round and round

if there's one thing that life in Houston is defined by, it's the primordial importance of cars over any other form of transport. Living in Western Europe for 10 years had made me forget this fact somewhat, so accustomed had I become to walking everywhere and using public transportation. One major trend in that time was clearly the rise of bicycles as a personal transport mode, to the extent where Paris launched its vaunted Velib public bike rental system, with London following up this year with its own scheme. Bikes became more and more prevalent in building lobbies and in street traffic, with the growth of their use being closely tied to the increasing visibility of environmental concerns.
Being lucky enough to be able to walk to work every day, I never considered getting a bike for my commute. Then moving here I got a car, and got used to driving it 10-15mins every day to get to my office in downtown Houston. Driving just makes sense when you consider that public transportation is limited at best (one tram line, a few bus lines), the weather is generally hot and humid, and last but not least how cheap gas is compared to Europe. But making sense is no fun, so inspired by a few people at work I've been looking at possibly getting a bike and commuting the Dutch way. I'm looking to take it slowly, no need to get over-equipped and then realize I'm not cut out for it. So tonight I made my first foray into the twilight zone that is biking in Houston. Borrowed a road bike from a coworker, so I can spend a little time riding it around my area and get a feel for the road. First impressions:
I knew the roads where bad from driving, but riding a bike on them has given me a whole new appreciation to how shameful they really are. If you're a fan of potholes, do move to Houston
A road bike is what I want to get, but I might have to go with a steel frame. The one I'm trying out is made of carbon-fiber, which is great weight-wise but makes the afore-mentioned potholes feel resonate through every last one of your nerves
Before I even think about commuting regularly I will have to get used to basic safety rules. Houston drivers are pretty bad in general, and because there are so few bikes out on the roads, I'm not sure many of them would pay attention to bikers

Overall I'm pretty happy about this first day, and looking forward to more testing in my fairly quiet neighborhood. I even managed to achieve my (asininely ridiculous) first fall today, so I got that out of the way.

relax, move your arms

at this point the term chillwave has become a bit stale in the hipster music world, maybe almost as tired as How I Met Your Mother's plot twists. So let's move on, call it dream pop, or super-floaty-pop or what have you, and focus on the fact that some of these bands put out some excellent stuff regardless of the labels. One such band is Memoryhouse. Yes, they seem like they've watched Virgin Suicides and Pretty In Pink a few too many times, and yes, they are awesome. In fact they followed-up on something Jeremy Larson did a few years ago, which is write a song based on one of Jon Brion's fantastic skits from the Eternal Sunshine soundtrack. For them it's Phone Call, and they like it so much they've recorded two versions (so far):






Lovely, hypnotic, and yes, so totaly chillwavey. This duo is performing next week (Aug 24) at Walter's on Washington with fellow dreamers Twin Sister. If you enjoy this sort of thing, I do suggest you come on down. Because as much fun as it is, you can't always stay home to watch vintage Cusack movies with the shades drawn.

late night

danger zone

Today the temperature in Houston reached 100°F (that's 38°C in ye olde Metric System), not that unusual for this time of the year but still hot enough for the National Weather Service to issue a heat advisory warning. According to this the official recommendations for behavior to follow were:

IF YOU PLAN TO BE OUTSIDE... AVOID PROLONGED EXPOSURE OR STRENUOUS PHYSICAL ACTIVITY. YOUR BODY CAN LOSE UP TO A GALLON OF WATER AN HOUR THROUGH PERSPIRATION. DRINK PLENTY OF FLUIDS TO AVOID DEHYDRATION. ALCOHOLIC AND CAFFEINATED BEVERAGES CAN INCREASE THE RATE OF WATER LOSS IN YOUR BODY... INCREASING THE RISK OF HEAT EXHAUSTION OR STROKE. WEAR LIGHTWEIGHT... LIGHT-COLORED... LOOSE- FITTING CLOTHING. WEAR A HAT TO SHIELD YOURSELF FROM THE SUN... AND USE A SUNSCREEN TO REDUCE POSSIBLE SUNBURN

(why does the NWS feel the need to scream at us btw? It's hot enough, I think we can do without the shouting)

Or, to put things more succintly, just look at what I do when I go running, and do the exact opposite. You do get used to it somewhat though. Which is what I'm sure every heatstroke victim thought before they faltered. But after 3 years of London "summers", it still feels quite exciting to feel the dampness in the air every morning when I set foot outside.