1st concert: Van Halen, Austin TX in 1981, age 16
Last: Aaron Watson, ACL Live, Austin 2019
Next: George Strait, Las Vegas, December
Best: Heart, ACL Live, Austin, 2016
Worst: [above] Van Halen, Austin TX in 1981, age 16
Most: George Strait (over 10 times)
Haven’t but wanna: Aerosmith in Las Vegas
Thursday, September 26, 2019
Wednesday, September 25, 2019
50 Years at Houston Country Club
This September 23 marked my father Ed's 50th year of membership in the Houston Country Club. He has told me before of the way he found out the news that he received a phone message (probably written on a pink slip of paper) that Jim Baker, President of the club had called him. Ed knew that it was good news.
Fifty years is a long time, even for a club that dates to 1908. The club was originally on Wayside Drive in East Houston and then moved west to Potomac Drive in 1957. So when Ed became a member in 1969 it was probably still a relatively new location.
The club was and still is a haven of old Houston, so it must have been gratifying for a person from humble beginnings in Beaumont, Texas to fit in. During the 60s, both future President George H.W. Bush and his former Secretary of State Jim Baker (remember him?) were members. It certainly didn't hurt that my mother Kate was Old Houston and that Ed was a University of Texas golf team member in the 1950s under the legendary coach Harvey Penick.
Dad has amassed a good club resume in his time so far. He served on the Board of Directors 2 different times, and even as Vice President. I presume he presided over a meeting or 2 during his VP tenure. And for over 20 years he was the club historian and has done a lot to keep the 100 plus years of history from being forgotten. He was even the senior club champion when he was a young 55 year old.
I used to joke that not much ever changed there because members like Alcorn, Sr. would become Alcorn Jr, Alcorn III and so on. My sister Elizabeth is a member too and keeping the Turley tradition going.
Congrats to Edward W. Turley, Jr., Member number xxxx. He done a lot to give back to the Houston Country Club which was and still is a big part of our family story.
Fifty years is a long time, even for a club that dates to 1908. The club was originally on Wayside Drive in East Houston and then moved west to Potomac Drive in 1957. So when Ed became a member in 1969 it was probably still a relatively new location.
The club was and still is a haven of old Houston, so it must have been gratifying for a person from humble beginnings in Beaumont, Texas to fit in. During the 60s, both future President George H.W. Bush and his former Secretary of State Jim Baker (remember him?) were members. It certainly didn't hurt that my mother Kate was Old Houston and that Ed was a University of Texas golf team member in the 1950s under the legendary coach Harvey Penick.
Dad has amassed a good club resume in his time so far. He served on the Board of Directors 2 different times, and even as Vice President. I presume he presided over a meeting or 2 during his VP tenure. And for over 20 years he was the club historian and has done a lot to keep the 100 plus years of history from being forgotten. He was even the senior club champion when he was a young 55 year old.
I used to joke that not much ever changed there because members like Alcorn, Sr. would become Alcorn Jr, Alcorn III and so on. My sister Elizabeth is a member too and keeping the Turley tradition going.
Congrats to Edward W. Turley, Jr., Member number xxxx. He done a lot to give back to the Houston Country Club which was and still is a big part of our family story.
Tuesday, September 24, 2019
Lion's Muny pricing back when
I never thought I would get here but I have arrived at the point where you remember pricing as being dirt cheap by modern standards.
When I started at Austin High in 1979, I joined the golf team. One of the requirements was that you have a junior membership at Lion's Municipal which also allowed you to play the other 3 Austin courses, Jimmy Clay, Morris Williams and Hancock.
The cost of a year's membership was $60.00. That allowed for unlimited golf. We played 5 times a week all year long, plus tournaments in the summer. As an accounting method we signed in each day and paid a Quarter.
Now golf there is still cheap, $25.00 a day during the week. Can you believe the difference? Same course, same conditioning.
"Back when I was growing up..."
When I started at Austin High in 1979, I joined the golf team. One of the requirements was that you have a junior membership at Lion's Municipal which also allowed you to play the other 3 Austin courses, Jimmy Clay, Morris Williams and Hancock.
The cost of a year's membership was $60.00. That allowed for unlimited golf. We played 5 times a week all year long, plus tournaments in the summer. As an accounting method we signed in each day and paid a Quarter.
Now golf there is still cheap, $25.00 a day during the week. Can you believe the difference? Same course, same conditioning.
"Back when I was growing up..."
Tuesday, September 17, 2019
Houston Country Club - golf course
The golf course at Houston Country Club, located at 1 Potomac Drive, in Houston, opened in 1957. The club moved to the Potomac location, on the west side of Houston, on Buffalo Bayou, from the east side of Houston, on Wayside Drive, where it had previously been since its founding in 1908.
The course was designed by Robert Trent Jones, golf course architect, who made his name in the 1950s and has a midcentury design characterized by long tee boxes, generally wide fairways and large greens. I believe the thinking at the time was that the course could be made as long or short as needed to appeal to a wide variety of players.
In 1964, Ben Hogan and Sam Snead played a televised match for a popular golf program, Shell's Wonderful World of Golf. The Houston Country Club was chosen due to Shell's presence in Houston as well as the generally good test of the course at that time. Hogan won the match, 69 to 71 that day.
In 1988, Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw, a new architectural duo at the time, redesigned the greens and the bunkers of the course. As players had gotten longer, the thinking must have been to make more of a test of accuracy on the shorter shots. The major changes to the greens on 3, 6, 7, 8, 11, 15, 16 17 and 18 called for a greater premium on the second shot. In retrospect, it was a light redesign and maintained the previous character of the Jones design.
Some big tournaments have been played at the Potomac course. The Texas Amateur has been held there 3 times in 1981, won by Mark Brooks UT golf great who went to win the PGA Championship and also in 2001 (Bob Kearney) and 2008 (Kelly Kraft).
In 2014, erosion on Buffalo Bayou caused a major project which lasted 2 years to repair and hold off future damage, which costs several million dollars. As a result, number 8 was redesigned by Ben Crenshaw himself to become a long par 4 instead of the par 5 it was. Opening in 2016, the new number 8 is a very modern and challenging hole, much different from the other parts of the course. The course, previously a par 72 is now par 71.
Thirty year later, Coore and Crenshaw are now a celebrity design firm, and have done several courses are considered the best in the world. The Houston Country Club was one of their very first projects. Not many golf fans know that. It's a hidden gem in that respect.
The course was designed by Robert Trent Jones, golf course architect, who made his name in the 1950s and has a midcentury design characterized by long tee boxes, generally wide fairways and large greens. I believe the thinking at the time was that the course could be made as long or short as needed to appeal to a wide variety of players.
In 1964, Ben Hogan and Sam Snead played a televised match for a popular golf program, Shell's Wonderful World of Golf. The Houston Country Club was chosen due to Shell's presence in Houston as well as the generally good test of the course at that time. Hogan won the match, 69 to 71 that day.
In 1988, Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw, a new architectural duo at the time, redesigned the greens and the bunkers of the course. As players had gotten longer, the thinking must have been to make more of a test of accuracy on the shorter shots. The major changes to the greens on 3, 6, 7, 8, 11, 15, 16 17 and 18 called for a greater premium on the second shot. In retrospect, it was a light redesign and maintained the previous character of the Jones design.
Some big tournaments have been played at the Potomac course. The Texas Amateur has been held there 3 times in 1981, won by Mark Brooks UT golf great who went to win the PGA Championship and also in 2001 (Bob Kearney) and 2008 (Kelly Kraft).
In 2014, erosion on Buffalo Bayou caused a major project which lasted 2 years to repair and hold off future damage, which costs several million dollars. As a result, number 8 was redesigned by Ben Crenshaw himself to become a long par 4 instead of the par 5 it was. Opening in 2016, the new number 8 is a very modern and challenging hole, much different from the other parts of the course. The course, previously a par 72 is now par 71.
Thirty year later, Coore and Crenshaw are now a celebrity design firm, and have done several courses are considered the best in the world. The Houston Country Club was one of their very first projects. Not many golf fans know that. It's a hidden gem in that respect.
Sunday, September 8, 2019
Shazam from A to Z
Shazam, the music identification app, can listen to a song and ID it relatively quickly. It is one of the top apps worldwide and is now owned by Apple.
One of the fun things it does is keep a list of the songs Shazam-ed. So I like to look back and it tells a story. I have Sirius Satellite radio now so I get a lot more diversity in music.
Here are my 2019 Shazams from A to Z
A - Adult Education, Hall & Oates
B - Beast of Burden, Rolling Stones
C- Commodores, Sail On
D- Dangerous Type, the Cars
E - England Dan and John Ford Coley, I'd Really Love to See You Tonight
F- Axel F Theme, Harold Faltermeyer
G - Greased Lightning, John Travolta
H- Hot Rod Hearts, Robbie Dupree
I - It Keeps Your Running, the Doobie Brothers
J - Jason Aldean, Rearview Town
K - Kiss that Girl Goodbye, Aaron Watson
L - Lucky Star, Madonna
M - Money Changes Everything, Cyndee Lauper
N - Never Gonna Give You Up - Rick Astley
O - Outta Here, Kenny Chesney
P - Pretending, Eric Clapton
Q - Billy Squier, Lonely is the Night
R - Running Outta Moonlight, Randy Houser
S - Taylor Swift, 22
T - 10,000 Maniacs, These Are Days
U - I Would Die for U, Prince
V - Van Halen, Running with the Devil
W - Wrapped Around Your Finger, the Police
X - Richard Marx, Satisfied
Y- Yeah!, Usher
Z- ZZ Top, I'm Bad, I'm Nationwide
One of the fun things it does is keep a list of the songs Shazam-ed. So I like to look back and it tells a story. I have Sirius Satellite radio now so I get a lot more diversity in music.
Here are my 2019 Shazams from A to Z
A - Adult Education, Hall & Oates
B - Beast of Burden, Rolling Stones
C- Commodores, Sail On
D- Dangerous Type, the Cars
E - England Dan and John Ford Coley, I'd Really Love to See You Tonight
F- Axel F Theme, Harold Faltermeyer
G - Greased Lightning, John Travolta
H- Hot Rod Hearts, Robbie Dupree
I - It Keeps Your Running, the Doobie Brothers
J - Jason Aldean, Rearview Town
K - Kiss that Girl Goodbye, Aaron Watson
L - Lucky Star, Madonna
M - Money Changes Everything, Cyndee Lauper
N - Never Gonna Give You Up - Rick Astley
O - Outta Here, Kenny Chesney
P - Pretending, Eric Clapton
Q - Billy Squier, Lonely is the Night
R - Running Outta Moonlight, Randy Houser
S - Taylor Swift, 22
T - 10,000 Maniacs, These Are Days
U - I Would Die for U, Prince
V - Van Halen, Running with the Devil
W - Wrapped Around Your Finger, the Police
X - Richard Marx, Satisfied
Y- Yeah!, Usher
Z- ZZ Top, I'm Bad, I'm Nationwide
Saturday, September 7, 2019
Luby's in McAllen
There's a group that I'm part of that eats at Luby's on Mondays. Its a familiar place and an easy place to go. It seems that I see a whole lot of different types of locals there as well.
Luby's is obviously popular in McAllen as there are 3 locations as well as 4 others in the adjoining cities. I was talking with these regulars and found out a bit of history about our cafeteria restaurant.
The unusual compensation of Luby's managers ( a 40% cut of profits) as well as a historical rising market in the glory days (1970s-1980s) led to a lot of seniority of these managers. Our North 10th location is nearly 40 years old and has primarly had 2 managers, John Armstrong and Dennis Daughtry. They are well known in the community. At one time John left to start his own restaurant, the Northside Cafe. It was short lived ( they say there was too much debt and too much overbuilding) and it became a Mexican restaurant, La Mexicana. Many local restaurateurs got their start in the Luby's training program.
In the early 60s, the original location on South 10th St. was managed by Herbert Knight, who was a legendary figure in Luby's history. He managed the store from 1960 to 1971 and after a "woeful beginning" due to a historic freeze, he build the location into the most profitable cafeteria in the entire organization [according to his obituary]. I presume his success led to the second location in La Plaza Mall less than 1 mile away. People still talk about the long lines to get in there when there were much fewer restaurant choices. He went on to have a top management job in Luby's Corporate.
Now there are many choices to make and Luby's continues to do things much the same way as always, for better or worse. That has led to new financial challenges as the company is publicly traded and was the subject of a proxy fight in early 2018. The challengers, Jeff Gramm and former US Senator Phil Gramm (father/son) wanted to break up the organization since they argued that the value of the owned real estate was greater than the going concern value.
The incumbents Harris and Chris Pappas (of Pappas Restaurant fame) won the battle but it stands to be found out who will win the war. As of today the stock price of NYSE: LUB is $1.52. Lower than $1.00 and it will be delisted from the stock exchange.
Luby's is obviously popular in McAllen as there are 3 locations as well as 4 others in the adjoining cities. I was talking with these regulars and found out a bit of history about our cafeteria restaurant.
The unusual compensation of Luby's managers ( a 40% cut of profits) as well as a historical rising market in the glory days (1970s-1980s) led to a lot of seniority of these managers. Our North 10th location is nearly 40 years old and has primarly had 2 managers, John Armstrong and Dennis Daughtry. They are well known in the community. At one time John left to start his own restaurant, the Northside Cafe. It was short lived ( they say there was too much debt and too much overbuilding) and it became a Mexican restaurant, La Mexicana. Many local restaurateurs got their start in the Luby's training program.
In the early 60s, the original location on South 10th St. was managed by Herbert Knight, who was a legendary figure in Luby's history. He managed the store from 1960 to 1971 and after a "woeful beginning" due to a historic freeze, he build the location into the most profitable cafeteria in the entire organization [according to his obituary]. I presume his success led to the second location in La Plaza Mall less than 1 mile away. People still talk about the long lines to get in there when there were much fewer restaurant choices. He went on to have a top management job in Luby's Corporate.
Now there are many choices to make and Luby's continues to do things much the same way as always, for better or worse. That has led to new financial challenges as the company is publicly traded and was the subject of a proxy fight in early 2018. The challengers, Jeff Gramm and former US Senator Phil Gramm (father/son) wanted to break up the organization since they argued that the value of the owned real estate was greater than the going concern value.
The incumbents Harris and Chris Pappas (of Pappas Restaurant fame) won the battle but it stands to be found out who will win the war. As of today the stock price of NYSE: LUB is $1.52. Lower than $1.00 and it will be delisted from the stock exchange.
Sunday, September 1, 2019
Sterling McCall (1935-2013)
Driving around Houston in recent years, I've noticed a very high number of old Lexuses on the roads. When I thought about it, I realized the answer was right near me.
Sterling McCall was a good family friend of ours in Houston. He was friends growing up with my mother and uncle in Houston. Vernon recalled that Sterling always liked cars. Sterling married Marianne, a very close friend of my mother's.
In the late 1960s, Sterling followed his car dreams and started a dealership for a little known car, Toyota, the first dealership in Houston. As its fortunes rose, so did his. When in 1989, Toyota introduced Lexus, he was first on the scene there as well. So Houston was a major stepping stone in Toyota's march to number 1. Gulf States Toyota, a 5 states parts distributor, is also located in Houston.
So with their legendary reliability, of course there are a lot of Lexuses and Toyotas in Houston. And to think that our family friend was behind that is pretty cool.
He sold his dealerships to Group 1 Automotive (NYSE: GPI) a Fortune 500 company. One good business deal led to another and another. They still have 14 dealerships in Houston with the Sterling McCall name.
I talked to him before his death and even he was surprised at how it turned out. He said that it was a real kick to watch Monday Night Football and hear from the Toyota Halftime Report or to hear of a game at the Toyota Center in Houston.
Sterling McCall was a good family friend of ours in Houston. He was friends growing up with my mother and uncle in Houston. Vernon recalled that Sterling always liked cars. Sterling married Marianne, a very close friend of my mother's.
In the late 1960s, Sterling followed his car dreams and started a dealership for a little known car, Toyota, the first dealership in Houston. As its fortunes rose, so did his. When in 1989, Toyota introduced Lexus, he was first on the scene there as well. So Houston was a major stepping stone in Toyota's march to number 1. Gulf States Toyota, a 5 states parts distributor, is also located in Houston.
So with their legendary reliability, of course there are a lot of Lexuses and Toyotas in Houston. And to think that our family friend was behind that is pretty cool.
He sold his dealerships to Group 1 Automotive (NYSE: GPI) a Fortune 500 company. One good business deal led to another and another. They still have 14 dealerships in Houston with the Sterling McCall name.
I talked to him before his death and even he was surprised at how it turned out. He said that it was a real kick to watch Monday Night Football and hear from the Toyota Halftime Report or to hear of a game at the Toyota Center in Houston.
Labor Day weekend
It's a quiet day at home today. Getting ready for the fantasy football draft at 3:00 p.m. today. It's online only so at least I'm beating the heat. I will miss the barbeque though.
Tomorrow is the actual Labor Day. I think that we are planning to go recliner shopping tomorrow. We are searching for the Archie and Edith special, His and Hers.
Tuesday is a getting-ready kind of day and then I fly out to New Orleans on Wednesday for a Thursday 1:00 p.m. oral argument.
This is a traditionally slow time of year, back to school, change of seasons, a switching of gears. Sometimes the only thing to do is just to wait it out.
Tomorrow is the actual Labor Day. I think that we are planning to go recliner shopping tomorrow. We are searching for the Archie and Edith special, His and Hers.
Tuesday is a getting-ready kind of day and then I fly out to New Orleans on Wednesday for a Thursday 1:00 p.m. oral argument.
This is a traditionally slow time of year, back to school, change of seasons, a switching of gears. Sometimes the only thing to do is just to wait it out.
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