HOUSTON — The battle of the bean is on, and we’re not backing down!
A Chicago Tribune reporter took a cheap shot at Houston Tuesday after the Houston Museum of Fine Arts installed a new sculpture that’s much like the iconic Chicago bean.
But calling Houston a "cultureless abyss" in the article is just not okay. So we are literally Standing for Houston and fighting back.
KHOU 11 News reached out to the author, Kim Janssen, but he declined to interview, saying "Thanks but nobody in Houston needs to hear my voice!"
In the article, Janssen criticizes Houston for the new installation of our version of Chicago's iconic bean sculpture.
It's by the same artist, Anish Kapoor, except, like our city, our Houston bean is also better.
Our “cultureless abyss” of a city is anything but.
Houston is the proud home to a theater district that is second only to New York City with its concentration of seats in one geographic area. We also have over 500 cultural, visual and performing arts organizations.
Plus, 92 countries have consular offices in Houston, the third highest in the nation.
Cultureless?? Please.
Online, Janssen retweeted a comment saying, “Wanting to live in Houston is like wanting to eat dinner at Applebee’s.”
And yes, while we are home to four Applebee’s locations, we also have 11,000 restaurants, showcasing Houston's unique and diverse flavor - compared to Chicago's mere 7,300 restaurants, which are probably as tasteless as their newspapers.
And come on, how many deep-dish pizzas can one eat?
Oh, and side note: Houston has no state tax - if you’re into that sort of thing.
And should we even get into sports? - Why not.
It’s almost hard to talk about the beating the Chicago Bulls took Tuesday night, but we will push through: The Houston Rockets mowed over the Bulls, 118 to 86.
And by the way, our best player, James Harden, didn’t even play in the game.
And we know Chicago doesn’t need to be reminded of who took home the title of World Series Champ last year...
In his response by email, Janssen said “Nobody in Houston needs to hear my voice," but we’ve heard it Janssen - loud and clear.
And now, we’re hoping you eat your words.