Off the Kuff Rotating Header Image

December 31st, 2022:

Saturday video break: The year of Olivia

By “Olivia” I mean Olivia Rodrigo, though it was my Olivia who first introduced me to the latter’s music. They share something in common besides their given name, and that’s a love of Billy Joel. My Olivia came back to Houston from college to see Billy Joel with us at Minute Maid Park in September, but she’s still a little salty about the fact that I didn’t take her to New York to see Billy Joel at one of his regular Madison Square Garden shows. When COVID first hit, I admit I feared, as did Olivia, that maybe there would never be another chance to do that. That remains to be seen, but at least we can say we saw him in concert together.

Anyway, whether we get to see him at MSG on some future date, we’ll likely not see a repeat of this from one of his shows in August:

I’ve watched this video at least 20 times since I first heard of its existence (via Twitter, as bittersweet as that is). I love everything about it – her joy and enthusiasm, the way the two of them play off each other, how she skips off the stage at the end. It’s everything you could want from a live musical performance, and that it came as a surprise to everyone in attendance just makes it that much sweeter.

And then, in November, Rodrigo took the stage to honor another legend by singing one of Carly Simon’s greatest hits at her Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction:

Again, I love everything about this. The song is an all-timer, and it is just perfect for her voice. (There’s a great cover of it by Susanna Hoffs and Matthew Sweet that I also recommend; this one is maybe a smidge better but both are total bangers.) The way the band feeds off her energy, and the way the crowd is into it – the shots of Brandi Carlile singing along, and (I believe) LL Cool J air-drumming are perfection. As with the Billy Joel video, this is an introduction of Olivia Rodrigo to folks who are of the Billy Joel/Carly Simon musical era, and they are suitably impressed. Several commented that she should do a cover album of classic rock and pop hits, and I would be so there for it. I already like her debut album Sour – give it a listen if you haven’t already.

Two other things. One, much as I love “You’re So Vain”, we realize that whoever Carly Simon was (figuratively or actually) singing it to would have heard it at some point, and thus would have been correct in assuming that the song was indeed about him, right? It’s a good mind-fuck either way, I just wanted to note that for the record.

And two, in regard to the first video:

Sigh. I’m old enough to remember when Twitter was fun. Maybe it will be again someday. Happy New Year!

The Uvalde bus driver who helped save shooting victims’ lives

Great reporting.

When Uvalde school bus driver Sylvia Uriegas got the call on May 24 to report to Robb Elementary, she had no idea about the horror she was approaching.

With nothing but a rudimentary first aid kit filled mostly with Band Aids, Uriegas had been called to the scene of one of the nation’s worst mass school shootings — with no training for the important role she would play as the chaotic scene unfolded.

When Uriegas and two other bus drivers, who were taking kids to a field trip at a nearby park, reached the school, the streets were swarmed with law enforcement and parents. The central office dispatcher who asked her to report to the school had warned of an “emergency” — but said no more.

With her normal path to the building blocked, Uriegas backed her bus up and found another route. The two other school buses followed. Another driver opened her door and asked a bystander what was happening. Only then did they learn that there was an active shooter inside Robb.

Ultimately, Uriegas’ bus became a makeshift ambulance that carried kids with gunshot wounds to the hospital.

“We’re not first responders,” Uriegas said. “But then we were.”

Her experience echoes many of the stories from Uvalde on that day. Chaos, unclear chains of command and confusion about protocol prevented an effective response that could have saved at least a few of the 19 children and two teachers slain by the lone gunman. Police waited 77 minutes after the shooter entered the school before they stormed the classroom where he was holed up with dying children and teachers.

Once the classroom was breached, officials lacked the resources and coordination needed to provide the proper medical response.

Though Uriegas did save lives, it made her aware of a glaring hole in the district’s school safety plan.

“I could have gone in knowing a little bit better,” Uriegas said. “But we’ve never been trained.”

Other than speaking at school board meetings asking for better training, she kept her thoughts and feelings to herself, knowing what she saw and experienced could not compare to the parents who had lost children, and the survivors themselves.

But when she ran into some of the family members of slain 9-year-old Jackie Cazares, they urged her to tell the story from the driver’s seat — the full scope of all that had gone wrong, of the mishandling and lack of preparedness needed to be made public, they said.

As the passage of time and the levity of the holidays pushes the tragedy from the headlines, Uriegas and the families don’t want complacency to set in, for Uvalde to forget just how unprepared it had been.

So Uriegas has decided to tell her story.

And you should read it. One infuriating detail is that neither Uriegas nor other bus drivers who helped ferry traumatized children to the reunification center after the shooting received any counseling provided by the school district. She got some for herself anyway, and is still very much dealing with her own post-traumatic stress. All I can say is God bless you, Sylvia Uriegas, and your fellow bus drivers. Please do keep telling your stories.

The ribbon is finally cut on the White Oak bike trail extension

I’d been waiting for this.

Hike and bike trail connectivity has just gotten better in the Houston Heights area now that work on a new connector is complete. The City of Houston held a ribbon cutting [last] Tuesday to celebrate the new MKT Spur Connector that connects the MKT and White Oak Bayou Greenway Trails.

The $1.2 million project is a 850 ft. long and 10 ft. wide trail that allows residents to travel from the MKT Hike and Bike Trail to Stude Park, connecting to what used to be a dead end under Studemont Street.

“The MKT Spur Connector fills a major gap for the city’s bike network,” said Houston Public Works Director of Transportation and Drainage Operations Veronica Davis. “This connection proves a safer and more equitable transportation network for all users.”

The connector was completed a few months ago and the city has since added additional safety railings and retaining walls and stormwater drainage to help prevent flooding along the trails.

District C city council member Abbie Kamin said the project creates safer transit for residents who use both trails.

“We are now connecting two of, in district C, our most popular trails where residents can be more comfortable walking, running, biking, and not being forced onto busy streets,” she said.

See here for my last post on the construction of this connector. In looking at those pictures, it occurred to me that I missed documenting all of the safety add-ons mentioned in the story. I couldn’t let that go, could I? Of course not.

HeightsTrailExtensionWithAddedGuardrails

You can see the two types of guardrail added at the three locations, including where the trail passes over the bayou culvert. That one was obviously needed. I’m not certain why the others were added where they were and not in different locations, but that’s all right. They do look good, and if someone decide that’s where they need to be, then so be it.

A side view:

HeightsTrailExtensionWithAddedGuardrailsFullView

I’ve now used the extension a couple of times myself, as both a pedestrian and a bicyclist. It’s great – I had no idea how much it was needed until it was there, as part of the overall network. The MKT Trail, which is on the far end of these pictures, allows for easy bike access to the shopping center where the Target is. I’d much rather bike there most days than drive, but prior to the existence of this extension it was either a much long ride or a ride that involved Watson Street over I-10 and onto Sawyer, which is just too much car traffic to feel safe. It’s now a shorter ride to get there via the trail, and that makes biking there much more convenient and attractive. What’s not to like? CultureMap has more.