The 9th Annual Trinity Jazz Festival opens Friday, January 29 at Trinity Episcopal Church and runs through Sunday, January 31. The Trinity Jazz Festival began in 2002. The festival's founder, Father William B. Miller sees jazz as a vehicle for emphasizing both the Midtown church's urban setting, and its commitment to artistic expression. Rev. Miller believes, "Though jazz in the sacred context may be rare, it is a pairing that makes much sense - theologically, historically, and liturgically. Sharing some of the same roots as indigenous gospel music, this art form is rightly at home in the sacred context".
TJF website: http://www.trinityjazzfest.net/
This year's festival will feature:
Friday, January 29
Opening: TSU Jazz Singers - Bert Cross, Director
Headliner: Kirk Whalum (pictured above) w/ Jason Marsalis, Matt Lemmler, Kim Prevost and Roland Guerin
Saturday,January 30
Opening: Gary Weldon, Jazz harmonica artist - accompanied by Bob Henschen, Anthony Caceres and Clyde Adams
Headliner: Brad Leali, Alto saxophonist, professor of saxophone at the University of North Texas and former member of the Count Basie Orchestra - accompanied by Bob Henschen, Anthony Caceres and Clyde Adams
Saturday Master Class:
10:00 AM - 12:00 PM - Parish Hall w/Jason Marsalis, Roland Guerin, Kim Prevost
Sunday, January 31
10:30 am & 12:30 pm
Trinity Jazz Mass
Featuring:
Matt Lemmler, Jason Marsalis, Roland Guerin, Kim Prevost, Kellye Gray, Herlin Riley, and the Trinity Choir
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Houstonian Hotel Makes Top Hotels List
This from TripAdvisor's:
The Houstonian Hotel, Club & Spa came in at No. 9 on TripAdvisor.com (www.TripAdvisor.com) list of the top 25 hotels in the United States. TripAdvisor.com uses online public entries for feedback and grading purposes for all things related to travel. The ranking is sort of a "People’s Choice Award" for the travel industry. TripAdvisor’s list is based on reviews and opinions of more than 30 million travelers who use the free site.
The Houstonian is located at 111 N. Post Oak Lane near the Galleria area. Property features include a great room lobby with a 30-foot-tall, hand-carved stone fireplace; a 125,000-square-foot private health club; and Trellis, a spa offering a range of services and therapies. Their website is www.houstonian.com
FYI... the only other Texas property to make the list was the #5 rated Grand Hyatt DFW, in Dallas. The website for that property is granddfw.hyatt.com
The Houstonian Hotel, Club & Spa came in at No. 9 on TripAdvisor.com (www.TripAdvisor.com) list of the top 25 hotels in the United States. TripAdvisor.com uses online public entries for feedback and grading purposes for all things related to travel. The ranking is sort of a "People’s Choice Award" for the travel industry. TripAdvisor’s list is based on reviews and opinions of more than 30 million travelers who use the free site.
The Houstonian is located at 111 N. Post Oak Lane near the Galleria area. Property features include a great room lobby with a 30-foot-tall, hand-carved stone fireplace; a 125,000-square-foot private health club; and Trellis, a spa offering a range of services and therapies. Their website is www.houstonian.com
FYI... the only other Texas property to make the list was the #5 rated Grand Hyatt DFW, in Dallas. The website for that property is granddfw.hyatt.com
Thursday, December 10, 2009
German-Style Christmas Festival in Tomball Saturday
You do not have to be German to enjoy this festival. Come and enjoy the family-friendly ambience - Gemütlichkeit - of this unique music/street festival and open air market along with antique shops, and the old town area. Second Saturday in December - 10 am – 10 pm.
Tap your feet to the music of Chris Rybak, Das Ist Lustig, Tubameisters, Valina, and get into the festive spirit with the sounds of the Christmas musical groups.
An estimate 80 unique and interesting street vendors will line Market and Walnut Street, selling German Christmas items, arts and crafts, and much more.
The German Tent and music stage will be located near 200 Market Street. The tent will house the beer garden decorated in a German theme and Christmas lights. Tables and chairs will allow you to relax with your Dunkles Bier (dark beer), or a warm cup of Glühwein. Don't miss the traditional Dutch Santa and live Nutcracker.
The Kinderfest (kid's area) will provide entertainment and fun for the young visitors. It includes bungee-jumping, rock wall, petting zoo, pony ride, bounce house, and more. Enjoy the large outdoor movie screen, a hayride, and the Christmas lights tour.
Food vendors will include traditional German food and drink, Glühwein (mulled wine), beer, Christmas Stollen, Kaffee und Kuchen (coffee and pastry), Bratwurst, red cabbage, sauerkraut, apple strudel, etc., and will, also, include festival foods like funnel cake, corn dogs, hot dogs, hamburgers, kettle korn, and barbeque. Vendors Welcome. For vendor application and information contact: Grady Martin, gradsand@yahoo.com, 281 379 6844. Last years attendance was about 5 thousand.
Highlights of the Festival will include: The lighting of the City Christmas tree, fireworks, music on the Depot Stage, Santa, ice skating rink, and the dedication and unveiling of a new bronze statue "The Train Conductor."
The Market is sponsored by the City of Tomball, Tomball Sister City, and German Heritage Festival www.myspace.com/tgchristmas
Address : Town near the historical Train Depot Plaza, 201 S. Elm
Phone : 281-379-6844 (Always call and confirm events.)
Email Address : gradsand@yahoo.com
Web Address : www.tomballsistercity.org
Admission Fee : Free Admission and No Parking Fees
Tap your feet to the music of Chris Rybak, Das Ist Lustig, Tubameisters, Valina, and get into the festive spirit with the sounds of the Christmas musical groups.
An estimate 80 unique and interesting street vendors will line Market and Walnut Street, selling German Christmas items, arts and crafts, and much more.
The German Tent and music stage will be located near 200 Market Street. The tent will house the beer garden decorated in a German theme and Christmas lights. Tables and chairs will allow you to relax with your Dunkles Bier (dark beer), or a warm cup of Glühwein. Don't miss the traditional Dutch Santa and live Nutcracker.
The Kinderfest (kid's area) will provide entertainment and fun for the young visitors. It includes bungee-jumping, rock wall, petting zoo, pony ride, bounce house, and more. Enjoy the large outdoor movie screen, a hayride, and the Christmas lights tour.
Food vendors will include traditional German food and drink, Glühwein (mulled wine), beer, Christmas Stollen, Kaffee und Kuchen (coffee and pastry), Bratwurst, red cabbage, sauerkraut, apple strudel, etc., and will, also, include festival foods like funnel cake, corn dogs, hot dogs, hamburgers, kettle korn, and barbeque. Vendors Welcome. For vendor application and information contact: Grady Martin, gradsand@yahoo.com, 281 379 6844. Last years attendance was about 5 thousand.
Highlights of the Festival will include: The lighting of the City Christmas tree, fireworks, music on the Depot Stage, Santa, ice skating rink, and the dedication and unveiling of a new bronze statue "The Train Conductor."
The Market is sponsored by the City of Tomball, Tomball Sister City, and German Heritage Festival www.myspace.com/tgchristmas
Address : Town near the historical Train Depot Plaza, 201 S. Elm
Phone : 281-379-6844 (Always call and confirm events.)
Email Address : gradsand@yahoo.com
Web Address : www.tomballsistercity.org
Admission Fee : Free Admission and No Parking Fees
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Memorial Park's Living Bridge Open for Pedestrians
This news from various sources, including the Memorial Park Conservancy website (http://www.memorialparkconservancy.org/)
Memorial Park’s new $4 million pedestrian bridge officially opened last week, but it won’t reach its full, glorious potential for at least a few years. Designed by Clark Condon Associates, the bridge is a “living bridge,” seeded today to bloom tomorrow. The leafy new amenity linking the urban park’s northern and southern segments opened Tuesday following a ribbon-cutting at 10:30 a.m., hosted by Memorial Park Conservancy (MPC)and the city’s Parks and Recreation Department.
Frequent park users and pass-through motorists will know that the bridge — which sweeps attractively across Memorial Drive next to the existing, at-grade railroad crossing, west of the main park area — already has some plants and shrubs along the trail. In a few years, those will be nearing maturity, as will the currently invisible “planter pockets” along the walls of the bridge that will eventually sprout a variety of flowering vines in the spring and summer. The MPC will be continuing to add a series of native plantings that weave greenery into the structure for pedestrians to use across Memorial Drive. The concept for a living bridge is that after a few years, once those vines and the plants that line the bridge trail reach maturity, the bridge itself will become almost completely enveloped in foliage and will appear to be just another green pocket in Houston’s premier inner-city green space.
The bridge is only part of the $10 million capital campaign under way within Houston Parks and Recreation and the MPC. However, the bridge is the first piece to reach fruition. Mindy Hildebrand, the MPC's Capital Campaign chairwoman, joined forces with hundreds of contributors to raise more than $6.5 million toward Phase I improvements to the park.
Other intended improvements include:
Tennis Center Plaza Renovation ($80,000);
Outer Trail improvements ($2.1 million);
Running/Trails Center ($3 million);
Trail Lighting along the southeastern edge ($140,000);
Beautification of the retaining wall in the center of the park ($700,000).
Memorial Park’s new $4 million pedestrian bridge officially opened last week, but it won’t reach its full, glorious potential for at least a few years. Designed by Clark Condon Associates, the bridge is a “living bridge,” seeded today to bloom tomorrow. The leafy new amenity linking the urban park’s northern and southern segments opened Tuesday following a ribbon-cutting at 10:30 a.m., hosted by Memorial Park Conservancy (MPC)and the city’s Parks and Recreation Department.
Frequent park users and pass-through motorists will know that the bridge — which sweeps attractively across Memorial Drive next to the existing, at-grade railroad crossing, west of the main park area — already has some plants and shrubs along the trail. In a few years, those will be nearing maturity, as will the currently invisible “planter pockets” along the walls of the bridge that will eventually sprout a variety of flowering vines in the spring and summer. The MPC will be continuing to add a series of native plantings that weave greenery into the structure for pedestrians to use across Memorial Drive. The concept for a living bridge is that after a few years, once those vines and the plants that line the bridge trail reach maturity, the bridge itself will become almost completely enveloped in foliage and will appear to be just another green pocket in Houston’s premier inner-city green space.
The bridge is only part of the $10 million capital campaign under way within Houston Parks and Recreation and the MPC. However, the bridge is the first piece to reach fruition. Mindy Hildebrand, the MPC's Capital Campaign chairwoman, joined forces with hundreds of contributors to raise more than $6.5 million toward Phase I improvements to the park.
Other intended improvements include:
Tennis Center Plaza Renovation ($80,000);
Outer Trail improvements ($2.1 million);
Running/Trails Center ($3 million);
Trail Lighting along the southeastern edge ($140,000);
Beautification of the retaining wall in the center of the park ($700,000).
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Discovery Green Balloon Rides
This excerpt from the Texas Monthly magazine To Do List in Texas:
DISCOVERY GREEN Holiday Balloon—hop into this enormous helium-filled balloon, which measures sixty feet in diameter, and float up, up, and away into the Houston sky for a bird’s-eye view of the city from 350 feet above. And you won’t have to worry about becoming a media sensation, à la the Balloon Boy hoax: This balloon stays tethered to Jones Lawn. Thru Feb 28. Mon—Thur 11—9, Fri & Sat 10—10, Sun 11—8. Weekdays after 5, weekends & holidays: gen adm $20, children 12 & under $15; all other times: gen adm $15, children 12 & under $10. Located Between McKinney & Lamar, one block east of Austin at La Branch (713-400-7336).
Discovery Green website:
www.discoverygreen.com
DISCOVERY GREEN Holiday Balloon—hop into this enormous helium-filled balloon, which measures sixty feet in diameter, and float up, up, and away into the Houston sky for a bird’s-eye view of the city from 350 feet above. And you won’t have to worry about becoming a media sensation, à la the Balloon Boy hoax: This balloon stays tethered to Jones Lawn. Thru Feb 28. Mon—Thur 11—9, Fri & Sat 10—10, Sun 11—8. Weekdays after 5, weekends & holidays: gen adm $20, children 12 & under $15; all other times: gen adm $15, children 12 & under $10. Located Between McKinney & Lamar, one block east of Austin at La Branch (713-400-7336).
Discovery Green website:
www.discoverygreen.com
Monday, December 7, 2009
Houston Mid-Range Ranking in Forbes "Best Bang for the Buck" Cities
This from the Forbes.com (www.forbes.com) website:
Houston, TX came in 68th in the USA "Best Bang for the Buck" ranking on Forbes.com. Here's the link to the list:
http://www.forbes.com/2009/11/30/cities-affordable-cheap-lifestyle-real-estate-housing-foreclosures_chart.html
Dallas, TX was in 64th place, Austin came in at 45th, San Antonio at 39th, El Paso was 33rd, and metro McAllen topped the Texas cities at 7th.
Houston struggled in areas such as real estate taxes, travel commute time, and real estate vacancies. However, Houston was ranked 13th in the job forecast category.
Houston, TX came in 68th in the USA "Best Bang for the Buck" ranking on Forbes.com. Here's the link to the list:
http://www.forbes.com/2009/11/30/cities-affordable-cheap-lifestyle-real-estate-housing-foreclosures_chart.html
Dallas, TX was in 64th place, Austin came in at 45th, San Antonio at 39th, El Paso was 33rd, and metro McAllen topped the Texas cities at 7th.
Houston struggled in areas such as real estate taxes, travel commute time, and real estate vacancies. However, Houston was ranked 13th in the job forecast category.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Houston's Bush International Airport May Be Getting a High-End Neighbor
This from multiple sources including Globe St. and the Houston Chronicle:
Houston developer Midway Companies, a Houston company known for building high-end real estate projects, is proposing to create what could be a $50 million mixed-use development near Bush Intercontinental Airport (BIA). The plan, more than two years in the making, could move a step closer to reality this week when Houston City Council(HCC)is scheduled to vote on a development agreement for the land, which is owned by the Houston Airport System (HAS). If HCC approves the project, Midway Companies is prepared to sign a forty-year ground lease agreement for approximately 10 acres along JFK Boulevard from HAS. The parcel is near the BIA consolidated rental car center.
In the ground lease agreement, Midway would have two years to "sell" the concept to tenants and then up to two additional years to construct the project. At a minimum, it would include restaurants, a gas station, a convenience store and a cell phone lot with an electronic system to display flight information, and it may also include office space, retail shops, and a 125-room hotel. This would be the first project of its kind for the airport system.
“We hope this is a great success and we can repeat it at our other airports,” said Janet Schafer, assistant director in the Properties Division for the Houston Airport System, which oversees the city's three airports.
Houston developer Midway Companies, a Houston company known for building high-end real estate projects, is proposing to create what could be a $50 million mixed-use development near Bush Intercontinental Airport (BIA). The plan, more than two years in the making, could move a step closer to reality this week when Houston City Council(HCC)is scheduled to vote on a development agreement for the land, which is owned by the Houston Airport System (HAS). If HCC approves the project, Midway Companies is prepared to sign a forty-year ground lease agreement for approximately 10 acres along JFK Boulevard from HAS. The parcel is near the BIA consolidated rental car center.
In the ground lease agreement, Midway would have two years to "sell" the concept to tenants and then up to two additional years to construct the project. At a minimum, it would include restaurants, a gas station, a convenience store and a cell phone lot with an electronic system to display flight information, and it may also include office space, retail shops, and a 125-room hotel. This would be the first project of its kind for the airport system.
“We hope this is a great success and we can repeat it at our other airports,” said Janet Schafer, assistant director in the Properties Division for the Houston Airport System, which oversees the city's three airports.
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