Thumbs up, down
Dwight Boykins, city councilman and mayoral candidate, says he was trying to “speak frankly about the pitfalls” that young people face when he told a group of middle and high school students to “keep their legs closed” and how some actions can “taint you” in a man’s eyes. A video shows Boykins also joked around with some role-playing, pulling a clearly uncomfortable young woman up on stage and saying, “Come here girlfriend. … Oh, well, you’re too young, I can’t have that conversation.” To their credit, some students called Boykins out, and he apologized if he made anyone uncomfortable. While the councilman’s heart may be in the right place, his words disregard the cultural shift finally taking men to task for their inappropriate behavior. We’re sure Boykins has things to teach Houston youth, but he should modernize his approach or risk tainting his candidacy and his message for young people, who would not be out of line for telling him to keep his own mouth closed.
One of the world’s largest rooftop gardens will soon call Houston home as part of the redevelopment of the Barbara Jordan Post Office. The state historic landmark, nostalgic for any Houstonian who remembers speeding into the parking lot to send a last-minute holiday gift or scholarship application, boasts 500,000-square-feet of space and sits on 16 acres of land, will feature a concert venue, retail and office space, restaurants, bars and an international market hall. The most exciting part of the plans is the creation of a 5-acre “skylawn,” a park and farm overlooking downtown Houston intended to source some of the restaurants’ produce. It not only gives “garden view” a new meaning, it conjures up images of New York’s High Line, an elevated park on an old rail line in Manhattan’s west side. “POST Houston” and its greening up of an industrial part of downtown gets our stamp of approval.
The Fourth has passed, but don’t put away your patriotic gear just yet. Sunday is a big day for U.S. soccer as the men’s and women’s teams face off against international competition. The final match of the Women’s World Cup takes place at 10 a.m., with the U.S. taking on the Netherlands, while the men play at 8 p.m. against Mexico for the CONCACAF Gold Cup. There’s been some controversy about the scheduling of three big tournaments on the same day (the South American men’s championship is at 3 p.m.), with some saying that men can show up later, play for lower stakes and still try to eclipse the women. But there are worse ways to spend your Sunday than watching a full day of the best soccer players in the world battle it out. U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!
Our long national nightmare of Texas is over: Officials have identified the Lufkin Licker, reportedly a juvenile from San Antonio, who stars in a viral (bacterial?) video showing her opening a Blue Bell ice cream container, licking its contents and then putting it back in the freezer while a male companion eggs her on: “Lick it. Lick it. Oh, you foul. Put it back. Put it back.” The incident occurred at a Walmart in Lufkin and involved a half-gallon tub of Tin Roof ice cream. To add insult to injury, the targeted flavor is a limited batch. If arrested, the suspect faces a charge of second-degree felony tampering with a consumer product. This grossest of violations comes with up to 20 years in prison and up to a $10,000 fine. A small price to pay for keeping us from buying Texas’ iconic ice cream brand for a week or two, but then, Blue Bell has survived much worse.