2010 Aug 29 | acrobats, brewery, theaters



Back at school, and once again they tried to fix this pothole and failed. There are still big depressions on each side of the patch. Honestly, it shouldn't be this hard.



Huge lines while the new students figure out where to park. Usually after a few weeks when people start skipping classes it gets better, but you still have to get there fairly early to get a spot.



People making parking spots for themselves because the lot is full.



Some more self-made spots on the edges of the rows.



I'm TAing for Dr. Stephens' ophthalmic optics lab, which is really fun.



Aw, this little dog is so cute.



I totally expected Mexicans to be running this flower shop. Instead it was a group of completely crazy white people. I guess they're just playing to the area which is mostly Hispanic.



The internet was giving me contradicting info about whether leaving flowers out of water for a few hours would be OK, so I took the safe route. Heck, the gallon of water was only a buck, although I did have to cut a chunk of the top open a bit more to fit them all in.



I guess they didn't assign all the lockers correctly, so people were just taking ones that weren't in use. Which made the office mad, so they put up these little signs saying don't use this locker, and if you do, you'll get your lock cut off. Well, maybe if you would have assigned everyone a locker in the first place, we wouldn't have this problem.



Little bento piggies.



I'm glad I won; I'm not so glad she stayed in with 6-8 with AAKQ on the board, not to mention kept betting it up, cuz that must mean I'm an absolutely horrific teacher. ;-)



Admittedly, I got saved on the river on this one.



And this one too. Next time we're playing for real money.



Another mess in the roads on the way to school. At least don't block off the lanes in the opposite direction, people.



Free food and music and massages at an open house from Jenny's boot camp.



Jenny talking with the only other person in her group. The lady is looking for a job as a personal trainer. Jenny's in pretty good shape, but not quite like that. I sure wouldn't want to be in a small group with someone way more fit than me, but Jenny likes it.



Go back once or twice and you have a full meal.



Jenny's friends were in town for the weekend, so we showed them around. I had Friday afternoon off, so I took them to NASA. You know you're getting close when you see the McDonald's with the astronaut on top.



Here we are.



Now this is a great parking lot for Texas: lots of trees to give shade.



Some really nice houses near there.



Grabbing food from Niko Niko's, where there's always a line.



Then off to Miller Outdoor Theater to watch the Golden Acrobats of China. It can be hard to find parking, so I dropped them off and went looking. Thankfully I found some only a few blocks away. You could park in the museum, but I'd rather walk a few blocks than pay $20.



Balancing on a board on a ball.



Throwing balls with their feet.



Spinning around inside of rings.



Lots of people balancing on each other.



Throwing spinning tops with string.



A guy standing on lots of chairs he had stacked up. He got so high they had to put the chairs on a pole to reach him.



Dancers with banners.



Jumping over a banner.



Around 10 people with fans on one bicycle.



Rolling down the hill at Miller Outdoor, just like all the little kids.



Steel Lounge Underground at Contemporary Arts Museum Houston.



They switch exhibits around once every month or so. This time it was video. Here I'm dancing with the people on the screen.



A naked guy rolling around in the snow. It's art.



Guys in suits dancing in a hallway.



Us watching a couple dancing.



Another film on an old reel.



The gift shop had a lot of neat things.



These would go along with my other animal-themed kitchen utensils.



Some really neat metal purses, but not worth $170.



Multi-outlet electro man.



Some neat watches.



Cool, I was part of a group that rated this TV show in Vegas.



Always a line at Laredo Taqueria, but worth it.



The color makes it hard to miss.



Brewery tour at St. Arnold's. It's always packed.



Us on the tour.



The tour is given by the founder, Brock Wagner.



I don't think that's safe to drink.



On the tour.



Some interesting cars: a Bently and a Bug.



T-shirts and mugs you could buy.



Filling up again.



An employee out having fun on a 4-wheeler.



Neat picture of the sun behind the clouds.



Albert & Gage at Anderson Fair, courtesy of the Foundation for Education and Research in Vision, which gives scholarships at the school. I went to this while Jenny took her friends to Galveston.



Aw, how nice. Jenny brought me back a shell to go with the others in my bathroom. Although it's a little too nice to have been found.



And I don't think most shells come out of the water with price tags already on them. :)



They wanted some BBQ before they left, so we took them to Hickory Hollow.



That is the biggest chicken fried steak I have ever seen; it covers almost half the plate.



Next was the Beer Can House.



I don't think they're real. ;)



Me on the patio.



All of the wall coverings are made from beer can pieces.



The back of the house.



Purses made out of beer can tabs and sombreros made out of beer boxes.



How the house originally looked.



"They say every man should leave something to be remembered by. At least I accomplished that goal." - John Martin Milkovisch, the man who made this.



The kitchen.



His workshop.



Watching a movie about the house.



The side, which is pretty loud when the wind blows.



The front.



The Orange Show, another place with unique artwork.



The girls.



Unfortunately, it was closed because they were working on it, but we could still see inside.



Us out front.



Across the street.



Some of the workers.



After that we headed downtown for the theater district open house. Here we got some free St. Arnold's root beer.



Inside Jones Hall.



Stage combat demonstration.



Light swords.



Heavier swords.



And really heavy swords.



Rapier and dagger.



A mace.



Daggers.



A video of a few interesting and fun moments.



Us with, well, I just don't know.



Behind-the-stage tour at Jones Hall.



Dressing room.



One of the A/V guys.



The River Dance production stressed the stage floor so much it caused the floor to separate from the girders, so they had to put all these little shims in.



Kids playing with a camera they use to watch the director.



Now Jenny's on it.



The A/V control room.



Rehearsal room.



The elevator. We're under the stage.



View of the front from the glass-walled elevator.



We just made it in before the performance to get a tour of the library. This is the conductor's book, which has all the parts for all of the instruments, so he has to turn the page a lot.



Showing the kids.



And some others.



Miss Houston was on the tour with us.



The symphony before it began.



Another view.



An interesting statue. One big fiddler on front...



... and three little ones on back.



A maze of paper towels in Walgreens.



Uh oh, there's a train ahead.



Thankfully I'm on Yale, which lets you go under the train. One street over on Heights and you have to wait.



Volleyball.



Good hit.



She almost got it.



Marina hitting the ball.



And leaping backwards to get it.



Another woman setting.



Backwards hit while jumping down.



Sophia leaping for the ball.



Michael doing the same.



Michael going for a spike.



This girl really got up in the air.



As did this guy.



Michael diving for the ball but not quite making it.



And another backwards hit.