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Houston Texas-why mention Houston in songs?

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The Sandman 30 Dec 10 - 04:03 PM
Q (Frank Staplin) 30 Dec 10 - 04:52 PM
Q (Frank Staplin) 30 Dec 10 - 05:03 PM
Jack Campin 30 Dec 10 - 05:26 PM
JedMarum 10 Feb 11 - 02:41 PM
Q (Frank Staplin) 10 Feb 11 - 04:11 PM
reggie miles 10 Feb 11 - 07:43 PM
Wesley S 10 Feb 11 - 08:00 PM
Bill D 10 Feb 11 - 08:12 PM
GUEST,brian daniels 11 Feb 11 - 05:58 AM
Uncle Phil 11 Feb 11 - 09:25 PM
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Subject: Houston texas
From: The Sandman
Date: 30 Dec 10 - 04:03 PM

If you ever go to Houston.
You better walk right;
You better not stagger,
You better not fight;
Sheriff Benson will arrest you,
He'll carry you down,
And if the jury finds you guilty,
Penitentiary bound
   Apparantly it is also illegal to have weeds in ones garden that are over 9 inches tall.
is houston really that bad?


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Subject: RE: Houston texas
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 30 Dec 10 - 04:52 PM

Aren't tall weeds barred by bylaws in all cities? Certainly they are here in Calgary.
Unsightly, fire-hazard. In Houston they harbor chiggers, fleas and other livestock inimical to humans and dogs.

That bit of doggerel, sung by Lead Belly, appears in songs about sheriffs of several cities. Dunno which is the original.


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Subject: RE: Houston texas
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 30 Dec 10 - 05:03 PM

In 1927, sung about Belmont. Don't know if North Carolina, Massachusetts, or other is meant.


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Subject: RE: Houston texas
From: Jack Campin
Date: 30 Dec 10 - 05:26 PM

Here in Scotland you can grow your weeds any height you like.


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Subject: RE: Houston texas
From: JedMarum
Date: 10 Feb 11 - 02:41 PM

In many neighborhoods, when you buy property you have to sign an agreement to live within he neighborhood laws - most have restrictions concerning maintenance of the property. These agreements normally have the power to take your property from you, if you do not abide by them.

If you want to grow weeds, tomatoes, chickens, rabbits, fly flags or post political posters - you need to be sure those things are allowed in your neighborhood agreement. If not, buy elsewhere.


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Subject: RE: Houston texas
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 10 Feb 11 - 04:11 PM

Property not taken here (Calgary) but the cleanup charge by the city crew is hefty. Weeds and trash verboten.

One may have a pet rabbit or two, or a chicken or two, as pets, but cannot raise any as livestock or to produce eggs.
Tomato plants in a neat garden, flags (if not too large) and small political signs at election times are OK.

(A small gnome on the lawn is permitted)


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Subject: RE: Houston texas
From: reggie miles
Date: 10 Feb 11 - 07:43 PM

I just received a letter, from the tiny rural burg where I reside, that said I would be fined $500 a day per vehicle if I didn't cover the dead or near dead vehicles on my property with blue tarps. The gentrification code enforcers probably own stock in the companies that manufacture blue tarps. So, I've been lookin' for some 'TARP' money to appease the gentrificationites.

To make an effort to comply, I've sold two of the vehicles that needed the most repair and I'm planning to sell one more, once I get it repaired. Once this third one is sold, that will leave six.

Of those six, two are regularly driven. Two others are both vintage projects. The last two represent a rig that I use to make dump runs and one that will eventually become my next regularly driven vehicle.

This annoyance prompted the following song. Another song, "Blue Tarp Blues", is soon to follow.

That's all the news worth typing from The Blue Tarp Ranch.


Gentrification Blues by Reggie Miles 2011

Bought an ol' house
Fixed it up jus' like new
Now this whole damn town
Is tellin' me what to do

Gentrification
Gentrification
Gentrification is sho nuf killin' me

I decided to move
To this rundown neighborhood
Now my neighbors are sayin'
My kind ain't no good

Gentrification
Gentrification
Gentrification don't seem right to me

When I first moved in
My fees and taxes were low
Now, I can hardly afford
To live here any mo

Gentrification
Gentrification
Gentrification drivin' me to poverty

All you highfalutin people
With your nose up in the air
Delight in treatin' po' folk
Like you just don't care

Gentrification
Gentrification
Gentrification gonna be the death of me

Don't make a lot o money
Playin' these lowdown blues
If there's one I'm certain
That I just can't use

It's Gentrification
Gentrification
I need a vacation from these gentrification blues

They're gentrifyin' back East
An' gentrifyin' way out West
Makin' everyone who's different
Look and act jus' like the rest

Gentrification
Gentrification
Gentrification erasin' our identity


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Subject: RE: Houston texas
From: Wesley S
Date: 10 Feb 11 - 08:00 PM

Why would you want weeds longer than 9 inches anyway?


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Subject: RE: Houston texas
From: Bill D
Date: 10 Feb 11 - 08:12 PM

For the bunnies to hide in!


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Subject: RE: Houston texas
From: GUEST,brian daniels
Date: 11 Feb 11 - 05:58 AM

I think in the outlying commercial/warehouse district of Houston north towards Huntsville, the zoning laws state each block MUST contain a porn shop, a pawn shop, a storefront church, and a Waffle House restauraunt.


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Subject: RE: Houston texas
From: Uncle Phil
Date: 11 Feb 11 - 09:25 PM

In our corner of Dallas County the city cuts your weeds if they get too high, then sends you a big bill. I've heard that the bill includes your first-born and your left one. Tough zoning. Since this is Dallas and not Houston we are only required to have a Starbucks in each block.
- Phil


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