Last Chance To See 600 sq mi: Hidden
Missed Connections: Gefilte Fish...and "Chain Connections"
H-Town Rock
Rock Talk, Vol. IX
Good morning, Houston. Are you sick of hearing about the iPhone? So are we. Some people are wondering if the iPhone will be able to live up to all the hype its been getting, and we can't imagine that any phone could unless it also serves as, say, a teleporting device. Let's just get to the news:
>> Missing Polka King: Friends and fans grew concerned when Bobby Jones, billed as Wharton County's "Polka King," didn't show up for his radio show in El Campo on Saturday. No one has heard from Jones yet, but foul play isn't suspected. Friends said that when they last saw him, he seemed "sad and pensive" and indicated to his band's drummer that some weekend shows might have to be canceled for an undisclosed reason. Sometime between Friday night and Saturday morning, the Polka King left his house in his car - but without his prized accordion. According to the Chron, Jones was self-taught and his enthusiasm gained him a large following from Waco to Victoria - a sort of Texan "polka belt."
>> City council often fashionably late: Since Mayor White took office in 2004, not one City Council meeting has begun at its scheduled 9 a.m. start time. Citizens and journalists who attend the meetings often are made to wait half an hour while council members "arrive late or stay in a closed-door room behind the chamber chatting, laughing or eating breakfast." Some council members argued that this is normal, but others believe it is their responsibility to be punctual. Some members use this time to get work done or negotiate among themselves, but there is still frustration among the public over the late starts.
>> Today's weather: Remember what the sun looks like? Yeah, neither do we. And it will be mostly cloudy again today with a 30% chance of thunderstorms. Temperatures will still be pretty summer-y with a high of 93 and a low of 75.
And now for something completely news-y...
- CVS is still unwilling to comply with civic groups that want to alter the design of a new store going up at Elgin and Main.
- Plans to put residential, cultural, and business developments where the old Imperial Sugar plant is in Sugarland are now underway after the council approved the deal.
- Craig Biggio gets one hit closer to 3,000 as the Astros are blown away in an 11-5 loss in Milwaukee, but will be strategically benched tonight so that he can have his milestone hit at home.
- Police are searching for a serial bank robber in south Houston that hit several banks this week.
- All four southbound lanes of 610 at Woodway have been reopened after being closed this morning due to several cars being damaged by debris spilled by a truck.
- KPFT, Houston's Pacifica station, silenced their webstream to participate in internet radio's Day of Silence yesterday to protest impending royalty increases.
- The UT Medical School in Houston, which was a leader in making organ transplants commonplace, is celebrating three decades of kidney transplants.
- Three locations will offer free HIV testing today in honor of National HIV Testing Day. See the link for a full list.
- The killer who promised a joke as his last statement was executed yesterday.
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Here are some video reviews of the sheepPhone...err.. iPhone
It's going to be hard to envy the swarm of people (read: sheep) who shell out $500-$600 for the iPhone. The New York Times has a review of it this morning, and it's about what you'd expect; it lives up to some of the hype, but isn't the "Jesus Phone" everyone thinks it is. And, I hear the AT&T network is a big problem.
I am waiting until February, when my contract expires with Sprint. Not only will the iPhone likely be cheaper, but a new holiday season will usher in the other cell phone manufacturers' (Motorola, Samsung, Sanyo, etc.) answers to the iPhone.
Also, isn't it odd that we are talking about a cell phone for $600 when you can now buy a new Dell laptop for a little over $700?
One of the worst things about the iPhone is that it's on AT&T only. Around here, at least, I hear complaints all the time from AT&T customers who have problems with their coverage — I wonder if that's the case in other cities, too?
I've been with AT&T since before they were Cingular, all the way through the Cingular reign, and am still with them now, and their coverage is pretty hit-and-miss. I can't fathom people switching to AT&T just for the iPhone.
i have had AT&T/Cingular/SBC/Houston Cellular for ages and i have not had much problem over the years...but...i think it is crummy that they are requiring an AT&T contract...plus the retail price.
i would wait it out...first run gadgets are never a good idea, anyhow
Houston Cellular and early Cingular seemed to work great. They jinxed themselves with the Fewest Dropped Calls ads. Talk about reverse psychology.
I'm tired of meeting all these hot, single, sane and local chicks.