Last weekend was Father’s Day, and for the first time in several years I was able to get out and about. Soooo, I hopped in the chair and went wheeling down through the Museum District. Three museums, several park areas (within Hermann Park), and a local eatery ended up on my list of “places I went”. Had a total blast. And, of course, I took the cameras along, and have some photos to share.
Back in 2011, NBC decided to get into the Reality TV Competition (Food Category) game with a show called “America’s Next Great Restaurant“. As you can tell from the linky, I blogged this series both here, and over on the Tubular blog at the Houston Chronicle. Among the contestants was one Joseph Galluzzi, whose concept of meatballs with sauce led him to name his restaurant-to-wannabe “Saucy Balls” (and the inevitable teenage-juvenile jokes about same.)
While the name “Saucy Balls” didn’t survive, Joey did, taking his concept restaurant (renamed the “Brooklyn Meatball Company”) into the finale, where he ultimately fell to Jamawn Woods and his waffles & wings/healthy soul food concept, named “Soul Daddy”. Unfortunately for Jamawn, his restaurant lasted about seven weeks, which is less time than the series took to air.
So, when I read that a restaurant calling itself “Brooklyn Meatball Company” was going to open near downtown Houston, I was intrigued. I checked, and sure enough it appeared to be a re-incarnation of the concept featured on the TV show. Alas, prior to opening, it relocated from a building just south of downtown into the Downtown Tunnel System, which meant that (a) it would only be open during the lunch hour on weekdays, and (2) I would likely not be able to visit it, since I wasn’t working downtown at the time.
Imagine my surprise when I started going downtown this year, and was able, thanks to the wheelchair, to head out into the tunnels during lunch. I made a special effort to locate the Brooklyn Meatball Company, and one day in March I headed over there.
I’m so glad I did. First of all, they do, in fact, serve “Saucy Balls”. Meatballs with sauce, a hunk of bread, and a bit of ricotta cheese. They also have other food offerings, including a “meatball slider” (also Saucy, of course.) Second, Joey decided to open in Houston because his wife is from these here parts. Third, my suspicion that “Saucy Balls” was juvenile is in fact correct, as the name was the suggestion of one of the younger generation.
The last thing I learned: despite my assertion that
I am still having difficulty with the whole idea of meatballs – saucy meatballs, at that! – being marketable in the “fast-casual” food space.
I have in fact decided that “Saucy Balls” make a really good lunch. I have been back to eat since that first visit, and I look forward to becoming a regular once my employer relocates me to our downtown office space later this year.
And now, without further ado… The Images!
So, have you made an effort to visit a food place you have seen on Reality TV? Would you ever go to a place that served “Saucy Balls”? Would you dare take your pre-teenage children along if you did?
This past weekend, I took advantage of the weather and the fact I was in the area, and swung by the San Jacinto Battleground State Historic Site. I stopped at both the Battleship Texas and the San Jacinto Monument. For reasons I will not go into here (TMI), I didn’t go into the monument. And, while the wheelchair would prevent me from touring the Texas, I decided against even getting out of the car: the concession building is gone, as are most of the other structures in the area – no structures = not a whole lot of shade.
But, even though I didn’t get out of the car, I did manage to get some photos (natch.) Which, I present to you for your viewing pleasure, this (almost) Wordless Wednesday.
I will leave you with a Fun Fact: the San Jacinto Monument is 555 feet tall, from the ground to the top of the star. This is its “official” height, in order to be compliant with the requirement it not be taller than the Washington Monument (also 555 feet tall.) From the ground to the top of the star, the San Jacinto Monument is 570 tall, proving once again that Everything is Bigger in Texas. (from the San Jacinto Monument FAQ.)
05/30/13—The FBI has seen an increase in cyber criminals who use online photo-sharing programs to perpetrate scams and harm victims’ computers. These criminals advertise vehicles online but will not provide pictures in the advertisement. They will send photos on request. Sometimes the photo is a single file sent as an e-mail attachment, and sometimes the victim receives a link to an online photo gallery.
The photos can and often contain malicious software that infects the victim’s computer, directing the user to fake websites that look nearly identical to the real sites where the original advertisement was seen. The cyber criminals run all aspects of these fake websites, including “tech support” or “live chat support” and any “recommended” escrow services. After the victim agrees to purchase the item and makes the payment, the criminals stop responding to correspondence. The victims never receive any merchandise.
The FBI urges consumers to protect themselves when shopping online. Here are a few tips for staying safe:
Be cautious if you lose an auction on an auction site but the seller contacts you later saying the original bidder fell through.
Make sure websites are secure and authenticated before you purchase an item online. Use only well-known escrow services.
Research to determine if a car dealership is real and how long it has been in business.
Be wary if the price for the item you’d like to buy is severely undervalued; if it is, the item is likely fraudulent.
Scan files before downloading them to your computer.
Keep your computer software, including the operating system, updated with the latest patches.
Ensure your anti-virus software and firewalls are current—they can help prevent malware infections.
If you have fallen victim to this type of scam, file a complaint with the Internet Crime Complaint Center at www.ic3.gov.
(This FBI Public Service Announcement was shared through InfraGard.)
I was kept at home on Memorial day (“tummy troubles”), but the other two days I did manage to get out. And, a beautiful two days they were, too.
Saturday I made it over to the Houston Museum of Natural Science, and had a chance to preview the new Hall of Ancient Egypt exhibit. This is an awesome addition to their permanent exhibits, and previews like this are one of the things that keep me a member. Of course, I also visited the Morian Hall of Paleontology, and have some photos I took there. Fossilized skulls, murals, and trilobites – oh my!
Then, on Sunday I made it downtown, to the ComicPalooza convention. Plenty of sci-fi, steampunk, and more “Keep Calm and…” merchandise than I cared to see. But there were also Quittich and Roller Derby matches, lots of people in costume, and artists – including one whom I hope to have re-paint my Uglyworms (maybe in steampunk costumes.) I even got a glimpse of Minute Maid Park, which is about as close as I will be to that stadium for a bit, thanks to the less than stellar performance of our new AL team, the DisAstros (while it may be a whole new ballgame, they are still the same old ****.)
And now, without further ado… The Images!
So, what did you do for Memorial Day? Feel free to link up your posts below!
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