times article on the same topic. It seems like the writer was probably under time constraints that didn't allow for much research, but it does break some news that NOBODY has reported yet:

Hundreds of older workers will qualify for million-dollar payouts at retirement from these accounts.

The Comical, whose articles have largely read like press releases from Mayor White's pro-Prop 1 PAC, didn't even claim that hundreds of workers would qualify for million-dollar payouts (they kept the number vague). I have some real doubts about that number, and wonder how the author came up with it. I would email her and ask, but I can't find any mechanism to do so. Blar.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 05/06/04 21:35 | Houston | Technorati | Comments (1)

Bye Bye TAKS?

The governor's property/education finance reform special session is going down in flames, and it doesn't look like much of note is going to come out at this point. They can't fund property-tax cuts without passing/boosting a bunch of unpopular taxes, and they are gun shy about lowering the current 10% appraisal cap on property valuation, thanks to vocal local government officials who are addicted (like crack whores) to the increase of funds they get every year without having to ask voters (I still think this has the best chance of passing of any of the major components, though).

Interestingly, a proposal to do away with TAKS made it into the House bill that came out yesterday:

A little-noted section buried in the finance bill given final approval by the House on Wednesday would kill off the high school TAKS entirely. Its replacement: a new series of 13 course-specific tests tied to classes such as world geography and English II.

Offhand, I would say this is a step in the right direction, but it really doesn't seem to have all that much to do with property/education finance reform, does it? It seems like a great topic for the next regular session (where it could be properly debated), and an odd one for this special session.

It's even stranger that a legislator admits that the impetus behind this is that so many kids are doing so poorly on TAKS.

I don't expect this change to come out of this session, but if I've learned anything recently about Texas special sessions, it's that you can throw most expectations out the window and just watch.

(Update) The proposal is dead.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 05/06/04 08:11 | Texas | Technorati | Comments (4)

05 May 2004

New Times Nitwittery

I don't know about most of you, but I don't pick up the Houston Press to read about that little university in Denton (with a few lines tossed in at the end about UH and Rice to give it a minimum of local relevance).

Especially when the story was already in last week's Dallas Observer (where it belongs).

That's pitiful, New Times. At least put in a disclaimer that a version of the story appeared in a sister publication.

(Update) For that matter, reader Gary C was already unimpressed with John Nova Lomax's little Worst 30 effort last week. I wonder what he'll think of Lomax's column this week devoted to letters he got.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 05/05/04 21:08 | Other | Technorati | Comments (4)

Remember The USFL?

Jean Jacques Taylor looks back at the USFL:

In the spring of 1984, the United States Football League reached its zenith.

It had franchises in major markets like New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. It had star players like Jim Kelly, Reggie White and other future Pro Football Hall of Famers.

And it had a niche: spring football.

It's a good story, if a little Cowboys-heavy.

Oklahoma Outlaws! Growing up in Oklahoma, I thought it was very cool that Tulsa had a professional sports team (there was a pro team across the turnpike in OKC/Norman that Barry Switzer fielded, but that's a different story). They didn't have that much talent, although there was a pretty good quarterback by the name of Doug Williams. I remember liking their uniforms a lot.

Too bad Woody Widenhofer was such a doofus.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 05/05/04 17:08 | Sports | Technorati | Comments (4)

Sweeps Time: KPRC Discovers Sudden Acceleration

Rob Booth and a reader point me to this KPRC-2 story on Sudden Acceleration Syndrome.

KPRC checks in on Carol Parish, whose sudden acceleration incident I've commented on a number of times. KPRC's story fails to mention that the investigating officer concluded that Parish stomped on the gas instead of the brake. Nice omission.

Unsurprisingly, Nick Lampson weighs in and thinks we need lots of investigation. I'm sure his trial-lawyer buddies think that's a very good idea also.

The most wisdom on this topic comes from political humorist P.J. O'Rourke, as Adrianne Truett reminded us a while back.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 05/05/04 16:57 | Houston | Technorati | Comments (1)

04 May 2004

Coog Scheduling

There's a discussion going on over at the CoogFans baseball board about whether or not the Coogs' brutal schedule served them well this year.

Pretty much all year, Houston's non-conference schedule has been ranked the toughest in the country.

Unfortunately, losing so many players to the pros early has combined with injuries to keep this year's team below .500 all season, after digging a hole early in the season during the toughest stretch of schedule.

I still don't think the answer is to soften the schedule. The Coogs might have stolen a few more games this year, but they were not going to be that much above .500 with the way the pitchers have performed, and being a few games above .500 without a strong schedule isn't going to get any team an at-large invite. It really serves no useful purpose, other than keeping some fans more interested and excited (maybe).

Besides, I like the fact that Rayner Noble is known as a coach who will play any ranked team, anywhere, anytime (even during a year when talent is depleted a bit). That builds the program's reputation, it might help secure an at-large bid those years when Houston is on the bubble (has in the past, actually), and it gets the team ready to perform when they get into the tourney (think super-regionals the last two years). Houston needs to think like a team that regularly competes in the Top 20 -- because it does. Let the Bill Snyders of the world enjoy their cupcakes -- I like Rayner's diet better, as a Coog fan and as a baseball fan. Who really wants to watch bad baseball teams, even if your team is beating hell out of 'em? Every once in a while is fine, but not often.

Even though postseason hopes are fading after losing three on the road against a tough East Carolina squad last weekend, I'm looking forward to the games this weekend. There's no quit in this year's team, and it's always a good time out at the park.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 05/04/04 17:22 | Sports | Technorati | Comments (1)

It's About Time

METRO has apparently decided to start checking fares more frequently on the Danger Train:

Fare checks are getting more common on the Metro rail line.

Thirty days ago, the city began stepping up its fare checks.

A ticket, a park and ride stub, a bus transfer and certain passes are all good.

Year to date, Metro officers have written 500 citations and 390 of those were in the past 4 weeks.

[snip]

In the past four weeks authorities have done some 30,000 fare checks and say that Houston’s fare evasion rate on the light rail is about 1.3 percent, significantly lower than the national average of 5 percent.

These numbers are all well and good, but since METRO won't publicize its methodology for "estimating" ridership, I don't really trust any stats that they put out, except perhaps for the number of citations.

Qualitatitively speaking -- are there any Danger Train riders here who have noticed any increase in fare checks? Or have ever even observed a fare check?

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 05/04/04 16:45 | Danger Train | Technorati | Comments (4)

Shaver

Rob Booth found this nice DMN piece on Billy Joe Shaver.

Intro:

Willie Nelson, Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash sang the songs that paid for Billy Joe Shaver's house. Bob Dylan, Waylon Jennings and Kris Kristofferson, too. But you'd never guess it.The brown, two-bedroom home, with its unkempt yard and faded blue porch swing, sits in the middle of an average neighborhood not far from Interstate 35. Inside is a tribute to the forgotten '70s – dark wood paneling, shag carpet, ornate columns and mirrored squares haphazardly arranged on the kitchen wall.

The house looks almost abandoned, a tattered relic once filled with life. Years of physical trauma weathered Mr. Shaver's body – a sawmill accident that severed the fingertips of his right hand, a broken back, a battle with substance abuse, a quadruple bypass. Burying his family bruised his soul – parents, in-laws, the grandmother who raised him, the wife he married three times, his only son. He lives alone now, except for a pair of pit bulls.

His career, too, has been a series of missed opportunities. After more than three decades of writing and making music, he's an unsung figure with a loyal if modest Texas following. Outside the perimeters of his home state, he's at best a cult curiosity.

Yeah, well, outside the perimeters of his home state, people think country music is Kenny Chesney and Shania Twain.

Thank goodness we know better in Texas. Many of us, anyway. People like Rob, and Scott Chaffin, who's got the legend posing with him on his website. Lucky b@stard.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 05/04/04 16:26 | Music | Technorati | Comments (2)

Reader Participation Time

Have a fun caption for the following photo? Knock yourself out in the comments. But please, keep it FUN. :)

John Kerry: ?????

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 05/04/04 16:19 | Other | Technorati | Comments (7)

03 May 2004

OU Quarterbacks Named Thompson

Oklahoma backup quarterback Paul Thompson finds himself in a bit of trouble today:

University of Oklahoma backup quarterback Paul Thompson has been arrested in Norman on a driving under the influence complaint, according to a police report.

Thompson, 20, was arrested at 1:20 a.m. Sunday after running a red light, the report said. He was later released on $1,000 bond.

Kenny Mossman, director of OU athletic media relations, said Thompson's arrest would be handled internally.

"Those issues are always the same for us," he said. "It's handled within the framework of the team and coaching staff."

Of course.

Memo to future quarterbacks named Thompson: Stay away from OU. No good will come of your going there.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 05/03/04 21:27 | Big 12 Football | Technorati | Comments (1)

Williams On Bettencourt

On the heels of his glowing profile of UH political scientist Dick Murray, John Williams has a glowing profile of Harris County Tax Assessor/Collector Paul Bettencourt and his efforts to get appraisal creep relief passed in the current special legislative session.

Williams gets his facts a little wrong -- Bettencourt and CLOUT actually would prefer a reduction of the appraisal cap from 10% to 3% (not 5% as Williams reports) -- but these things happen whenever Williams has to write from anything other than a press release.

(Update) It's useful when I actually include a LINK to the story, huh? Sorry.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 05/03/04 20:05 | Texas | Technorati | Comments (0)

02 May 2004

Professor Murray

John Williams has penned a glowing profile of UH political scientist and local political consultant Richard Murray for the Comical.

Murray, as Williams points out, has been really good over the years at disguising his left-of-center leanings, especially in the classroom. That's admirable (I suppose), and makes him all that more valuable as a political consultant (so it could be a matter of self-interest as well).

Murray is also a wine connoisseur, and one of the litigants responsible for overturning the state of Texas's ban on direct importation of wine. Regardless of his politics, that fight is a worthy fight on behalf of wine lovers across this fine state. :)

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 05/02/04 19:17 | Other | Technorati | Comments (1)

Benefits Of A Two-Newspaper Metro Area

There are a couple of interesting articles in recent editions of the Star-Telegram.

First, an op-ed by Don Erler on media bias.

Second, an op-ed by (Texas Land Commissioner) Jerry Patterson on the practice of editorial boards taking positions despite being poorly informed. He's specifically referring to the Star-Telegram's editorializing on the Rio Nuevo water issue.

A couple of weeks ago, the Dallas Morning News ran a staff editorial on perceptions of bias and their newspaper reaction to it. They also maintain an editors' blog, where the thinking of the editors (if not the editorial process itself) is made at least a little more transparent.

It's interesting that the two newspapers in the DFW market seem much more concerned about their editorial processes (or at least open to criticism of the same, internal and external) than, say, Houston's leading information source.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 05/02/04 13:22 | Other | Technorati | Comments (0)

01 May 2004

Herskowitz Returns

It's nice to see Mickey Herskowitz back in the Comical.

He's not a favorite of mine, but he didn't deserve the public humiliation he got from editor Jeff Cohen a month ago.

Especially considering how Jeff Cohen let Rick Casey correct HIS journalistic misconduct without all of the melodrama.

Anyway, welcome back Mickey. You deserve better than Cohen and the rest of that mess you're working with.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 05/01/04 16:45 | Other | Technorati | Comments (0)

Coogs Come Up Short

The baseball Coogs went on the road and almost upset the #7 team in the country, in spite of an injury-depleted lineup.

But, in the end, it's another tough one-run loss. The Coogs have had a bunch of those this season against Top 20 competition.

They desperately need to win at least one game at East Carolina this weekend, and two would be extremely helpful. We'll see.

(Update) Another tough loss today after scratching back to get a one run lead late in the game. Not a bad effort against a Top 10 team, but not quite enough. Lack of healthy arms really a problem.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 05/01/04 11:34 | Sports | Technorati | Comments (0)

Upgrade

I just made a quick upgrade from a CVS version of the weblogging software that powers the site to the Release Candidate version.

It only involved a few changed files, and everything appears to be working just fine, but please leave a comment if you find something unusual. :)

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 05/01/04 11:30 | Web Stuff | Technorati | Comments (0)

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