Articles for March, 2009
What Did He Know And When Did He Know It
The great Michael Lindenberger’s exegesis yesterday of Tom Leppert’s statements in the 2007 campaign for the Trinity toll way shows a newly elected mayor putting a positive spin on the Army Corps of Engineers’ levee concerns. Leppert’s gung-ho, “get-the-dirt-flyin” optimism in the face of the Corps’ Delphic pronouncements can be read either generously or conspiratorially. Angela Hunt takes the former tack:
“The mayor is a salesman,” Hunt said. “I was there, telling him the corps had not approved this thing. He knew that what he was saying was not accurate. But I think he believed he could make it accurate, given some time. He sincerely believed this project would win approval and that, a year down the road, everything would be just fine.”
What neither of them knew was that sand would be discovered in the levee base. Nor did either of them know that enginering studies would determine that water seepage from the bridge piers could undermine the levees. Even though the Federal Highway Administration continues to support the project — and says these problems can be fixed — what the rest of us are beginning to figure out is that the cost of fixing them will cause the costs of the toll way option to skyrocket. For now, all we can do is wait for engineering studies to tell us by how much and whether the FHA is willing to foot the bill. Meanwhle, how is that Plan B coming?
Leading Off (3/23/09)
1. Jenny the Elephant’s new home — a 10-acre African Savanna attraction at the Dallas Zoo — will be ready by next spring. But since it’s still at the Dallas Zoo, Mayor Leppert should expect a sternly worded letter of rebuke from Lily Tomlin any day now.
2. Howard Johnson, the first black homicide detective for the DPD, retired. And since he did nothing to get Jenny the Elephant moved from the Dallas Zoo, he should expect a caustic e-mail from Lily Tomlin in the next week or so.
3. There’s going to be hail and wind and a bunch of other weather over the next couple of days, so be careful. Mother Nature, look for a wry text from Lily Tomlin for ruining Jenny the Elephant’s day.
SXSW: Day 4
I promise I will sort this all out with a (semi-) comprehensive update Sunday or Monday. (Read: Tuesday, or never.) But I’ll go ahead and list what I saw tonight right now. I’m not nearly as over-served as last night, and yet, I doubt this will make any more sense.
- White Lies: from London, Eng-uh-lund, sort of dance-y; pretty good.
- Iran: boozy pop; bar band in the vein of Guided by Voices, though they end up in a slightly different location.
- Daniel Francis Doyle: looks like your company’s IT guy (but not our company’s IT guy). He played drums and a sampler (with his foot) and sang through a Madonna mike. Felt like I was spying on him in his bedroom.
- Magic Kids: from Memphis, third show ever. Trivia: have a Lou Christie cover band called the Loose Christies — and don’t play Christie’s only real hit, “Lightning Strikes.”
- Matthew and the Arrogant Sea: from here. Ish. Found them kind of “eh.”
- Immaculate Machine: liked them better when the young lady from the New Pornographers was still in the band.
- LA Riots: kind of a curveball for me. Sort of a hard house DJ. Enjoyed it for what it was, and still love his remixes.
- Hot Leg: new band from fella from the Darkness. Was wearing what appeared to be a tight studded leather jumpsuit. That pretty much describes the music as well.
- Bosque Brown: “She’s intense,” said some dude after. Agreed.
- Youth Group: Really good. I’m a sucker for their kind — big melodies extremely solidly played. Australian. But probably not the kind the Flight of the Conchords are scared of.
- Spinto Band: See above, but erase “Australian” and all the stuff after.
- Jack Oblivian: Bluesy punk or garage rock or something in that neighborhood. Solid.
- Waco Brothers: Their drummer disappeared and they were forced to play with someone who had never heard their songs. Jon Langford is one of the few who could make anything out of that.
Probably forgot a thing or two (oh, in the afternoon I saw Graham Coxon — from Blur — and Shearwater. Really good in kind of totally opposite ways). But I’m not going to rack my brain. Not with my couch bed and pillow right here.
SXSW: Day 3
I’m not going to lie to you guys. I’ve had some adult beverages tonight. How many? Let’s just say several and leave it at that. With that in mind, this update is going to be somewhat brief. I’m not going to tell you all I saw today. Just going to hit the highlights. This afternoon, at the Spin party, I saw Glasvegas (good, in a fuzzy, Scottish, our-lead-singer-looks-exactly-like-Joe-Strummer way) and Echo & the Bunnymen (good, in a we-are-Echo-&-the-Bunnymen way). After that I saw I Love You But I’ve Chosen Darkness (totally live up to their genius name), the Paper Chase (rumbling beast of rock), and capped the night off with Primal Scream. They were disheveled, Scottish, possibly drunk, and completely awesome. Just like me. Good night, FBvians. Sleep the sleep of kings/queens.
(Yeah, I skipped Metallica’s “secret” show and Devo. I regret nothing.)
How Dallas Developed, By KERA
A FBvian sends along a website that’s worth pimping:
I came across this webpage today at the KERA website, which features an absolutely terrific tutorial on the development and growth of metropolitan Dallas. I can’t believe that more people do not know about wonderful overview of our city.
Now more do, sir.
Friday Afternoon Relevant Question: Real Dubya, Or No?
Several readers have asked if George Bush really posed for the April cover. What do you think?
Bud Kennedy Helps Me ID Crazy People
One of the many things that Star-Telegram columnist Bud Kenney “gets” is new media. He knows how to write a good column, how to write a good blog post, and how to send good tweets, and how best to exploit each medium. Like this tweet that just showed up on my Facebook page:
Bud Kennedy notes that TX school Chairman McLeroy’s fave author says Obama is “directly linked to Satanic teachings”
Interesting article that further proves (to me, at least) how outer limits nutbar Crazy Legs McLeroy is. Bud Kennedy just made me smarter.
(P.S.: over/under on number of posts before this one turns all bash Obama: four. I take the under.)
Shotgun-wielding Robbers Didn’t Expect Clerk To Return Fire
Come strong to the CC 99 Cent Plus Store, or don’t come at all. [Warning to Trey Garrison: This story will make your gun-loving pants explode right off your body, Benny Hill-style.]
Sewell Taking Infiniti To Cowtown
The DMN caught up today with our Wednesday post about Sewell Automotive snapping up an Infiniti point in Houston. (Though they didn’t name the dealership, for some reason, and said Sewell has a store in New Orleans. Actually, Sewell picked up stakes there a couple of years ago.) But, while we’re on the subject of dealership growth: Industry insiders say Sewell Automotive’s Carl Sewell (pictured) is preparing to open yet another Infiniti store–this one in Fort Worth. Cowtown’s virgin territory for the luxury Japanese brand–Grubbs has a point in Euless–so it will be interesting to see how the titans carve up the territory.
Response To The Economy: ‘Let’s Go Kill Something’
The surprise of this economic downturn is the way it’s slammed the upper end, too. That was all too clear when Richard Baker, CEO of the DFW Luxury Marketing Council, spoke this week to a meeting of the group inside a for-sale “spec” mansion on Beverly Drive. Baker said his dentist told him that one of the dentist’s patients had lost $1 billion in the market recently. “Another guy lost tens of millions,” Baker went on. “He was so angry about it, he said he was going on safari to Africa and kill something!” Even the swanky digs where Baker spoke attested to the struggling economy. Originally priced at $9.75 million, the 11,451-square-foot Spanish-Colonial has been knocked down to just $7.5 mil.
SXSW: Day 2, Part 2
Here’s what I saw last night:
- No Age: Probably my favorite thing. Messy noise collages punctuated by sharp blasts of melodic punk. Or maybe reverse that.
- Baptist Generals: From Denton, but haven’t seen them in years. They set up on a carpet on the floor of the club with no mikes/amplifiers, and managed to get the crowd to shut up and listen. A rarity here.
- Red Red Meat: Reunion of this Chicago Sub Pop band delivered exactly what you’d expect; I expected solid.
- Al Kapone: Kind of an accident; meant to see another band from Memphis, River City Tanlines. But they moved everything back and I ended up here with Kapone, who did a lot of music for Hustle & Flow. Not bad. But I wasn’t really looking to get crunk.
- The Thermals: Other than some minor equipment trouble, they were excellent. Singer looks, and kind of acts, like Stephen Malkmus from Pavement fronting a pop-punk band.
- Fight Bite: More Denton folks. If you haven’t seen them around here, you should. Kind of fog-headed this morning, so I’ll just say they remind me of Twin Peaks.
- Wavves: Went to see these guys again. Still good.
Busy day today. Lots of the big day parties and such.
Leading Off (3/20/09)
1. Information about the cage fights at South Oak Cliff was turned over to the D.A.’s office last year, but the statute of limitations had expired and the office declined to file charges, according to the DMN. Also, Trustees were informed of the incidents, although it was only a one-paragraph mention in a 31-page report.
2. An Atlanta businessman in Fort Worth for business saved a boy from drowning in the Trinity River. This more than makes up for the Hawks beating the Mavs last night.
3. T. Boone Pickens was named Texan of the Year yesterday. I mention this for one reason. I want him to hire me.
SXSW: Day 2, Part 1
Haven’t done a ton so far today. Went through the trade show (the down-economy version — kind of depressing) and Flatstock (the annual poster show; local artist Nevada Hill had a booth). Saw Gary Louris and Mark Olson from the Jayhawks at the New West Records party, and a band from L.A. called Yearbook Pictures that had a kind of Low thing happening. Slow-ish songs, lots of building crescendos, super-cute girl who sings some. Mostly I spent my time with my good friend Bob Mehr from the Commercial Appeal in Memphis, playing out a scenario in which Jay Farrar from Uncle Tupelo/Son Volt joined the Wu-Tang Clan after ODB died and imagining a East Coast/West Coast-style feud between Farrar and Jeff Tweedy. So, still extremely productive. Lots more planned for tonight (see the comments of SXSW: Day 1 for more). And Friday looks to be extremely busy.
In semi-related news: Getting around in this town has gone from mildly frustrating to nigh on impossible. I may never make it home. Tell my family I love them.
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