Articles for May, 2010
See the D Magazine Words With Friends Tournament First-Round Match-Ups
All 64 players in our Words With Friends Tournament have their assigned opponents, and play can officially begin soon. You can see the entire bracket on our official tournament page. We’ll update scores there as quickly as we can. Also look to FrontBurner this week to hear from me and from Tim or Zac or Rhonda Reinhart, as they are three of the five players representing D Magazine.
Along with some of the competitors I’ve already told you about, we’ve got Martellus Bennett of the Dallas Cowboys, Jim Rossman of the Dallas Morning News, Dan McDowell of the Ticket, and Jeff Cheney, the mayor pro tem of Frisco. Youngest player is Kristin Leffingwell, 18. Oldest is Mary Rhoades, age 71.
Some notable first-round games:
- Ben Rogers and Jeff “Skin” Wade of the Ben and Skin Show on ESPN Radio go head to head.
- Journalist Josh Hixson of People Newspapers tries not to embarrass himself too terribly much as he faces off against his wife, Cristen.
- Can Kevin Holme score an upset against Chris Cree?
- Will Julie Saathoff be able to out-maneuver Popeye Jones?
- And will it be Tim Rogers or Gordon Keith who slips more naughty words past the WWF server’s censor?
Former D Magazine Staffers in the News
On this Memorial Day weekend, let’s check in with two former D Mag staffers who are quoted in the press today. First up is Eric Celeste in the Dallas Morning News:
Watkins spokesman Eric Celeste scoffed at the GOP criticism. “If they want to use an issue Craig has already addressed, that’s fine,” Celeste said. “It’s clear they don’t want to talk about what matters to voters: Craig Watkins’ record of making Dallas safer as district attorney – 99.4 percent conviction rate, crime in Dallas down, and freeing innocent people.”
Next up, Adam McGill in Bloomberg:
The filings in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Fort Worth, Texas, “are intended to ensure that the bankruptcy proceedings meet the objective of maximizing value for all creditors,” Adam McGill, a spokesman for the lender group, said in an e-mailed statement.
Eric gets big points for scoffing, no doubt. But Adam’s quote is in Bloomberg, and he’s addressing a national matter that involves hundreds of millions of dollars. Eric’s quote is just about local politics. Advantage McGill.
CueCat Serves Up Another Fine Dallas Distinction
On this Memorial Day weekend, let us pause, for a moment, and remember the CueCat. For, you see, Time magazine has, nestling it next to Agent Orange and New Coke as one of the 50 worst inventions. No time period listed in the feature, so I’m going to say ever. It’s one of the 50 worst inventions ever.
So pour a 40 of your favorite adult beverage on the curb for CueCat. Long may he live in lists of really bad ideas.
Let’s Call a Dallas Observer “Adult Services” Ad
Last week, I asked if this Friday feature should continue. The response seemed to be a tentative yes (with a few notable dissenters saying that they wished I would die). So by popular demand, here is this week’s installment, wherein I call an ad in the Dallas Observer. This one was listed in the “adult services” section and read:
BEAUTIFUL OLIVE-TONED EGYPTIAN GODDESS
is ready to play. Pet my sphinx!!
Squeeze my pyramids!
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Mickelson Misses Cut at Colonial
So what happens now that the “pink out” was scheduled for tomorrow and Phil Mickelson won’t even be there? You know what would be cool? If Mickelson showed up in the gallery and watched from behind the ropes for the day.
Bradshaw: Cowboys Could Make Next Super Bowl
The irrepressible Terry Bradshaw agrees with Roger Staubach that the Cowboys have a legitimate shot at playing in next year’s Super Bowl in Arlington. “Absolutely” they do, the former Steelers QB-turned-Fox NFL Sunday broadcaster said in Dallas the other day. “Tony Romo will be better. Dez Bryant is gonna help. … Absolutely! Which will be nice, because we’re [Fox] gonna be here doing the game.” Bradshaw (photo here by Jeanne Prejean) was in town for a JCPenney fundraiser for after-school programs at the Dallas Sheraton.
Free Tickets to Avenue Q
Do you want to see the naughty puppet-featuring, Tony Award-winning musical for free on Sunday? Then get thee to FrontRow.
Salon Three Thirty Launches Impressive Write-in Campaign to Win ‘Best of Big D’ Vote
You’re aware, of course, that our Best of Big D Readers’ Choice: Services poll is under way. You can vote once a day, every day through June 6 for your favorites in a host of categories.
Salon Three Thirty wasn’t among our nominees for best hair salon. But they’ve started a write-in campaign with this video explaining just how easy it is to vote:
Yes, the music is a little cheeseball. But I say, well done. I don’t know anything about any salons, but I’m kind of pulling for them now.
Now, you go vote your own mind.
D Magazine Words With Friends Tournament Selection Committee Deliberates
Thank you for the overwhelming response that we received to our call for entries to our Words With Friends Tournament, which starts Tuesday, June 1. We’ve got a great field of competitors, and that’s thanks to the huge number of you who applied. The youngest applicant was 12, the oldest was 71. And the InterWeb made it possible for people from as far away as the U.K. to ask to be part of our fun. In all, there were more than 400 hopefuls. For about 40 open slots in the tournament field.
That means, no matter how we decided who was in and who was out, 90 percent of you were going to be disappointed. Perhaps next time we do a Words With Friends cover story, we’ll create affiliations with small neighborhood tournaments and grant automatic berths to the winners of those. As it is, our tournament selection committee met late into the night to determine who would receive invitations.
If you hear from us sometime today, you’ll know that you’re in. If you hear nothing from us, you’re not. Regardless, you’ll be able to follow along every step of the action next week, through our tournament page (the full bracket will be posted there), and frequent updates on FrontBurner.
Who Is Behind the New, More Contrite Craig Watkins?
“She’s telling the truth. In no way did I intend to impugn her integrity. I am certain that if the auditor says she sent the memo in February 2008, that was the case. The District Attorney’s Office didn’t have record of it until October 2009. What happens in my office is my full responsibility. The District Attorney’s Office has taken appropriate action on this information since receiving and acknowledging this memo.”
Without saying someone in his office screwed up, he’s saying someone in his office screwed up. And he’s taking responsibility for that screw-up. This is very unlike Craig Watkins. It’s what he should have said in the first place but didn’t. As a result, what should have been a one-day news story of minor significance has played out in the paper for three days, culminating with a well-written, damning editorial that reads, in part: “What’s clear is that Watkins is frittering away all the deserved attention and praise he earned for his pursuit of justice for the wrongly convicted, undoing his office’s good works in a fit of double-talk and arrogance.”
So who is behind the DA’s adjusted attitude? Do I sense the gentle ministrations of a former D Magazine managing editor turned communications director?
(So that you know: yes, of course, Eric Celeste, the communications director for the DA’s reelection campaign, remains a good friend. And, yes, of course, when we have a drink together, we talk about our jobs. But Eric is very careful about what he says about his. I wrote the above without any inside knowledge of how the last three days have unfolded. Just speculation on my part.)
What To Do in Dallas This Weekend: May 28–31
Hooray for a three-day weekend. Not flying first class with your three best friends to Abu Dhabi to find your sparkle? I’m not, either. Thankfully there is plenty to do right here in town (and you can even ride a camel to boot).
Listen: Elvis Costello is playing with the DSO tonight and tomorrow night at the Meyerson. Just down the road at the House of Blues, The Indigo Girls are performing (sing it with me: the hardest to learn was the least complicated).
See: On Saturday, the Dallas Zoo is rolling out their new exhibition, Giants of the Savanna. They tell us it’s their biggest one in 20 years. If you like elephants, lions, cheetahs, and wart hogs, you will want to head that direction. They are having a party to celebrate, and in addition to the new 11 acre exhibit, they will have African drummers, stilt walkers, and performances by the Dallas Black Dance Theatre. Oh–here’s where the camel riding comes in. The Zoo has just started offering camel rides for $5, with a souvenir photo for $5. Eat your heart out Carrie.
Run: On Monday, you can run a 5K or 20K (yipes) during the Memorial Day Run at White Rock Lake.
Drink: Central 214 is hosting a Memorial Day party on their patio, there’s a BBQ at the Grapevine, and live music from RTB2 at the Monk. I’ll be at home ironing my seersucker, but you guys go have fun and let me know all about it.
Leading Off (5/28/10)
1. Craig Watkins said, “No,” first, but now he’s saying, “Yes.” The last time I did that, I ended up in a field in McKinney in the middle of the night, being chased by a donkey. So you know, fair warning, Mr. Watkins. These No/Yes things don’t always work out.
2. Nobody knows how the alligators have gotten into Lake Worth, but I have my theories. If you plan on heading there for Memorial Day, I recommend spending today on YouTube watching old Steve Irwin videos.
3. This just in: Some parents with sports-playing children are not always well-behaved.
4. Former Dallas County constable Jaime Cortes was cleared of charges he violated the Hatch Act – that’s the good news. The bad news? It was on a technicality.
5. An Indiana prison is now hosting “Inmates Got Talent,” the brainchild of North Texas producer Johnny Collins. If I was an inmate, I would say my talent required a Hazmat suit, a rock hammer and a poster of Twilight. And then I’d pull an Andy Dufresne special, but better because I wouldn’t get poop on me. Also? I’d listen to this. Because it’s a cool song from the 80s.
Public Art on Henderson: WTF?
Over on FrontRow, Lucia Simek shares some thoughts you should read about the sculpture that has gone up along Henderson Avenue. (Spoiler alert: she’s not a fan.)
Readers Respond to Wick Allison’s ‘Race and the Rich’ in Dallas Column
The results of the little poll we took the other day are clear-cut: FrontBurnervians agree with Wick by a 2-to-1 margin that local and state leaders should alter the tax system that allows Dallas Country Club and Brook Hollow Golf Club to receive an exemption even as they have no black members.
In the June 2010 issue of D Magazine, Wick argues that segregation in the city’s best neighborhoods will hurt Dallas’ future. We’ve gotten a number of letters and responses to this column. Our sister newspapers, Park Cities People and Preston Hollow People, which also ran the article last week, have had four readers cancel subscriptions because of it.
Here’s a sampling of some of the responses we’ve received.
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