03.04.08
Rodeo
In case you missed the trail rides, the news stories and Go Texan Day… it’s rodeo time in Houston, once again. Are you going?
Resources:
- Space City goes western, by KHOU Channel 11
- 2008 Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo™
02.07.08
largest Business Plan Competition in the World
From Startup Houston:
The Rice Alliance has gone and outdone themselves again by nearly doubling the amount of funds that will be awarded at this year’s Business Plan Competition. They will be awarding over $600,000 dollars in funds for approximately 36 different graduate teams from around the world, which enables them to lay claim to hosting “the largest and richest intercollegiate MBA/graduate-level business plan competition in the world, with more prize money, more teams competing, and more judges than any other competition.” (Somebody please tell me they are videotaping this thing, because I think this would make a great reality show). Also, according to their web site, every team will receive some type of cash award so noone goes home empty handed.
12.20.07
promoting Houston’s history
Houston has a new non-profit, the Houston History Association:
It is our mission to promote Houston area history through education and serve as a resource for existing educational institutions, historical organizations, and archival groups. We are working to document neighborhood histories, recapture the past through oral histories, and inspire all citizens of greater Houston to learn more about their diverse culture and legacy.We believe that Houstonians who are conversant with their history and especially with the role their own neighborhoods have played in that history will understand how vital it is that we cooperate to protect the various aspects of our shared past.
Resources:
09.27.07
Life & Family Tour
From the Downtown Happenings email provided by Houston Downtown:
Don’t miss the Life & Family Tour at the George R. Brown Convention Center this weekend. The show, which will be there Saturday, September 29 and Sunday, September 30, offers a cutting-edge consumer experience. The Life & Family Tour has exhibitions that will introduce attendees to the hottest new products and coolest services on the market.
A Refugee Camp in the Heart of the City
From the Downtown Happenings email provided by Houston Downtown:
Every day people around the world, often women and children, are displaced by war and violence. Learn firsthand how these 33 million refugees struggle to meet their most basic needs when Doctors Without Borders / Médecins Sans Frontières creates its outdoor interactive educational exhibit in Houston’s center. A Refugee Camp in the Heart of the City will be set up on Fish Plaza in front of the Wortham Theater Center starting Thursday, October 4 through Sunday, October 7. In addition, KHOU-Channel 11 anchor Greg Hurst will lead an insightful discussion in the Grand Foyer of Wortham Center on Thursday, October 4 at 7 p.m.Led by experienced aid workers, visitors to the 8,000-square-foot exhibit will be asked to imagine that they are among the millions of people fleeing violence and persecution in countries such as Afghanistan, Colombia and Sudan.
The exhibit, which is free and open to the public from 9 a.m.-5:30 p.m. daily, is made up of materials used by MSF in its emergency medical work around the world, including refugee housing, a food distribution tent, water pump, health clinic, vaccination tent, therapeutic feeding center and a cholera treatment center.
Guides will share their personal experiences while explaining the challenges of building shelter, finding food and clean water and handling waste disposal - the basic elements of survival for those who have lost everything.
“Tens of millions of people throughout the world today are uprooted from their homes, on the run, fleeing violence, living under the most grueling conditions,” said Nicolas de Torrenté, executive director of Doctors Without Borders-USA. “By presenting some of the daily challenges faced by displaced people - how they get clean water, enough food, adequate shelter, and basic medical care, often in a climate of fear and uncertainty about their future, we hope the exhibit will raise public awareness and action.”
09.18.07
ScreamWorld Offers Free Entry To Houston Public Library Power Card Holders
I just got this from the Houston Public Library:
ScreamWorld Offers Free Entry To Houston Public Library Power Card Holders
–Opening weekend offer takes the fear out of library card registration drive–
HOUSTON (September 18, 2007) … ScreamWorld Halloween Scream Park and the Houston Public Library (HPL) have partnered for the “Don’t Be Afraid of the Library” program which provides free admission to HPL Power Card holders opening weekend, Friday through Sunday, September 21st through 23rd at ScreamWorld Halloween Scream Park. Customers who present their HPL Power Card at ScreamWorld receive one free entry (good Sept. 21, 22, and 23 only) to ScreamWorld valued at $22. ScreamWorld is located at 2225 N. Sam Houston Parkway (Beltway 8), between Ella and T.C. Jester, 1.5 miles west of I-45.The promotion is part of HPL’s Library Card Sign-Up Month, a campaign held by libraries across the country each September to encourage library card sign-up for children and teens just after the new school year begins. HPL expects to sign up an estimated 15,000 new cardholders in September as part of the month-long campaign.
To assist in ongoing HPL Power Card sign-up efforts, ScreamWorld will continue to distribute library card applications to its patrons through the Halloween season. To learn more about becoming a Power Card holder and FREE HPL services, visit us online at www.houstonlibrary.org or call 832.393.1313.
[snip]
09.14.07
Houston drivers are awful
By The Bayou has a great post on the perils of driving in Houston, with a look at the deterioration of drivers, manners and safety in general. Very good rant.
07.29.07
Houston Museum District Day on Saturday, August 18
Mike McGuff reminds us that Houston Museum District Day on Saturday, August 18:
Get ready to enjoy a free day in the Houston Museum District on Saturday, August 18 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Board a free bus shuttle and spend the entire day exploring favorite museums and discovering new destinations. Museum District Day will feature fascinating exhibitions, hands-on activities, demonstrations and performances throughout the day. Fourteen museums will waive their general admission fee to offer the community the opportunity to enjoy the District’sdiverse displays of art, science, nature and history. For more details aboutMuseum District Day please visit www.houstonmuseumdistrict.org.Participating museums include:Buffalo Soldiers National Museum, Byzantine Fresco Chapel Museum, Children’s Museum of Houston, Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, The Health Museum, Holocaust Museum, Houston Houston Center for Contemporary Craft, Houston Center for Photography, Houston Museum of Natural Science, The John C. Freeman Weather Museum, Lawndale Art Center, The Menil Collection, Museum of Fine Arts Houston, The Rothko Chapel
Resources:
- Houston Museum District Day on Saturday, August 18, at Mike McGuff’s blog
07.15.07
be energy efficient
Flex Your Power has some great no cost heating and cooling tips that can help you reduce your energy bill for the rest of the year:
- Check the settings on the room air conditioner. Make sure the “fresh air” vent on the air conditioner is closed so you are not cooling outside air.
- Close drapes, blinds and shades to keep sun’s rays out of the home during the warmer months.
- Close drapes, blinds and shades to help retain heat at night or during unoccupied periods.
- In the winter, reverse your ceiling fan motor so that the blades push air up toward the ceiling, where hot air normally rises. The fan will drive the warm air back down around the edges of the room, which can result in more even heating. Better heat circulation will help combat the problem of sweating windows that some homes experience in the wintertime because of condensation on the glass.
- Set the temperature lower in the winter when your home is unoccupied. Use a programmable thermostat to automatically lower and raise the temperature according to your settings.
- Set the thermostat as low as comfortably possible in the winter. The less difference between the indoor and outdoor temperatures, the lower your overall heating bill will be.
(Found via Lifehacker.)
These tips are particularly important as I read that only 12% of US homes are energy efficient. From Green Wombat:
Home may be where the hearth is but it’s also where 17 percent of greenhouse gas emissions are generated in the United States, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. So depending on your perspective, it’s either heartening or appalling that just 12 percent of new single-family homes built in the United States in 2006 qualified for the EPA’s Energy Star high efficiency designation.
Wow. I don’t own a home, but it’s something to keep in mind as I consider buying one next year.
Resources:
- Heating & Cooling Tips, from Flex Your Power
- Only 12 Percent of New U.S. Homes are Energy Efficient, from Green Wombat