Growing up, I had heard tales of Freeport’s many famous thespians who took up waterfront residence here in the early part of the 20th Century. My parent’s house (the former “Windmill Inn”) was host to vaudeville era performers and operated as a speakeasy during prohibition. On a recent visit to my brother’s house (also in Freeport), I was delighted to find a newly minted historic plaque in the front yard, indicating my brother’s residence is built on the site of the L.I.G.H.T.S. Club (Long Island Good Hearted Thespian Society), whose members included Al Jolson, Victor Moore, Will Rogers, and John Philip Sousa. The Freeport Historical Museum has photos of the club in action, and I plan to make a visit there this Sunday (they’re only open one day per week).

My husband being a tourist at my brother's house

L.I.G.H.T.S. Club, Freeport, NY, circa 1916. Courtesy Freeport Historical Museum.

L.I.G.H.T.S. Club bar, Freeport, NY, circa 1916. Courtesy Freeport Historical Museum.

L.I.G.H.T.S. Club pool table, Freeport, NY, circa 1916. Courtesy Freeport Historical Museum.

One of the traditional Lights Club functions was the celebration of Christmas on the Fourth of July. Most of the vaudeville actors spent their Christmas days on trains, in dingy dressing rooms or in drab hotels. On July Fourth, though the temperature be in the 90s, the Lights’ Christmas tree was decorated and lighted, Santa Claus was dressed in his heavy suit with ermine trimmings, presents were placed under the tree and the members and their children arrived in their furs, mittens and earlaps, some even clattering into the club on snowshoes.

- Fred Allen, “Much Ado About Me,” 1956

Photos courtesy Aurora Picture Show, Melissa Hung, and Andrea Grover (me!)

During the ten years that I was with Aurora Picture Show, I hosted at least 300 visiting artists, and gave almost that many tours of Houston. Like an old cabbie, I have fine-tuned these trips into a scripted tour that features folk art environments, underground tunnels, celebrity grave sites, art cars, urban bayous, museums, mega churches, and art chapels. Imagine my gravelly voice coming through an old p.a. system as I humbly present to you, “Grover’s Guide to Houston, Part I.” Read this post on Glasstire.com

Thanks to my friend Bree Edwards for suggesting I write it all down!

I hope you enjoy listening to the tour as much as I do. It’s as though I’m right there in the “Jungle Room” digging my toes into green pile carpet.

Listen to Graceland Audio Tour, 1995

Find some amazing 360 views of the Jungle Room here.

David Crossley (Houston Tomorrow) showing off his big locally grown zucchini (Photo courtesy of Blue Lemon Photo & TEDxHouston)

Throughout each talk, the theme that stood out for me was “unlearning” as Buckminster Fuller termed it – an approach to innovation that involves dispensing of old ideas that we now know are untrue.

Cliffnotes (don’t sue me) to TEDxHouston talks:

Brené Brown (research professor and writer at the University of Houston Graduate College of Social Work)
• Humans have a neurobiological imperative for connection.
• Shame is the fear of disconnection.
• In order to have connection, one must be vulnerable, defined as “doing something that offers no guarantees.”
• People who have a strong sense of love and belonging believe they are worthy of love and belonging, and have in common: courage, compassion and connection.
• On numbing (via substances, food, prescription drugs): you cannot selectively numb emotions.

Dan Phillips (founder of Phoenix Commotion construction company that uses recycled and salvaged materials to build affordable housing)
• The first cause of waste is hardwired into our DNA– the desire for expected pattern and unity of structural features.
• Trees don’t grow in 2 x 4s, at lengths of 8, 10, and 12′.
• Standardization leads to waste.
• Apollonian / Dionysian  contradiction.
• John Paul Sartre: Human beings act differently when they know people are watching them.
• We [Westerners] have confused Maslow’s Hierarchy and put vanity at the top, but the problem of waste is worldwide

Rebecca Richards-Kortum (Stanley C. Moore Professor of Bioengineering at Rice University) & Maria Oden (Professor in the Practice of Bioengineering Education in the Department of Bioengineering at Rice University)
• 9 million children under 5 die annually because of lack of medical treatment.
• Using college students’ enthusiasm and ideas to solve global health problems.
• Students created a medical centrifuge from a salad spinner; a florescent microscope for $200 (vs. the $40k cost of a medical grade equivalent).
• And designed field backpacks for MDs to use in remote parts of the world – a kind of portable clinic made cheaply and efficiently.
• Redesigned a locally produced incubator in Malawi, made for under $100.

Stephen Kleinberg (Rice University Sociologist and Houston’s leading demographer)
• 1 million people moved to Houston between 1970-1982; abundance of jobs in the oil and gas industry.
• Houston was the city with the least industrial control: “Come on down and make some money.”
• Crash of 1983: 100,000 jobs lost.
• Industry became more diverse (medical, aeronautics, etc.). Quality of life became an issue.
• October 7, 1999: USA Today Headline: Houston, Cough Cough, We Have A Problem, Cough Cough. Air quality was worst in country.
• Environmental regulation was no longer seen as “anti-growth” but rather necessary for success.
• Changing view of prosperity in the 21st century.
• Innovation is now network-driven.
• In the space of the last 20 years, Houston has become one of the most ethnically diverse cities in the country. It is a city of majority minorities.

Mark Johnson (founder of Hometta, a collaborative of designers, architects, builders, writers and editors who have banded together to rethink and improve the way residential architecture is designed)
• With regard to the architectural mash-ups in Houston (French Chateau, Tuscan Villa, etc): “One day I’d like to go to France and see Houston ice houses.”
• First ring of suburbs built 30-40 years ago are now deteriorating; going to landfills.
• How can we reboot our value system to promote sustainable building?
• We can start by building appropriate to scale and location: authenticity.
• Look to the sustainable food movement as an example.
• Build to impress your kids; your kids won’t remember the 2″ beveled granite countertops or the 6 burner professional stainless range. They’ll remember the oak tree, the reading nook, the originality.
• Build a house with intentionality and thoughtfulness, to be passed down through the generations.
• Houston’s Beer Can House is an example of sustainable building, and the townhouses around it will be gone in 100 years, while it will still stand.

Monica Pope (award winning chef, T’afia)
• Most of my cooking career has not been about cooking;
• Through food, I search for who I am, and what I’m supposed to do.
• We say “eat where your food grows.” I say “eat at a table.”
• We need to reinvent the campfire- the place where we gather, tell stories, and eat.

Gracie Cavnar (founder Recipe for Success)
• Obesity rates in the US doubled between 1980-2000.
• As a nation, we need to lose 4.6 billion lbs.
• 41% of us will be morbidly obese by 2015. This will be the first generation that will die before their parents.
• In 2008, $147 billion was spent on medical treatment for obesity related illness.
• Recipe for Success fights marketing with marketing.
• They put kids in touch with their food from farm to plate.
• Future plan for Hope Farms: 100 acres in the shadow of downtown Houston: the largest urban farm in the world!

David Crossley (President, Houston Tomorrow)
• By 2050, Houston will reach 11 million in population. How will that population be fed?
• We live in the most diverse eco-region in North America, but are looking at a major loss of farm land, and forested area to accommodate the growing population.
• New urbanism values: balance of natural and socio-economic development.
• 47% of Americans would rather live in a different place.
• HUD/DOT/EPA have formed “Sustainable Communities Department.”
• Ebenezer Howard, Garden Cities of Tomorrow.
• James Howard Kunsler: Downscaling.
• Houston 3.0 walkable urbanism, monorail!

Mat Johnson (Author of the graphic novel, Incognegro)
• Between 1880-1930 an estimated 2400 men, women and children were murdered in the US by lynching.
• Lynching is murder by mob action (a tactic which makes prosecution difficult to impossible)
• Lynching was a form of “domestic terrorism.”
• Mention of Walter White, civil rights leader and chief investigator of lynchings.

David Eagleman (Neuroscientist and author)
• 2003, Hubble Deep Field Observation of a dark spot in the sky, revealed thousand of universes.
• What we really learn from a life in science is the vastness of our ignorance.
• The scientific temperament is one of creativity.
• We have created a false dichotomy of god vs. no god.
• I am not an agnostic, I’m a possibilian – one who makes up new narratives about why we are here.
• Doubt is an uncomfortable position but certainty is an absurd position  (In reference to quote by Voltaire, “Doubt is uncomfortable, certainty is ridiculous.”)

Photo: Kenny Haner

Contact: Andrea Grover
800 Aurora Street
Houston, TX 77009
713-256-0870
andrea-at-andreagrover.com

For Immediate Release:

ORIGINAL AURORA PICTURE SHOW BUILDING FOR SALE

Houston, TX, May 24, 2010 – The original Aurora Picture Show building, a unique church-to-single-family-home conversion, is for sale. Located at 800 Aurora Street, Houston, Texas, 77009, the 1924 wooden church building houses a 96-seat cinema, with a four bedroom, 2.5 bath residential addition.

The property has been the residence of Aurora Picture Show founder, Andrea Grover and her family, since 1997, and served as the main cinema for the non-profit organization from 1998-2008. In addition to the monthly screenings that took place there for ten years (presenting artists Ant Farm, Craig Baldwin, Enid Baxter Blader, James Benning, Constance DeJong, Skip Elsheimer, Harrell Fletcher, Calvin Johnson, Sharon Lockhart, Eileen Maxson, Tony Oursler, and more), the converted church was host to many art community ceremonies, including 13 weddings (the marriages of Houston artists Francesca Fuchs and Bill Davenport; Claire Chauvin and Patrick Phipps, and others); and two memorials (including a tribute to Ant Farm founding member, Doug Michels). Additionally, the East Sunset Heights Association held their bi-monthly meetings there from 2004-2010.

List price is $409,000 $395,000, including pew seating, and a disused baptistry.

Photos may be downloaded at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/gentleridevan/sets/72157624060187394

MLS listing: http://search.har.com/engine/doSearch.cfm?QUICKSEARCH=800%20aurora&FOR_SALE=1

About Aurora Picture Show: Founded in 1998 by Andrea Grover, the first home for Aurora was a former church building where Grover and her family both lived and worked. Now the home base for Aurora Picture is adjacent to The Menil Collection. Since 2009, Aurora screenings have been nomadic and site-specific.

About Andrea Grover: Andrea Grover is a migrant curator, artist and writer.

Image courtesy Cathi Bunn, www.ghastlyghosthunter.com

I have a recurring dream that I discover a hidden room, floor or entire wing in my existing home. The expansive imaginary space defies Newtonian Physics, and the ornate architectural styles vary as wildly as Hearst Castle’s. Ambling through these cavernous rooms in my sleep leaves me craving for secret passageways in my waking life, which is why the fabled “Celestial Suites” at Crowne Plaza Hotel near Reliant Center have become my own Holy Grail.

A few weeks ago I left a message for the manager of Crowne Plaza inquiring about their penthouse suites, and secretly hoping to arrange a private tour. No one called me back.

The Crowne Plaza Hotel (formerly known as Astroworld Hotel) was built in 1969 by the late, great Judge Roy Hofheinz, mastermind behind the Astrodome. The entire top floor of the original hotel encompassed the Judge’s own apartment, known as “The Celestial Suites.” For reasons that defy bottom-line logic, the hotel chains that succeeded the Astroworld Hotel have kept the penthouse intact. This act is highly commendable (go Crowne Plaza!) given Houston’s wrecker-ball history.

Judge Hofheinz and his wife, Mary Frances spent over one million dollars creating the most expensive suite in the world to house all of their many treasures collected over the years. Harper Goff, art director for Disney’s Academy Award winning, live-action film, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, designed the Judge’s million dollar suite. In 1978 the Guinness Book of World Records listed the Celestial Suite as being the most expensive suite in the world (from the Crown Plaza website).

Like the box seats at the Astrodome, each room in The Celestial Suites was named and furnished in a different theme. The entrance to the suites was known as The Foyer of Fountains, named for Ponce de Leon and the Fountain of Youth. Suites included The Acapulco Patio, P.T. Barnum Room, The Fu Manchu Room, The Adventurer Suite, and The Roman Bath, to name a few. Continues on glasstire.com.

Cobble Mountain Lodge, designed by Thomas W. Lamb

And so begins a new category of my writing: Homesteads. I have an addiction to searching for dream homes, planning their renovation, checking out the region online, and then moving on to my next imaginary homestead. The current front runner in this time wasting game is “Cobble Mountain Lodge” for sale in Elizabethtown, New York for $487,000.

Situated on 30± acres, this historic Adirondack waterfront home, built in 1920, was designed by Thomas W. Lamb , for his private summer residence. Mr. Lamb is an internationally renowned architect of some of the world’s most beautiful theaters, including the old Ziegfeld Theater in New York City. This camp contains a total of eight bedrooms, seven full baths and seven fireplaces. The exterior is accented by stone work, including a stone turret which houses one of the upstairs bedrooms. This property, with all of its incredible details, must be seen to be appreciated. Cobble Mountain Lodge requires extensive work and needs that special person to restore it to its original grandeur.

I could be that “special person.” I feel a strange magnetism for any architect who has designed as many major theaters as Thomas W. Lamb.

Kia Neill in her Grotto at Lawndale

With the Climate Change Summit wrapping-up in Copenhagen, and it not looking so pretty for the future of this blue planet, I recently made tentative “end of the world” plans with my husband (we probably have spent too much time discussing Cormac McCarthy’s The Road). My husband (being at a physical disadvantage) assumed that he and our asthmatic daughter would become sacrificial lambs in the fight against barbarism, while my fit daughter and I would retreat to a well-stocked, ammo-supplied remote cave dwelling (yet to be located). While a morbid scenario, we are not alone in entertaining fantasies of retreating into the hollow earth. Read the rest of this post on my Glasstire blog, We Have The Technology.

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