Recent Entries

Friends Entries

Calendar

Archive

Notsuoh Photography Notsuoh Photography

Links Houston Information and Pictures / Virtual Tourist / DP Challenge .

August 2006 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31

observationcafe Notsuoh Photography

Sat, Aug. 12th, 2006 11:41 am Fighting the Wrecking Ball to Save Houston Landmarks Preservationists in Houston say the city’s most endangered building is the former Alabama Theater, which reopened as a bookstore in 1984. The River Oaks Theater, built in 1939, is still showing movies, but demolition rumors have stirred an uproar. August 12, 2006 Fighting the Wrecking Ball to Save Houston Landmarks By RALPH BLUMENTHAL HOUSTON, Aug. 11 — This fast-spreading metropolis of see-through skyscrapers, clogged freeways and antipathy to zoning has long worn its boomtown history lightly, freely consigning cherished landmarks to the wrecking ball. Though only New York, Los Angeles and Chicago have more people, and it covers more acreage than Chicago, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Detroit combined, Houston has one of the nation’s weakest urban preservation statutes. Any owner wishing to demolish a landmark must only give notice to the city and allow 90 days for discussion. After that it can be torn down. But with a rallying cry of Alamo-like fervor — “Remember the Shamrock Hotel!” — many Houstonians are now drawing a rare line in the sand in defense of some particularly beloved architectural treasures threatened with demolition. The sites at risk include Houston’s two oldest movie theaters, the River Oaks and the Alabama, both dating from 1939, and the 1937 Art Moderne River Oaks shopping center, which is the oldest in Texas and the second-oldest in the nation. The streamlined black-and-white mall has been a “veritable icon,” said Stephen Fox, adjunct professor of architecture at Rice University and one of Houston’s leading architectural authorities, at a City Council hearing last week. ( Read More... ) N.Y. Times

observationcafe Notsuoh Photography

Sat, Aug. 12th, 2006 11:40 am Battle to save River Oaks center The theater's marquee advertises a 1939 movie plus short features in this historic photograph. Bob Bailey Studios: COLLECTION OF LOVITA IRBY July 28, 2006, 12:43AM Battle to save River Oaks center Public outcry rises over fears that the historical theater and shops will be torn down By LISA GRAY Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle Fear that the River Oaks Shopping Center, including its much-loved movie theater, might be demolished has fueled grass-roots interest in historic preservation — a surprising development in a city where many architectural landmarks have fallen without a fight. In less than a week, an online petition sponsored by the Web site Houstonist.com has attracted more than 13,700 signers. At Historic Houston's Web site, more than 4,000 individuals have registered to receive e-mail updates about the River Oaks Shopping Center and the Landmark River Oaks Theatre. City Councilwoman Ada Edwards, whose District D includes the shopping center, said more than 100 letters and e-mail messages have flooded into her office — none of them form letters. She and other council members hope to persuade Houston-based Weingarten Realty Investors to change its plans. "We're going to fight to find a balance between historic preservation and development," Edwards said. ( Read More... ) Houston Chronicle

observationcafe Notsuoh Photography

Sat, Aug. 12th, 2006 07:45 am Moguls of New Media Moguls of New Media The MySpace member with a million 'friends.' The receptionist with a production deal. Some of the Web's amateur entertainers are becoming powerful players. By JOHN JURGENSEN July 29, 2006; Page P1 (See Corrections & Amplifications item below.) On the popular Web site MySpace.com, members set up profiles with information about their interests and then network across the site, recruiting other members to link to their pages. Often, the teens and 20-somethings who dominate the site have dozens or hundreds of these registered "friends." Then there's Christine Dolce, whose MySpace page boasts nearly one million friends -- making her arguably one of the most connected people on the Internet. A 24-year-old cosmetologist who until a few months ago worked at a makeup counter in a mall, she now has a manager and a start-up jeans company and has won promotional deals for two mainstream consumer brands. ( Read More... )

observationcafe Notsuoh Photography

Sat, Aug. 12th, 2006 07:44 am Galveston: Isle port riding a wave of success Isle port riding a wave of success By Greg Barr The Daily News Published August 4, 2006 While “We’re No. 1” may be the universal rallying cry of success, Port of Galveston officials are thrilled with the idea of being No. 11. In its annual ranking of cruise ports, industry trade publication Lloyds Cruise International has moved Galveston up one notch closer to being among the top 10 worldwide. In North American rankings, Galveston is No. 5, while perennial cruise industry leader Miami remains No. 1, the same ranking it retained in the world. Galveston is also now the industry’s top Gulf of Mexico homeport for Caribbean operations. The announcement was made by Port Director Steve Cernak on Thursday at a luncheon aboard the Carnival Cruise Lines’ ship Ecstasy, a few hours before the vessel set sail for another cruise. This year, 600,000 passengers will come through Galveston’s two cruise terminals, showing continued strong growth from 2005, when 532,000 passengers strode through the turnstiles. Cruise operation revenue now accounts for about 40 percent of total port revenue. ( Read More... ) Galveston Daily News

observationcafe Notsuoh Photography

Fri, Aug. 11th, 2006 11:44 am The artwork of Houston-based Otabenga Jones & Associates! The artists of Otabenga Jones & Associates -- Dawolu Jabari Anderson, from left, Kenya Evans, Jamal Cyrus and Robert Pruitt -- gather around a man the group identifies as "Otabenga Jones." Otabenga Jones & Associates A piece from Symmetrical Patterns of Def, the group's first collective show at the Lawndale Art Center. otabenga jones & associates Dawolu Jabari Anderson's Cheating Chief Wahoo. otabenga jones & associates A painting from Symmetrical Patterns of Def. Otabenga Jones and Associates The group's Exploring the Outer Reaches of the Garden of Pro-Black Sanctuary was featured at the Whitney Biennial in New York. Otabenga Jones and Associates A photograph by Jamal Cyrus from The Art of Subversion. Otabenga Jones & Associates Robert Pruitt's New Kiddz in tha Hood won first prize at the Lawndale Art Center's Big Show in 2004. Otabenga Jones & Associates July 21, 2006, 1:34PM Our story. Our vision. Our purpose. Proactive and provocative, the artwork of Houston-based Otabenga Jones & Associates seeps into the mainstream art world By BILL DAVENPORT For The Chronicle An overturned police car, a graffiti mural drawn on the wall in Magic Marker, bootleg mix tapes for sale from the trunk of a plywood Cadillac. How you react to the work of the Houston-based art collective Otabenga Jones & Associates depends strongly on who you are -- black or white, rich or poor, old or young. Everyone takes the provocative works personally. They force you to take sides. The group takes its name from Ota Benga, a displaced African pygmy who was exhibited at the Bronx Zoo in 1906. Like the original Ota Benga, Otabenga Jones has been on display in New York, too: The group and the four artists individually were selected for this spring's Whitney Biennial, the tip-top national showcase for American artists. But there's a key difference, says Robert Pruitt, the group's de facto spokesman: "We control what they're gawking at." ( Read More... ) Houston Chronicle

observationcafe Notsuoh Photography

Wed, Jul. 26th, 2006 02:27 pm Top 20 Inventive Towns 1

observationcafe Notsuoh Photography

Wed, Jul. 26th, 2006 02:20 pm Bombshell Tattoo 1

observationcafe Notsuoh Photography

Sun, Jul. 23rd, 2006 11:48 am Hot times in the Ice Age What the German archeologists found in an ancient cave. Hot times in the Ice Age Last year German archeologists found the 14th piece to a jumble of 13 fragments of siltstone, leading them to reassemble one of the earliest representations of male sexuality — and possibly the world’s first dildo. It is dated at roughly 28,000 years, and considering the trouble I have getting dated at a mere 44, I congratulate it. I might have better luck if I had a rock-solid 8 inches, as this thing has, but then, mine has never shattered into 14 pieces. Of course, no one has ever used mine to shape flints with, as certain markings on this one indicate, and gods help them if they do. ( Read More... ) Houston Voice 2

observationcafe Notsuoh Photography

Sun, Jul. 23rd, 2006 10:57 am 20 cool things about Houston 1. Houston Ballet Drew Donovan: Houston Ballet 2. River Oaks Theatre Chronicle file 3. Outside the Cy Twombly Gallery Billy Smith II: CHRONICLE ( View More... ) July 23, 2006, 5:34AM 20 cool things about Houston By CLIFFORD PUGH Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle Here's a sizzling fact to remember as we swing into the hottest days of summer: Houston is one cool city. And we're not just talking AC. Take a look around. The city is brimming with sometimes quirky, always timelessly cool people, places and things that make living here a blast -- even when the heat and humidity are reaching their peak. We asked eight trendsetters -- all cool themselves -- to list special things about Houston that never go out of style no matter the season. See if you agree. 1 Nothing beats the excitement of opening night at the Houston Grand Opera (Wortham Theater Center, 501 Texas) now under the direction of Anthony Freud or a premiere of new work by Stanton Welch at the Houston Ballet (Wortham Theater Center) or a great play that is presented by Gregory Boyd at the Alley Theatre (615 Texas). ( Read More... ).

observationcafe Notsuoh Photography

Sat, Jul. 22nd, 2006 07:02 pm Houston: ENDANGERED LANDMARKS Opened in 1939, the Landmark River Oaks Theatre is Houston's oldest functioning movie theater. Shopping center tenants say a high-rise residential building may replace it. The Alabama movie theater is seen in a photo in 1939, the year it was built. Today, the old Alabama movie theater houses the Bookstop. July 22, 2006, 5:57AM ENDANGERED LANDMARKS Historic theater could soon fade into history Tenants told of unconfirmed plan to raze portions of the River Oaks Shopping Center By LISA GRAY Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle Three Houston landmarks, including the Landmark River Oaks Theatre and the Bookstop in the former Alabama Theater, have been declared endangered by the Greater Houston Preservation Alliance. The alliance has learned, spokesman David Bush said Friday, that two buildings in the River Oaks Shopping Center could face demolition within two years. The center is controlled by Weingarten Realty Investors, a Houston-based company that owns and manages about 300 retail properties in the southern United States. A Weingarten spokeswoman would not confirm the company's plans for the shopping center. "We don't have any official statement at this time," Amy Jones, Weingarten's director of marketing, said Friday. Other Weingarten officials did not return phone calls. ( Read More... ) Houston Chronicle 2

observationcafe Notsuoh Photography

Sat, Jul. 22nd, 2006 06:40 pm Houston: Metro: Compromise possible on Richmond rail plan July 18, 2006, 2:41PM Metro: Compromise possible on Richmond rail plan By RAD SALLEE Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle As Metro officials prepare for tonight's first of three public meetings on a controversial plan to put a light rail line on Richmond, they unveiled a possible compromise that would run the line on Richmond from South Main to Greenway Plaza, then drop it south to Westpark. Metropolitan Transit Authority board chairman David Wolff said he prefers keeping the line entirely on Richmond, but in discussing the Greenway Plaza option this morning with the Chronicle editorial board, he said, "I could live with either one." Wolff said officials of the office complex support having the line pass through the property and include a Greenway Plaza station there. This would avoid putting boarding platforms in the oak-lined median at that point on Richmond. Wolff said having the route entirely on Richmond to the West Loop would require building a viaduct over the Union Pacific Railroad tracks. ( Read More... ) Houston Chronicle

observationcafe Notsuoh Photography

Sat, Jul. 22nd, 2006 07:32 am Hillcroft: a whole world nearby July 16, 2006, 7:11PM Hillcroft: a whole world nearby The diverse mix of ethnic groups gives this unique avenue an international flavor By TARA DOOLEY Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle Hillcroft Avenue is pure Houston, created with dedication to the automobile and an aversion to zoning. A string of strip centers broken by blocks of single-family homes, it connects cacophonous enterprises: the tires of an auto repair shop stacked near a florist's roses; a women in hijab at Jerusalem Halal Meat Market two parking lots away from the "adult novelties" at Bizarre Bazaar; manicured lawns and Dumpster-decorated parking lots. It provides spiritual sanctuary under steeples and in tucked-away storefront temples and mosques. Just as it offers nighttime revelers refuge under twirling lights and Norteño music. It's an avenue where a staple of life and culture is found under different headings: bagels, pita, naan, pan, bread. "Hillcroft is disorganized but not necessarily unorganized development," said Bob Stein, dean of Rice University's school of social sciences. "It is what Houston is all about. "When you go from one end of Hillcroft to the other end, you cross every ethnic and racial group in our city. As a result, I want to say it is a microcosm." ( Read More... )

observationcafe Notsuoh Photography

Thu, Mar. 9th, 2006 01:12 pm Many Couples Must Negotiate Terms of 'Brokeback' Marriages PUBLIC VIEW Gov. James E. Greevey of New Jersey and Dina Matos McGreevey, in 2004, before he announced his resignation. March 7, 2006 Many Couples Must Negotiate Terms of 'Brokeback' Marriages By KATY BUTLER One hour into "Brokeback Mountain," Amy Jo Remmele began to cry, and not just for the woman on-screen, standing in a doorway in Riverton, Wyo., watching her husband embrace a man. "When I saw that look in her eyes, I thought, 'Oh, yeah.' Even though I never saw my husband with another man, I knew exactly how that woman would have felt," said Mrs. Remmele, a respiratory therapist in rural Minnesota. On June 1, 2000, Mrs. Remmele, then 31, discovered her husband's profile on the Web site gay.com. The couple stayed up all that night weeping and talking. Soon afterward, 10 days before she gave birth to her second child, Mrs. Remmele's husband went off to spend a couple of nights with his new boyfriend. "I tried to talk him out of it, and he left anyway," Mrs. Remmele said. "I was devastated." Three months later the couple divorced. ( Read More... ) N.Y. Times

observationcafe Notsuoh Photography

Thu, Mar. 9th, 2006 12:14 pm Houston: Local coffeehouses... Aroma's Coffee & Tea House serves a cappuccino with snickerdoodle biscotti. Ben DeSoto: Chronicle March 2, 2006, 1:36AM Stirring things up Local coffeehouses aren't blending in, they're standing out with exotic new brews of their own By DAI HUYNH Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle Out of Africa, coffee came and conquered. Consumers in the United States drink more java than those in any other country. According to research group Packaged Facts, it's the second-largest U.S. import, behind the other black gold: oil. Most experts agree that the proliferation of gourmet coffees coincided with Starbucks' expansion. The Seattle landmark started brewing in 1971. The company went public in 1992, about the same time java morphed into the world's most popular beverage, with more than 400 billion cups sipped annually. Today, there are 10,800 Starbucks worldwide. President and CEO Jim Donald's long-term goal is 30,000. In Houston, the Yellowpages.Com Web site lists more than 200 coffee outlets, including Diedrich Coffee Inc. and Starbucks. About half are parts of chains, but industry experts say independents are holding their own. Greenberry's Coffee & Tea Co., Onion Creek Coffee House, Brasil and Harvest Coffee, for example, all are working hard to build a loyal customer base and a unique brand. ( Read More... ) Houston Chronicle 2