Articles for February, 2010
Local Magazine Staffers to Sustain Injuries at PBR Media Event, Ctd.
Well, the deed has been done. The mechanical bull has been ridden. And it is with a heavy heart that I tell you none of your D Magazine boys did right by their chosen charities today at the Professional Bull Riders media day challenge (to promote the Dickies Iron Cowboy Invitational Challenge this Saturday night). There was blood. There was sexual tension. I invite you to jump for some observations and full-color photography.
Dallas Contemporary Director Joan Davidow Retires
In the March issue of D (not yet available online) you can read about the trials and tribulations behind the opening of the new Dallas Contemporary space on Glass St. At the center was Joan Davidow, the director, and, in many ways, the one-woman show that ran the Contemporary. Last year the Contemporary had a focus group come in and analyze their operations, and one of their findings was that too much was on the shoulders of Davidow. Davidow said she would hire a curatorial adviser to help organize shows, but rumors among local art gadflies said that Davidow’s departure was imminent. Then came the embarrassing delay of the opening of the Contemporary’s new space, which couldn’t have helped Davidow’s standing with the institution’s board. Today, we receive word that Davidow has retired after nine years with the Contemporary. The full release is after the jump.
What’s In a Name?
According to Mark Cuban, a name’s pretty important, even if it’s misspelled. That’s why he sent a cease and desist to Maverik Dallas, a select lacrosse team. In September 2008, the team partnered with a New York equipment manufactuerer called Maverik Lacrosse. So the team took that name. It created its logo, an outline of the state of Texas, and chose its colors of black, Carolina blue, and white. A little more than a year later, the team got the cease and desist notification and has now changed its name to Coast 2 Coast Lacrosse Academy.
John Marano, owner/director of Coast 2 Coast Lacrosse Academy, said lawyers told him he could probably win his case because the spelling is different and it’s a different sport from the Dallas Mavericks. However, he’s looking to expand his business and decided to not spend the money. He said his lacrosse players were disappointed in the change.
“Maverik is a cool name. To them, Coast 2 Coast is meaningless. It’s hard for the kids, however, for us, it’s business sense,” he says.
I have to agree with the kids. Maverik is way cooler.
Blogger Claims to Disprove Global Warming With Texas Line Graphs
A blog called “Watts Up With That?” uses our record snowfall in Dallas last week as a jumping-off point for discussing mean temperatures in Texas over the past century. The author uses simple line graphs to demonstrate that temperatures in small towns like Dublin or Brenham have barely budged over that time. So where’s your global warming, he asks.
Meanwhile his snapshot for San Antonio shows a clear rise in temperature, all of which he attributes to the “Urban Heat Island” effect. I’m no climate scientist, but when experts mention catastrophic climate change, aren’t they talking about a worldwide spike of even just a couple of degrees on average? Isn’t it incorrect to think that imprecise measures, like these line graphs, of extremely localized temperatures have much bearing on the discussion?
Local Magazine Staffers to Sustain Injuries at PBR Media Event
Eric, Zac, and I have ventured to Cowboys Stadium to participate in a media day mechanical bull riding challenge. Winner gets $5k donated to the charity of his choice. Also in attendance: Ty Murray and Stephen Jones (pictured).
Sting, Faith Hill Tickets for Super Bowl Kickoff Concert Series on Sale
A subscription to the Super Bowl XLV Kickoff Concert Series includes a third concert by an as-yet-unnamed artist at Cowboys Stadium in September. That’s in addition to being able to see Faith Hill at Bass Hall in Fort Worth on March 6 and Sting at the Winspear Opera House in Dallas on May 22.
According to the Host Committee’s website, $50,000 sponsorships for the series are already sold out. But if you’d like to pony up $30,000 or $15,000, you’re still in luck. You can check out the benefits here.
If you’re really only interested in seeing the shows, subscriptions at the $1,500, $1,000, and $500 level (per person) are still available.
Wealthy Collin County Healthier Than Poorer Dallas
Of the four major counties of North Texas — Dallas, Tarrant, Collin, and Denton — Dallas has the lowest rankings on a new study comparing the health of all U.S. counties by the University of Wisconsin and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Collin County is ranked tops in “health factors” among all counties in the state, while Collin and Denton both rank among the top three counties for “health outcomes.” The study looks at things like smoking rate, obesity rate, and the ratio of liquor stores and fast-food joints to healthy-food outlets. The levels of wealth and poverty are also factors.
Dallas ranks No. 70 and No. 171 on the two Texas lists, while Tarrant County comes out much better, at No. 37 and No. 52.
Dallas also finishes behind the state’s other major metro areas, Harris and Bexar counties. (Though we’re slightly better than San Antonio on health outcomes, we’re well behind on health factors.)
Leading Off(ish) (2/17/10)
1. The search for a new superintendent of the Irving school district has grown contentious. Hispanic leaders want to know why Cesar Chavez hasn’t been called back for a second interview.
2. Speaking of racial tension, University Park Mayor Blackie Holmes had this to say about the passage yesterday of a ban on smoking in all pubic public places: “It’s really straightforward, simplistic in its terms, and it accomplishes the purpose of what we intended to do.”
3. You already knew about the new Parkland Memorial hospital being built on Harry Hines. It’ll be the primary teaching hospital for UT Southwestern students. Well, that’s not enough for UTSW. They announced plans to build another hospital just blocks away on Harry Hines. Dallas: a good place to fall ill.
TV with Laura: The Bachelor Episode 7 Recap(ish)
Apologies for the tardiness of this post. It was a long, bad day. So let’s maybe do a light one today, shall we? We’ll just hit the highlights, and we’ll save the in-depth cattiness for the next few episodes, okay? Jump if you want to hear the true story of four boring people who get picked to go on overnight dates and have their lives taped to find out what happens when people stop being polite and start getting real. Or in this case really lame. And terrible.
AT&T’s CEO: U.S. Needs Lower Taxes, Less Regulation
Randall Stephenson, AT&T’s CEO, was the speaker at the World Affairs Council luncheon today at the Fairmont, and his message was pretty clear: In business, less is more.
How can American companies be more attractive for international capital investment? (more…)
Win a Date With a Professional Bull Rider
Don’t forget, kids. We’re running a contest that ends at noon on Friday. There’s a big PBR event at Cowboys Stadium. You could win tickets — and a cowboy.
Exxon Adds 2 Billion Barrels of Oil (Equivalent)
So says the Wall Street Journal. It’s the biggest reserves they’ve had in a decade. The Irving-based oil giant was able to do this because of new natural gas finds. But this is the less-happy part of the lead:
the company found less new oil deposits than it depleted last year
They’re counting even more on the XTO Energy deal.
Bataille to Supporters: Keep Believing In UNT
The rumor mill’s been in overdrive since Gretchen M. Bataille abruptly resigned her position as president of the University of North Texas on Feb. 10. In an interview this afternoon, Bataille, the first female president in UNT’s history, remained mostly circumspect about her reasons for stepping down. But she implied that the resignation, which takes effect Feb. 28, had little or nothing to do with moving the university system offices to downtown Dallas, as some have speculated.
SLANT 45 Kids Like Bling, Too
It’s not “official” yet, but filmmaker Mark (Stop the Presses) Birnbaum apparently has been selected to do the full-length feature documentary on SLANT 45, the service-learning project for Super Bowl XLV that kicked off this morning with a big deal at Arlington ISD’s Berta May Pope Elementary School. Former Cowboys fullback Daryl Johnston is leading the mega-effort, which aims to involve more than 20,000 elementary kids in at least 45,000 “service-learning” (read: community help) hours in DFW. But what really got the project-participating Pope kids excited this morning was when Johnston let some of them handle his heavy gold Super Bowl ring. Nine-year-old Gabriel Ochoa (pictured wearing the ring with Zack Gehring, 10) said like Johnston he too enjoys playing football, adding: “I love being quarterback.”
Photo of Erykah Badu Killing It At All-Star Weekend Festivities
Her people sent over a couple of photos, and since her Carole King cover was a highlight of a (not Dallas’ fault) pretty lackluster Saturday night, I thought I’d go ahead and post one. But I would have probably posted it for the hat alone.
Erykah Badu's cover of "You've Got a Friend" -- and the accompanying video from tons of NBA Cares events -- was a tribute to Haiti relief efforts. Badu releases her fifth studio album, New Amerykah Part Two: Return of the Ankh on March 30. Photo credit: Carla Sims
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