Idiots with guns

Late last night, I was standing in my front yard. In the distance behind me, I heard a gunshot. I didn't immediately think much about it, because gunfire isn't exactly a rare occurence in southeast Houston.About twenty seconds later, however, I heard sharp cracking sound in the street in front of my neighbor's house, and then the "clink-clink-clink" of some metallic object bouncing down the

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Basilblogging

Lori and I recently planted an herb garden, and while the mint, thyme, lavender and rosemary all seem to be doing well, the basil is absolutely thriving in the Houston heat. We don't have basil plants anymore; we have a big basil bush!If you live near the University of Houston and need fresh basil for your pesto or bruschetta, let me know...

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More about Elektra

Lori and I have gone several days without Elektra, and we miss her. It's difficult to get used to her not rubbing our legs or sleeping at the foot of our bed anymore.In retrospect, it's reasonable to ask why we allowed our cats to roam freely outdoors in the first place. Had we kept them inside, after all, Elektra wouldn't have been run over because she never would have been out in the street.

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The Enron Verdict

As everybody knows by now, a federal court here in Houston has found former Enron CEOs Ken Lay and Jeff Skilling guilty of a variety of counts, including conspiracy, securities fraud and wire fraud. The jurors decided that the two repeatedly lied in order to conceal accounting gimmicks and business failures that led to the 2001 collapse of the energy company, which at one time was the

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Elektra 1997 - 2006

To the careless driver (who probably lives in my neighborhood) who ran over Elektra late Saturday afternoon: thanks a lot for killing my favorite cat, asshole.Lori and I adopted Elektra along with her sister, Athena, as kittens shortly after we moved into an apartment complex in Austin in 1997. They've both been with us ever since; we've taken them all over Texas with us, from Austin to

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My website is a medical training resource

Of all the e-mail I've received about my website - be it from angry rabbit lovers, Super 8 film enthusiasts, travelers to Ecuador, people asking how they can make their city's freeways look prettier, even economics students interested in dollarization - I never, ever thought I would receive the following message:Thank you for sharing Kirby's photos. In one photograph you've allowed much

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Southwest to reconsider its open seating policy

Earlier this week, it was reported that Southwest Airlines is considering assigned seating on its flights. Southwest, of course, is currently the only major airline in the United States that does not assign seats to flyers. Instead, seating on the plane is provided on a first-come, first-served basis: the sooner you get your boarding pass and get to the gate, the better your pick of seats will be

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Just a thought...

Iranian Presdient Mahmoud Ahmadinejad might be a religious lunatic who wants to acquire nuclear arms and wipe Israel off the map.But he's not the craziest person in the world.In fact, as long as Michael Jackson is living in Bahrain, he's not even the craziest person in the Middle East...

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Barry Bonds bores me

For all of the Astros' current problems - they've lost eight out of their last eleven games, and once-dominant, now-struggling closer Brad Lidge has been demoted - the local media seems more interested in San Francisco Giants slugger Barry Bonds, who is in town for a three-game series against the Astros.I know it's a great storyline for the media: here is one of baseball's most dominant players,

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Denton's new mayor

Continuing my coverage of the goings-on in Denton, Texas: congratulations are in order for Perry McNeill, a professor of engineering at the University of North Texas who has emerged victorious in a three-way race to replace term-limited Euline Brock as mayor of the rapidly-growing city.McNeill was appointed to the city's Planning and Zoning Commission shortly after I began working there in 1999.

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Fry Street redevelopment in Denton

As some of you might remember, I worked for and lived in the City of Denton between 1999 and 2002. More recently, as a consultant for the Denton County Transit Authority, I have been assisting with modifications to the rapidly-growing city's bus network. I've also been involved in studies related to a commuter rail line that will one day link Denton to Dallas.(Denton, Texas is like my own,

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The march of the seasons

Wednesday's cold front brought pleasant late-spring weather to Houston today, with clear skies, low humidity and moderate temperatures (into the 50s overnight). We should see the same weather Friday and perhaps Saturday.I'm enjoying it, because I know that this is probably it as far as pleasant weather is concerned, at least until October (and I'm not the only person who believes this, either).

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A new park for downtown Houston

Hey, I think this 12-acre park, which will be built on land currently occupied by surface parking in front of the George R. Brown Convention Center, is a good idea.But I've gotta be honest: when I hear the phrase "downtown Houston park," the first thing that comes to my mind are a bunch of homeless people sleeping under trees, digging through garbage cans, relieving themselves in public and

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Houston's Olympic Dreams

Yesterday United States Olympic Committee members visited Houston as part of a week-long trip to five potential host cities for the 2016 Summer Olympics. The USOC will also be visiting Chicago, Philadelphia, Los Angeles and San Francisco before deciding whether to submit an American bid to the International Olympic Committee. New York, the USOC's failed 2012 entrant, is not on the list this time

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The weekend in sports

Good news: the Houston Cougars swept the UCF Golden Knights at Cougar Field. The nationally-ranked Houston Cougar baseball team is now 37-14 overall and 17-4 in conference going into the big showdown against crosstown rival Rice this weekend.Bad news: the Houston Astros got swept by the Colorado Rockies in Denver. The Astros have lost six out of their last ten games.Oh, and a tip to the FC Dallas

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No martyrdom for wanna-be terrorist

Have fun spending the rest of your natural life in a concrete cell, scumbag.

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Website Update

I've updated my page of aerial photos to include pictures of the Hoover Dam and Humphreys Peak that I took while flying back from Vegas a couple of years ago.I'll be in Dallas for the rest of this week. Look for new postings when I return this weekend.

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