Houston, You've Got a Problem

[SteveMR200]

HOUSTON - When the air is thick with mosquitoes and
moisture, it's hard to get people to think kindly of
this town. Civic boosters have tried for years,
portraying Houston as a pro-business paradise while
sidestepping the reality of living in a city built
on a swamp.

But a local marketing firm recently took the
blinders off and started an independent, online
campaign to promote the real Houston, warts and all.

"The flying cockroaches. The mosquitoes. The
traffic," reads the ad, which lists 17 more
drawbacks before concluding that, in spite of it
all, "Houston. It's Worth It."

The website then asks residents to post why the
city, unlovely and uncomfortable as it can be,
appeals to them all the same.

The point, said the ad's co-creator, David Thompson,
is to acknowledge the worst and move on.

"It sort of pulls the rug out from the easy place to
go--how can you stand the heat--and automatically
takes you to a more meaningful conversation," he said.

Houstonians have responded so enthusiastically to
the site - http://www.houstonitsworthit.com - that a
technician reprogrammed the page to give people more
room to write.

"I feel normal here. Maybe it is because I am
imperfect like this city," wrote one person.

"The cleanest jail cells of any major metropolitan
area," wrote another.

And then there was this analogy: "If Houston were a
dog, she'd be a mutt with 3 legs, one bad eye, fleas
the size of Corn Nuts and buck teeth. Despite all
that, she'd be the best dog you'd ever know."
--Lianne Hart
_Los Angeles Times_ [September 11, 2004],
"The Mosquitoes, the Humidity . . ."

--
Steve

[SteveMR200]

On Sat, 11 Sep 2004 20:00:02 -0700, SteveMR200 wrote in message:
<rae7k0lhgo2aj6nc9...@4ax.com>:

"Tighten Up" was originally recorded as a demo in
1964, and was all but forgotten when Archie was
drafted on May 12, 1967.

Just before he was to leave for his tour of duty in
Vietnam, his roommate Billy Butler came home and
found a depressed Archie lying on the couch.

To cheer him up, Billy did a little dance and when
Archie asked what the dance was, Billy told him it
was the "Tighten Up."

The next day, Archie Bell and the Drells had a
recording session scheduled so they would have
material to release while Bell was in Vietnam.
Archie dusted off "Tighten Up" and found the
original demo outdated, so the group recorded
a new version.

Archie added an unusual introduction, telling the
world the group was Archie Bell and the Drells from
Houston, Texas. He explains why he felt the intro
was necessary:

"When (John F.) Kennedy was assassinated, I heard
a disc jockey say 'nothing good ever came from
Texas,' so I wanted people to know that we were
from Texas and we were good."

--Fred Bronson (1949- )
_The Billboard Book of Number One Hits_ [1985],
"Tighten Up"

Click here to watch a comical video of the "Tighten Up"
performed by the Three Stooges and three young ladies:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agclATD-zXs

--
Steve