Articles for October, 2009
Denton Approves Gas Drillers’ Plans
Last night Denton approved gas drilling on the Rayzor Ranch site. Long-suffering FrontBurnervians will remember that that’s where a group of determined young neo-hippies-in-search-of-a-protest fought the powers that be.
The Denton City Council comes off looking pretty impotent in the face of the state’s protection of the rights of mineral owners. One resident of the McKenna Park neighborhood summed up the decision pretty well:
“It all comes down to money,” McFarling said. “That, and the fear of being sued.”
LA Times Finds Nothing New To Say, Prints Review of Arts District Anyway, Gets It Wrong
Christopher Hawthorne is a fine architectural critic, so it was nice the bankrupt LA Times scratched up the money for him to look over Dallas’s new AT&T Peformings Arts Center. That he found nothing to add to what has been already been said (by John King here or by Peter Simek here) does not necessarily betray any lack of imaginative critical acumen. His lack of success didn’t keep him, however, for searching for something, anything, to say:
This month’s issue of D Magazine, which is almost entirely dedicated to coverage of the new performing arts center and the larger arts district of which it is a part, is full of sentences like this one about the developer Trammell Crow: “Crow was the first developer to buy into the proposed arts district, and the 90,000 square feet he purchased in the summer of 1978 for about $20 a square foot was worth $125 a square foot within three years.”
Actually, I can’t find another sentence like that in the entire issue, so it is not “full of sentences” like this at all. And by the way, that one sentence appeared in this article we reprinted from 1982 to give readers a perspective on the 25-year struggle to build the arts district . I’m glad Christopher was even able to find it, much less pluck it out. But it’s a long flight home, I suppose, and he did have column inches to fill.
Leading Off (10/7/09)
1. The Tollway is confusing people with conflicting speed-limit signs. Should they drive 50 mph? Sixty-five? Then, of course, there’s the whole question of which way to drive on the Tollway, which has also confused too many people recently.
2. Mack Choice has lived in a cardboard box under I-45 for the past 15 years. At noon today, though, he’s moving into a townhome that was bought with donations. If this movie is anything like Castaway or Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes, Choice will be uncomfortable sleeping in a soft bed, and he’ll set up his cardboard box in his new living room.
3. The Mavs held open auditions for a new PA guy. I can’t tell you how much it tickles me to think of Zac Crain performing that role. If the Mavs were playing well, he’d mumble through his beard and toss off one-liner movie quotes that would have half the stadium laughing and the other half scratching their heads. If the Mavs were failing, between drags on his electronic cigarette, Zac would yell obscenities at the players and coaches. We need to make this happen.
Why Posting Is Light on FrontBurner
I’ve seen the question asked in comments, and it has been posed to me directly via e-mail: why is posting so light? First, you realize this is all free, right? Okay. Well, the other thing is, we are moving. So in addition to doing our jobs this week, we are packing up crap and tossing crap and stealing unwanted crap from each other. In short: it takes time, time we might have otherwise spent blogging.
Tomorrow, we will have a giveaway, your chance to win a small sampling of our crap (some of which is actually desirable). Hang in there.
Dallas Just Lost Its Public Access TV
I think most people would say they’d rather have police protection than public-access TV, but here’s one of the first casualties of the budget-trimming process. Dallas iMedia Network has suspended operations. Full release after the jump.
2009 Neiman Marcus Christmas Book Delivers
Yep, Neiman Marcus is hurting, and they know we’re hurting too. So in this year’s Christmas book, all today’s headlines are saying, they’re offering plenty more affordable options.
Don’t worry, though, if you need a $25,000 cupcake car, they’re there for you also.
If I had $200K to spare, maybe this. But John Lithgow?
How I Helped Destroy a Beautiful Park; Or, An ACL Festival Trip Report
I wasn’t planning on going to this year’s ACL Festival. In fact, I’ve never gone. Apart from SXSW, I’m not a big festival guy. But, as has happened on occasion, Caryn Ganz from RollingStone.com convinced me cover it for her. (I owe her for this, so I have a hard time saying no.) And so, the “not a big festival guy” will end up attending three music festivals in the same city — I’m set for Fun Fun Fun Fest in November — in just over six months. You can find my coverage here, here, and here. After the jump, a couple of photos (not of bands — you can find plenty of others that would be better than faraway iPhone shots), and some bits and pieces that didn’t make it in.
Washingtonian Magazine Borrows a Page out of Our Playbook
What you see here is the October cover of Washingtonian magazine. Is it just me? Does it remind you of our infamous September 2007 cover, the one that got us kicked out of Sprouts, the one that was among our all-time bestsellers? As someone who has “borrowed” a cover concept before from another city magazine, I will say that we are flattered. But two things to keep in mind: 1) People in North Texas have strong feelings about Southlake. There are people who hate it. And there are people who love it. (I would put Southlakers into this latter category.) In contrast to Southlake, I’d wager that there are very few people in the greater Washington, D.C., area who have strong feelings about “this school.” And 2), in my experience, it’s better to have the kids looking at the camera rather than paperwork. Helpfully,
Leading Off (10/6/09)
1. Former Mav Brandon Bass scored seven of his 13 points in the last two minutes of the fourth quarter to help lead the Orlando Magic to victory as the Dallas Mavericks kicked off their preseason schedule against the defending Eastern Conference champs. Related: My yelling at the TV is already in mid-season form.
2. In news that’s important to people other than my fellow MFFLs, Dallas County received its first shipment of H1N1 vaccine. The 700 doses can be administered to anyone between the ages of 2 to 49, with the exception of pregnant women, and people with diabetes or asthma. Maybe next time, they’ll come up with a vaccine that Tim Rogers can actually qualify for. In any way.
3. No good way to segue into this: Accused terrorist Hosam Maher Husein Smadi apparently shot a 7-minute video that he believed would be delivered to Osama Bin Laden. The Rotten Tomatoes page for that video will continue looking like this:
Why not send all these muslim religious in USA, Canada, Mexico, South American and Carribean island back to Middle East where they belong. Enough is ENOUGH!. Muslim goals to take over the world…just like Nazi Germany. You see everywhere all over the world now?
Trinity Audubon Center Plans Anniversary Fest
I was at the dedication of the Trinity River Audubon Center last year. But I’m afraid I haven’t had a chance to get back since, so I can’t speak about anything other than the fact that they’ve got a pretty cool building out there. But it sounds like there will be some fun this weekend at Nature Fest (sponsored in part by People Newspapers):
The Trinity River Audubon Center, which features 120 acres of urban forest and an ecofriendly education building, is getting set to celebrate its one-year anniversary on October 10 and 11 with its inaugural Nature Fest. Opened in October 2008, the center contains interactive exhibits set at different levels to allow children to experience nature up close. Nature Fest 2009 will include workshops on topics such as Nature Deficit Disorder, introduction to kayaking, composting, water conservation and energy conservation. Children will learn how to make nature arts-and-crafts projects, meet Texas wildlife and enjoy face painting and storytelling. Yoga, Tai Chi, guided trail hikes and architecture tours, picnics and a juried art show and sale are some of the activities on the schedule. (more…)
American Airlines Launches Black Networking Site
American Airlines announced today its latest strategy to combat slumping revenues: a social networking site aimed at African-Americans, BlackAtlas.com. The online community’s “travel-expert-at-large” asks: “Do you know where to find Delta Blues in Moscow? How about a Jamaican restaurant in Milan?”
But shouldn’t we travel to escape the bits of culture with which we’re already familiar and to experience something new? Yes, I can see that the idea of listening to the blues in Moscow might sound appealing, but should we be eating Jamaican food in Milan?
Yes, I’m being hypocritical. I once frequented a Mexican restaurant in Budapest.
God Apparently Wasn’t on Don Hill’s Side
The news came down about an hour ago, but I’m just now learning that the jury convicted the City Hall corruption defendants on most counts. My favorite part of the story? The part where, before the verdict, Don Hill said he wasn’t worried, adding: “God’s gonna give us this one.” Pretty sure that sealed his fate.
Leadership Lessons From an Event Gone Wrong
Leaders of all stripes could learn from the epic fiasco that was Saturday night’s Cattle Baron’s Ball at the Star Brand Ranch in Kaufman. (See our SweetCharity blog for a complete report.) First, insiders tell us that–unlike in years past–the organizers had no backup plan for the bash in case it rained, which of course it did, turning the site into a world-class mud hole. Second, experts tell us they advised the ball honchos as early as last Wednesday that, if they proceeded, chaos and confusion would result. For whatever reason the bigwigs ignored the advice and plunged ahead, come hell or high water. It was only due to good samaritans like Web entrepreneurs Joe and Katie Tauscher (pictured) that attendees weren’t sleeping all night in their mud-stuck vehicles. The Tauschers toted four D folks, including yours truly, back to Dallas in their pristine BMW after the D car, like scores of others, got bogged down up to its wheelwells in the soggy pasture. (Joe and Katie had wisely parked on higher ground, foreseeing the fiasco to come.) The lessons to be learned? Listen to the experts when they tell you something–and always have a backup plan in place. And, when all else fails, make fast friends with cooler heads like Joe and Katie.
Leading Off (10/05/09)
1. Chaplaincy of Full Gospel Churches, A Dallas-based religious organization, is being sued by a gentleman who doesn’t like the way they pray. Mikey Weinstein would like Chaplaincy’s leaders to cease asking Jesus “to kill me and my family then wipe away our descendants for 10 generations.” Former U.S. Navy chaplain Gordon Klingenschmitt says that Weinstein is silly — he doesn’t pray for Weinstein’s death. “I pray the psalm that his days are few,” he explains.
2. After watching the Marc Dreier piece on 60 Minutes last night, I was mad. He borrowed $400 million without anyone asking a single question. I ask for $1, and I have to explain questionable choices that date back to 5th grade. Anyway, this story is equally maddening. Ken Weaver didn’t really like his past — he spent some time in jail, didn’t graduate from college, spent some time toiling as a carpenter — so he changed it! He created a brand new past — two degrees! football star! international real estate developer! — and then started Freedom Power, an independent electric company. Apparently no one questioned any of it. Things did not end well.
3. What were you doing at age 24? Recent TCU graduate Adam Blake is running several real estate and investment companies that he started as a sophomore. One of those companies, Atlas Properties, was recently named one of Inc.’s 500 fastest-growing private companies. Oh, and this isn’t a trust fund story. His dad actually lost everything, including his job during the dot-com bust. “That’s what inspired me to become an entrepreneur and not go into corporate America,” Blake says.
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