Art Car Parade

Commentary has attended a few Art Car Parades. It is one of H-Town’s coolest events.  It will roll around again tomorrow. See this from the Chron:

After nearly a quarter-century navigating an art car through the parade route, Brock Wagner will yield the wheel. Wagner and the Saint Arnold Brewing Co. he co-founded have rolled cars in the parade since 2000. This year, the 30th anniversary for the craft brewing company, finds Wagner serving as grand marshal.

And this:

When Saint Arnold developed a new India pale ale in 2015, the meeting to name it didn’t take long. “We wanted something that embodied what we do in Houston,” he says.

The Art Car IPA is a top seller for the brewery.

Here is the entire read: Houston Art Car Parade names Sain Arnold Brewery founder grand marshal (houstonchronicle.com).

Think about it. How many other H-Town businesses pay this level of homage to the Art Car Parade? 

My favorite Saint Arnold brews are Amber Ale, Art Car, and the seasonal Christmas Ale. See the featured photo.

At The Yard, the Saint Arnold kiosk near my seats carries the Art Car and on occasion the Amber Ale.

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This morning on the “Today” show, Bob Costas gave a very good take on O.J.

We all know the phrase “got away with murder.” That’s all I have to say about O.J.

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The parking meter proposal to charge folks for parking after 6 pm, got sent to a city council committee on Wednesday. See this from the Chron:

Council Members Joaquin Martinez and Mario Castillo, who represent parts of the city with the highest concentration of parking meters, championed the motion Wednesday to send the proposal to the Proposition A Committee, which Mayor John Whitmire created to help members vet and refine their proposals.

The freshmen council members explained that they were given little notice of the original proposal before it was added to the agenda last week, and they needed time to contact key stakeholders in their districts to better understand the potential impacts of the proposal.

“You’re impacting the whole business district, and you’re not even talking to them about what you want to do,” Martinez said Friday. 

Downtown Houston CEO Kris Larson and Performing Arts Houston CEO Meg Booth told the Chronicle that they first heard about the changes from Martinez, who represents downtown. 

Larson said these changes could be financially harmful, whether it was to the many service industry workers who rely on street parking or the small businesses struggling to find retail employees to work downtown.

“(Service workers) are the ones arriving before 6 p.m. and often staying put,” Larson told the council during Tuesday’s public comment. “Our storefront businesses are having a hard enough time filling shifts and finding workers, and this will create another hardship if implemented as proposed.”

Booth also suggested the city conduct a parking study to better assess the impact extending parking meter hours would have on potential audience members. She said Performing Arts Houston wants to make sure the city’s arts and theater remain accessible to all – and not just to those with the means to pay for extending parking times.

“We were worried about how quickly this was being moved through,” Booth told the Chronicle, before adding “that it would absolutely impact so many of the people who count on free parking after six o’clock to make coming down to the theater district accessible.”

None of the three council members who brought the item forward have parking meters in their districts, according to a map provided by ParkHouston. 

Here is the entire read: Houston City Council clash over extended parking meter hours (houstonchronicle.com).

That ought to be an automatic disqualifier. If you don’t have parking meters in your district, you shouldn’t even be in the discussion.  Folks know Commentary uses street parking a lot. I prefer the current policy.  Listen to the folks who know something about how Downtown operates.

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Today is National Grill Cheese Sandwich Day. I prefer mine simple with American or cheddar cheese with wheat bread with a couple of slices of dill pickles, lightly buttered, and chips on the side. Delicious.

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I don’t want to sound repetitious on the starting pitching thing, but we need our starting pitchers to go at least five innings. This two-thirds of an inning stuff ain’t going to do us any good. Our starting pitching is killing us.

The Rangers are in for three this weekend.

Stay safe.