A Blog devoted to all things SWC, the greatest college athletic conference. Updated weekly with the SWC Game of the Week during football season. Other relevant SWC News will appear from time to time as well.

Saturday, June 30, 2007

Bubba Spa

Bubba Junior benefits nightly from the Bubba Spa. See description below.

Ahh, the Bubba Spa, where we treat you like a king. First you will get a nice hot bath, soaped up and all the days worries scrubbed away. For your enjoyment a rubber duck and airplane that squirts water. You will be allowed to linger in your bath as long as your heart desires. Next, you will be dried off with a nice dry soft towel. The highlight of our spa treatment is the full body massage with baby lotion. Release the tensions from your body and also come away smelling fresh as well as having healthy soft skin. You will then be put into a soft body suit for the evening. In order to avoid those pesky midnight bathroom trips, a diaper will be provided. Now you can sleep all the night without the bathroom worries. The treatment is topped off with some warm milk straight from the source! This should have you at the edge of a long night's sleep, which will be provided for you in a nice big bed full of your favorite things.

Thursday, June 28, 2007

3000

Biggio just singled for his 3000 career hit. I have tickets tomorrow night. He was suppose to only get 2 hits tonight, not 3. Oh well. Biggio came up in 1988 and I've watched his whole career for the Astros.

Monday, June 25, 2007

Soccer

I have to admit that Mrs. Bubba and I watched the US vs Mexico America's Cup Final on Sunday from Chicago and it was great! We cheered for the US, scared Bubba Junior twice and was really excited on the two US goals that erased a 1-0 halftime deficit to win 2-1. It was one of the more exciting sporting events I've watched in a while. Don't worry, I'm still the baseball guy.

Monday, June 18, 2007

More Neighborhoods ... Houston Heights...

So this article was in the Houston Chronicle Blog about the Houston Heights. The Houston Heights was incorporated in 1891 as Houston's first suburb. Houston would later annex the Heights. Read here for more information about the history of the Heights.

The Heights is experiencing a come back of sorts and is now the home of the Bubba's. We live in a house built in 1925 and have a full lot. There are quite a bit of new homes in the Heights, but most are built in the Victorian style, preserving the distinct architecture of the Heights. I would argue they are too big and too close together, but at least they look nice.

Now on the blog post. The Heights is mostly residential houses, some apartments. Not much night life as the boundaries of the Historical District is dry. We like it here, as it seems like a neighborhood, people get out and walk and ride their bikes, and most have decided to forgo the big suburb McMansion and want to live in an older home with character in town. I like this quote and I think it goes well with my previous post about New York. Now more than ever, as a home owner I have a vested interest in what goes on in the Heights and thank that the community should have a say in future development. How can you be against having a say in what happens to your neighborhood?

No, this task belongs to us. Magnolia Lofts or no, change is coming to this neighborhood, as it does to all neighborhoods at all times. And an active, organized voice is the only thing that will allow Heights residents to have a say in that change.

Is what's happened to Freedmen's Town the Heights' fate? Is this is a good thing? There are many issues involved here. What do you think?

Sunday, June 17, 2007

Neighborhoods

Here is an article from the NY Times about our old neighborhood in NY. We did not like these buildings. They were out of scale for the neighborhood, and frankly, if you plunk them down anywhere in the world, they'd be ugly buildings.

A couple of points I disagree with in the article. First, change is not bad, and NY is certainly a place where change happens. But, if the neighborhood is against building apartment towers twice the height of all the buildings around them, should that change be forced on them? Should outsiders have the power to come into a neighborhood and change it, despite the residents objections?

Second, while the principle of more apartments on the market will decrease the prices is nice to think about, it just doesn't work in Manhattan. You'd have to building quite a number of apartment units to decrease demand enough to effect rent. As long as Wall Street is booming, rents will be sky high. Also, these aren't rental units, and they aren't cheap, or even close to cheap. Their advertisements in the NY Times aim at an obnoxiously rich sect.

Finally, it is sad to see Manhattan change into a enclave for the rich with only chain retail "mall" stores and banks. If you remember our mourning of our local bookstore closing. We felt that our old neighborhood was like a small town inside the city. Most folks were pleasant, most were families, and most patronized the local shops. Enter the I-Bankers... When two professionals (professional, successful engineers) can't make it in Manhattan with a baby, then something is wrong.

I think we've found what we had in Manhattan here in the Houston Heights. It does seem like a small town inside the big city of Houston. Yes, I miss Manhattan (who wouldn't) but what is Manhattan going to be in 5-10 years?

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

DiMaggio

The greatest line every written in literature contains a reference to Joe DiMaggio:

"'I would like to take the great DiMaggio fishing,' the old man said. 'They say his father was a fisherman. Maybe he was as poor as we are and would understand.'" - Ernest Hemingway in The Old Man and the Sea

The greatest line every written in music contains a reference to Joe DiMaggio:

"Where have you gone Joe DiMaggio, our nation turns its lonely eyes to you. What's that you say, Mrs. Robinson? Joltin' Joe has left and gone away." - Paul Simon in Mrs. Robinson

Sunday, June 10, 2007

Community...

Now that I'm back home in Houston, we're looking to make some friends and become part of the community. So far we've found this...

Saturday, June 09, 2007

Softball

So, with the new big oil job I got to play in a United Way softball tournament all day on Thursday instead of working. We played 4 games. Two things I learned. I forgot how the heat can take your energy away. I did fine, but was tired. Second, even at 30, I can't quite play 4 games of softball and not feel the effects. Getting in and out of bed has become a bit difficult. I'm toughing it out though. I'm hoping yard work helps me work out all the soreness.

Sunday, June 03, 2007

10 Years

What was I doing 20 Years ago?

It was June 1987. My sister had just graduated high school and I just finished the 4th grade. This was my biggest baseball card year. This summer we went swimming alot and played alot of stick ball, the best games in the evenings. I rode my bike all over the neighborhood. I was on the little league all stars, so we played organized baseball all year.

What was I doing 10 Years ago?

It was June 1997 and I was working a summer internship with Lockheed Martin in Clear Lake. They gave me nothing to do. It was boring. It was the summer the Astros won the NL Central title, so that was good. I had romantic interest, but it appears that 10 years later it might have been one sided. It was a pretty boring summer, nothing exciting. I played softball at NASA and hit a couple over the fence, that was fun.

What was I doing 5 Years ago?

It was June 2002 and we were not quite married 1 year and we were planning our trip to New York City, my first time to NY. We were living in Dallas and getting settled into our new jobs / apartment. We went to the pool alot. Nothing else big.

What was I doing 1 Year ago?

It was June 2006 and we found out that we were having a baby! (New romantic interest.) I got a bad review at work and decided I need to change jobs. We were getting ready for our summer trip to Maine. We were living in New York City, but our days there were beginning to be numbered as I polished up the ole resume.