Bare Necessities
The NFL season kicks off tomorrow night on NBC. The NFL Commissioner was on “Today” this morning, and he strongly hinted that the league was in discussions with the Taylor Swift camp on her performing at the Super Bowl next February. Nice.
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Look for the bare necessities
The simple bare necessities
Forget about your worries and your strife
I mean the bare necessities
Old Mother Nature’s recipes
That bring the bare necessities of life
Speaking of the bare necessities, it looks like these folks want to expose the naked truth on bike lanes. See this from the Chron today:
As Houston peels away bike lanes, a group of cyclists plans to peel away its clothes and pedal through the city in protest.
World Naked Bike Ride Houston is planned for Sept. 13, both beginning and ending at Super Happy Fun Land on Polk Street. Riders will gather at 6 p.m. and set off at 8 p.m. The route, as in past years, will be announced shortly before departure and will be about 12 miles long at a relaxed pace.
One of the organizers, David Collins, said this will be the 14th ride the group has done in Houston, but the rides are not always protests.
“In recent years, we’ve had things to celebrate,” Collins said. “We were riding in favor of the bike infrastructure that’s been constructed over the last few years. But with the current mayoral administration, we’re seeing a reversal of that. That’s kind of sad.”
Since Mayor John Whitmire took office, the city has pushed to either halt or alter road projects that included bike lanes or have removed protected bike lanes and replace them with “sharrows” — street markings that are intended to encourage drivers to share the road.
Whitmire has previously stated that bike lane removals and alterations have, “all been driven by city policy.” The city did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“It’s a protest for safer streets, for all road users,” Collins said. “It’s also a protest for bodily freedom.”
Interested riders don’t have to be fully nude to participate in the ride as riders are encouraged to “bare as you dare,” whether in costume, partially dressed or entirely nude. The organizers note that the city has an ordinance prohibiting public nudity, and to, “flout this ordinance at their own risk.” They also note that Texas does not have an explicit law against public nudity, only that, “a prosecutor would have to prove that one is reckless about offending someone.”
It is a good thing the Astros will be in the ATL that evening. I would not want to mix balls and strikes with balls and bikes if this protest ventures to Downtown H-Town. I guess this protest will raise awareness of the issue. I don’t know if it moves the needle. I suspect the local TV stations will cover the event with a lot of blurred images on the local news when the stories air. Oh, well.
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The Go-Ahead Pay gizmo with my mug at Daikin Park is today’s featured photo. I use it all the time. I don’t have to wait in line. The gizmo projects your mug with the number of tickets you have. You don’t have to show your tickets to anyone. Just zip on by.
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The only good thing about last night at Daikin Park was the Dollar Dogs, peanuts, and Saint Arnold. Framber had a lousy outing. I have no idea what Jeremy Peña was thinking when he tried to bunt with two men on and nobody out. It ended up being a force out. Our best hitter should not be bunting in that situation. Later in the game, our catcher César Salazar tried to lay a bunt down that turned into a double play. We continue to struggle but still have a three-game lead in the AL West.
I would say that about half the fans who attended the game last night were Yankee fans. At least it sounded like half.