Articles for May, 2010
Texas A&M Student Senate to Possibly Vote Tonight on Opposing In-State Tuition for Illegal Immigrants
A group called Campus Reform just shot out a press release regarding a proposed bill currently sponsored by 34 Texas A&M student senators that will at least be discussed tonight.
The bill, it seems, voices opposition to giving in-state tuition to illegal immigrants. Granted, it really doesn’t have a ton of teeth (refraining here from Aggie joke), and won’t really change anything. But would you like to see what it says? Let’s jump.
Curiouser and Curiouser: Highland Park Community League and the Mysterious Lodging
Aaaaand, over at Park Cities People, Merritt Patterson (and commenters) dissect the meaning of the fact that the Highland Park Community League, which endorses candidates for mayor and council, shares a phone number and address with Highland Park town hall, and why town employees are answering that phone and collecting the league’s mail.
Now, I’m no expert website doohickey person, but I do know this: If you have buttons on your website, they should work, IJS.
Neumann: More Low Income Housing Not Right for Oak Cliff
Oak Cliff People’s Josh Hixson blogs that Dallas City Council member Dave Neumann gave more details about his recent decision to not recommend a redevelopment of a low income apartment complex.
It seems that after speaking to merchants and other residents, Neumann drew the conclusion that more low income housing wasn’t in Oak Cliff’s best interests.
But somehow, I think Neumann’s assessment of how Bank of America took the news of the kibosh was probably understated. “They were disappointed,” Neumann said.
Free Movie Tickets on FrontRow
If you like babies (or watching PBS’ “Nature”), come check out our giveaway.
Joel Kotkin on Moby Dick
Just kidding. Is there a such things as blograffiti? That’s what I was going for. This movie must still be bouncing around my head. Opens Friday. FrontRow review Thursday.
What To Do in Dallas Tonight: May 4, 2010
Booker T. Washington grad Norah Jones is in town at Fair Park Music Hall tonight. It’s hard to believe the Grammy-winning “Come Away With Me” was released eight years ago. Seems like just yesterday I was clutching myself in the fetal position while listening to “Lonestar” and dreaming about moving back to Texas. Well, at least that all worked out. If you’re going to the show, don’t miss opening act Sarah Jaffe, a local (Denton) singer/songwriter who is very popular around these parts. D music expert Zac Crain says to listen for Jaffe’s “Clementine” and “Before You Go.”
- The patio at Arcodoro & Pomodoro.
There are plenty of places to spend happy hour tonight. But this one sounds like the one we want to do: happy hour Italian-style at Arcodoro & Pomodoro. The restaurant just started offering L’ora Felice, with drink specials galore, and a nice patio to relax on (pictured). But free stuff is extra incentive to do everything in our world, and A&P is serving a free platter of stuzzicchini, or finger foods, when you order a drink. I needed to know a little more about these freebies, and they told me the platter includes tuna tartare, crostini, pizzettas, olives, and arancini de risi, or little fried balls of rice stuffed with delicious goodness. Also, the restaurant is celebrating it’s 22 year anniversary tomorrow, so we’ll raise a glass to that.
Leading Off (5/4/10): Subbing for Zac and Going for Quantity, Not Quality, in Effort to Atone for Tardiness Edition
1. Energy Future Holdings (aka TXU, Luminant, Oncor) announced it made $355 million in the first quarter. Go, power!
2. Two guys tried to steal a safe from the Sixth Floor Museum. They’re on the lam.
3. You know who is also on the lam? That guy who owned Global Exotics, the Arlington company at the center of the biggest animal-cruelty case in the history of animals.
4. A Lewisville teacher was busted for porn!
Wall Street Journal Not Wild About Moby-Dick
As Peter pointed out in Monday’s Leading Off, reviews of the Dallas Opera’s Moby-Dick have been uniformly glowing. Perhaps that is why Heidi Waleson (what an appropriate name), coming to the party a bit later than other reviewers, found fault with the production. As a writer, you want to offer a unique point of view. In any case, here’s how she wrapped her piece in the Wall Street Journal today:
For the most part, the opera was engaging and well paced. Still, I longed for some dissonance, an edge to the music that would awaken a visceral sense of terror. Comparisons to Benjamin Britten’s “Billy Budd” are hard to avoid: Britten’s eerie, less plush, less immediately pleasing score finally leaves a more lasting impression of an all-male drama on the high seas. Melville’s novel was a wild, experimental leap for mid-19th-century American fiction. Rather than capitalize on the outlandishness of that grand, messy creation, Messrs. Heggie and Scheer and their producers tamed this ferocious monster into a farm-raised fish suitable for the cautious palates of modern opera audiences.
D Magazine Gives Away an iPad, Offers up Dr. Dre Headphones Next
Unfortunately, you’re not the winner of D Magazine’s iPad giveaway. Unless you’re Brandon Dean of Dallas. In that case, you are the winner, and congratulations to you.
He entered our iPad drawing and will soon be enjoying the fruits of Apple’s labor. But what about the rest of you? Well, now you’ve got a shot to win Dr. Dre Studio High-Definition Powered Isolation headphones. You can enter once a day, every day, through May 31.
Another Day, Another Naked Man on a Billboard
Remember this guy? Well, someone is doing it again, right now, but in Fort Worth.
A Pretty Picture Taken by Al Biernat
Once upon a time, I worked right across the street from Al Biernat’s, and I had the privilege of shaking his hand a couple times a week (no one else in town is better at shaking hands). Then the place where I work moved its office to place not so near Al Biernat’s, and I saw him far less frequently. Like, never. Which is entirely my fault. It’s like calling your grandmother. The longer you go between calls, the more you’re racked with guilt, and the harder making that next call becomes.
All of which I offer by way of explanation for this post. Al Biernat sent me a picture he took of some pretty wildflowers in Kiest Park, in Oak Cliff. He said he hoped I could tell people about the flowers. So, filled with guilt, I am. Hey, people, go check out the flowers in Kiest Park. (Al, tell Danny and Jessie and Eduardo that I miss them, too.)
The Good Guys TV Shoot at Thanksgiving Tower on Elm Street
Since I’m a big fan of The West Wing and I was hungry for lunch, I decided to swing by the Good Guys shoot on my way to Which ‘Wich. I and my fellow gawkers in front of Thanksgiving Tower on Elm Street downtown were treated to a scene of Josh Lyman and Tom Hanks’ son climbing into a station wagon with Homer Simpson behind the wheel.
I apologize for the quality of these pictures. The guy in the foreground of the first picture (partially out of frame) was telling me repeatedly to “get out of the shot.”
Colin Hanks and Bradley Whitford (left, in front of the car) look like a couple of pros.
For an underwhelming second photo, take the jump.
Reading Some Political Tea Leaves: Bill White Wooing GOP Moderates?
Last week, Republican mayor of Grand Prairie Charles England endorsed Democrat Bill White for governor. As Dallas Morning News scribe Gromer Jeffers wrote in a later story, White’s plan seems to be to attract GOP moderates who feel disenfranchised with Perry’s seeming courtship of the farther right of the party. In short, he plans to take advantage of the fracture within the party. Will it work? Who knows – it’s a long way until November. But Matt Glaser of the Burnt Orange Report notes that if the reports and the stats are true:
“If White is winning Democrats, independents, and now moderate Republicans, it’s easy to see why Rick Perry and his campaign are going so negative. They have to slow down the ‘Man on the Move.’”
The “Man on the Move” reference is to the title of White’s latest campaign ad, which can be viewed in Glaser’s post.
Hutchison’s Two-Step on Arizona Immigration Law
Asked about Arizona’s tough new law against illegal immigration, this state’s two GOP senators continue to dance a fancy Texas two-step. Blame the situation on the feds; decline to take a position on the new law. When we raised the issue with Kay Bailey Hutchison (pictured) at a Saturday fund-raising bash for Dallas Summer Musicals, Texas’ senior senator sounded not unlike her Senate colleague John Cornyn.
Hutchison: “It’s unfortunate that the federal government hasn’t done its job enforcing the borders. While we’ve got to have security, we also need to be very careful to avoid racial profiling.” Your correspondent: “But will the feds ever tackle the problem?” Hutchison: “Yes, but I think we need to do it in pieces …” Your correspondent: “So, do you think the Arizona law goes too far then?” Hutchison, laughing charmingly, walking away: “I’m here to support the Summer Musicals, not give an in-depth interview.”
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