Rather than expanding on the weekly roundup of the latest disasters the political classes have inflicted on area peasantry, I thought I’d make note of a number of less political matters of interest that occurred in H-Town last week.
[OE1] The 2019 NBA basketball season finally came to an end for the Houston Rockets, after the Rockets lost their series (118-113) in the second round of the Western Conference playoffs to the Golden State Warriors. The Rockets, who had been thirsting for another shot at the Warriors after blowing two big leads in games in last year’s conference finals, got exactly what they wanted. The Rockets played hard, but Stephen Curry and the Warriors are simply a better rounded team. The Rockets, in my view, have to build on the James Harden / Chris Paul duo if they are finally going to bring home the trophy.
[OE2] Rain and thunderstorms put a scare back into Houstonians this past week. The rainfall was on and off for a number of days. Depending upon what area of town you live in, rainfall amounted to roughly 5-12 inches over the past 4-5 days this past week. The rainfall was enough to cause flooding in some scattered areas around town, including Kingwood, Cypress, Humble, and on the southeast side of town near the Beltway 8 / I-45 area. The rainfall was enough to cause some Houstonians to wonder what was going on with all the flood bond and mitigation money that was approved and appropriated after Hurricane Harvey? KHOU-TV carried a story on that, but unless Houstonians experience a genuine improvement in their fortunes from all that government money, the next round of flood mitigation will be a much harder sell.
[OE3] The Metropolitan Transit Authority (METRO) decided to shut down the newest rail lines this past Wednesday, due to electrical wire problems that, METRO said, could result in bystanders being in the path of live electrical wires. For the 439th time, METRO had to hustle out those lowly, unloved, and inexpensive buses to take erstwhile rail riders on their way.
[OE4] The Houston Museum of Fine Arts, which I consider to be one of Houston’s jewels, has had a Vincent Van Gogh exhibit going since March and which will run through June 27th. I have plans on making the exhibit sometime myself.
[OE5] Comicpalooza took place over this past weekend. I was one of the original generation of Dungeons and Dragons players back 40-odd years ago. Although I quit playing the game some 25-30 years ago, it is rather gratifying to see the nerd worlds of comic books, science fiction movies, and bookcase and role-play gaming all getting merged together and then mixed in with new fads like costume and cosplaying contests. Comicpalooza makes for an event that offers something for everyone.
[OE6] And finally, the sad news came this week that Fitzgeralds, a 40+ year Houston landmark of a night club, is going to be demolished. The building, which was an old Polish social hall and dance club before Sarah Fitzgerald opened it up as the night club back in 1977, was sold at the end of last year. I spent quite a few nights of my (misspent?) youth at Fitzgeralds, as no doubt did many other Houstonians. And so it is that another piece of Houston disappears into the past.
Don’t ever say that Houston is boring. Blink your eyes and you’ll miss something. There’s always something going on in H-Town!
