June 2008 Archives

30 June 2008

Linkpost: 06/30/08

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 06/30/08 21:52 | Links | Technorati | Comments (1)

Checkup time

Today, I finally went in for a much-delayed checkup.

I decided to do the Kelsey-Seybold executive health assessment, which is the usual comprehensive physical (but done in half a day at their main campus). The tests were covered under my insurance, although I was responsible for the program fee (which I paid through with my HSA). It's a good approach.

The results were mostly good.

My blood/chem workup was fine -- no problems with cholesterol, good ratio of good cholesterol/bad cholesterol, normal liver/kidney functions indicated, etc. EKG was fine. Blah blah blah.

For years, I've been borderline hypertensive. With that info, my personal health history, and the results from my stress test, the doc recommended that I start the lowest dosage of ACE inhibitor (blood pressure medication). He thought I *might* be able to put it off if I were to cut caffeine entirely and up my workouts, but we both came to the conclusion that was unlikely (I likey my caffeine, and it's hard to see how I'm going to top the 1,560 minutes of cardio I have logged in the month of June).

Beyond that, the doc encouraged me to keep up my healthy eating/workout routine (and told me he could see my bad-carb/sat fats reduction efforts clearly in the blood workup).

I'm happy enough with all that. Now I just need to keep up the excellent workout routine (seriously, 1,560 minutes of cardio this month!) and the grilling/SouthBeach-Med diet thing.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 06/30/08 21:42 | Other | Technorati | Comments (6)

29 June 2008

Linkpost: 06/29/08

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 06/29/08 21:05 | Links | Technorati | Comments (0)

28 June 2008

Linkpost: 06/28/08

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 06/28/08 22:38 | Links | Technorati | Comments (0)

27 June 2008

Linkpost: 06/27/08

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 06/27/08 22:55 | Links | Technorati | Comments (0)

Sudden acceleration update!

Car Slams Into Shipley's Again (KPRC-2 News)

On Friday morning, a woman was trying to park at Shipley Do-Nuts, 8802 Stella Link Road, when she hit the gas instead of the brake, sending her Volvo through the front windows, officials said.

The doughnut shop was closed at the time and no one was injured.

The crash broke brand new glass because on Monday, a man's car would not stop at the same location, causing him to also plow through the front of the store.

That driver was injured. His condition was not released.

Today's driver should have claimed Sudden Acceleration Syndrome!

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 06/27/08 22:43 | Houston | Technorati | Comments (0)

The not-so-definitive word from Chron sports hacks

Chron writers can't seem to decide whether the Astros clubhouse is toxic:

Toxic time for Astros, and that's bad (Jesus Ortiz, Chron Baseball , 06/18/2008)

If you've spent a few minutes in the Astros' clubhouse these days, you'd feel bad for the boys.

"It's real bad in here," a player told me as soon as I got into the clubhouse Tuesday to try to get an unbiased opinion to the comments I read in the paper Monday from Roy Oswalt and Cecil Cooper. "It's not going to get better."

What? I was both stunned and saddened. How did it get this bad, this quick? This toxic?

Afterward, I sent a few close friends and family members who care about the Astros this text message: It's really toxic in here.

Toxic clubhouse environment? Winning will fix everything (Richard Justice, SportsJustice, 06/27/2008)

I've heard that phrase mentioned several times over the last few days. There are people claiming the atmosphere is poisonous, that dramatic changes need to be made.

I don't believe this to be true. I'm not in there enough to really know, but that's my opinion based on what I've seen and heard. It's very difficult for any member of the media to make that kind of assessment. I asked some players I trust and others that are in the clubhouse far more than me about this.

They don't buy it, either.

Justice isn't in there enough to know, except he still knows. Okee!

At least those are two different staff writers with different perspectives. Here's Fran Blinebury, who offers two contradictory perspectives on Joey Dorsey within a few hours:

Au revoir to Batum. Bonjour Greene and Dorsey (Fran Blinebury, Courtside, 06/26/08)

As for Dorsey, when he's good, he can be very, very good. Yes, he's another undersized player on the frontline for a team that already has Landry and Hayes. But Dorsey's bulk and quickness could compensate for his lack of height.

Rockets trade 1st pick Batum for Dorsey, Greene (Fran Blinebury, Houston Chronicle)

"We think Joey Dorsey was the best defensive player on the best defensive team in the country this year at Memphis," Morey said. "We think he plays much bigger than his 6-7 height with the size of his body and his aggressiveness."

The 24-year-old Dorsey was a key member of the Memphis Tigers who finished 38-2 and lost in overtime to Kansas in the NCAA title game. He averaged 6.9 points and 9.4 rebounds.

Dorsey has prototypical size, strength and athleticism for the NBA power forward spot.

6-7 is not prototypical size for an NBA power forward -- it's short! It's something Daryl Morey admits two paragraphs before Fran Blinebury writes that "prototypical size" nonsense. And it's something Blinebury seemed to admit last night, when he called Dorsey "undersized."

Bizarre.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 06/27/08 21:20 | Sports | Technorati | Comments (0)

26 June 2008

Linkpost: 06/26/08

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 06/26/08 23:36 | Links | Technorati | Comments (0)

More decent IAH international fares

Poking around on FareCompare earlier, I found a couple more good international fares on Continental.

Houston - Berlin is running around $650 all in through most of March 2009.

UPDATE: Some early March dates on CO's website are coming up just under $600 all in. That's quite a fare in the current environment.

Houston - Frankfurt is running about the same, also through most of March 2009.

It looks like other carriers are pretty close to these prices, in case you have loyalties to another FF program. A trip to Berlin is looking really tempting. Hell, that's cheaper than CO's (obscene) rate to Springfield, MO at the moment!

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 06/26/08 21:24 | Travel | Technorati | Comments (1)

25 June 2008

Linkpost: 06/25/08

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 06/25/08 21:18 | Links | Technorati | Comments (1)

Danger Train collision downtown (06/25/08)

Metro Light Rail involved in crash with car (KHOU-11 News)

A Metro Light Rail train was involved in an accident with a car Wednesday morning.

The train was heading south on Main at Leland when a woman in a car ran a red light.

The train struck the car, and the woman and her passenger were taken to St. Joseph’s with non-life threatening injuries.

Metrorail collision in downtown Houston injures two (Dale Lezon, Houston Chronicle)

Two women were injured this morning when a car collided with a Metrorail train at Main and Leeland in downtown Houston.

Police were not sure about the severity of the women's injuries, but said both were conscious before being taken to nearby St. Joseph Medical Center.

No occupants of the train were reported to have been injured.

The accident was reported about 8:50 a.m.

Cars and trains sharing busy streets makes so much sense. We should (and are planning to) build more of the same!

It's always good for a laugh when friends from actual world-class cities with rail that is segregated from cars look at the thing and ask me what the hell Houston was thinking, and I tell them this is what transit planners in town consider "world-class."

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 06/25/08 13:35 | Houston | Technorati | Comments (1)

Good fares from IAH

A couple of good fares from IAH have popped up.

You can fly IAH to St. Louis for $157 roundtrip on NWA, with pretty good availability. I was just able to book a weekend trip in late September that will get me in on a Saturday morning, off to a Cards game that night, and back out on Sunday evening. NWA's weekend fare finder is very helpful for this sort of thing.

The down side to this fare code is that it will only earn 50% EQMs for CO fliers (100% regular miles). I'll be fine for elite requalification this year, so the cheap fare sold me, but your requirements may vary.

Also from NWA (and United, for you Houston-based Star Alliance fliers) is IAH to London-Heathrow for around $650 (that figure seems to include taxes, fuel surcharges, and all the other semi-hidden nonsense, as far as I can tell from a quick search). This one is also a 50% EQM earner for CO fliers on NWA, but it's still a darn good fare for someone looking to save on a London getaway.

Best advice is to book these quickly if they look at all interesting. Sales have been hard to come by in the current price environment, and these are some good ones.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 06/25/08 10:29 | Travel | Technorati | Comments (1)

24 June 2008

Linkpost: 06/24/08

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 06/24/08 22:21 | Links | Technorati | Comments (0)

23 June 2008

Linkpost: 06/23/2008

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 06/23/08 23:59 | Links | Technorati | Comments (0)

22 June 2008

Throw enough mud...

Since Sen. John McCain enlisted the help of former Sen. Phil Gramm for economic advice, various Dems have been testing out a variety of attacks on the economist from Texas, who was a highly popular pol before his retirement.

In the latest National Review (subscriber only, this free link may or may not work for you), Ramesh Ponnuru debunked some of the criticisms coming from the far left. Here's the intro:

Phil Gramm can’t say he wasn’t warned. The former Texas senator, now the co-chairman of John McCain’s presidential campaign, was a principal subject of a front-page Washington Post story on April 2. “Democratic opponents are already plotting attacks” on Gramm, reported Jonathan Weisman.

In the following two months, hit pieces on Gramm have appeared in The Nation, Salon, Mother Jones, The Huffington Post, and many other left-wing publications. For opposing regulation when he was a senator, Gramm is being blamed for contributing to Enron’s fraud, the high price of gas, and the mortgage meltdown. Keith Olbermann, the MSNBC ranter, even links him to 9/11. He has taken to referring to “John McCain’s Phil Gramm scandal.”

The attack on Gramm serves three goals for the Left. It discredits Gramm, McCain, and deregulation all at once. Gramm has been one of the most effective conservative legislators of his generation. He led the fight for Ronald Reagan’s first, and most conservative, budget, and led the fight against the Clintons’ health-care plan a decade later. Forcing McCain to dump Gramm would be payback for decades of conservative victories. Merely sullying his name might keep a President McCain from nominating him to be secretary of the Treasury.

But a full review of the facts exonerates Gramm.

The bulk of the article goes on the debunk the mudslinging, point by point. Fair use precludes me from posting blockquotes of it, but perhaps it will appear on NRO for free shortly (UPDATE: the other link may or may not work for you).

Ponnuru concludes with the following:

So far, the mainstream media have not followed the Left’s lead on Gramm. Their coverage has instead focused on two other issues. Reporters have raised the possibility that Gramm might sustain political damage because of investigations involving UBS, the large company where he is a vice chairman. And they have reported that within the last year he has lobbied Congress to stop a bill that would let bankruptcy judges rewrite mortgages. But if the investigations continue to stay far away from Gramm personally, they should not damage his reputation. The housing bill may not be much of a problem for Gramm, either. Even though the Democrats control the Senate, enough of them sided with the Republicans that a majority voted to defeat the bill.

Don’t be surprised, however, if some of the mud being thrown at Gramm makes its way from left-wing blogs to the mainstream press. The charges against Gramm are convoluted, and new ones keep being added. Few people will take the time to go through them. So even if the charges have no merit, they could put Gramm under a cloud.

In 2002, when Enron’s meltdown was in the headlines, several newspapers ran stories saying that Gramm had muscled an exemption for the company through Congress. Those stories were largely based on a paper put out by Public Citizen, a left-wing group founded by Ralph Nader. Many of those newspapers ended up having to run corrections. But some lies won’t die.

Right on cue today, the Houston Chronicle's generally useless D.C. bureau decided to run with the mudslinging from the Left, with one of those "critics say" sorts of pieces that help the newspaper get around actually assessing whether the claims have any merit:

Gramm's coterie of critics say his actions as a Texas senator contributed to today's mortgage meltdown and energy price speculation that has driven up oil prices.

"Gramm's particular area is opening up financial markets to untrammeled dominance by speculative forces," said James K. Galbraith, a University of Texas economist who is advising Democratic candidate Barack Obama. "He's the sorcerer's apprentice of financial instability and disaster."

Democrats also say that Gramm's post-Senate lobbying activities conflict with McCain's promise to steer clear of lobbyists in his presidential campaign. And left-leaning critics point at Gramm for turning McCain, a longtime fiscal conservative who voted against President Bush's tax cuts, into a supply-sider who wants to make those tax cuts permanent.

The Chronicle has learned that the Democratic National Committee is planning to launch a Web site to shine a negative light on the record of Gramm and two other top McCain economic advisers, former Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina and ex-Congressional Budget Office Director Douglas Holtz-Eakin.

"With advisers like this, it's no wonder John McCain doesn't understand the economy," said DNC spokesman Damien LaVera. "John McCain's decision to outsource his economic agenda to people like Phil Gramm is one more reason he is the wrong choice for America's future."

Look for this story -- short on actual detail but full of unsubstantiated accusations -- to show up on all your favorite lefty blogs in short order.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 06/22/08 19:48 | American Politics | Technorati | Comments (0)

Ten Second Review: Russo's New York Coal-Fired Pizzeria

Last week, we took a break from the healthy grilling to trip up to Russo's New York Coal-Fired Pizzeria in northwest Houston.

We were quickly seated by a pleasant hostess, who walked us by the impressive coal-fired oven.

A super-nice waitress took our drink order -- and had to get Callie to order a different beer, as they were out of Corona light. No biggie. I had a house Merlot, and it was fine (a very generous pour, I should note). The waitress checked on us frequently.

We ordered a Mulberry Special, with the bottom charred, New York style.

In a matter of minutes, the pizza arrived. PERFECTION! The slightly charred crust was the best I've had in Houston, to be sure, and one of the best I've had period. The toppings were fresh and yummy.

In fact, the diet suffered badly, because even though we were stuffed, we found it hard to stop until the whole damn thing was gone. This is not a pizza you want to box up and take anywhere, even leftovers. Better just to be a pig!

Adrian Hembree, the franchise owner, wandered by and visited with us for a while about the oven, and the slight char, and other things. We asked him about a dish another table was having (some sort of pizza crust with artichoke dip... thing... hard to describe), and he told us that was just something he threw together for those guys (off menu), and that if we asked for him next time we're in, he'd be happy to make one for us.

The food and service at Russo's were outstanding. Even though it's a decent trip, we'll definitely be hitting this place again.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 06/22/08 19:11 | Houston | Technorati | Comments (3)

21 June 2008

Austin Collins tonight

Austin Collins is playing Goode tonight.

I should really go see my friends who play in his band.

But I'm leaning towards bouzouki at Alexander the Great Greek.

Bouzouki is timeless.

UPDATE: Bouzouki was excellent. George Kitidis is, without doubt, one of the finest musicians in town. The bellydancing was entertaining as well.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 06/21/08 19:12 | Other | Technorati | Comments (0)

AFSCME

Oh my!

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 06/21/08 19:05 | Other | Technorati | Comments (0)

19 June 2008

Can we lock our pols in the toilet?

Protest at Maoist toilet lock up (BBC News)

Thousands of local government workers in Nepal have gone on strike after a Maoist minister locked up an "errant official" in a toilet.

The official had incurred the minister's wrath for allegedly running an illegal stone mine.

Striking workers said that his incarceration inside a toilet was an "inhumane and objectionable act".

But the minister responded by saying that the official now knows what it is like to live in a "foul environment".

Reports from Nepal say that the Minister for Forest and Soil Conservation, Matrika Yadav, locked up local development officer Dandu Raj Ghimire for one and a half hours on Tuesday inside a toilet room.

I can't help but think that the American political system could benefit from locking up our pols in the toilet room. Given what they produce so much of the time, it would seem an appropriate gesture.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 06/19/08 13:38 | Other | Technorati | Comments (2)

18 June 2008

He's no MJ

Old Man Joy (Joe Posnanski)

And then I started hearing people actually comparing Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan.

I should say up front that I honestly do not know how many people were making this comparison … maybe it was only Mark Jackson on TV and a few annoying people trying to cause a stir — sort of the way sports magazines of my youth (with original names like Inside Sports and Sport) tried to spur reader reaction by having these ridiculous headlines on their covers like, “Why Wayne Gretzky is not the best player in hockey” or “Why the Seattle Mariners are going to win it all” or whatever. So I don’t know if this Kobe vs. Michael thing is real or just something to talk about or a strawman to knock down. I really don’t know.

I do know this: Just the thought that anyone was even having this argument made me surprisingly angry.

Yeah. What the great Posnanski said. All of it.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 06/18/08 22:33 | Sports | Technorati | Comments (0)

Chron beat writer shocked to discover sour clubhouse

Toxic time for Astros, and that's bad (Jesus Ortiz, Chron Baseball Blog)

If you've spent a few minutes in the Astros' clubhouse these days, you'd feel bad for the boys.

"It's real bad in here," a player told me as soon as I got into the clubhouse Tuesday to try to get an unbiased opinion to the comments I read in the paper Monday from Roy Oswalt and Cecil Cooper. "It's not going to get better."

What? I was both stunned and saddened.

Of course. Because surely Drayton McLane had been telling him everything is swell. And what Mr. McLane tells his PR man on the Chron staff is usually regarded as the last/only word on the matter.

Kudos to Richard Justice for raising questions about what's going on in the clubhouse (yeah, we can compliment the guy when he makes a good point).

Come on, football season.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 06/18/08 21:05 | Sports | Technorati | Comments (1)

16 June 2008

Must try this pizza

Ken Hoffman turned me on to Lombardi's in New York, which was damn good pizza.

Apparently, the secret is the ridiculously hot coal-fired oven.

Now, Hoffman is touting Russo's, in NW Houston.

They apparently have the only coal-fired oven in town.

Robb Walsh concedes the place turns out an outstanding pie, although he questions whether it's a 900-degree oven.

Whatever -- if both Hoffman and Walsh are carrying on about this pizza, I must trek up that way to try it.

If it's even close to Lombardi's, it'll be a damn fine meal.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 06/16/08 22:20 | Houston | Technorati | Comments (0)

Fun stuff from Richard Justice

You can't make this stuff up:

He made a huge mistake by hiring Charley Casserly, and his strength--trusting his people--became a weakness in those years. He was in a new business and had trusted Casserly to lead the way. Trust me when I tell you that Casserly can be very persuasive. I was probably more duped than McNair by this guy.

No kidding.

You don't get many win-win deals. McNair has done a good job rebuilding one franchise. If he's responsible for rebuilding two, he ought to get a parade.

Rebuilding?

The Texans franchise has yet to have a winning season. That it is rebuilding so soon is not really something to celebrate.

Ah well, fun stuff. I just hope pointing that out doesn't provoke another bizarre email or radio outburst from the insecure major daily sports columnist. Because frankly, I think those outbursts are kind of bizarre.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 06/16/08 21:47 | Sports | Technorati | Comments (0)

15 June 2008

Summertime, Kid Rock style

Do I risk blowing any music cred I might have ever built up on the little blog by admitting that I think this is a pretty cool song?

Oh well, too bad. I think this is a pretty cool song.

It probably doesn't hurt that he plays off two pretty good songs in themselves.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 06/15/08 19:02 | Music | Technorati | Comments (7)

14 June 2008

Tech Saturday

Why does everything have to break at once?

I have an OLD Compaq desktop machine that has long served as the household music server/music burner machine. It is networked, runs Squeezecenter, and is hooked into my stereo, so I can listen to tunes at home or remotely. The old gal still has enough power to handle whatever music tasks I throw at her. But of late, the music hard drive has had some issues. The music is all backed up, but I've known for a few weeks now the hard drive needed to be replaced. So the replace/rebuild got done over the past couple of days. No big deal. The old gal is running just fine again, which is cool.

While doing that bit of maintenance on Friday, I thought it would be a good idea to check up on the health of the Thinkpad's drive. Ugh. A backup revealed a file with errors. CHKDSK revealed more problems, some of which it didn't seem to want to repair. And the drive failed one of PC-Doctor's five tests -- an early sign of a failing drive. A call to IBM/Lenovo support confirmed my failing-drive diagnosis, and in less than ten minutes, the support call was resolved with the tech promising a replacement drive that might arrive by Monday but certainly by Tuesday (he wasn't just blowing smoke -- two previous hardware support calls resulted in replacement parts being shipped that fast, which is why my next laptop will be a Lenovo Thinkpad).

Cool enough, but I have been wanting a bigger hard drive anyway. So I tracked down a compatible drive (not such an easy task, as it turns out, for the T43) at MicroCenter, installed the thing (one screw removed, two screws on the drive cage removed, cage attached to new drive with the two screws, snapped into place, screw reattached -- it's SO easy to work on a Thinkpad), restored the saved drive image from an external drive with ThinkVantage Rescue and Recovery, and the machine is back in business. And this drive runs quite a bit cooler than the original, according to the temp sensor. When the replacement for the original arrives, I'll probably image it with my current backup, just in case, and store it.

Both music server and Thinkpad are working normally, finally. Not the most exciting Saturday, but a little preventive maintenance sure beats losing 40GB of music or a bunch of stuff on the Thinkpad.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 06/14/08 21:36 | Tech | Technorati | Comments (0)

Ten Second Review: Fuegovivo Churrascaria

Wednesday night, I took a break from the recent health insanity and went out to try a new churrascaria (I was motivated by a buy-one-get-one-free-coupon, but the main motivation was a new restaurant specializing in beef and wine).

There is no coupon that could entice me to return to Fuegovivo Churrascaria in West Houston.

The service was awful.

The meats were mediocre (at best).

The salad bar was poor (even though nobody really goes to a place like this for the salad bar, it's still nice if it isn't awful -- and if the plate one picks up isn't DIRTY. Not impressive).

It is hard to imagine that this place will be in business a year from now.

The standard for this sort of thing in Houston (and in West Houston) remains Fogo de Chao, although I'm actually partial to Nelore on Montrose.

In any case, AVOID Fuegovivo. Even if they offer you a coupon.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 06/14/08 21:02 | Houston | Technorati | Comments (4)

13 June 2008

Hmm, maybe the aerobic workouts aren't so bad after all

My mom emailed me earlier that the police chief when I was growing up small town Oklahoma had died suddenly of a heart attack.

That made me resolve to go on to the gym, even though I'm really draggy and lazy today.

While at the gym, wondering if I shouldn't just cheat and bail on the aerobic workout a little early, news flashed on the screens that Tim Russert had died suddenly of a heart attack (at age 58).

I decided to push on through the aerobic workout.

The gym has been eating up a lot of time since the float trip: 30 minutes of weights followed by 75 minutes of aerobics every other day, followed by 45 minute of just aerobics on "off" weight training days, with one day per week off altogether. The aerobics are hardcore, high end of the target zone stuff, not the walk on the treadmill/talk on the cell phone for 20 minutes variety that so annoys me.

I've also tried to change my grilling up the last few weeks so that I'm going about twice as much chicken/fish as red meat on the trusty Lodge. With plenty of Greek salads to go along with (and red wine).

Needless to say, all of this is consuming quite a bit of time that has often been spent blogging or podcasting or tinkering. The bike time has resulted in more reading, so that's good. And if it helps to head off dropping dead of a heart attack at a too-young age, that's definitely good.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 06/13/08 16:37 | Other | Technorati | Comments (0)

04 June 2008

There is still a WNBA?

Comets radio broadcasts move to KNTH-AM (Greg Barr, HBJ)

The Houston Comets have signed a deal with Salem Radio Houston to broadcast home and away games during the 2008 season.

The games will air on News Talk 1070 KNTH-AM.

The Women's National Basketball Association team signed a one-year agreement with KNTH after declining to renew a one-year contract in 2007 with Sports 610.

"(Sports 610) just wasn't quite the right fit for our audience," said team spokeswoman Djacarda Richard.

What audience?

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 06/04/08 21:30 | Houston | Technorati | Comments (1)

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