Articles for January, 2010
An Open Letter to the Bullet Train Financiers
Dear federal government: I understand that you have a “river of cash” to distribute for high speed rail in places not called the “East Coast.” I also understand that Texas’ application “lacks the kind of political support from the governor and the Legislature that would help it compete against other states where that support has been stronger.” I just wanted to let you know that our governor and Legislature can be a little silly. They have all sorts of things on their mind right now – elections, redistricting, cutting the budget “to the bone.” They also have to think about Herb and the eagle. Oh, and Perry is a ranch guy, an Aggie, and rail goes through ranches – so it’s sticky. But, here’s the deal:
Dallas Retail Outlook: Gloomy
Herb Weitzman, the dean of local retail real estate, tried to stay upbeat this morning at his annual review of the state of the market. However, there wasn’t much news for the standing-room only crowd of real estate professionals to cheer about. I found a few interesting items in his team’s presentation, though, which I hereby pass on to you:
Leading Off (1/19/10)
1. Nolan Ryan is apparently “on the verge” of an agreement to buy the Texas Rangers. I’m sure that news makes many Ranger fans “on the verge” of something I’d probably get in trouble for typing. I’d link to whatever Evan Grant wrote about this, but it just hurts too much.
2. Wait — someone found a chupacabra? I always expected it to look, well, not like that. More like Calabos from Clash of Titans, maybe? Eh, I don’t know. It’s probably just another of these.
3. And finally, I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: I see you, big German! Related: today, or sometime soon, we should find out if Dirk was voted in as a starter for the All-Star Game.
(I know: two sports items and only one reference to Clash of the Titans, and it didn’t even involve the phrase “release the Kraken.” Look, you can’t force things. Play it as it lays, I say.)
Belo Bows to Glenn Hunter, Invites Medina
So Debra will take part in the next debate after all. The Belo people just couldn’t resist Glenn’s very cogent argument for reversing the decision to exclude her. And a new Rasmussen Poll showing her gaining 8 points after the first debate probably didn’t hurt either.
Miami Fears North Texas’ Super Bowl Prowess
The North Texas Host Committee has made no secret of the fact that it hopes to so impress the NFL with Super Bowl XLV next year that Cowboys Stadium will join the regular rotation of sites for the NFL championship game, much like Miami and Phoenix have.
South Florida, which is putting on Super Bowl XLIV next month, is making a public show of its fear that Arlington could take most-favored-stadium status with the NFL. The Miami Dolphins are hoping to get taxpayers to fund a $250 million renovation of Dolphins Stadium, and they’re using $1.2 billion JerryWorld to make their case:
NFL and team executives say the renovations would let Dolphin Stadium compete with the fancier football venues that threaten South Florida’s Super Bowl dynasty — including the new $1.2 billion Dallas Cowboys stadium that will host next year’s Super Bowl.
“The reality is with these new stadiums coming online, they’re kind of outshining us,” said Rodney Barreto, a partner in a Coral Gables lobbying firm and chairman of the local Super Bowl Host Committee.
He contends that without a commitment to improve Dolphin Stadium, South Florida will lose its bid to host the Super Bowl in 2014 — a decision the NFL will make this summer.
UT-Dallas Prof Sings of Economic Woe (I Think)
Was casting about the InterWeb for something unrelated today when I came across Nathan Berg. He’s an economics professor at UT-Dallas, a former Fulbright scholar, and a musician who fronts a band called Halliburton(s). He’s been in the news in recent years protesting the Iraq War.
His songwriting has turned its attention to the current economic troubles. I’m not sure which moment I enjoy more in the video for “Right Now” (embedded below): The Wealth of Nations and John Maynard Keynes being read by men at urinals, or when Berg puts a question mark on a “Job Fair” sign. He’s making a profound statement? I report. You decide.
The Briefest Glimpse of Charley Pride
Two days before Martin Luther King Day, country-music icon Charley Pride turned up as the guest of honor at a charity event in Dallas. Pride, the son of a Mississippi sharecropper and one of the few black C&W stars, didn’t want to talk much Saturday night. (The Dallas resident talked a whole lot more back in 2008 with Zac Crain, who wrote a great profile of Pride for D.) When I asked the pioneering singer Saturday what he thought of today’s country music, he said, “It’s a little different from what we did. I’d say it’s about 70 rock, 30 country.” He’s 71 now, and still performing more than 30 dates a year. And his attitude toward race still seems in keeping with the true spirit of Dr. King. “I don’t have no skin hang-ups,” Pride (pictured) once said. “I’m no color. I’m just Charley Pride, the man.” He can say that again.
Stray Dogs: In Between Pet and Wolf
I live in Oak Cliff, so I live with stray dogs. They’ve bitten my car’s tires, lounged on my front porch, escorted me to and from the train station, and followed me and my two-year-old from the park to the in-laws only to then tussle with the in-laws’ dogs for a few hours. (On that occassion, like the DMN’s Courtney Keys, I called 3-1-1, who promised to send someone out within twenty-four to forty-eight hours. Awesome.) The question is: does Oak Cliff’s stray population compare with Moscow, which has 84 stray dogs per square mile? I’d love to see Oak Cliff’s stray-per-mile ratio. For now, I’ll just gnaw on this takeaway from this piece in the Financial Times:
Moscow’s strays sit somewhere between house pets and wolves, says Poyarkov, but are in the early stages of the shift from the domesticated back towards the wild. That said, there seems little chance of reversing this process. It is virtually impossible to domesticate a stray: many cannot stand being confined indoors.
1401 Elm, Anatomy of a Real Estate Deal: Don’t Call B of A?
Peter, interesting you mentioned that. Bank of America occupies the first nine floors of that building, and now they seem to be making a “few boo-boo’s” in the homes they are seizing for foreclosure! (Talk about coming home to dead fish…)
In the Rough, Celtic Tiger Cuts Dallas Shows
Last week we mentioned Irish tenor Van Morrison’s personal troubles with local lady Gigi Lee, his former tour manager. Now we learn via Alan Peppard that Morrison has canceled his two North Texas shows, at the Meyerson and Bass Hall, as press continues to boil over his alleged mishandling of the love that loves to love the love that loves to love the love that loves.
Help Us Determine the Best DJs in Dallas (Now With Fewer Choices)
After the first week of voting, three competitors have been eliminated: DJ WISHFM, DJ Rev, and Guillaume. Two more will be cut this week, and two more the week after that. So, if you have a favorite, click here and vote. You can do so every day, and remember: if you voted last week, that vote now is as meaningless as the Cowboys’ season. In other words, yes, you have to vote again. And again.
The Dallas Art Fair As Seen Via Houston
Local art watchers watch Houston-based Glasstire, which, after winning the Annenberg School for Journalism’s arts journalism summit in 2009, is more than just the most respected art site in Texas. Their run-down of art happenings and exhibitions lined up for Spring 2010 is worth a view, especially if you’re itching for a road trip. Six Dallas-Fort Worth offerings get a nod, with the much-anticipated second Dallas Art Fair leading the pack. There is much to be excited about with this year’s fair, especially the expanded gallery list (welcome to Dallas, Timothy Taylor). But Glasstire notes the sideshow may be as interesting to watch as the fair itself:
While the Dallas Art Fair is still a neonate, it will be interesting to see how the art ecology of Dallas is affected by the fair phenomenon. Will it give rise to creative counter-insurgencies, like the highly praised X-Initiative “No Soul for Sale” Festival of Independents in New York, or the Fountain Art Fair in Miami? You decide.
1401 Elm: Anatomy of a Real Estate Deal
Why does downtown not work? Robert Wilonsky was kind enough to post a link to the offering materials for 1401 Elm Street on Unfair Park this morning, and a quick glance at the financials tells an interesting story about why these things don’t pencil out. For some off-the-cuff, very sketchy deal-penciling, jump.
Want Tickets to Super Bowl XLV? Too Bad.
If you’re planning to camp out days in advance outside the box office when tickets to the Feb. 6, 2011, Super Bowl at Cowboys Stadium go on sale, forget it. They won’t ever “go on sale” in the traditional sense.
Even though you live in North Texas, the region hosting Super Bowl XLV, if you’re an average joe, you’ve got next to no chance of landing tickets for the big game. Sorry.
The NFL controls access to the tickets, and the vast majority of those will be handed over to league sponsors and partners, Super Bowl sponsors and partners, and the Host Committee and its sponsors and partners. Unless you happen to be one of those sponsors, or work in upper management for one of said sponsors, you won’t get inside.
Unless you win this contest from Febreze offering four seats.
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