Articles for February, 2010
Texas Tribune Details Collin County GOP Three-Way Featuring Bikini-Babe Voyeur Video
UPDATED after the jump
The race to replace retiring State Rep. Brian McCall (R-Plano) brings a rare non-wonkish story to The Texas Tribune. Vying for the seat are Plano City Councilwoman Mabrie Jackson, Iraq War veteran Van Taylor, and the leader of a group called the “National Coalition for Defense of American Sovereignty,” a fellow named Wayne Richard. He never paid much attention to state or local politics until 2008, when he started getting angry and later got involved in the North Texas Tea Party. Richard’s bio is where the story gets interesting.
The candidates all have hurdles to overcome. Richard’s is his bio, which doesn’t read like he grew up with a political career in his sights. For starters, there’s FUBIOV — “Forget U Buddy I’m On Vacation” — which he says was the name of a boat he owned decades ago, a name he tried to turn into a brand with “FUBIOV!” t-shirts and www.fubiov.com, a now-defunct travel website. A web video advertising the site features a girl in a bikini walking near a pool, unaware that she’s being filmed.
Who Should Get Halftime Slot at Super Bowl XLV? (Not The Who)
Forget about who will compete in the Feb. 6,2011, Super Bowl in Arlington. Real gamblers are taking odds on who will play the halftime show. That’s a decision the NFL likely won’t announce until this fall.
While the North Texas Super Bowl XLV Host Committee has no say in who gets the gig, CEO Bill Lively told us that they’ve considered asking the NFL to use the same act that’s booked for the committee’s concert at Cowboys Stadium in September (Part of their series that begins with Faith Hill next month.) He wasn’t optimistic that that could actually happen, since they want to have their September concert announced soon, and the NFL may not want to commit that early.
Anyway, this blog speculates that the Super Bowl performer has got to be a country act. (Since this is Texas?) His guesses are Kenny Chesney, Garth Brooks, Tim McGraw, Brooks & Dunn, and Jimmy Buffett(?). I think he’s far off the mark.
But whom should the NFL bring to Arlington?
Dallas Cowboys’ Odds For Super Bowl XLV
We know that Irving Mayor Herbert Gears wouldn’t mind if the Cowboys don’t make it to Super Bowl XLV, to be played next February in Arlington. No team has ever made it into a Super Bowl played at its own home field–the closest was when the San Francisco 49ers beat the Dolphins at the 1985 game played at Stanford University in nearby Palo Alto.
So no one really knows how the economic impact of the game would be affected. Most observers believe that the crowd that comes to the Super Bowl comes no matter who is playing, therefore plenty of out-of-town guests can be expected regardless. Others predict that several million fewer dollars would flow into the region if the Cowboys are the NFC champion, but that it would be a lot of fun to see anyway.
Well, a host of odds on next year’s game have come out since the Saints claimed Super Bowl XLV. Most of them are along these lines, giving the Cowboys about a 12-1 shot of winning the next championship. Of course, Dallas is the second-highest NFC team on that list, suggesting that their odds of simply making it to the title game are even better than that.
Fun With Billboards
A billboard along I-35 near Wyoming, Minnesota is making some headlines. It has a picture of former president George W. with yellow text next to him saying, “Miss Me Yet?” The people at Minnesota Public Radio are trying to find out who bought the billboard. Yesterday, they discovered it was purchased by a small group of business owners who “feel like Washington is against them.” I like billboards. They’re fun. The best one I’ve seen is in OKC along I-35. It says something along the lines of “Let us help you with the ABC game,” and it lists words with letters that are difficult to find. And, as Jason mentioned, this is a good one, too.
Medina Now at 24% in GOP Race?
A new poll by Public Policy puts the race at Perry 39, Hutchsion 28, and Medina 24. How the methodology differs from Rasmussen I do not know, except that Rasmussen is often disparaged by other polling outfits for using automated calls. The margin of error is 4.8% — which means Perry could have it in the bag, or it’s a three-way tie, or what? One thing is clear: Medina has gone from a Perry irritation to a major factor. It also seems clear to me that Hutchison made a major mistake in trying to flank Perry on the right, where Medina already was. If she had stuck to her moderate conservative base in the suburbs, she might be leading now. Give me your tactical interpretations below. Let’s read the tea leaves together.
Mea Culpa to the DMN for Assailing Its (Lack of) DISD Coverage
Yesterday I said I was troubled by how the Dallas Morning News seemed to be ignoring good news out of DISD. Now I offer an apology. Diane Rado and Tawnell Hobbs have a story in today’s paper about the 24 DISD schools recognized as “distinguished” by the TEA. That number was up from just eight in 2008. Yes, it was — and yet. A comparison of how many schools made the list in 2009 and how many made it in 2008 isn’t fair because of a bit of statistical legerdemain used by the TEA on the 2009 data. Without something called the Texas Projection Measure, 13 of those 24 schools would not have made the list.
If I see a press release on Monday, I expect a report in the next’s day paper. The Internet has conditioned me — all of us — to feel like a news cycle lasts about as long as it takes to hit the refresh button. But the sort of reporting that Rado and Hobbs did takes time — figuring out what the Texas Projection Measure is (figuring out that it even exists), getting comment from the TEA, etc. In this case, the reporting took about a day.
So cheers to them. I’ll take my lashes in the comments section.
Leading Off (2/10/10)
1. Here’s a helpful list of all the fancy All-Star Game parties. Me? I got an invitation to “Diddy Does Dallas,” on Friday at the Palladium, but I had to turn it down. The wife has book club that night, which means I’ve got the kids. But otherwise I’d totally be there.
2. It looks like 7-Eleven will open a store at the American Airlines Center. You know, so that you can pick up a gallon of milk at halftime of a Mavericks game. (And, no, you won’t be able to buy beer in the 7-Eleven and take it into the arena.)
3. The Dallas city manager has released an initial list of people who are auditioning for a guest role on Code 58.
TV with Laura: The Bachelor Episode 6 Recap
Chris Harrison apparently promised that last night’s episode was the most emotional Bachelor yet. He lies. Sure, Ali’s grief causes her to momentarily lose the use of her legs–someone nominate that woman for an Emmy!– but this show was as boring as any of the others before it. Even with special guest star appearances by the poor(er) man’s The Situation (with Pauly D hair and glasses!), Lazy Eye’s dad King Squirrel Chaser (sporting Mr. Magoo glasses!), and Camela Soprano (no glasses but poured into a very, very, very short dress!), this thing was a total yawn. Here’s why: Jake is as terrible as those Jamaican beads he rocks for a few minutes at the beginning of this episode. Nothing is going to change that. But for those so inclined, let’s put on the leotard, fire up the Canon in D, and choreograph the most lyrical recap ever after the jump.
Whole Foods Robber Nabbed
Details over at Preston Hollow People.
Private Jets Fill the Skies Over Downtown Dallas
From my window on the 21st floor of St. Paul Place, across the street from the DMA, I get to watch the planes coming in on their approach to Love Field. Normally it’s all (or mostly all) Southwest flights. Today, though, I’ve noticed a distinct increase in landings by private jets. I’m guessing these are high-rollers coming in for the NBA All-Star Game?
DMN Is Unfair to DISD — Again
When 48 DISD schools wound up on the so-called PEG list of what the TEA deems “unacceptable” schools, you read about it in the Dallas Morning News — as you should. But when the TEA names 24 elementary schools as “distinguished” (up from eight the previous year), you hear nary a peep. When the good news went out in a release yesterday, I wondered on this blog how the paper would play the story, whether it would be on the front page of Metro or whether it would be buried. I never considered that the paper simply wouldn’t do the story at all. I find this troubling.
Update: A mea culpa to the DMN.
Wham-Mu: A ‘Strange and Spectacular’ One-Weekend Show Coming to an Abandoned Bank Building Near You
Remember all those drive-thru banks that were popping up a few years ago, just before the bottom fell out on the financial world? Now that many of their owners have been wiped out of existence, someone has to deal with them. One WaMu building on Greenville Avenue near Central Market is being dealt with quite nicely. On February 20, more than a dozen artists will open a two-day exhibition called “Modern Ruin” in the never opened, never used, yet completely finished space. The catch: two days after the show opens, the bank building is going to be demolished. The release, as well as an impressive list of participating artists (which includes FrontRow contributor Noah Simblist) is after the jump.
America’s Worst Driver Comes to Dallas
What? You’ve never heard of the Travel Channel show called America’s Worst Driver? The show goes from city to city, pitting contestants against each other in driving challenges. The worst driver in each city gets his car — his own personal car — destroyed. Dallas is one of the eight cities on the show. So intern Ashley Oates conducted an actual journalism-style Q&A with Charlie Parsons, one of the producers of the show, to see what was what:
St. Mark’s Students Demonstrate Lack of Common Sense
There are dozens of St. Mark’s kids walking through the Arts District right now, where it is approximately 27 degrees. That’s below the temperature at which water freezes. And to a man, they are all wearing shorts. I’m just saying, Cistercian kids would have enough sense to wear long pants. Go, Hawks!
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