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Archive for June, 2006
Implosion!
Wednesday, June 21st, 2006
Methodist Diagnostic Hospital at bottom-left [exterior], courtesy Google Maps. [Note: The image has been updated to include the actual hospital; GMaps unhelpfully pointed to the wrong building.] The parking lot at center top-right is now the site of the enormous Memorial Hermann Medical Plaza tower, the largest construction project underway in Houston, which dwarfs Sid Richardson College to its west…and all the other medical buildings, too. [Yahoo's map is slightly more recent and less Escheresque.]
This came across the internal rice.general newsgroup: (emphasis mine, spelling errors theirs)
On Sunday morning June 25, at approximately 7:00 am, the old Diagnostic Hospital at 6448 Fannin, which is immediately across Main Street from Rice between entrances 4 and 5 (detention pond area), will be demolished by implosion. Both Main Street and Fannin Street auto and pedestrian traffic will be stopped between University Drive on the south and McGreggor Drive on the north starting Sunday morning about 6:15 and not reopened until the all clear is given about 8:00. Additionally, no persons will be allowed within 500 feet of the demolition site, including the Rice detention pond and track stadium area, during that time period.
The implosion will be a series of quick explosive bursts from within the building followed by the rumbling sound of the building falling. Depending on the wind that morning, a portion of the expected dust cloud will drift over the Southeast portion of the Rice campus. Immediately after the implosion and the all clear is given, contractor crews will begin sweeping streets and parking lots, and using water trucks to wash off affected vegetation. Rice maintenance crews will be available Sunday morning to address any specific issues that may relate to our campus.
[Update 6/25: this did, in fact, happen.]
Posted in Notebook | 3 Comments »
The Motion Picture.
Saturday, June 17th, 2006
The following (somewhat incoherent) blog entry is best justified using the following formula:
B = a × p(t) × E-1 + h
a = Attempt to clear out excess beer from previous parties
p = probability that beer has gone bad since time t
t = time of previous parties
E = rationalizing force usually in effect around the house
E-1 = lack of said force
h = HBO film schedule for summer
B = sappy blog entry
This entry is thusly subtitled:
“Star Trek: The Motion Picture” — One Of The Greatest Movies Ever Made, Or The Very Greatest?
Posted in Notebook | No Comments »
Deathbot 9000
Friday, June 16th, 2006
Full drawing inside.
(more…)Posted in Notebook | 2 Comments »
Cars.
Tuesday, June 13th, 2006
Luigi the Car has posted an audio review (MP3, 1:40, 690K) of the new Pixar movie “Cars.”
(An explanation of this nonsense continues inside.)
(more…)Posted in Notebook | 4 Comments »
News around Houston.
Tuesday, June 13th, 2006
First, two articles from Houstonist, starting with a story we’ve been following here on dsandler.org: Krispy Kreme’s replacement headed down the hole.
At 930 Main St., Jumbles’ downtown location, nobody answers the phone; at the Clear Lake and Missouri City stores, the phones have been disconnected; on Richmond Avenue, there’s a notice taped to the door saying that the locks have been changed because the tenants didn’t pay rent; and the Westheimer store, where all the baking is done for the area, is closed during business hours. What’s more, suppliers to Jumbles — including H. Mills Duncan IV, president of the Duncan Coffee Co. — can’t get anyone at Lone Star to answer their calls.
Next: another CVS coming to Midtown (further contributing to our citywide goal of at least one church, one drugstore, and—in the case of Sugar Land—one taekwando school on every street corner).
This one will be built on the southeast corner of Main and Elgin, right on the MetroRail line and a few blocks from the CVS at Gray and Bagby[…]
Finally, I’ll see you all at 10am on Saturday at the Memorial City Mall, where Apple’s second Houston-area retail store is set to open:
Mac geeks in and around the Houston, TX area have begun receiving the “Come meet your new neighbor” emails which Apple sends out in preparation for a new Apple Store opening. The store located in the Memorial City Mall will hold its grand opening on June 17th at 10AM.
From Apple’s map page it appears the store is located near the food court entrance, on the south side by Penney’s (see also the official Mem City Mall map, which so far lacks a logo.).
Posted in Notebook | No Comments »
Diesel Sweeties on Owls
Tuesday, June 13th, 2006
Posted in Notebook | No Comments »
Gladys, this is Juanita
Monday, June 12th, 2006
Bizarre voicemail on our office phone: juanita.mp3. I hope she found her keys!
(more…)Posted in Notebook | No Comments »
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