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The New GuideLive.com, Ctd.

Someone from inside the DMN sent me a note from an anonymous e-mail address. The letter reads:

Thank you for your constructive criticism on the newly relaunched site. You raise some genuine issues that we hope will be addressed to your satisfaction in coming months. It concerns us to hear a media professional publicly declare that the Dallas Morning News has “just abandoned all credibility.”

In the spirit of mutual aid, consider the possible credibility impact of your senior editor’s relationship with Dick Washburne, whose business interests she advances in your pages at every opportunity. As long as that remains D’s dirty little secret, all is well. But how long can that last when Nichols links her readers to a web album with a photo set of her Brussels jaunt with Washburne?

It has never been a secret. Yes, Nancy dates Dick Washburne, who is a partner in the M Crowd (Mi Cocina, etc.). Dick is a freelance photographer. His work has appeared in the Robb Report and elsewhere. The two travel together. His photographs have appeared in our pages and on our blogs. Whenever an appearance of a conflict of interest arises, we take great pains to avoid it. She would never review an M Crowd restaurant. When it’s appropriate, we have mentioned Nancy’s connection to Dick in print (as when we did a profile of then M Crowd partner Mico Rodriguez).

P.S. I wrote this myself. I didn’t get it from another website.

See Nancy Nichols as a Geisha

It is just now coming to my attention that our own Nancy Nichols dressed up as a geisha for last night’s Supper Club dinner at Kenichi. She says it took an hour and a half with a makeup artist. Even better, the sushi chef mistook her for one of the hired help and rather forcefully adjusted her kimono before she could get out that she was the magazine’s dining critic. Sorry I missed that. More pics on SideDish.

The New GuideLive.com (Or: A Lesson in Outsourcing)

The DMN’s GuideLive launched a new version of itself today, and we’ve been puzzling over it. Parts of it are elegant and useful. But other parts trouble me greatly — because the site appears mostly outsourced.

The part I like: searching for events is a breeze, very intuitive. And the listings appear to be comprehensive. I enter “Friday” in the “when” field, and, boom, I get lots of useful results. So far, so good.

The problem is where all those events listings come from. You’ll notice that even though the top of the page says “A product of the Dallas Morning News,” your browser tab will display an orange logo with a “Z” in it. That’s because the engine behind the site is something called Zvents. Zvents scrapes the web for stuff and funnels the information to its partners. So on Friday, for example, I was interested in the DSO’s Madama Butterfly listing, about which GuideLive says: “The 2008-2009 season finale will be one for the ages as the DSO premieres the complete opera in concert of Puccini’s incomparable Madama Butterfly.”

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Mickelson Withdraws From Byron Nelson, Wife Has Cancer

Sad news.

Chace Crawford to Star in Remake of Footloose

It’ll be “mature” and “edgy,” apparently. No word, though, on when he plans to star in a remake of this photo:

Curt Sampson Has a Challenge for the Pros at the Byron Nelson

Speaking of the Byron, a curious sight will unfold today on the practice range. Loyal readers of the “print product” are familiar with the name Curt Sampson. He’s a former pro, now a wonderful writer. He has written several stories for us, including a great piece on the old Columbian Country Club for our November 2008 cover story about Jewish culture in Dallas. Curt also writes for Sports Illustrated, under whose auspices he will be approaching players today at the practice range with a proposition: “Think you can hit a Byron Nelson driver made in 1950?” Curt found the old club in his dungeon and hit on the idea (see what I did there?) of seeing what today’s pros can do with it. He’s also bringing along some older golf balls (unlike today’s, they spin more and, hence, slice and hook more). My guess: they’ll still hit em better than I do.

Legislature May Have Snuffed Out Smoking Ban

Looks like a Texas-wide smoking ban isn’t going anywhere this legislative session. Thank goodness, at least some state leaders still have their heads screwed on straight.

Here’s How We’ll Cover the Byron Nelson

As you, of course, know, play at the Byron Nelson begins tomorrow. For some, perhaps the drinking has already begun. Kudos to those who believe in getting an early start. The worm and all that. So how does your favorite commentless blog intend to cover the event? We are dispatching Josh Pearson to Irving. You might remember Josh from such outings as the Byron Nelson media tournament recap. Or perhaps you’ve seen his Dallas Golf Forum (doubtful, since it just launched today). Josh is serious about golf. You’ll find his serious golf coverage over at InsideCorner. If Anthony Kim goes 10 over par in the first round, you can expect that Josh will tell you exactly why, analyzing every aspect of his play, on InsideCorner. If, on the other hand, Anthony Kim wears a belt buckle that looks like it belongs on Batman’s utility belt, you can expect that Josh will tell you about it here, on FrontBurner.

Pictures of hot chicks wearing heels on a golf course? FrontBurner. How Tommy Armour III is putting? InsideCorner. The scene in the Pavilion after play has ended? FrontBurner. Get the picture?

He’ll be blogging from the course a few times during each round, then offering a recap every afternoon. Stay tuned.

Shauna Glenn: My New Favorite Local Writer, Ctd.

Shauna’s OK, Tim. But if we’re talking favorite local “chick” writers, I’m going to up the ante and nominate my fave: Alice Laussade, who writes the funny and informative “Cheap Bastard” column for the Dallas Observer. Check her out. Most weeks, Alice and Schutze are the best reasons to pick that paper up.

Shauna Glenn: My New Favorite Local Writer

You’ll have to ignore the fact that her shift key is apparently broken. Read this blog post about vibrators. This chick from Fort Worth is funny.

Leading Off (5/20/09)

1. People Newspapers’ Josh Hixson is on a roll. He wrote the May cover story for our “print product.” And now the digger has dug up an old sales brochure that gives a glimpse inside the Bush house. The story he wrote for Preston Hollow People has been picked up by the DMN.

2. I hate this story about Cristal Taylor. I hate it because it humanizes her. It’s so much more fun when you can point and laugh and say, “Look at that crazy-ass, gold-digging stripper who surely was bent on ruining Dirk.” Then you read that she was a cocktail waitress, not a stripper. And you learn that she found out she was pregnant when they tested her urine in jail. And the story starts to sound a whole lot more sad than it does fun. Stupid truth.

3. In our special issue on DISD last year, we told you about principal Lucy Hakemack (scroll down), who was given the unenviable task of turning around Spruce High School — in one year. The school was in danger of being shuttered by the TEA on account of its consistently low performance. Well, she’s done it. There’s still plenty of room for improvement, but the school’s TAKS scores improved dramatically, and Spruce is no longer in danger of being closed.