In Houston this week, a fun little media story emerged about a female blogger for a local sports radio station* who questioned whether an OKC Thunder cheerleader was perhaps a little “too chunky.” The original post (and others by this blogger, along with Anna-Megan Raley’s bio) were deleted from the radio station site, but a copy is in the google cache. The story was picked up by quite a few outlets; here’s the chron.com version.

It’s mystifying to me in what universe anyone would think the featured Thunder cheerleader is anything but hot, but fashion/style types do tend to try to promote the emaciated look.

As if to illustrate that point, I was emailing a friend about the (alleged) Anna-Megan Raley blog post when this email from Macy’s arrived to my inbox. Immediate reaction: Good gawd, I hope there is some food in those bags for that poor (but apparently ecstatic) concentration camp survivor.

I hope this woman has some food in those bags

Strange times.

* Said blogger is allegedly Anna-Megan Raley, posting under a pen name, who before hanging with John McClain and trying to sell herself as a “journalist” of some sort, was known for occasionally posing in skimpy Texans attire.

Car crashes into store, hits child (KTRK-13 News)

An out of control car crashed into a store and hit a child in Brazoria County, just outside of Pearland.

[snip]

Authorities say the driver was leaving a Bed, Bath and Beyond in a shopping center on FM 518 Sunday afternoon. She somehow lost control and went all the way through an Eyemasters store.

This was surely a case of sudden acceleration, right?

Heck, if the driver is married to a Houston Press staffer, you might expect the story to appear all over the Village Voice empire (with no mention of the relationship, of course, because that’s really ALT).

Each week, the Chron’s Whine & Dine section is a marvelous source of complaining and carping by Houstonians who simply hate to waddle more than a few steps from their car to the feeding trough. I used to mock them in the Chron.com comments section, but I think it will be more fun to share the mockery here.

Whine & Dine: Super Burger (Mary Vuong, Houston Chronicle)

This wouldn

Meat Lovers’ Swordfight at Fuegovivo Churrascaria (Robb Walsh, Houston Press)

On my second visit to Fuegovivo, last week, the first thing I noticed were all the cars in the parking lot. When I stepped inside, I felt like I had walked into an entirely different restaurant. Our waiter told us that the restaurant had already replaced its first manager with a churrascaria specialist from Brazil. The new manager had made a lot of changes and business had taken off, the waiter said.

And since the traffic had picked up, so had the quality of the meats. The rib eye seemed juicier than it had on my first visit and there were several more selections including a garlicky flank steak, the Brazilian sirloin tri-tip roast called pincanha, pork sausages and some tiny grilled chickens. The only meat item I didn’t like were the lamb chops, which looked excellent but proved to be grossly overcooked.

After I shared an opinion of the restaurant shortly after it opened, an apparent employee came on to argue with me that I was being mean. Later, a more reasonable member of management emailed, thanking me for the critique, apologizing, and asking me to give them another chance. I did not (Nelore is closer, cozy, and I’ve always had good experiences there), but it does sound like they’ve made some needed improvements.

If anyone has given the place a try lately, please leave a comment about your experience.

UPDATE (10/30/08): Alison Cook also reviews the restaurant this week, and isn’t as fired up as Walsh (or as negative as I was). I still don’t see any reason to give the place another try, although I might feel differently if Nelore weren’t so close.

Where the hell did THAT* come from?

Callie and I met up for dinner in Montrose earlier, took off separately, and she nearly got home before getting trapped by water. I was slower (and more protective of my baby, even though it has ground clearance of nearly nine inches), gave up at some point, and hung out here** waiting for the water to go down.

That was just crazy. I can’t believe how quickly Houston can flood.

* For those not in Houston, we just had a downpour that flooded the damn city for a couple of hours. It might not have done that if we had seen fit over the years to invest in flood control, but hey, we’ve invested heavily in sports stadiums, Discovery Green, and other trinkets, so what the hell….

** It was my first trip to this joint, and it was nice. A very drinkable $4 merlot did not hurt. I will definitely go back to this neighborhood establishment.

One of a kind entertainment this month (Ken Hoffman, Houston Chronicle)

The 999 EYES is billed as “the world’s last authentic freak show, featuring real living human oddities.” It’s coming to the Meridian night club, 1503 Chartres, on Oct. 30 (perfect timing). Tickets are $13 in advance, $15 night of the show.

The modern, politically correct way of saying freak show … “genetic diversity.”

The 999 EYES has a rotating cast of performers, and you never know who you’ll get. But among the acts: Flipper Man, Lobster Girl, Lobster Boy, the 27-inch Small Woman, Erik the Gentle Giant, Katsen the Tiger Lady, Danny the Half-Boy, Eek the Geek and the world’s greatest sword swallower, Dan Meyer.

I do not approve of this show. I’m just saying, it’s coming to the Meridian.

It’s coming, and I’m going.

The 999 EYES is an old-school, vaudeville-style show with hand-painted sideshow curtains. It’s actually rated as family entertainment; nothing gross or X-rated happens. Music will be provided by That Damned Band from Austin. They specialize in jug-band music.

Outside the club, Lowrent the Clown will eat fire and set off a 50-foot fireball.

This must be one heck of a show, if setting off a 50-foot fireball doesn’t get you on the main stage.

I’m so there.

National Night Out was more of a night in, at least in our part of Houston.

I think our townhouse community was still weary from That Bastard Ike, and we didn’t see any other gatherings while walking the dog.

Maybe next year, if there are no direct hits by hurricanes!

There is still no power at the Casa de Kev and Callie, even though some Centerpoint guys gave us a little hope yesterday while checking lines (but apparently they were overly optimistic).

I’m in our office today, which only suffered minimal/cosmetic damage. All systems are fine, power is on, internet is at full speed, etc., so it’s nice to catch up on a little reading and check in on colleagues. Our plant manager brought in a waffle maker for us, and sandwiches are being brought in for lunch, so that’s kinda cool.

Starbucks is part of my morning trip-to-work routine, and the one on 59/Weslayan was open this morning. Getting back somewhat to the routine was kind of a nice thing this morning, even though the mostly black traffic lights were a good reminder that things aren’t quite back to routine yet, even in Houston.

It’s good to see our local leaders taking charge — we would be so much better off if the feds would just provide resources and get the hell out of the way of Judge Emmett and Mayor White.

As electric goes… who knows when that will come back. Thankfully, Callie’s mom has power, so we’re somewhat covered if electric is still out when this cool front expires.

It’s been interesting! And there are some stories to tell, when time and resources permit.

Our power was restored a few hours ago.

A nice Centerpoint linesman who chatted with Callie earlier apparently felt sorry for us, and decided to bypass the line that was causing our power to be out. It didn’t help folks still dependent on that branch line, but it did help quite a few homes on this side of it.

One more night of sleeping with windows open is in order, though. This weather is so nice. Here’s hoping it holds for a while longer for people without power still.

UPDATE: Comcast internet is fine. Dish Network is fine (some dishes in the area got misaligned by the wind, but not ours thankfully). Woo!

UPDATE 2: Dish isn’t quite fine. It needs to be re-aimed, as the signals is too weak on one sat and nonexistent on others. Hell, I was happy to see the thing still mounted on the roof after Ike!