Articles for July 15th, 2009
@JonahHill_Jew Was Actually a Guy Named John From Arlington
And his exploits using the fake Twitter account — and possible damage to the real Jonah Hill’s career — have now been immortalized in an anecdote on Letterman:
You can read how the whole thing went down straight from John from Arlington himself, or via Movieline’s more objective take on it. (Both links have a bit of NFSW language, so people with sensitive eyes and sensibilities, beware.)
7-Eleven (With Cigarettes) Launches Major Expansion
A crash in commercial real estate is a good opportunity to grab some desirable retail locations. The NYTimes today tells exactly how and where 7-Eleven is doing just that.
Irving to Get New City Council, Courtesy of a Federal Judge
Yesterday, a federal judge ordered Irving to adopt a single-member system and to redraw district lines. This will make Manuel Benavidez happy, since he filed suit claiming the city was in violation of the Voting Rights Act and boxing out the Hispanic community.
Based on the issues involved, and the fact that the federal judge is named Jorge Solis, I’m sure the resulting dialogue will be nothing but productive.
7-Eleven Thieves Don’t Know Cigarettes Are Bad For You
The tag-team action at the Oak Lawn store starts at about the 1:40 mark.
Dallas Dogged in Wall Street Journal, Ctd.
Rod Davis wrote in to remind me that he’d reported in his story for us that Dallas, in fact, is not a water hog. From the story:
Nobody quarrels with the need to conserve. And nobody honest would dispute that North Texans have little sense of the worth of their water. But to be fair, Dallas is wrongly tagged as a water hog. The city’s use of 198 gallons per capita daily (gpcd) is down from 260 gpcd in 1998. If residential is separated from commercial use, it’s only about 100 gcpd, according to DWU estimates. Dallas thus compares increasingly favorably to San Antonio’s 132 gcpd and El Paso’s 140—both dramatically lowered in recent years, too. El Paso most dramatically lowered its usage after major public education initiatives from the city water utility and giveaways such as low-flow shower heads and toilets.
It’s an important clarification.
Number Of Millionaire Households In Dallas Dropped Last Year, Research Firm Says
It’s “official”: the number of rich people in Dallas went down last year. According to a San Diego-based market-research firm called Claritas, Dallas had 83,594 millionaire households in ‘08–1.4 percent fewer than the year before. But, here’s the silver lining: Claritas says the number of millionaire households here will increase by a whopping 31 percent in the next five years. Meantime, Houston’s millionaire households (73,601 now, up 2.3 percent from ‘07) are expected to grow 33 percent in five years. Good luck with all that.
R.I.P., George Toomer
We’ve learned that the Dallas illustrator and bon vivant died over the weekend. He struggled with a host of maladies and died in his sleep. He not only appeared on our cover in December 1992 (shown here), but he filled the pages of D Magazine for many years with dining reviews, illustrations, and anything that required a certain wild-ass, subversive approach that only George Toomer could pull off. He’ll be missed.
I’m going to open comments so that those who knew him can say a few words, if they’re so inclined. At some point, his son George Jr. will likely enjoy reading them.
Evan Grant Has A Bad Morning, Blames Everyone But Himself
Norm Hitzges is doing The Ticket’s morning show this week, and Evan was on it, although he was a little late. When he finally got on the air, he made a remark that his hard-working blog techies did not like:
I was supposed to be on with Norm Hitzges this morning at 7:55. I have no air conditioning in my house, so I attempted to sleep at Nancy’s last night, but couldn’t sleep so came back to my sweltering house to pace on my own.
My phone in my bedroom was unplugged by my maid. Also, unrelated, my maid washed, yes, washed my remote for my TV. And the motor on my car window broke so that I couldn’t roll it up.
I missed Norm’s call because I couldn’t hear the phone in the other room as I was in deep sleep. When I looked at the clock, I saw I had missed it. Called the radio station and on the air I said: “It’s been a bad week for me and technology.”
Technology? The air-conditioning? The phone? The maid? The remote? The car window? Clever, Evan. Very, very clever.
Need A Loan? Borrow From Your Local Politician
Harvey Kronberg reports today that Greg Abbott has $9.377 million cash on hand. That puts him ahead of Rick Perry, who reports $9.3 million cash on hand. But both are topped by Kay Bailey Hutchison, with $12.5 million on hand (Hutchison and Perry raised $10 million in the last six months; so much for the recession). And that doesn’t include all the lesser state offices or the Senatorial campaign when Hutchison officially resigns.
NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert with Bill Callahan (and Kris Youmans)
Click here and you will find a three-song set from Bill Callahan (formerly known by the nom de rock Smog). It’s part of a series NPR calls Tiny Desk Concerts, wherein a band performs at All Songs Considered host Bob Boilen’s tiny (or, at least, cluttered) desk. If the guy behind Callahan playing cello looks familiar, you’re onto something: it’s Kris Youmans, part of the backing band on the just-wrapped tour and, among other things, a booker at the Granada Theater and a member of Sarah Jaffe’s band. Enjoy.
Dallas Dogged in Wall Street Journal by “Water Hog” Label
I’m reading this story about how North Texas needs more water. About how we’ve got about 6 million residents right now, but come 2060, we’ll have more than 13 million. About how we’re looking around to dam up some rivers to accommodate all those new residents (and their lawns). About how the people on those rivers don’t particularly cotton to our scheming. And I’m thinking: gee, this sounds familiar.
Here’s looking at you, Rod Davis.
Art Conspiracy Sets Date For Its SEED Fundraiser
It’s a fundraiser for a fundraiser, which sounds weird, but it makes sense if you think about it a little bit.
Here are the details: It’s going down August 7 at Sons of Hermann Hall in Deep Ellum. They’ll be auctioning off more than 20 lanterns created out of coffee tins by local artists, as well as a historical tour of old Oak Cliff led by Jason Roberts, and a farmer’s market tour (followed by dinner) with Parigi chef Chad Houser and owner Janice Provost. Also: there will be performances by Airline, True Widow, and Glen Farris in between the auction. And all proceeds will help fund the large-scale benefit Art Conspiracy hosts in December that will raise funds for Resolana, which puts together art classes for female inmates at Dallas County Jail and Dawson State Jail (this year’s Diorama-O-Rama also sent money to the organization). It costs $7 to get in, and opening bid for the lanterns is $20.
Dennis McClain Is Back In The Saddle At TM Advertising
TM’s original name, for those of you not intimately aware of the Dallas advertising scene, was Temerlin McClain. TM President Tom Hansen just took over the top spot at Heelys, so founder McClain has jumped back in to run the agency.
I love it when old guys (like me) come back to the companies they started. I also love it when a Dallas CEO like Hansen moves to another Dallas company (it keeps the talent in town), although Hansen may find that by moving from advertising to skate shoes, he has moved from the frying pan into the fire.
American Airlines Parent Loses $390 Million In 2nd Quarter
AMR blames swine flu (among other factors) for the steep revenue drop. After a second quarter like that, the company really needs to regroup at halftime. (Sorry, so sorry. Couldn’t resist.)
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