Articles for April 20th, 2009

Does An Aging Population Spell The End Of Suburbia?

Matt Yglesias highlights one trend, aging,  to posit another trend, a return to urbanism. From what he says, I doubt if he has ever been to Frisco, McKinney, or Southlake. He certainly never has had to drive kids to the only great soccer fields around, which are in Plano.  However, I did note two interesting comments. One makes the point that some suburbs are becoming self-contained urban centers in themselves, and if the urban trend is true, it will take place in pods like those as well as in core cities. The other notes that aging suburbs are already being infilled by the poor, which is a trend we are seeing here.

posted by Wick Allison | April 20th, 2009 5:44pm | filed under Local News | 11 Comments »

Show You Should Check Out Tomorrow Night: Tommy Keene @ The Cavern

tk_mg_2118-2I have two recommendations for you: 1) go see Tommy Keene at The Cavern tomorrow night, and 2) show up early, buy him a drink, and hope he rewards you with some stories. Because he has some great ones. (That tends to happen when you spend three decades in the music business, back up Paul Westerberg and Robert Pollard, record with Peter Buck, and generally know everyone worth knowing that sprang out of the college/indie rock world in the 1980s and ’90s.) Even if he’s not in a talkative mood, the show is worth your dime. Keene writes the best kind of power-pop songs, the sort that stick in your head immediately but don’t get old after the 10th listen.

posted by Zac Crain | April 20th, 2009 3:38pm | filed under Music |

An Open Letter to Matt Moss at N3L Optics

Dear Mr. Matt Moss: Today I received not one, but two FedEx packages from you. Both were sent standard overnight from your Lake Forest, California, location. Each package contained the same promotional materials, informing me of the new N3L Optics store soon to open in NorthPark. Each package contained the same press release, wherein N3L Optics senior VP Kendra Reichenau was quoted as saying, “N3L is committed to educating each customer on the benefits of performance optics.” Each package extolled the greatness of N3L’s “smart mirror” and its “Newton immersive display” and its “custom fit station.”

Here’s the thing, Mr. Moss. And I’m betting you can see where I’m headed with this. I don’t care.

In the future, try the good folks at ShopTalk. Pick one person. Say, Sarah Eveans. Or Stephanie Quadri. But pick just one. And then send the FedEx to her, maybe with a personal note. Just a quick one. “Hey, Steph, I saw that post you put up about Jellies. I used to wear those, too! Check out our sunglasses!” Something like that.

Helpfully, Tim

beforeafter

posted by Tim Rogers | April 20th, 2009 12:54pm | filed under Advertising, Shopping | 45 Comments »

New Nasher Director Jeremy Strick’s $$ Problems

Strick has a complicated financial relationship with the Museum of Modern Art in LA, where he was dismissed as director in December. DMN reporter Brooks Egerton now reports that he hasn’t repaid a loan extended to him by the museum so that he could buy a house in LA. The LA market was soaring when he was hired, and museum directors are hard to find. So I am unsurprised that the museum extended a loan, and that with the collapse of the market he has been unable to repay it. However, it does tend to remind us of the severe financial difficulties the LA museum ran into during Strick’s tenture.

posted by Wick Allison | April 20th, 2009 12:25pm | filed under Arts | 1 Comment »

Dallas, We Have A Real Pastrami Sandwich: Roaster’s New York Deli & Bagels

Jump for the love of new deli.

posted by Nancy Nichols | April 20th, 2009 11:00am | filed under Dining | 5 Comments »

Exxon Mobil Tops Fortune 500 List

North Texas now is home to 25 Fortune 500 companies, according to the mag’s 2009 rankings. Congrats especially to the new No. 1: Irving-based Exxon Mobil. It’s an outfit that proves repeatedly that doing what you do well pays off big-time.

posted by Glenn Hunter | April 20th, 2009 10:56am | filed under Business, Local News | 9 Comments »

Leading Off (4/20/09)

1. Guess who isn’t as rich as they used to be? Local rich folks. Well, except for the Hunts and Tim Headington; they cashed out at the right time. In related news: I found a $20 in a jacket I haven’t worn in a long time, so I think I can eat lunch this week.

2. GM is cutting 1,600 jobs in the next few days, which might impact workers at its Arlington plant. And even that probably won’t stop the automaker from going into Chapter 11 to try to reverse its decline. The only good news for GM? My car — with its window held together with packing tape and an old picture frame, the windshield smashed in two places, the engine that sounds like a five-pack-a-day smoker climbing stairs, and the interior that looks like I live in there full-time — is not made by GM.

3. And finally, if you’re feeling bummed out by the GM news, or maybe you’re one of those rich people who have been kicked in the jeans, read this Steve Blow column. Oh, it’s not about the global economic crisis. It’s about losing something more precious than money: corny, archaic sayings.

posted by Zac Crain | April 20th, 2009 8:20am | filed under Local News | 38 Comments »