Simply Housing Around's Weblog

Tino and Amelia Duran to Receive San Antonio College

simplyhousingaround — Wed, 06 May 2009 19:05:57 +0000

SAN ANTONIO, TX (May 4, 2009) – San Antonio philanthropists Tino and Amelia “Millie” Duran will receive honorary Associate of Arts degrees from San Antonio College at the May 9 commencement ceremony at Municipal Auditorium. The Alamo Colleges Board of Trustees approved the honorary degrees during regular board meetings in the fall. “Millie and I have great memories of San Antonio College, because it got us started in journalism,” Tino Duran said. Today, Tino Duran is publisher of La Prensa, the city’s first Spanish-language newspaper. He attended San Antonio College from 1959 to 1961, wrote for The Ranger student newspaper and sold ads for the yearbook. In 1996, he was named SAC’s Outstanding Former Student. A native of San Antonio, Tino Duran graduated from Sidney Lanier High School and served in the Air Force in the 1950s. He studied psychology and journalism at SAC and later earned a bachelor’s degree in political science and a master’s degree in public administration from St. Mary’s University.

San Antonio native Millie Duran graduated from Fox Tech High School and also attended SAC, before beginning her career working with children.

“Millie wanted to be a social worker because she loves kids,” Tino Duran said, adding that his wife was a juvenile officer for 10 years. “Every kid she had that got into trouble she wanted to bring home.”

Every time Millie Duran saw people reading English newspapers she wondered what it would be like if San Antonio’s Hispanic community had its own publication. The newspaper was where her father and uncles worked in the 1920s through the ‘50s. After a 30-year absence, Millie Duran was instrumental with her husband in bringing La Prensa back to San Antonio in 1989.

In 1995 Millie Duran established La Prensa Foundation to provide students opportunities to pursue higher education dreams. Since its inception, the foundation has raised more than $1.7 million.

Tino Duran is president of Duran Duran industries. He has won numerous awards for community involvement and business success, including the 2006 Community Service Award from the San Antonio North Chamber of Commerce, the 2005 Henry B. Gonzalez Public Service and Integrity Award from the Public Administration Department of San Antonio College, the 2002 Media Award from the San Antonio Police Officers Association, the 2002 Henry Guerra Journalism Award, and was named Godfather of Hispanic Media from the Association of Media Agencies.

Among her honors, Millie Duran received the Yellow Rose of Texas award from Gov. George W. Bush in 1998, a Hometown Hero award in 1999, the 2004 Business Journal’s Women’s Leadership Award, and the 2004 LULAC Recognition Award, and

The Durans are the parents of five children and have been foster parents to 45 children throughout their nearly 55 years of marriage.

January 2009 Article in Conexion…

simplyhousingaround — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 01:33:59 +0000

Kimberly M. Rodriguez - Conexión

With almost nothing to do on Saturday afternoons, Nina Duran would spend her free time at open houses throughout the city.

The experience gave Duran, 27, the idea to create simplyhousingaround.com, a free Web site that provides design ideas for new homes and renovation tips to consumers working on a budget. In December 2007, Duran, along with business partners Sammy Lopez, 29, and Steven Moya, 26, launched the Web site.

Duran and Lopez began videotaping the interiors and exteriors of houses they visited. When they saw costly renovations could be done at a lower price with the right resources they took note.

“There was a man who visited our Web site and wanted to renovate his bathroom with subway tile, which cost about $2.99 each, but was on a really tight budget,” Duran said, “We were able to find the tile for him on craigslist for 50 cents each.”

While most small businesses are seeing decreases in profit, Duran, who declined to release annual revenue sales, isn’t worrying too much about that. She said the Web site’s profit is based solely on advertising, and it wasn’t created so they could get rich off of it, but to provide a beneficial service to San Antonio.

Duran, Lopez and Moya each have other jobs. Duran, who manages the advertising for the Web site, has a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in communication arts. She is also a part-time marketing and public relations professor at Northwest Vista College and a waitress at a local bistro.

Lopez, who finds articles for the Web site, is a commercial engineer. Moya edits the video content for the Web site. He is a student and DJ’s at venues throughout the city.

The Web site offers banner ads to real estate agents that range from $100 to $500 depending on the package that’s created. Duran said advertising through the site is not only budget-friendly but it’s also a creative way to advertise. She and her partners are able to report back to their advertisers the number of clicks they receive on their banner advertisements.

Simplyhousingaround.com is divided into four sections: Inspire Me, which provides virtual tours of homes; Design Me, which lists articles with modern and traditional remodeling ideas; Build Me, which provides Web links to local builders; and Buy Me, which links to the National Association of Realtors Web site, which locates homes that are for sale.

“Buyers are able to have first-hand experience of walking into million-dollar homes and never-before-seen modern homes,” Duran said, adding that they also videotape houses for buyers who don’t have time to view an open house. She said the videos are edited to provide the best footage of each house.

“We are passionate about providing San Antonio with a budget-friendly service that is within reach straight from their home,” Duran said.

Freetail Brewing Co. Open For Business!

simplyhousingaround — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 03:48:52 +0000

By Travis E. Poling - Express-News

Freetail Brewing Co. opened its doors for the first time on Black Friday, hoping shoppers would make a stop for Texas beer and brick-oven pizza.

Owner Scott Metzger teaches macroeconomics to college students, but is ready for his own microeconomics lesson in the world of beer. Freetail is San Antonio’s second brewpub — a brewery and restaurant — and Metzger hopes it’s a catalyst for a thriving craft-brewing industry in the city.

“Let’s promote Texas beer and not some brewing company based in Belgium or in Canada,” Metzger told an assembly of North Side businesspeople at a ceremony before the opening.

For opening weekend, 15 different beers from five Texas breweries will rotate on eight guest taps. By mid-December, Freetail will begin serving its own beer made in large tanks behind the bar.

An hour after opening in the Hill Country Plaza shopping center at Loop 1604 and Northwest Military Highway, Freetail was about half full of people ordering eclectic gourmet pizzas and beer made in Blanco, Fort Worth, Austin, Houston and Shiner.

Word of mouth among beer enthusiasts brought some patrons in, while heavy radio advertising on JACK FM 102.7 brought in those curious about the beer and the food from a place named after the Mexican freetail bat, the official flying mammal of Texas.

Metzger said he wanted a communal restaurant and bar that would bring in craft beer lovers or folks who just want to come in for food and a game on one of the nine televisions.

“Unlike the English-styled pub, which seems to favor intimacy, I prefer a German-style biergarten approach that lends itself to interaction with your neighbors. Beer is a great way to make a new friend,” Metzger said.

Carlos Perales was one of the first customers, and he headed straight for the bar for a craft brew.

“I’m glad they’re opening up more breweries in San Antonio, especially in this area,” said Perales, who lives in Northwest San Antonio. “It’s OK to be a franchise, but I like the guys who make their own. We just have to support them.”

Since the 2003 closing of The Laboratory Brewing Co. in The Quarry, Blue Star Brewing Co. near downtown has been the only brewpub in the city.

“San Antonio has had only one brewery — and with 1.7 million people?” said Stan Hester, a 30-year veteran of the restaurant industry who is serving as temporary floor manager until Freetail is on its feet.

Because the niche is still underserved in San Antonio and the Northwest Side is booming, financiers saw the U.S. Small Business Administration-backed loan as a good bet even in a recession.

“This is our first brewery loan,” said Yvonne Fernandez, assistant vice president for commercial services at Security Service Federal Credit Union. “We’d like to see more.”

Jason Davis, formerly assistant brewer at Blue Star and a veteran of Austin’s Waterloo Brewing Co. and Celis Brewing Co., is running the show in the brewhouse and has plans for a porter, extra pale ale, rye wit and La Rubia blonde ale for the house beers during the first month of operation.

Austin City Limits Festival 9.26-28.2008

simplyhousingaround — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 18:01:18 +0000

If you are big music fan as I am, nothing beats a good music festival. In Texas we are extremely lucky to have the Austin City Limits Festival. Since 2002 this festival has brought some of the biggest names in music from Texas and abroad. Austin City Limits is great on many levels, the musical acts, the city, the people. Most of all Austin City Limits provides so many outlets of awareness.

The Austin City Limits Music Festival provides a great opportunity for patrons to learn about local organizations whose mission is to educate, inform and inspire. Having designated areas for people to visit and get a bit of info on many important resources is key to Austin City Limits. Here are a few of the organizations that will be in attendance @ the festival. Get your tickets while you can, see you @ Zilker Park!

HAAM: Their mission says it all “Keeping music in Austin alive and well.” Dedicated to the people who keep the music scene vibrant, Austin musicians, HAAM provides low-cost primary health care services, basic dental care and mental health counseling for uninsured professional musicians and focuses on prevention and wellness.

Green Mountain Energy Company: Green Mountain Energy is committed to maintaining its leadership position as the nation’s leading provider of cleaner energy and carbon offset solutions and is the Festival’s partner in helping reduce the festival’s environmental impact through making the Festival carbon neutral. Visit their kiosk to learn how you can reduce your carbon footprint in your daily lives and reduce the environmental impact of travel to the festival by purchasing a $5 Fan Tag.

Rock the Vote: This year’s presidential election is weeks away and you have to be registered to vote to participate in an election that will affect your generation and generations to come. Visit Rock the Vote’s kiosk to register—it’s quick and easy. Make your voice heard—your vote matters!

Building Green Futures: This kiosk consists of American Youthworks and Uplift Austin, two Austin nonprofits that are dedicated to working with Austin’s at-risk youth. . American Youthworks has a proven track record in Austin, having a presence in the environmental and educational communities for more than twenty-five years. A public charter school, AYW hosts several green building programs, including Environmental Corps and Casa Verde Builders, which train at-risk youth in energy efficient construction methods while giving back to the community.

UpLift Austin, a new nonprofit organization and community collaboration, transforms public schools into sites of unexpected color and spirit by educating youth in the fundamentals of sustainable design through the real-life renovation of their own schools. Both organizations have a vision of helping to grow the local green economy through dynamic educational opportunities for youth and adults.

See It, While You Can, David Adjaye @ Art Pace

simplyhousingaround — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 19:09:10 +0000

I had the pleasure of attending the opening of David Adjaye’s “Making Of Public Building’s” exhibit at ArtPace in San Antonio,Texas. Mr. Adjayes work is Amazing. There were many of his projects on hand to feast your eyes and mind on. Many of his works show his ability to blend the lines between art and architecture. If you are in San Antonio, or close to, I highly reccomend anyone to check out this exhibit. Lastly, Mr. Adjaye has been comissioned to design a permanent home for Linda Pace’s contemporary art collection. The Pace foundation will be selecting a site in San Antonio by fall 2008 to build. Here is more info on the exhibit and David Adjaye courtesy of ArtPace.org

Hudson (Show)Room

David Adjaye: Making Public Buildings

London, England

September 11, 2008–January 04, 2009

about the artist
David Adjaye, founder of London-based Adjaye/Associates, is a rising star in the design community, with a reputation as an architect with an artist’s sensibility and vision. Among his many celebrated and diverse projects are collaborations with important contemporary artists such as Chris Ofili and Olafur Eliasson.

Adjaye was born in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, in 1966. He received his MA from the Royal College of Art, London, UK, in 1993. His work is currently on view at the 7th Gwangju Biennale, South Korea, and Manifesta 7, the European Biennial of Contemporary Art, Amsterdam (both through November 2008). Making Public Buildings has been presented at Whitechapel Art Gallery, London, UK (2006); Netherlands Architecture Institute, Maastricht (2006); The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, NY (2007); and Museum of Contemporary Art Denver, CO (2007). Adjaye is featured in the TV program Building Africa: Architecture of a Continent, which aired in June 2005. In conjunction with this effort, he began pursuing a personal project documenting each of Africa’s capital cities, to culminate in a forthcoming publication and exhibition at Harvard University, Cambridge, MA (2009). In June 2007, Adjaye was awarded an OBE in the Queen’s birthday honors list for his services to architecture. He received an honorary doctorate from the University of East London in November 2007.

about the exhibition
“Our design approach does not seek to impose a prescriptive solution, but rather aims to open up different possibilities for each individual project and brief, whether that’s a private residence or a new public building. Each time, we try to provide a unique, flexible, and effective response to the brief. Good design has as much of a place in public spaces like libraries, hospitals, and schools as it does in the homes of wealthy individual clients.” – David Adjaye

Organized by the Whitechapel Art Gallery in London, Making Public Buildings presents a selection of Adjaye’s built and planned public spaces in three stages: design, production, and completion. The exhibition highlights the evolution of eight major projects, focusing on their attention to learning, community, and contemporary art.

Known for designing domestic dwellings organized around the unfolding of interior space, Adjaye in recent years has expanded his practice to include civic design. His public projects convey a versatile, yet distinctive spatial language while incorporating the milieu of their locale. This environmental interaction is manifested through a careful consideration of color, material, and light. These concerns are evident in many of Adjaye’s buildings, specifically in his public libraries. Idea Stores, a two-building series located in London, presents a contemporary, flexible solution for public library architecture. Contextuality with the neighborhood is established through the use of green and blue laminated glass on the exoskeleton of the building. These colors, inspired by the colorful market stalls on Whitechapel Road, not only mirror the physical environment, but also establish a brand that is replicated in both structures.

The influence of African art and architecture is integral to Adjaye’s construction of public space. One can trace his angular, geometric aesthetic and community-based sensibility to African elements ranging from textile designs in Ghana to Dogon village houses in Mali. This influence can be seen in Adjaye’s use of varying heights and angular facades in the Stephan Lawrence Centre, a community space for disadvantaged young people. The rhythmic design of the ground plane and the angular multi-structural approach help to construct a visual language that encourages visitors’ interaction with the building before they even cross the threshold.

Among Adjaye’s most recent endeavors, the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver, combines the angular qualities of the Stephan Lawrence Centre with the environmentally integrative techniques employed in the design of the Idea Stores. For the museum, Adjaye has activated an angular facade in order to engage passersby on the busy thoroughfare leading to and from downtown Denver. His use of highly reflective materials on the exterior of the building captures ambient light while emphasizing the importance of the contemporary art housed within.

Making Public Spaces offers the first comprehensive insight into Adjaye’s approach to urban planning and design, one which prioritizes a sensitivity to contextuality and history through a language forged from awareness of community, cultural traditions, and aesthetic prowess.

–Emily Morrison, Curatorial Assistant

Custom Barbeque Smoker

simplyhousingaround — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 19:30:54 +0000

In a perfect world, we would all have the ability to customize random things to serve our creative and practical needs. In this case, our friend Van Diep had the need to create a Barbeque smoker out of a 55 gallon steel drum. Impossible? No. Practical? Yes of course, especially when you live in San Antonio, Texas!

Parts list: Drum Smoker

(1) 55 gallon steel drum (preferable un-lined and new with a removable lid)
(1) 3/4″ ball valve for the main intake

(1) 1/2″ ball valve for the secondary intake
(4) Stainless steel bolts, nuts, and washers to hold the food grate. The bolts are 5/16” x 2.5″
(1) 22.5″ Weber cooking grate
(1) 2″ black nipple screwed right into the bung hole in the lid for exhaust. (May need to drill this hole)
(1) Thermometer

Note:

My charcoal “basket” is made from the bottom of a generic portable grill. I just drilled 1″ holes all in the bottom and sides. This already had 2″ legs on it.

My food grate is mounted 27″ from the bottom and gives me 6.5″ of room to the lid. If I need more room I can use the lid from my 22.5″ Weber kettle.

My intakes are mounted 2″ from the bottom of the drum.

If you have a Unibit it really makes drilling the holes for the intakes very easy.I seasoned it by spraying it down with Pam and getting it good and hot for a few hours before my first cook. Add some wood to break it in.

Quick Directions:

If drum is a used food-grade, you MUST burn out the epoxy liner and grind down to pure steel

Place 2” black nipple into top of lid, this will be used for the exhaust. If there is no bung hole, drill 2” diameter hole and screw in nipple.

Drill (4) 7/16” dia. holes at cardinal compass points and install bolts, nuts and washers. Grate location must be close to 24” from charcoal basket.

Drill (1) 1” dia. hole 2” from the bottom (must be below your charcoal basket) and install the ¾” ball valve stem

Drill (1) ¾” dia. hole 2” from the bottom (must be below your charcoal basket) and install the ½” ball valve stem on opposite side as the ¾” valve.

Drill and install Thermometer at grate level