How To Ruin A Perfectly Good Antoine Walker Joke

If you click here, you’ll see a innocuous blog post by Tim MacMahon with an innocuous headline: “Ex-Mav Antoine Walker arrested on DUI charge.” But it you look carefully at the address in the location bar, you’ll see the remnant of why I suspect MacMahon bothered to throw up that link in the first place: so he could poke fun at the notoriously bad-jumper-happy Walker, who once said, when asked why he shot so many three-pointers, “Because there are no fours.”

Anyway, thanks to the Internet (where nothing ever really dies) and more specifically the great Ball Don’t Lie, here is the original headline to that post: “Antoine Walker has never seen a shot he didn’t like.” Well played, sir. And lighten up, DMN.

DMN Gets Credit Where Credit Is Due

In contrast to its maudlin, overlong recent project about people dying in the hospital–and then a few more people dying in the hospital–the DMN deserves big kudos for its current “State of Neglect” series, which is examining the connections among Texas business, politics and state services. I don’t know whether everything the series has turned up so far is truly as nefarious as portrayed. But “Neglect” is exactly the sort of diligent, hard-nosed, provocative undertaking that gives local/regional journalism a good name.

Paul Burka Counters Right-Wing Attacks On Straus

A Republican-officiating FrontBurnervian points us to two interesting Burka posts wherein he takes a look at some right-wing rhetorical grenades being thrown at presumptive Speaker Joe Straus and offers a gentle admonishment to the winning side.

Rene Syler Discusses Her Muffin Top

The former Dallas girl was let go by the Early Show. Now she’s doing something online called Good Enough Mother. (I’m going to go ahead and bet right now that Ed Bark has already written about this.)

Correcting The Record For The 33 News

Aaron Smith is a very nice young man who’s just started a job as a TV reporter for The 33 News. He interviewed me yesterday for a story about Hyundai’s unique new-car buying incentives, but unfortunately got a big fact wrong about D CEO magazine in the piece. Smith said we’ve “seen auto advertising drop sharply over the last year,” when in fact our auto advertising has doubled during that period. (Aston Martin of Dallas runs with us, for example, not Hyundai.) Aaron says there’s no way to correct such mistakes at The 33 short of killing the whole story, so this is my way of helping out.

UPDATE: David Duitch, The 33’s news director, just called and said the station would correct the mistake on the Web and on-air tonight. Thanks, David.

Huffington Post Value Reconfigured

Not long ago, a $200 million valuation for Huffington Post sent eyebrows a’raising ’round these parts and elsewhere. Ad Age’s Simon Dumenco debunked that figure yesterday, placing it closer to $2 million. Elizabeth Spiers has a tidy explanation for how the larger figure came about, too. (”Step 1. Lick finger. Step 2. Stick finger in air …”) I guess the estimation of a blog’s worth isn’t what it used to be.

Brenda Teele Out at Channel 8

An alert FBvian points out that the Good Morning Texas host’s bio has already disappeared from the station’s web site. As a tribute to her, I offer this:

Channels 4, 5, and 11 Ground Their Choppers

Uncle Barky has the story about how three of the TV stations are trimming their budgets. With most news stories, I doubt these expensive toys will be missed.

Behind the Scenes of Cuban’s Attempt to Buy the Cubs

Fascinating post on Blog Maverick. Too much good stuff to excerpt, but here’s an interesting graph about how Cuban’s desire to win may scare other baseball owners:

On the flipside, my dedication to winning  could also make my job of getting  approval with MLB baseball much harder. Some people thought it meant that I would spend on players like I did in my early days with the Mavericks. Back before I learned that sometimes GMs put keeping their jobs ahead of trying to win championships. But thats another story for another time.  I had no intentions of trying to outspend the Yankees or Red Sox.  There was no reason to. I didnt have to beat either of those teams unless I made it to the World Series. The only teams I had to be better than were those in the National League, and more importantly, those in my division.  There were no big spending rivals close to home, so the AL East could spend themselves silly. My plans were to spend to win, not to spend for spending’s sake.  IMHO, the money I could save being in the 2nd tier of payroll could be invested in scouting and development. I made this clear to any and all of the owners that I spoke to across the league. Of course that didnt stop some from trying to convince some owners otherwise.

Leading Off (01/06/09)

1. What do you want to know about new House speaker Joe Straus? That he’s not as ideologically hellbent as the man he’s replacing? That when Republicans burned the secret ballots that named him speaker, the smoke alarm went off? That the horse racing industry has a bet on him to win, place, and show? That the odds are pretty good he’ll someday become a lobbyist? That he is NOT this guy? C’mon, I’ve got five links here! I’m like Fingers of Fury up in this piece!

2. The ice storm knocked out power for 48,000 North Texans, and reminded us how hot Sigourney Weaver is.

3. In the Fiesta Bowl, Texas beat Ohio State, 24-21, with a last-minute touchdown. Good for them!

Arborlogical Question About Icing Trees

I’ve got a tree that doesn’t look happy. Is it a cedar? A fir? Look, I’m not a doctor. I don’t know exactly what it is. But it’s safe to say it’s an evergreen. And it is right now so laden with ice that its lowest branches are drooping to the ground. Now then. My backyard thermometer reads 34. So I got my garden hose and sprayed some of the boughs, thinking that the warm(er) water would melt the ice. But I didn’t see much difference.

Question: good idea? Or am I going to wake up tomorrow to an even sadder tree?

Ole Miss Supporters Can Drink Better Than Tech Fans

That’s my take after reading this (courtesy of Deadspin) about how Ole Miss fans invaded our fair city and tied ($26,000), then set ($27,000), then reset ($29,000) the record for money spent on alcohol in one night at the Hyatt Regency’s Atrium bar. I knew there was a reason why I was pulling for the Rebels to beat the Red Raiders in the Cotton Bowl, and not just because I read The Blind Side (Michael Lewis’ great book about Ole Miss left tackle Michael Oher) over the break. Or that Tech ruined UT’s perfect season. Or that my brother went to Tech.

(I saw many of the Ole Miss faithful at Victor Tango’s and other area hotspots — such as the Pappasito’s in Richardson — on Friday night. I won’t go into great detail, but let’s say I decided to pull my support after that.)

“Crock of S***” Comment Makes “Dumbest” List

Fortune magazine has a list of the “21 Dumbest Moments in Business 2008,” and our very own Glenn Hunter was there to witness No. 10. Here’s the original recap that caused all the commotion last year.

Without Northern Exposure, There Would Be No Bon Iver

That’s what The New Yorker’s Sasha Frere-Jones taught me in a video interview with the band’s lead singer, Justin Vernon. And without Bon Iver, my holiday break would have been about 1/14th as good. (The album got much rotation on the iPhone.) Is a reference to Janine Turner’s initial claim to fame too tangential to count as a Dallas connection for this post? Perhaps. But I’m willing to take that chance.

A Humble Review of Neighborhood Services

I ate at Neighborhood Services over the break. Those Who Care can read a review on SideDish. (Spoiler alert: I’m a big fan.)

Random Power Outages in Dallas?

Fun times here at FB HQ. The hamsters who run the wheels that control our electricity have twice now taken a smoke break for just long enough to flicker the power. (Those of us with laptops are immune but not insensitive.) I thought it might be D and D alone that’s affected, but I’m told we’re in good standing with the electric company. Plus I read a couple of Twitter reports of similar outages. Be advised. And save your work.

Buh-Bye Bill Addison

The Dallas Morning News dining critic says goodbye to Dallas.

Attention All Ladies and Gentlemen Looking For Love: The Bachelorette Casting Call is Coming to Town

Are you frustrated with the dating scene? Are you well-versed in reality show catchphrases, such as “I’m definitely feeling a connection with her” and “I’m looking forward to our hometown date?” Are you at least mildly attractive, successful yet “down to earth,” and most importantly, can you make a girl laugh?

If any of these describe you, head over to PM Nightlife Lounge at the Joule hotel this Wednesday night from 6–9pm, where producers from ABC’s The Bachelorette will be interviewing girls and guys for an upcoming season (hat tip to ShopTalk). For those who are unfamiliar with the show, this is the one where a single girl gets her pick of 25 single dudes who live in a house together (or sometimes in the backyard). She goes on embarrassing dates with them, cries a lot in confusion, and in the end, there’s a dramatic choice between two bachies, with a big weepy ceremony on a cliff with an engagement ring. About six to twelve months later there is a breakup (except for Trista and Ryan! Still going strong!).

Incidentally, the new season of The Bachelor starts tonight, with cheesy single dad Jason as the BMOC. And yes, we’ve got Dallas girls Jackie and Melissa in the running for Jason’s heart. Jump for all the casting call details.

Continue reading "Attention All Ladies and Gentlemen Looking For Love: The Bachelorette Casting Call is Coming to Town"

Ladies, Please Zamboni Your Ice Patches

Cuz it looks like Sean Avery is available.

Coup D’Etat In The Texas House: Who Is Joe Straus?

We know one thing for certain: the San Antonio native and likely new Speaker is one hellava operator. Lining up the Democrats, including Craddick-partisan Helen Giddings, to vote as a bloc while peeling away 16 Republicans (among them, former Craddick supporter Dan Branch) is one of the most stunning feats in the often-stunning history of Texas politics. 

On the media side, let’s give some credit to Texas Monthly, which picked Straus in February, 2008, as one of 35 people who would shape the future of Texas. After the jump, what the magazine wrote:

Continue reading "Coup D’Etat In The Texas House: Who Is Joe Straus?"

DallasDirt Just Keeps Digging

DallasDirt’s Candy Evans has dug up an interesting nugget about another shift in the tectonic (not Teutonic) landscape in high-end residential Dallas real-estate sales. No, this has nothing to do with Eleanor Sheets. This relates to the Mathews Nichols Real Estate Group pulling up stakes at the Briggs-Freeman Real Estate Brokerage and moving to Allie Beth Allman & Associates, effective today.  Apparently, neither rust, nor Candy Evans, sleeps.

Adam’s First FrontBurner Post Of 2009

If you’re wondering what it’s going to be about, keep wondering. I haven’t decided yet.

Leading Off (For Real, This Time)

1. I’m sure the fact that donors to the Bush Library can remain anonymous won’t make anyone at all hit the “panic” button. Although if you do decide to come up with some sort of crazy conspiracy theory, well, I guess it wouldn’t hurt to turn on the comments.

2. It’s a good thing that people will still be talking Cowboys until Jerry fires Wade, because then someone might have watched the Mavs get spanked by the Grizzlies. If you’re just starting to pay attention: it’s a one-game aberration. Everything’s okay. Chill.

3. And finally, if you’re just waking up, yeah, it’s going to be like this outside all day.

Leading Off (1/5/09): And We’re Back

Well, kind of. My AirPort has decided, apparently, to take 2009 off. I have about 45 seconds before I will get knocked off again, if the last four days are any guide. So let’s hear some chatter in the comments until I get to D HQ and a working internet connection, and (hopefully) rectify the situation.

Big D NYE Random Gunfire

The AP says that Dallas police got 1,564 calls reporting random celebratory gunfire on New Year’s Eve (and New Year’s Day). Last year, they got only 1,107. My theory: a lot of Tech fans were in town, and they had their guns up. What I’d like to see is a map showing from whence those calls originated. Just curious.