Going Stagg

Go out to eat and help end hunger in Houston at the same time

Normally, I’m not a big “go out to eater” or even a big contributor to charity. (I know, I know. It’s not that I don’t want to, I’m just a little hesitant on a lot of the organizations.) Either way, here’s a real easy way to help out: Houston Restaurant Week starts today and lasts through Saturday.

It’s a pretty good deal, actually. Pay $35 per person, get a three course meal, and the participating restaurant will donate $5 to Houston’s End Hunger Network. Done deal. Nehxt. Most of the restaurants that are participating are actually pretty nice, too. For example:

• Amerigo’s
• Bistro Moderne
• Brenner’s
• La Strada

…and the list goes on. And if you’re feeling really generous, reserve a table using Open Table (the option is available on the main Houston Restaurant Week site in the menus section) and there’s the option to give even more.

So check out the menus and find out which place is serving the food you like best and hit it up. You can eat, pay cheap prices, and donate to a good cause all at the same time.

Rice University students created an awesome, sustainable house

I’ve always loved architecture and for the longest time wanted to BE an architect. I loved physics, and the ultimate combination of physics and design is building a building! (Yes, and airplanes and a number of other things, but these are my rankings.)

Anyway, since I worked and taught at Rice, I was totally excited to see that some students made it on to NOTCOT, one of the awesomest blogs on the Internet. But it also happens that what they did was really cool. They managed to create a sweet, minimalist-style house for only 25 Gs.

Rice students and faculty designed and built a dwelling of modest size (500-square feet) with a small projected budget ($25,000.00) while implementing innovative design and construction techniques.

Our project, set in a neighborhood in need of affordable housing, is a modern interpretation of the shotgun-style structures that are disappearing from the area and serves as a prototype for use in various Houston communities.

How cool is that! Make sure to head on over to the site and check out the link.

via NOTCOT

Don’t worry—it’s not the end of an era yet

I love mustaches. I’m pretty sure most guys have an obsession with their facial hair. Most girls are like, “Why do you willingly make yourself ugly?” This is a common phrase from my sister. It’s a good thing my brother has a ridiculous full beard.

Anyway, there are some pretty famous mustaches out there, but one of the more recent ones that became a staple almost immediately was the mustache that Jason Giambi grew. It was perfect and looked like he combed it 100 times a day, all Ron Burgundy style.

Well, much to my chagrin, I had the displeasure of catching him on TV tonight and lo and behold—NO STACHE. It was terrible. I was distraught. I had to look it up. And the greatest thing happened.

It’s coming back:

He was taken out of the game in the eighth inning Sunday for defensive purposes, and when the Yankees fell behind 9-8, Giambi decided to shave.

“I shaved it as soon as I came out of the game,” Giambi said. “We were losing when they hit that grand slam and then we came back and won.”

Giambi said he’s already growing a new mustache.

“In about a week, it will be back. It goes hand and hand with winning,” Giambi said. “I would have kept it if we were winning that game.”

Thank God. It’s seriously one of the only redeeming things about the Yankees. That, and the fact that they might actually be MORE likable than the Red Sox this year.

Oh, and P.S.—If you’re looking for my favorite mustache of all-time, look no further.

My review of Twitter and the call to get you to visit me there

Yes, I know this is like the oldest thing in the book and everyone has a Twitter account and the Fail Whale is cute and all… Yes, I get it. My mom had a Twitter before I did.

Anyway, I have a serious moral contention with the Internet sometimes, and it’s not that the Internet is bad. It’s just this eerie, end-of-the-world philosophy I’ve got that I will hold off on talking about on here (and to not make myself seem like a crazy). However, because of it, I’ve tended to shy away from any social media site. I don’t have a MySpace, I didn’t get a Facebook until I had to for work (at Rice), and now I didn’t get a Twitter until I had to for work again (at Schpiul… Thanks, Ed!).

Continue reading My review of Twitter and the call to get you to visit me there…

The Dream Team?

Good to see Uncle D hanging out with The Man Himself behind home plate at in the Diamond Club at tonight’s Astros/Reds game.

Lest we forget…

…that yesterday marked the start of SHARK WEEK!

I’d like to personally apologize for the lack of posting; the job switch has had me very busy. I can’t wait to get back into the swing of things. Look forward to my best and worst uniforms in all of the major sports, coming up soon!

Introducing the… Oklahoma City Outlaws

UPDATE, 08-19-08: Rumor has it they’re going with Thunder. While it’s not the worst name in the world, it’s certainly not as cool as Outlaws. When I hear “thunder” I immediately think of “thunder thighs”—and that’s not a good thing.

A while back, I made a post about the design contest over at Uni Watch to create a new brand identity for the new Oklahoma City NBA franchise. I mentioned that I wanted to do, and I recently finished my design.

You can view the full set by clicking on the picture at right.

Anyway, here were my thoughts:

• I went with “Outlaws” because polls had been done in Oklahoma City and Outlaws was a favorite. And since I love the Old West, I thought it was a pretty sweet name.
• I avoided guns not because I don’t like them—because I do—but more so because they’ve gotten kind of trite. That, and it’s possible gun-themed logos won’t sell as well (political correctness) .
• The Oklahomans also preferred black and gold as the colors. I actually like the colors together so I had no problem designing with those in mind.

Anyway, hope you like it! We’ll see if it’s good enough to make the Uni Watch faves.

Goodbye, Rice; hello, Web design world!

Well, the time has finally come for me to move on. Today is my last day working as a Graphic and Web Designer at Rice University. I’m moving on to work 100% for a Web design company—something I wish I could have been doing 100% of the time I was at Rice. I leave with very good things to say about Rice; my move was completely made out of a desire to further my career in design. There wasn’t a lot of upward mobility left at Rice.

Either way, I’m extremely excited to join the ranks of the for-profit world. I start on Wednesday; wish me luck!

In other design news…

If you’re looking for good design inspiration, the Logopond 2008 Award Winners were recently announced. The winners look great—and then I looked at ALL the entries. Almost every single one was stellar. Some of my favorite NON-winners:

It’s a heart!

The hidden villain is cute!

It’s making the world its nest!

Seems like the Home Run Derby needs an update (followed by a quick note on the Olympics)

Last night, being the avid baseball fan I am, I sat next to my brother and my roommate and watched the Ridiculously Over-hyped State Farm Home Run Derby. The Home Run Derby has long been a facet of the All-Star game, and it’s usually pretty entertaining.

Spoilers ahead! If you don’t want to know who wins, don’t read on!

This year brought MAMMOTH home runs. In fact, more than any ever in the history of the derby. Josh Hamilton of the Rangers (photo at top, courtesy of Sign On San Diego) just got up there and couldn’t miss, hitting 28 home runs—more than any had ever been hit in a single round in the history of the event—on his way to… losing the home run derby?

Continue reading Seems like the Home Run Derby needs an update (followed by a quick note on the Olympics)…

The Oklahoma City… Non-SuperSonics?

In case you haven’t heard yet, after 41 years, the Seattle SuperSonics’ basketball franchise has up and moved to Oklahoma City, the city that recently housed the Hornets for a year due to Katrina.

I’m not particularly concerned with this in either direction; here are my thoughts off the top of my head: The Sonics have some of the sweetest throwbacks ever (the late ’70s ones with the logo on them at the top right of this post, courtesy of Chris Creamer), it’ll only bring basketball god Kevin Durant back closer to his home state, typically anything with the word “Oklahoma” in it sucks, etc. But there are couple interesting things about it…

Continue reading The Oklahoma City… Non-SuperSonics?…