Carl’s Corner Is Not Dead Yet

I drove by the old Carl’s spot recently on the way to Austin and remarked to my co-pilot, “Shame. I remember when Carl opened a topless joint there. A stripper cried on my shoulder because she was afraid she wasn’t going to earn enough money that night to make her car payment. Now the place is kaput.” Not so fast. Willie’s Place at Carl’s Corner is expected to open later this summer. But I’ll believe it when I see it.

Bill Clinton Campaigns In Dallas…To 200 People

Considering Obama’s rally last week at Reunion, isn’t this kind of embarrassing?

“You agree we need more jobs?” Mr. Clinton asked a crowd of about 200 people gathered Tuesday morning near an early voting station at Dallas’ Grauwyler Park, where he campaigned on behalf of his wife.

What A Difference A Week Makes: Obama Leads In Texas

RealClearPolitics.com does an averaging of all polls. On February 14, they showed Clinton at 50.3% vs. Obama at 40% in Texas. Today’s new average shows Clinton at 46.3% vs. Obama at 47.8%. (Scroll down to see the chart.) The bad news for Clinton is that there’s another week to go.

Big Hockey News

The lead says it all: “The Dallas Stars are loading up for a run at the Stanley Cup.” As a casual, bandwagon fan who doesn’t pay attention to hockey until the playoffs start, I say: load up!

RE: Ashley Olsen Visits Dallas

See an unblurred (and smiling) photo of the stylish star in WWD’s report on her visit last week.

The Difference Between California and Texas

Over on BurntOrangeReport.com is an interview with Sergio Bendixen, one of Hillary Clinton’s pollsters, who made this (to me, interesting) observation in discussing the Hispanic vote:

Almost one-half of Hispanics in California are immigrants, compared to only 18% in Texas.

I wonder if that is a result of California’s more generous welfare benefits vs. Texas’ stricter (almost non-existent) policies. Or is it because of California’s need for migratory workers and farm hands? Anyone who knows, please comment.

Tom Hicks: Cover Boy

He receives a “Hall of Fame” designation in an article by Scott Eden [reg. req.] in the current issue. The nut paragraph:

Like an aging athlete who comes out of retirement again and again, the silver-haired dealmaker couldn’t bear to leave the game behind. As Jeff Cogan, president of the Dallas Stars, puts it, “Tom is a sell-your-way-to prosperity guy, not a save-your-way-to-prosperity guy.”

Hicks to Sell Liverpool?

First he was, then he wasn’t. Now it once again looks like he might.

SXSW Comes to Dallas

Once my legs were strong, and my ears were tolerant of much noise. I attended rock-and-roll shows all the time. I slam-danced once. I knew secret places to park for free in Deep Ellum (it was hard to park there back then). Now I am old and have children and do not attend rock-and-roll shows anymore. I attend birthday parties at Pump It Up. I shuttle children to soccer matches. My lower back hurts if I stand for longer than 15 minutes, and my ear drums have grown brittle and sensitive. So I have no use for this fine resource that Erin Rice has put together for Pegasus News. It’s a list of all the bands that are coming through town on their way to or from the big SXSW festival in Austin. I can guarantee that I won’t see a single one of these bands. But it makes me happy just to know that some young person will. And that that young person will see this fine resource and use it.

Get out there, kid. Have fun.

Rick Perry In Black

Aside from the very unTexany outfit he was wearing for his Sunday NYTimes Magazine interview with Deborah Soloman, I thought the governor did a good job promoting On My Honor, his new book about the Boy Scouts.  As an Eagle Scout, I am less concerned about the gay issue than others. But I am just as resentful as Perry of the ACLU’s attempts to force government intrusion into a civic association.

Leading Off

1. American Airlines says the details of how a passenger died on one of its flights were reported incorrectly. The airlines says the passenger was administered oxygen (the tanks were working), and medical professionals on the flight determined she was not in cardiac arrest, therefore she was not shocked with the (working) defibrillator.

2. The Dell Foundation is giving DISD $5 million dollars to create a database that will house student information and make it easier for administrators, teachers, and parents to retrieve and study data related to student and school performance. I’d like to see an examination of how such a program can be used to improve a large school district, perhaps comparing it to school districts with similar systems. I’ll just tune in tonight to my local TV stations and I’m sure such a report will show up.

3. We’ve already passed the number of early voters we had during the 1996 and 2000 primaries, and we have a week left. The reason? We’re excited. By Huckabee. What else could it be?