Josh Venable is an L.A. Star (Or, On One)

Big Bob at Unfair Park just mentioned what I somewhat cryptically hinted at a few weeks ago:  Josh Venable is set to take over the 4-9 p.m. shift for L.A.’s Star 987. (A host or so ago, the shift was manned by Ryan Seacrest.) The station’s still in the Clear Channel family, and recently underwent a format change (or, at least, a format tweak). Weird thing is, since Clear Channel recently brought back the Eagle, and moved some of its on-air talent from the Edge down the FM dial to 97.1, they probably didn’t need to lay him off in the first place. Regardless, I think he’ll do better than fine in his new digs.

(Commenters: Before you get there, yes, this is the last time we speak of this.)

Re: Watch This Show (and Michael Urie)

Jessica, to ID Urie, I think you meant to link to my Q&A with him, from January 2007.

Watch This Show—And Die a Little Inside

So, yeah, this Hollywood writers’ strike thing is rough. My favorite shows are off the air until who knows when. (I miss you desperately, The Office and 30 Rock.) BUT—upside!—what the strike has provided us with is an abundance of insanely amazing reality TV. And by insanely amazing, I mean almost too embarrassing to watch and as painful as a thousand paper cuts with that really thick, manila envelope paper. The best kind.

Tonight marks the latest installment in what I like to call Yes, This Actually Qualifies As “Entertainment”: How Low Can We Go? It’s called Miss America: Reality Check. I smell LOADS of potential here. It features Dallas’ own Michael Urie (enough of an excuse for me to blog about it), who’s desperate enough for work with Ugly Betty on indefinite hiatus to host, and features this year’s 52 Miss America contestants living under the same roof. The premise of the show is to “undo everything they have learned about pageant basics and determine if their smarts, attitudes, and looks hold up in contemporary society … [to] redefine what it takes to be Miss America, a relatable and individual ‘it girl’ who can connect with today’s modern woman.” Awe. Some.

Only problem? These girls are pros—if nothing else, they know how to make themselves look good. For crying out loud, they’ve been doing this since their crazy stage mothers prematurely pushed them to at age 3. The producers are looking for drama, and I’m afraid they’re not going to get it. The girls likely won’t do anything to mess up their chance to be crowned the winner. I mean, come on, it’s not Miss USA. Regardless, set your Tivos for TLC at 9 PM tonight.

F-F-F-Fire in Uptown. (Update: Might be the Loon.) (Nope. Bibbentucker’s)

A window-having FrontBurnervian reports:

Huge fire in uptown, same building as Bibbentuckers - where part of my wardrobe is presently - according to DFD. Any FBers know anything?

Anyone?

Update: A friend-having FrontBurnervian says,

My friend who lives in Uptown just text messaged me it was the Loon!

Oh. No. Bad. Bad.

Update, Update: Looking more like Bibbentucker’s. So reports Merritt Martin. And so looks like from this photo someone sent me (more pictures here):

A New Dallas-Related Reality TV Show That I May Or May Not Have Heard of Before, Because, I’m Sorry, It’s Just Too Hard to Keep Track of Them All

A friendly FrontBurnervian passed along the link to TVLand’s High School Reunion, which will air this March. The premise is to reunite a dozen classmates from the 1987 graduating class at J.J. Pearce for a two-week stint in Hawaii.

Have you ever been to a wine tasting where you actually swallow the samples of wine instead being all Sideways-y and spitting ‘em out? You start to just drink ’cause it’s there, you know? There’s just so much wine to be consumed. Point is, you lose your discerning capabilities. You don’t know if it’s a high-dollar pinot or store-bought swill. I guess what I’m trying to say is: That show looks as though it might actually be watchable.

Re: Decline of American Newspapers

It all began with the disappearance of booze in the newsroom. Dollars to donuts, Young Street is as dry as Mormon wedding.

About the Decline of American Newspapers

If there is but one bright spot of cynical newsrooms and corporate publishers (and the flimsiest of selfish excuses to post about what goes on Sunday, 8pm, on HBO), it is David Simon. As followers know, the co-creator of The Wire is a former beat reporter at the Baltimore Sun. It was there he got the inspiration and storylines for the awesomeness that is The Wire, which starts its final season this Sunday. Fans also no doubt know this season focuses on the media and its failure to cover the blight of urban neighborhoods. Or something like that. Read more about him, it, and (a little bit about) the decline of metro papers in this longish Atlantic profile, “The Angriest Man in Television.”

Why I Won’t Be at the Museum of Nature & Science’s “News” Conference

On Tuesday at 2, the museum will announce the architect of its new digs at a “news” conference. This is a big deal. The facility figures to be another big draw to our resurgent downtown. I’m looking forward to hearing which of the four finalists will get the nod to build the joint. But I won’t be making the trek to the conference. Instead, on Tuesday morning I’ll pick up the morning paper (or, more likely, check it online) and learn everything I need to know. That’s because the Morning News already knows who the architect is. The museum by now has almost certainly told the paper, with the understanding that it embargo the news until Tuesday. That way the reporter has time to research the architect’s background and get the requisite quotes and prepare a story in time for the announcement (actually, ahead of the announcement). I suppose the conference still has value. The TV people need to get their pictures. But I don’t see any reason for a print person to attend.

One Reason I Don’t Live in Highland Park

Sewage problems. Yuck.

Where Does Wick Allison Live?

Jim Schutze took issue yesterday with a little ditty we ran in the January edition of the “print product.” We had a look at where the media types live who influenced the Trinity debate. One address we didn’t include: that of our boss, Wick Allison. Jim said that wasn’t cricket, only he put it this way:

I might even have argued in a story meeting that a dot over Allison’s house on Versaille would have been the most interesting dot on the map — sparking, perhaps, the whole question of why a bunch of rich carpetbaggers who are too good to live in the city think they should be able to run the city. I pose that question academically and as a dispassionate observer, not as an expression of any personal bias.

But leaving him out truly sucks. Even [James] Ragland, who voluntarily lives in Paris, Texas, could make a legitimate beef out of this. You can’t make fun of everybody else in town and then conspicuously cover up your own boss without looking like a big fat wing-flapping pigeon-toed awp-awp-awp CHICKEN!

Schutze has a point. We should have included a dot on the map for Wick. But the reason we left it off wasn’t because we were trying to hide his Highland Park address. It was because including Wick on the map would have meant putting two dots on it for him. While Wick’s legal residence is in HP (which prevents him from voting in Dallas elections), he actually lives in Uptown.

Here’s an updated map. The stars represent Wick.

Sevin Rosen Split

The Dallas- and California-based partners of the venture-capital firm will not be joining forces on their next fund.  John Jaggers, the managing partner here, says it’s not so much a split as it is an “evolution.” More on split/evolution here.

Why I Love America

Because being a complete fool is sure ticket to an appearance on the Today show.

Diversity Training at UTDallas

At least it’s not mandatory. Pegasus News, though, thinks it is kind of creepy.

What’s Wrong With Newspapers?

“We have met the enemy, and it is us.”

Word to the Wise

Of course, big wins last night for Barack Obama (whoop) and Mike Huckabee. In the post-caucus wrap-up, the latter’s campaign manager Chip Saltsman cites one reason among many for his candidate’s success: the man behind the man (in footage of his victory speech, that is).

“You can’t even estimate the Chuck Norris factor.”

That sounds like the first half of a Chuck Norris fact. The second half would read something like: “To do so requires languages that have not been invented yet and numbers too big for this universe.”

Friday Fun

And a happy Friday to you all. Today’s time-waster is a game called Angular Momentum. The point is to steer a ball down a chute, controlling its momentum with the left and right arrow keys. The game starts out as easy and gets more challenging, just as the music starts out as intriguing and then gets annoying. But still, it’s fun. Enjoy.

Leading Off

1. As Trey noted, the greatness of Dallas County DA Craig Watkins was on display again yesterday, as the man who has made DNA testing a priority shook the hand of Charles Allen Chatman, freed after 27 years of wrongful conviction for a rape tests show he could not possibly have committed. Sources say several intelligent design advocates showed up to protest, arguing that, “Science is obviously confused.”

2. Oil fell below $99 a barrel, which caused the rivers to run red.

3. So, a Dallas woman’s pug escapes by digging under the backyard fence (the family has a doggie door). An admitted alcoholic from Tulsa, here on Christmas break, finds the dog, falls for it, takes it back to the Tulsa area and gives it to her daughter (who doesn’t live with her, because of the alcoholism), then writes a letter to the pug’s owner explaining this, saying she’s sorry and hopes they find another pet. She also sends $20. The Dallas woman understands, would be willing to buy the Tulsa woman a dog, but wants her pug back. Um, comments, anyone?