Articles for November, 2009
A Review of Hilary Swank’s Brinker International Forum Performance
One of our haiku contest winners was kind enough to write the following funny review of Hilary Swank’s gig Monday night. I’m a bit late getting it online, but it’s worth a read:
Leading Off(ish) (11/11/09)
1. Are you feeling “suboptimal” despite the recent “snapback” in the economy? There’s a reason for that. Dallas Fed chief Richard Fisher says when it comes to jobs creation, “We are in for a long slog.” This makes me feel sad.
2. Nationwide, comparing the third quarter to the same period a year ago, home prices are down 11.2 percent. But hang on. In Dallas and Fort Worth, for the first time since the fourth quarter of 2007, home prices have actually gone up — very little, at just .2 percent. Still, though, that’s better than going down, right? This makes me feel happy.
3. Ron White from Euless will compete tomorrow in the three-day World Memory Championships in London. He qualified by becoming the USA Memory Champion after he memorized a 167-digit number in five minutes, among other feats. This makes me feel dumb.
4. Carrie Gehling lost both her legs to diabetes. She needed a kidney. So her pastor at St. Rita Catholic Church, Monsignor Mark Seitz, gave her one of his yesterday. This makes me feel selfish.
5. I’ve established a pattern here that classical joke-writing theory would say needs to be broken for comedic effect. But I can’t figure out how to do it. This makes me finished.
Why California Lags Texas
William Voegeli in this report in City Journal comparing the two states finds that California has a higher revenue per citizen than Texas ($11,160 vs. $7,558) but accomplishes less with the money. On education:
According to a report issued earlier this year by McKinsey & Company, Texas students “are, on average, one to two years of learning ahead of California students of the same age,” though expenditures per public school student are 12 percent higher in California.
What’s the reason for the disparity?
Behind the Scenes at D Magazine
Today has been filled with meetings. Apparently 2010 is right around the corner. We’ve been meeting extensively about this fact. Spreadsheets have been involved. And, in one case, lunch at Stephan Pyles (mini review: food was excellent, service was friendly but uneven). So I was thrilled to stumble upon actual work being done in the hallway, as evidenced by this photo. On the table lay an argyle sock. Spider Monkey had her lens trained on it. D Home art director Jamie Laubhan-Oliver was ministering to the sock, fluffing it just so. An actual editorial magazine shoot! Something that would produce an image that would be printed on a real, live magazine page! (As opposed to all this worrying about 2010, which, as far as I can tell, mainly produces receipts from Stephan Pyles and more data on Wick’s ADD-shortened tolerance for meetings.) I congratulated my co-workers on their fine work. Then I unfocused Spider Monkey’s camera, flattened the sock, and stormed off to another meeting.
Update: Spider Monkey tells me the picture of the sock was “scrapped.”
How Much Money Will Super Bowl XLV Bring?
I was a little confused in reading today’s Dallas Morning News story wherein Super Bowl XLV Host Committee CEO Bill Lively says the North Texas game will have a record impact, but declined to give a figure.
Lively gave us a figure just a few weeks ago: About $500 million.
Granted, the host committee hasn’t yet released any findings of the official economic impact study that it commissioned. So Lively’s number is probably just him doing what he needs to do at this point: boost expectations. He’s optimistic that North Texas will come in higher than the record take for Arizona in 2008.
Of course some sports economists cast doubt on any estimates in the hundreds of millions of dollars.
Tourist Blogger Hates Dallas Tollways
Some fellow in Northern California has a blog about personal finance called Lazy Man and Money. He recently took a trip to Dallas (and Fort Worth, and Longview.) Among his predictable recommendations (the Sixth Floor Museum, the Stockyards, Dublin Dr Pepper) and stranger picks ( Gator’s Croc and Roc?) comes a complaint about our system of tollways. But it sounds like some rental car company is trying to scam poor out-of-towners:
When picked up our car rental, the place tried to see us a $32 package of pre-paid tolls. We declined saying that we don’t know what tolls we’ll use, but we’ll pay them as we come across them. The rental place pointed out that there are several highways that no longer take cash. You rack up fines if you don’t have a transponder with the appropriate money in it… and you rack them up fast as each checkpoint is a $25 fine. (more…)
Hal Samples Gallery To Close; Hal Samples Still Open For Business
I’ve been friends with Hal Samples since I wrote this story about him for the Dallas Observer in 2005. I probably get more out of the friendship than he does, because I always leave a conversation with him inspired in some way. Not necessarily by what he’s doing — though that often is the case. It’s just that you can’t talk to him and not start thinking about bigger issues. Maybe it’s in his life, maybe it’s in yours, maybe it’s neither. He makes you engage like few other people I’ve come across.
And now, after two years running his eponymous gallery in Deep Ellum, he’s going back to doing that full time (through video, photo, and simply talking to people). But first, one last show: HOME?, featuring the works of Willie Baronet. It sort of brings this chapter of Hal’s life full circle. For 14 years, Baronet — who formerly ran the MasonBaronet design studio — has bought signs from homeless people, treating them like folk artists instead of ignoring them or tossing some spare change their way. HOME? collect them for the first time, and it’s a fitting last show: an artist interested in helping people who walked away from a successful business to do it. I’m not sure where Hal will turn up again, but I know it will be worth paying attention to.
The show opens tomorrow with a reception tomorrow night from 6-10 p.m. at Hal Samples Gallery, 2814 Main. Proceeds go to The Stewpot.
Ben and Skin Land at 103.3 FM
You can read the full release after the jump, but the headline is pretty self-explanatory. The duo, whose columnar efforts we recognized with a “best” designation in 2008, has gotten a gig with the Worldwide Leader. They will occupy the 6 to 9 p.m. slot. It’ll be good to have them back on the radio. I’ll try to make a point of tuning in at some point. But my sports dial will have a hard time straying from the Ticket. Just saying.
Pro Bowl Changes Affect Super Bowl XLV Planners
Had breakfast this morning with the NFL’s “Super”-Man, Frank Supovitz (pictured). His official title is senior vice president for events, and he’s the man charged with producing the league’s biggest spectacles, including the Super Bowl. He’s in town for a few days with dozens of event planners from the league and its sponsors and partners for what they term “FAM Week.”
That’s short for “FAMiliarization Week.” (Don’t ask why those first three letters are capitalized.) The Super Bowl XLV Host Committee has organized itineraries for these folks to get to know the area, Cowboys Stadium, and a host of other venues available for events in the run-up to the big game in February 2011.
Obviously putting together a Super Bowl is a major challenge. But the NFL’s experiment of changing the timing of the Pro Bowl will throw some additional hurdles into the process. Couple that with North Texas never having hosted before, and Super Bowl XLV will put Supovitz and his staff to an unusual test. (more…)
Rick Perry for President?
That’s the general idea, theorizes the great Paul Burka.
Leading Off (11/10/09)
1. “Jesus Finds Missing Donkey.” You’d read the pants off that story, right? Okay, it doesn’t live up to the headline, but still, everyone likes a heartwarming story about a lost pet finding its way home. Everyone except Tim Rogers, who is a robot.
2. The city’s newly passed ethics measures have caused me to put some of my schemes on the backburner, but I’ll bounce back, just like any supervillain worth his salt would. I may use this as a chance to widen my scope a bit, stop messing around with plans for world domination that key on local zoning issues.
3. “Maybe we’re fixing to have something really good come out of this,” said Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston, during a committee hearing about the Texas Forensic Science Commission. “There is a real possibility that we could come out with a more effective and stronger commission.” “GREAT timing,” said the ghost of Cameron Todd Willingham.
Does the Health-Care Bill Undo Texas Tort Reform?
David Frum thinks so, citing Section 2531(4)b of the bill. This is one of many provisions that cannot be allowed to make it through the Senate. That brings us to an interesting point: what’s the best strategy for eliminating it?
The Republicans seem to be intent on stonewalling, as they did in the House. The danger is that the Democrats only need to peel off one or two votes to get their 60 supermajority. If that happens, all we can do is hope that tort reform is a bargaining chip. But with so many giant flaws in the House version to be fixed, the senator peeling off (hello, Olympia Snowe) could — and does — have other priorities. But what if 5 or so Republicans said, we’ll vote for your bill if you change these 10, 15, or 20 things — and they were serious, not just posturing (as Republicans tend to do).
They’d get what they wanted. Section 2541(4)b would be history.
RadioShack in Dallas to Carry IPhone
Is that a big deal? I guess for RadioShack it is.
Hilary Swank Haiku Winners
The judges had a difficult task picking the three best haikus. Your winners:
Alex:
Two Oscars are fine,
but The Next Karate Kid
is her greatest role.
Meghan:
H. Swank in my dreams
Considering a big switch
To the other team
Suzanne Calvin:
Who could pillory
Miss Hilary for suavely
Redefining “swank?”
Larry North Out of Highland Park Village
There was talk earlier this year that the new ownership wasn’t going to keep Larry North Fitness in Highland Park Village, but then they announced they were staying. But not so fast. A law-practicing and former-co-worker-of-mine FrontBurnervian passes along this e-mail that he received today:
After 20 wonderful years in Highland Park Village, it is with great sadness and regret that I inform you, in spite of all our efforts to keep the Highland Park club open, we are forced to close our doors December 1st. I want to thank all of the members and staff for continuing to believe in me and remaining so loyal to Larry North Fitness. The decision to close the doors at Highland Park has been the most difficult business decision in my life. As many of you know, many changes have happened in the Village during the past year and there have been circumstances beyond our control. We leave this location with many fond memories and the knowledge that we have helped thousands of people over the years become healthier and happier. Most of all, I am thankful for the incredible relationships that have evolved from this very special place. (more…)
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