Tag Archives: photography

Debris collection time

Posted on May 22, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

From the inbox: Today, the City of Houston’s Solid Waste Management Department (SWMD) will initiate the first pass of storm debris collection for single-family homes and neighborhoods affected by the Derecho Storm on Thursday, May 16, 2024. Several city departments, … Continue reading →

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

The scourge of selfie sticks

Posted on April 12, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Presented (mostly) without comment. The Blanton Museum, in Austin, as well as the Dallas Museum of Art and the Perot Museum of Natural Science, in Dallas, all have bans on tripods and monopods that extend to selfie sticks, leaving visitors to settle for … Continue reading →

Posted in Society and cultcha | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Mount Rush Hour Park

Posted on November 19, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

It’s actually called American Statesmanship Park, but either way it’s awesome. Harris County on Tuesday accepted a donation of a small plot of land near the intersection of Interstates 10 and 45 where 18-foot concrete busts of Stephen F. Austin, … Continue reading →

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Ticket splitters

Posted on October 23, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

For better or worse, we live in a polarized world. Often, knowing a candidate’s political party tells you most of what you need to know in a general election. But definitely not always, and this year in particular there are … Continue reading →

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Bike racks at restaurants

Posted on May 18, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

I wholeheartedly approve of this. On nice days, a 20-station bicycle rack stays mostly full outside Hay Merchant, a food-and-beer establishment located among a cramped string of restaurants on Westheimer near Montrose. When the rack is full, it means 20 … Continue reading →

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About that “solution” for bike trail obstruction

Posted on January 29, 2012 by Charles Kuffner

Me, last month: Meanwhile, two weeks ago there was a story about TxDOT closing the White Oak Bayou Hike and Bike Trail between Ella and 34th streets while there is construction on the service road for 610 North at East TC Jester. … Continue reading →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Saturday still photo break: May the Force be with you

Posted on August 6, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

We have some family in town, and today Audrey and I took them to the Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination exhibit at the Health Museum. It was a combination of models and costumes from the “Star Wars” movies, with … Continue reading →

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You don’t look a day over 170, Houston

Posted on July 5, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Lisa Gray has a question and a request. How do you celebrate Houston’s 175th birthday? It’s a surprisingly hard question. How do you salute the longevity and stability of a place that prides itself on change? How do you sum … Continue reading →

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Saturday video break: It’s OK to be Takei

Posted on June 25, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Ladies and gentlemen, George Takei: I suppose now is as good a time as any to show you this: That was taken at the Houston premier of a slightly bizarre, very cheesy, and mostly fun sci-fi western called Oblivion, at … Continue reading →

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Studewood highrise update

Posted on June 11, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Swamplot and Prime Property give us a look at what is to come for that six-story mixed-use building that’s currently under construction on Studewood just north of 11th. Well, what may come, as Swamplot’s choose-your-own-adventure photo spread indicates. I figured … Continue reading →

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The Empty Lot Primary

Posted on June 10, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

This is an awesome idea. A political consultant is launching a Web site aimed shaming political candidates into limiting the posting of signs to addresses where the residents actually endorse their candidacies. Greg Wythe’s emptylotprimary.tumblr.com invites people to submit photos of campaign signs … Continue reading →

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If fixing the streets is easy, then tell us how to do it

Posted on May 25, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Lisa Gray writes about a guy who thinks Houston’s streets could be much more user friendly if only we tried a little harder to make them be. “Houston’s streets behave like alleys,” Nathan Norris shouted to the 20 or so … Continue reading →

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Center Street recycling center for sale?

Posted on March 25, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Looks to be that way. Back in 2009, the city contemplated selling the site to Admiral Linen next door, and opening a new recycling center on Spring Street in the First Ward. See here, here, and here for background. The … Continue reading →

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Where hippie bohemian attorney dreams go to die

Posted on January 2, 2011 by Charles Kuffner

Via Swamplot, I see that the site of the never-was Sonoma development in the Rice Village has been sold to someone that plans to actually build something. Hanover’s project, called Plaza View, is scheduled to include 385 “high-end” apartments, 14,000 … Continue reading →

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A message from Metro

Posted on December 26, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Spotted by me at the Smithlands light rail station: I believe this subject came up in my interview with Gilbert Garcia and Christoph Spieler but figured it deserved its own mention regardless. Expect the Board to explore further changes to … Continue reading →

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Sign of the times: Prop 3

Posted on October 30, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Spotted this the other day on Old Spanish Trail just east of SH288: Far as I can tell, the nearest red light camera to this sign is at Wayside and I-45. It’s all I’ve seen of the campaign against Prop … Continue reading →

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Another Wal-Mart meeting

Posted on September 4, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

There was another meeting about the proposed Wal-Mart on Wednesday, this time for residents only. [I]n the second public meeting in eight days addressing concerns over the Walmart-Ainbinder Company development, the city’s proposed 380 Agreement with the developers took center … Continue reading →

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Market Square reopening next week

Posted on August 21, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Market Square Park downtown, which began a renovation in February, will reopen next weekend. The Market Square Park downtown will officially reopen on Aug. 28, with performances by the John Evans Band and singer-songwriter Andrew Karnavas. The renovated park — … Continue reading →

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The summer of Wal-Mart continues

Posted on August 20, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

As long as I’m mentioning new signs, here’s another that’s popped up recently: Pardon the flash; I was in a bit of a rush and didn’t have a chance to go back and take another shot. The Stop Heights Wal-Mart … Continue reading →

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Signs, signs, everywhere there’s signs

Posted on August 19, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

I mentioned there were pro-preservation ordinance signs out there, so I thought I’d show what they look like: The link is to http://www.preservehouston.org/, the Houston Historic Districts Coalition. It’s a busy little website, especially in contrast to the Responsible Historic … Continue reading →

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Ready or not, here comes Wal-Mart

Posted on July 31, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

It’s a done deal. Wal-Mart has placed 16 acres of land in the Washington Avenue corridor under contract, company spokeswoman Kellie Duhr confirmed Thursday. The deal comes two days after concerned Heights-area residents voiced their opposition to the project to … Continue reading →

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Pushback on the historic preservation ordinance

Posted on July 28, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

I’m seeing a few of these signs in my neighborhood: The first ones I spotted were in front of houses on Heights Blvd; this one and a couple of others were on Studewood on an empty commercial lot. I’ve since … Continue reading →

Posted in Elsewhere in Houston | Tagged , , , , | 31 Comments

A view of the “Heights” Wal-Mart site

Posted on July 15, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

I was thinking last week that I didn’t have a good feel for the geography of the site for the proposed “Heights” Wal-Mart. So I figured the thing to do was to drive over there and take a few pictures. … Continue reading →

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A Montrose/Studemont walkability update

Posted on June 11, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Back in 2008, I put together a photo essay on density and walkability in Montrose, in particular on Montrose/Studemont between West Gray and Washington. It included this photo, taken in front of what was then the old Ed Sacks Waste … Continue reading →

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Vote for me for something

Posted on June 10, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

I’ve now seen four of these signs near where I live, one on I-10 westbound just before the Taylor exit, two on 20th Street between Studewood and Heights, and this one on Durham just south of Washington. I have three … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2011 | Tagged , , , , | 7 Comments

Don’t we have some kind of ordinance for this?

Posted on April 11, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

This is I-10 at Studemont on Wednesday morning. They started building this thing on Monday, and by Wednesday evening there were billboards on display. Once I realized what it was, I said to myself “Don’t we have some kind of … Continue reading →

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Are they finally building something on the Robinson Warehouse site?

Posted on March 28, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Remember the Robinson Warehouse? It’s been more than three years now since the old building at Montrose and Allen Parkway was demolished, and the site has been fallow ever since. But in the last week or so, some signs of … Continue reading →

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Saturday still picture break: Go Texan

Posted on March 13, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

This little piece of yard art is on Greenbriar, across the street from Roberts Elementary School: It appeared a couple of weeks ago, just before the start of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. I can only presume that was … Continue reading →

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It’s magic

Posted on March 5, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

I’ve always been a fan of magic acts – I still remember seeing Doug Henning’s “The Magic Show” on Broadway with my dad when I was a kid – so I’m really excited about Magic!, the new exhibit at HMNS. … Continue reading →

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Goodbye, old friend

Posted on January 25, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

This morning, Tiffany and I took our dog, Harry, to the vet. He did not come home with us. We’d known this day was coming for awhile. Harry was 15 years old, and his health had declined in recent months. … Continue reading →

Posted in See, I do have a life! | Tagged , , | 32 Comments

A hippie bohemian flashback

Posted on January 12, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Remember this? Those were the days, my friends, those were the days. These days? Not so much. Three years ago, developers got the city to shut down Bolsover Street so they could build the seven-story complex, but those plans stopped … Continue reading →

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The inauguration

Posted on January 4, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Here was my view of today’s inaugural festivities: Click the photo for a larger version. Tiffany and I were seated next to Martha, who has some pictures as well as a post about Mayor Parker’s inaugural address. It was an … Continue reading →

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Merry Christmas!

Posted on December 25, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

From ours to yours, have a very Merry Christmas. I’ll have a Christmas version of the Friday Random Ten up later today, but that’ll be it till tomorrow.

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Still more on Parker’s win

Posted on December 14, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Hereare a couple of photo slide shows from the Annise Parker victory party on Saturday, from TPM and Hair Balls, the latter of which has some pix from the Gene Locke event as well. And BOR has a recording of … Continue reading →

Posted in Election 2009 | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment