Articles for November 20th, 2009
“City Lights” Tonight Downtown
The rain is supposed to stop. But wear your Wellies. The festivities start at 6:30 at Neiman Marcus and end up at the new and very sloshy Main Street Park.
In the lobby of the Merc as you walk by, you’ll see this very cool construction by UNT design students. (In real life, it does not tilt. Only in my photo does it tilt. )This not-really- leaning tower of children’s books will be distributed during the Christmas season.
Notes From the Museum of Nature & Science Shindig Last Night
If you’ve seen the two large white tents just north of Woodall Rodgers, on the edge of Victory, and wondered what they were for, it wasn’t the circus. The tents were erected to accommodate the groundbreaking for the MNS’ new building and to host last night’s big gala fundraiser. How’d it go, you ask? Check out Sweet Charity’s report. The only details that I’d add to her dispatch are these:
The missus and I were seated at dinner with a bunch of Hillwood guys. It was loud in that tent. But not so loud that they couldn’t hear me when I broke the ice by asking, “So what’s the deal, anyway, with Victory? You guys defaulted to the Germans, right?” One tablemate was kind enough to tell me all about the current state of affairs at Victory, but his comments were off the record. (Jealous?) Finally, Kent Rathbun catered. If I’m not mistaken, he’s lost weight. Looking good. And the short ribs were scrumptious.
Lost JFK Tapes to Air on the Radio This Weekend
To commemorate the 46th anniversary of the assassination, this Sunday KMNY 1360 AM will air lost recordings that were made that day. The details:
The lost JFK assassination recordings from the old KXOL-1360AM in Fort Worth will play this Sunday night, November 22, over KMNY-1360AM from 6PM-7PM as a special presentation of “The Hi-Fi Club” radio show, commemorating the 46th anniversary of the event. These recordings, made by KXOL-AM reporter and former KXAS-TV news anchor Russ Bloxom and his former wife, Sanda, mainly cover the late afternoon, evening and nighttime coverage of the assassination, and extend through Lee Harvey Oswald’s murder two days later. Condensed to a one-hour presentation, the tapes showcase the non-network affiliated KXOL and its worthwhile effort to cover the tragedy locally and on the scene. Listeners will hear North Texas radio notables Russ Bloxom, Roy Eaton, Bruce Neal and others as they report the events in November, 1963.
The program will also stream on the internet at www.thehificlub.net, and can also be heard this weekend over KPIR-1420AM in Granbury, KLDE-104.9FM in San Angelo, and on the North Texas Radio for the Blind. Check www.thehificlub.net/affiliates.html for days and times. A podcast of the recordings will be posted to the “Hi-Fi Club” website by November 25.
Chief David Kunkle Hearts Eric Celeste
Remember when Eric Celeste used to work here? Those were good times, eh? That was back when he was a journalist and did journalism. Now, as we’ve reported in this space, he’s a finger-gun-shooting salesman. So it took me down memory lane when a FrontBurnervian passed along a link to an Unfair Park story about Chief David Kunkle’s retirement, in which he said:
“One thing I was going to tell the media, to give them tomorrow, by the way, is the article in the September 2004 of the Observer written by Eric Celeste. Because a lot of the people who cover us don’t understand the history and environment I came into in 2004. That article does a good job talking about internal politics and external issues affecting the department.”
It pains me to post this.
An Oral History of the Decade of Dirk: Deleted Scenes
In case a 7,000-word-plus oral history of Dirk Nowitzki wasn’t enough for you, after the jump, a few more quotes from the Big German that I couldn’t work into the piece.
Jeff Whittington to Work Blue Tonight?
As has been mentioned in this space previously, there are two Jeff Whittingtons. There is the one who produces the show Think on KERA and who hosts the call-in show Everything You Didn’t Ever Ask Glenn Mitchell. This Jeff is mild-mannered, polite. Then there is the foul-mouthed, gun-slinging Jeff that has been known to make remarks so patently crude and offensive that they’ve cleared out barrooms.
Which one will show up tonight to emcee the premiere installment of the DMA’s “State of the Arts” discussion series? Hint: his interlocutors will be Veletta Lill and Ann Williams.
Why Ross Perot Has the President in His Hip Pocket
Speaking here yesterday, FOX political analyst Brit Hume credited Dallas’ Ross Perot Sr.–he called him the “little guy” with the charts–for first focusing public attention on federal budget deficits during Perot’s run for the presidency in 1992. Back then the annual deficit was around $250 billion; today’s it’s upwards of $1.6 trillion. So, when we bumped into the billionaire businessman at last night’s bash for the Museum of Nature & Science, we asked if he sees any hope for getting the current deficit under control. “Not right now, because they’re printing money left and right,” Perot replied. “I thought our numbers were bad [in '92], but the ones today are makin’ our numbers look good.” Then, with a flourish, he pulled a crisp new bill out of his wallet and held it up, grinning. It had President Obama’s picture in the middle and the inscription, “One Trillion Dollars.” [FB commenter "Parker," I did this one especially for you.]
Tom Hicks Maneuvering to Keep Rangers
Randy Galloway doesn’t think that’s a good thing. According to Galloway, neither does the Ranger staff:
“I work for Tom, I wanted Tom to be successful at this, but, frankly, we can’t sell Tom,” said one. “Our fans, for the most part, will not buy Tom. And our former season-ticket holders, and we’d lost a lot of those because of Mr. Hicks, will not come back if Tom is still the owner.”
Really? That’s the problem in selling tickets? The owner?
Leading Off (11/20/09): Patently Unfair Media Criticism Edition
1. The Dallas Observer’s Sam Merten nearly derailed the entire City Hall corruption case.
2. Some people would say that the appearance of the word “some” in a headline is a sure sign of a newspaper covering for a thin local angle on a national story.
3. If a fire breaks out in east Fort Worth, and NBC5 isn’t there to provide “team coverage,” does anybody care?
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