Are you a Houston City bicyclist? This news may interest you: Just this past week Mayor Annise Parker and the Houston City Council approved an ordinance to protect Houston's cyclists and other vulnerable road users by requiring cars and other motor vehicles to keep a separation of more than three feet while passing, and trucks or commercial vehicles to keep a separation of more than six feet. The ordinance is effective immediately. Vulnerable road users are defined as a walkers or runners; the physically disabled, such as someone in a wheelchair; a stranded motorist or passengers; highway construction, utility or maintenance workers; tow truck operators; cyclists; moped, motor-driven cycle and scooter drivers; or horseback riders. In addition to requiring safe passing and trailing distances from vulnerable road users, this ordinance prohibits any motor vehicle occupant from throwing or projecting any object or substance at or against them. BikeHouston, several state and local leaders and other groups advocated and/or voiced support for this ordinance, including: Senator Rodney Ellis, BikeTexas, AARP, Better Houston, Bikin' Babes, Citizen Transportation Coalition, Houston Access to Urban Sustainability Project, Houston Tomorrow, Northwest Cycling Club and Richmond Rail. Similar ordinances have already been enacted by Austin, Fort Worth and San Antonio. The Safe Passing ordinance is another initiative, led and/or supported by Mayor Parker, to encourage more cycling in Houston. Others include the launch of Houston Bike Share last month, closing gaps in Houston's bike trail system; the voter-approved Bayou Greenways initiative; and approval of HB200, which will allow Houston's utility easements to be used for hike and bike trails. http://www.yourhoustonnews.com
In preparation for the release of upcoming Star Trek Into Darkness, which opens in theaters on May 17th, Audi teamed up with the film franchise and produced a commercial featuring both the original Spock and the successor (Leonard Nimoy and Zachary Quinto) in a battle of wits. This may be only entertaining to geeks like myself but surely everyone can appreciate the splendor of the Audi as Zachary Quinto so lavishly boards it as if it were the Enterprise itself! Well, I guess you would have to be a geek to identify with that as well huh... Suffice it to say that the original Spock, Leonard Nimoy, steals the show from the franchise's new Spock, Zachary Quinto. I particularly enjoyed the Bilbo Baggins chant he so candidly sang. Zachary Quinto has quite a task before him to fill such big shoes! So far he's doing grand :). After we are led to believe Leonard Nimoy to be the winner of the Challenge, the final scene of the commercial serves as enlightenment as Audi manages to amaze both these Vulcan's and we all realize that the winner was Audi all along. The video was ultimately clever and entertaining. I am excited to see how the movie pans out.
If you're in the market for a new flashy way to transport your child about in the car safely, KidsEmbrace may have created the perfect product for you. The company makes specialty car seats fashioned after Spongebob, Dora the Explorer, Batman and NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt Junior.
Why? For the Kids of course! Well more for the money but that's corporate America. What's important is if your child would actually enjoy this new product. The Batman seat features a cape and arm rests styled after the Dark Knight's own arms, complete with hands for cup holders. It will catch the attention of many young boys, and will be an increase in visual stimulation in comparison to the dull standard safety seats. And don't worry, they didn't leave safety by the wayside while designing this kid friendly comfort. The Kids Embrace design team has over 60 years combined experience in manufacturing and engineering child safety equipment. Their chief engineer serves as a consultant to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the Federal agency that sets standards for vehicle safety. Rest assured, this is not only a fun product, the KIDSEmbrace™ child safety seat is also one of the safest seats available today. You can head over to the KidsEmbrace site to take a look for yourself. The seats can be had for around $149 or so. I would love to hear if your child loved it or hated it.
