The Old 97’s play Bass Hall August 21, and frontman Rhett Miller did an interview with CNN yesterday. That’s excuse enough for me to repost this very funny scatological story told by guitarist Ken Bethea about a romantic interlude interrupted by the call of nature.
The company found that people in Galveston didn’t like the idea of Sun Chip Park. Again, I hope this doesn’t scuttle my proposal that, in return for $1 million, the Plano-based tasty-treat creators will allow me to brand my car Classic Lay’s Sweet Ride.
Have you been following along with our book club? We’re reading Wonderful World by Javier Calvo. It’s a Pulp Fiction-esque narrative full of sex, lawlessness, and shady characters you hate to love. Read what it’s all about.
Mayor Leppert took a turn Monday on Fox Business to talk about the need to get federal stimulus money flowing in Dallas and other big cities. He is getting much better at these gigs. A solid performance. He came across as very mayoral. But watch the smile on his face when he’s asked at the end of the interview whether he plans to run for Kay Bailey Hutchison’s seat.
Do you yearn for great Italian food in Dallas? I’ve put together a truly Tuscan meal at Nonna you will never find again after September 17. But you’ll have to jump for the menu.
1. The new Boy Scout Handbook, its 12th edition, teaches Scouts how to use the Internet safely. Presumably this means, among other things, learning to clear the cache of your web browser after using a shared computer to visit certain sites that are sometimes helpful when it comes to tying knots. (What? What did you think I was going to say?)
2. Kudos to Deputy Chief Rick Watson, commander of the DPD’s southwest patrol division, for employing the word “knucklehead” in describing the perps who vandalized some cars and a playground in Oak Cliff. Sir, if this vandalism continues, I challenge you to get the following words into print: blockhead, chowderhead, nincompoop, dingbat, and perry-brained.
3. Farmers Branch continues its war on apartments. A fact!
I was filing some CDs the other day and came across 2001’s Tunin Up & Cosignin, the second record by local soul singer (and former Erykah Badu backup singer) N’dambi. Hadn’t really thought about her too much lately, but I seemed to recall she had signed with the reborn Stax Records, the legendary Memphis R&B label. And then, today — just now, in fact — I get an e-mail saying that N’dambi’s next album, Pink Elephant, hits stores on October 6, on Stax. So add that to your shopping list. Release after the jump.
Fundraising guru Bill Lively has some words of warning for DFW nonprofit groups. Just resting on your laurels as do-gooders, the message goes, ain’t gonna cut it anymore. Organizations that depend on a spirit of entitlement–’We are noble, we deserve, they should give’–”will fail, and probably should fail,” Lively says. “It’s a new world, and if you don’t have accountability and efficiency, you can’t defend your position.” Lively, who’s raised big bucks for everything from the Dallas Center for the Performing Arts to Super Bowl XLV, makes the comments in a frank Q&A in the new issue of D CEO magazine.
WFAA’s Brett Shipp asked that question in this February report.
The headline of this Associated Press piece seems to answer that: “New Dallas Cowboys stadium 95 percent sold out.”
A former-co-working FBvian sends along this:
Not only is he extremely generous, he is by far the best professor I had at UTA. He’s insightful, intelligent, unbiased, interesting and hilarious….all the qualities you could ask for in a professor. He just made class a pleasure to go to. I was lucky enough to have him twice and my husband took him for a class at TCC at my insistence!
I laugh every time I see his name on something because his generosity knows no bounds. He even sponsored the opening of the Ross store in Lincoln Square (Arlington) of all things! There is a little plaque at the check out stand in his honor. He really deserves the accolades!
And the legend continues. Related: is anyone else getting just a little bit tired of this man’s grandstanding?
At least that’s Greenpeace’s take on the end of its apparently successful Kleercut campaign against Irving-based Kimberly-Clark, which produces Kleenex, Huggies, Cottonelle, and Depend, among other brands.
The company announced last week that it’s going to increase the amount of “tissue fiber” it uses that’s recycled or Forest Stewardship Council-certified by 40 percent by 2011. And it won’t continue to use fiber from the Canadian Boreal Forest that isn’t FSC-certified.
This is great news for Wick. It should cut down on visual pollution along 183.
Allan Saxe, 70, is a professor at UT-Arlington and Tarrant County College. But you could say — and I would, after reading this Star-Telegram profile — his real occupation is giving. He inherited $500,000 from his mother. He gave it all away. Same with his Social Security checks. And last year, another $84,450 — more than half his salary.
In return, his name appears on…
Allan Saxe Park, the Allan Saxe Parkway, the Allan Saxe Dental Clinic, and, at the University of Texas at Arlington, Allan Saxe (softball) Field, not to mention the Allan Saxe pencil sharpeners in University Hall.
But, of course, that’s not why he does it:
“I enjoy it. I really enjoy it. All of this is philosophically driven. There’s no tax motivation,” Saxe says, referring to statutes that allow people to deduct donations from their income taxes. “If the tax law changed tomorrow … I would still do the same thing.”
This isn’t a post about a new trend being chronicled on the front page of a major newspaper — at least I hope it’s not a trend — but my personal cautionary tale about looking for a new vehicle using the “cash for clunkers” government rebate and dealing with a sleazy car dealership. (more…)
Joel Kotkin is one of my favorite urbanists, and here he does a take-down on the usual “best cities” lists such as those recently published by The Economist [sub. req], Monocle, and Mercer. He notes a problem with the criteria: in each, the survey tilts heavily toward compact places in prosperous areas with good mass transit, cultural institutions, with few children and fewer poor people. In other words, the criteria tilt toward the sort of quiet, beautiful places in which the editors would like to retire. He then offers a contrary view:
It seems to me what makes for great cities in history are not measurements of safety, sanitation or homogeneity but economic growth, cultural diversity and social dynamism. A great city, as Rene Descartes wrote of 17th century Amsterdam, should be “an inventory of the possible,” a place of imagination that attracts ambitious migrants, families and entrepreneurs. Such places are aspirational – they draw people not for a restful visit or elegant repast but to achieve some sort of upward mobility.
He then goes on to give as examples Los Angeles, Shanghai, Mumbai, and… Houston.
Joel, we’ve got to talk.
About two months ago, I called Shauna Glenn my new favorite writer. I’m a sucker for funny stories about marital aids. What can I say? (And to set the record straight, as I had to with Shauna at a recent Dallas Press Club happy hour, she is not my favorite writer, period. Even though she let me have one of her cheese fries. No, she was my new favorite writer back in May. I’m fickle and have moved on. Shauna and I are working through this difficult period in our relationship.) In any case, if you are similarly entertained by people who write saucy things, you ought to stop by Legacy Books tomorrow at 7 p.m., when Shauna will read from her book Heaping Spoonful.