Ruben_Dominguez's Blog

I don't usually go out on the town early in the week.  But since my dear friends The DollyRockers were playing a special accoustic set at Max's Wine Dive (4720 Washington Ave) I decided to make an exception.   I drove over as soon as I was done with the 5pm newscast and from the moment I walked in I loved the place.  It's a little too nice to be a real dive but the feeling is there.  The first person I saw was local food maven Cleverley Stone so I plopped down in the booth next to her and ordered a glass of merlot.  I let the waiter pick the wine and it was awesome.  The guy really knew his stuff and the rest of the staff could not have been more attentive without being annoying.  At this point I was making a mental "come back and hang out here again, this place rocks" note. By the time the band started I was ready for a little Monday night Rock and Roll.  The Dollys did not disappoint and the crowd loved them.  By then i was thinking "this is the most fun I have had on a Monday night in I don't know how long."  I was having so much fun I forgot that I had not had anything to eat all afternoon but luckily Cleverley had ordered some goodies from the kitchen.  I can't say enough about the Buffalo Sliders and killer Mac & Cheese that Chef Mike knocked out for us.  I am definitely going back for the pot roast that I was eyeing on the menu.  The chef calls it Gourmet White Trash or something like that but trust me, it just plain rocks!  So if you are in the mood for a little wine and some crazy good menu items, head on over to Max's.  Tell Chef Mike I say hi (he's the guy with the handle bar mustache and the New York accent).  And if you see the Dolly Rockers on the bill anywhere in town, go see them!  If you dislike either I will make it up to you.  Somehow.  Maybe.

I took the family down to the East End Urban market on Saturday to do a little shopping and see what there was to see.   The market features really cool authentic Mexican artwork and furniture at a reasonable price.  Trust me, you are going to pay more for the stuff in any of the shops in the Heights or Midtown that features similar goods.  My wife purchased an awesome mirror for the living room and a little bench for my five year old's room.  The selection is not huge but they are adding new pieces all the time.  I decided to spend my time near the food counter mighty tasty tamales were being offered for $1.50 each.  And to make things all the more interesting, there is a little coffee shop across the way  call Bohemeo's that feature beer, coffee drinks and a decent little menu as well.  They have local bands playing in the afternoon and evening so it's quite the little happening block.  Both businesses sit in kind of strip mall/quad at 700 Telephone rd.  We spent a nice little afternoon there and we are definitely going back.  You should check it out as well.

This will be the third year that my wife and I host the family Thanksgiving dinner at our house.  I'm in charge of the turkey and once again I am stressing out about it.  It's worked out fine the past two years but I still start to panic a bit once we buy the bird and it's in the fridge.  I have two main concerns 1. I don't want to poison my family with an undercooked turkey and 2. I don't want to serve a dry bird.  If I'm cooking, I want it to taste great!   I know that it will probably be ok but I'm still freaking out.  A little. 

I for one will be really glad when this thing is over.  Do we really need a campaign to take way over a year to decide who is gonna keep the seat warm in D.C.?  I don't think so.  Just think if the run for the White House was only three months long.  You could still visit all the states you needed to, debate and run commercials until you were blue in the face all in the time it takes to plant and harvest a nice little victory garden.  and guess what, the candidates would never have to complain about running out of money unless of course you were miserable at raising funds in the first place.

But the worst part of it all has been the Mccain and Obama supporters.  Not all of them, but most of them.  These people will not shut up about "his camp lied about this" and "the other camp is trying to sabotage that."  I mean there is not getting away from it.  We have roughly 70 televsions going in the newsroom and any one time.  Most of them are tuned to one news organization or the other and it's non stop yapping about the candidates and what they are doing.  Between that, emails, newspaper articles, internet sites and talk radio there is no getting away from it.

I will be voting on Tuesday and may the best man win.  But after that I hope someone turns the volume dail off on the political amplifier.  Enough already!

Oh my God!  Does this laptop suck or what?  I wrote a really good blog two hours ago, walked away and then decided to post it and guess what?  I got kicked off and the whole thing went down the tubes.  So I am really tired now and I am going to sum up Austin City Limits like this.

Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings - I caught the last two songs of their set and they were great.  "100 days, 100 nights" was solid and then they finished with the James Brown classic "This is a man's world."

Black Joe Lewis and the Honey Bears -  These guys laid down some greasy blues with killer horns.  The guitars were more Keith Richards than Stevie Ray which was a nice surprise.

Electric Touch - they are technically from Austin but since their singer is from the UK it adds a nice demension to their brand of pop/rock.  He has the kind of charm that could make them a really big band.

The Nachito Herrera All Stars - these guys just rocked liked crazy!  If Cuban music can be "rockin" then these guys certainly were.  All the ladies were jamming and the guys were trying to.  Best crowd response that I saw.

American Band - I saw half a song but it wasn't bad.

I ended up leaving at that point because it was too hot and too dusty at ACL but it was a treat to be there again this year.  I'm glad that the states have finally caught on to how cool summer festivals can be.  The folks in the UK have known this for years.  Mark your calendars people, ACL 2009 is just around the corner. 

I still don't have power at my home in the Heights.  Luckily my parents have electricity so my family and I have been living over there.  But most of my neighbors are not as fortunate.  Many of them are elderly, some are disabled and most have no place to go.  Every morning I drive by my house to check on the place and I see Willard and Margie and the other grandmas and grandpas sitting on the porch trying to stay cool.  They look a little a more hopeless everyday.

Centerpoint has said that the Heights and other areas were hardest hit by the storm.  Ok, lots of old growth trees, I get it.  But why leave the hardest hit areas for last?  Did Centerpoint decide to fix all the easy stuff first so they could say "hey, look at all the power that has been restored!  We are doing a great job!"  In my humble opinion they have been doing about as good a job as the Texans have this season.

I'd like to see how many times they actually took care of trimming trees next to power lines in these hardest hit areas?  Trimming that they are responsible for.  I'm wondering because I remember a story a reporter did on customer that called and called to get them to come out and take care of limbs near a power line in his back yard.  The limbs were making contact with the lines and they were arcing as a result.  Centerpoint said "impossible, we have trimmed those trees."  It wasn't until the reporter showed up, took video and then showed it to the Centerpoint flak.  "Oh my, well I'm sure that we will address the situation based the information that has now been presented in light of the ...blah blah blah blah."

So if you or you family are among the powerless, I suggest that you don't let them of the hook and apply pressure.  Call your Councilman and Congressman and of course just for fun call Centerpoint (not that it will make any difference).  Good luck.

I hope you guys are not planning on taking I-10 east anywhere today or tomorrow.  Why?  Because everyone that used it as an evacuation route out of Louisiana is now back on it trying to get home.  If you are trying to get to Baytown use 225 to 146 and take the Fred Hartman bridge.  It might be a little out of your way but you will get there much quicker.  Good Luck!

I have some advice for all of you if Gustav does come our way.  Don't get caught out on the roadways!  Make sure you have a full tank of gas and then put the car in the garage and wait for this to all blow over.  If you decide that you would be better off at aunt Jane's house in Huntsville, then you may want to leave early.  And last but not least if you do stay and decide to drive after the storm passes, watch out for flooding.  Remember that you can't judge how deep the water is on a roadway by just looking at it.  I don't want to see any of you guys on the news this week pushing your car in waist high water to the nearset service station.

Keep checking the traffic tab on this website and look for even more information and live chat on myfoxhoustonlive.com.  We are here for you!

Hey guys,

myfoxhoustonlive is gone for now but I want to ask all the chatters to be ready to join in on 08-18-08 when we launch the 5/5:30pm news.  We are going to include a live chat and I will read some of the chatters thoughts in the second half hour.  So Caseylee, Omygato, PinkAgnes and the rest of you guys "get in the chat!"  I miss you all terribly!