Skip to main content

Happy Pride Day


Today marks the 30th anniversary of the annual Houston Pride Parade -- I'll be heading down to Monstrose later this afternoon to help get our Chevron float set up.

Thank heavens it's a night-time parade, so the temperatures may actually moderate from the 90's down to the lower 80's by the time the parade starts (but I don't hold out that much hope). Our best shot at cooler temps -- given that the streets will be radiating heat along with 100,000 + spectators -- is if the threatened thunderstorms bring no rain to the area, but clouds and a breeze.

In any case, it will be fun!


Update:
Breezy and threatening rain up until the parade... and what a parade. We finally got on the route about 9:30... the Chronicle estimated 200,000 people along the route and it certainly seemed that way. My only beef was the lackadaisical security and crowd control. Unlike previous years, it seemed like the police and parade organizers just didn't care if the crowds spilled out onto the street -- and in some cases it was hard to tell where the parade was and where the crowd started. (Some of us wondered if this was a none-too-subtle plot by the parade organizers to punish everyone that kept them from moving the parade to the sterile confines of downtown -- or if the split in the organizers kept them from having their A-game on.)

The "throw us a gas card" or "lower your prices" got to be a little old (about the second time) -- but overall, an enthusiastic and supportive crowd. I heard later that we did get booed a bit when we got down past Kats -- because we'd run out of throws... I guess next year, we'll husband our stuff a little better... nah!

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

More On Energy: Supply, Demand and the Not-so-free Market

Speculators in the market have, rightly, been targeted for thier use of the Enron-loophole to basically compete (unfairly) in a market that is mixed between highly-regulated (see integrated oil companies) and unregulated players (see commodity brokers). This imbalance of power has led to the free flow of capital to a market from sources that a decade ago largely abandoned investment in oil companies -- in favor of the speculative bubble of the dotcom boom. That lack of capital infusion -- and the capital-intensive nature of the oil & gas business -- led to the mega-mergers of 1999 - 2001. Bear in mind that even with all that merger activity among the multi-nationals, their true competition is with national oil companies -- basically branches of their nation-state governments: Pemex (Mexico), Petrobras (Brazil), Pedevesas (Venezuala), Saudi Aramco (Saudi Arabia), Cinoco (China) ... you get the picture. On the one end, you have national oil companies -- either in OPEC or non-aligned ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Looking back...

It being "the thing to do" on New Years Eve, here are some of the things that came to my mind about the last decade: Houston & the Weather Tropical Storm Allison flooded Houston causing more than $5.5 B in damage and 41 deaths -- as usual, the story was overlooked by the national media because a) it was happening in Houston and b) they were manically covering the Timothy McVeigh execution countdown.  Were it not for 9/11, Allison would have been the largest disaster of 2001. Hurricane Katrina devasted the central Gulf Coast, flooding New Orleans with water and Houston with evacuees.  While the nation watched the Bush Administration fail in its duties, Mayor Bill White and the people of Houston stepped into the void -- providing shelter and a path forward for countless "new" Houstonians. Hurricane Rita taught us that our own hurricane plans were inadequate. Hurricane Gustav taught us how quickly a major storm could develop. Hurricane Ike showed how re...
Post a Comment
Read more

Recipe Friday: Pecan-crusted Chicken with Gorgonzola Sauce

3 tablespoons flour 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning 1 teaspoon garlic powder Egg whites from 2 large eggs 1 cup crushed pecans 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts halves (about 6 oz. each) Salt and pepper 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 1 tablespoon butter 1 cup whole milk 1/2 cup Gorgonzola cheese 2 tablespoons chopped fresh sage leaves, plus extra for garnish Preheat oven to 325°F. Use three shallow bowls or pie pans. In the first, mix flour, poultry seasoning and garlic powder. In the second, beat egg whites until frothy. Place pecans in the third. Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Turn in flour to dust the breasts, then turn in egg whites, then press breasts into nuts on both sides. Add olive oil to an oven-safe skillet, over medium-high heat. When the oil has coated the pan, add the tablespoon of butter. When the butter is melted & golden brown, add the chicken. Brown on each side for about 2 minutes,then transfer the pan to the oven and finish cooking through (about...
3 comments
Read more