Don't you wish your baby was cute like me?

One More Reason...

Nuri Nuri, the Big Bad Bossman of the Blues.

Sunday mornings, 11AM - 2 PM, Blues Brunch, KPFT 90.1.

I'd like to send a shot out to all the cool cats ...

Houston > Dallas

So, we're listening to Lyle Lovett this Sat. morning, listening to the ice melt off the roof and come crashing down, counting the days until we move back to Texas. Since I've lived in Dallas, but was "born and raised" in Houston, I thought I'd embrace the rivalry between to the two Texas cities and make a list of why Houston is better than Dallas.

1. Herman Park, Memorial Park, Sam Houston Park. Dallas has no big city parks.
2. Miller Outdoor Theatre
3. Astros Baseball. The Rangers don't even play in Dallas, and they are only a distraction until Cowboy camp begins in late July.
4. Performing Arts, Houston is far ahead of Dallas. Just go to the Music Hall at Fair Park.
5. Rodeo Houston (This might be a push because I love the State Fair.)
6. Houston is not dry, like most of Dallas. I want to buy beer in my grocery store, if that makes me a sinner, so be it.
7. Beach. Galveston is not the best beach, but it is a better beach than they have in Dallas.
8. Alabama Ice House. I looked for 3 years in Dallas for an Ice House, they don't exist.
9. Lyle Lovett does a show in Houston every summer, but sometimes skips Dallas in favor of Bass Hall in Fort Worth.
10. 1.5 hour drive to Aggie football vs. 3 hour drive to Aggie football.
11. Houston museums, all of them, are better than their counterparts in Dallas. The Houston Museum of Natural Science had more visitors last year than the New York Museum of Natural Science.
    
12. Houston has trees. I like to say there are no tress in Colin County (north Dallas suburbs.)
13. While both have their issues, I perfer Bubbas in pickup trucks to yuppies in leased BMW's.
14. Goode Company BBQ, there isn't a really good BBQ rest. in Dallas.
15. Rice Stadium.
16. Houston's Downtown is more active than Dallas. Don't buy it, I read in the Dallas Morning News how Dallas leaders were saying they wanted downtown Dallas to develope like downtown Houston.
17. Houston has more downtown theatre seats than any other city in the country except New York.
18. The Houston Texans play in Houston, not like the Arlington, err, Dallas Cowboys.
19. Fresh Gulf seafood; eat shrimp while you watch the shrimp boats come in.
20. Houston is not as divided racially as Dallas, and doesn't seem to be fighting the race wars that Dallas still is.
21. In Houston, you don't have to dress up to go to the grocery store, well maybe.
    
22. Texas Medical Center.
23. NASA, First words spoken from the moon, "Houston."
24. World Headquarters of the oil and gas industry
25. The Bubba's live there!
    

Service Charge

When you buy, say an airline ticket to Texas, if you call and get it they charge you extra. They want you to buy it online, even print your boarding pass online so they don't have to pay someone to serve you. If you want someone, they charge you extra.

When you buy, say an Astros ticket, if you go to the box office and buy it from a human, no service charge, but if you buy it at home on a computer and print at home on your printer, involving no humans, they charge you a service fee.

Why wouldn't someone like, say the Houston Astros baseball club, take ticket opperations in house, cut the online service charges, and make buying tickets to their events easier and cheaper for their customers?

New Beginnings

So, I resigned my job here in NY with TT two weeks ago. We are moving back to Texas. I'm going to work for ExxonMobil Development Company in Marine Engineering working on offshore oil platforms. We are very excited about the move and the new job. The negative with the job is travel, some overseas. No I will not have to go out on the platforms, I will be involved with the design not the operations. EVERYONE asks me this and EVERYONE knows someone that goes out on the platforms.

So, the first of April we will visit Mrs. Bubba's parents in West Texas and then arrive in Houston, our new home! We're ready to leave NYC, as good as its been to us. But now with child we value different things from the place that we live and we frankly can't afford to provide those things here in NYC.

Also a plus, Astros games!