Articles for December 13th, 2010
Cliff Lee Headed Back to the Phillies
Halladay, Oswalt, Hamels, and Lee? Wow.
Your Cliff Lee Update, Part 2 of 500
Lemme tell ya, the Twitters are well, twitterpated about Cliff Lee. New York tweeps are insisting he’s choosing the Yankees. Phillies fans are insisting they’re the mystery team that’s swooping in now, in the 11th hour.
And then there’s one person, who insists this charter plane from Little Rock, headed to Love Field, has Cliff Lee on it.
Cliff, I beg of you, one Arkansas to another: Put everyone out of their misery. Especially Philly.
Schieffer: Time to “Rethink” Afghanistan War
CBS’s chief Washington correspondent Bob Schieffer may not be as renowned as his late
colleague Walter Cronkite, whose opposition to the Vietnam war was considered a major turning point in that conflict. But the Face the Nation host (pictured in photo by Jeanne Prejean) seemed to be following in his old friend’s footsteps in Dallas today, when Schieffer declared that it’s time to “rethink” the U.S. war in Afghanistan.
“I wonder if this is working, if it isn’t time to step back and re-evaluate the whole thing,” Schieffer said of the war in a luncheon conversation with NBC’s Tom Brokaw before 1,000 people at the Hilton Anatole. “It’s very difficult to help people who don’t want to be helped. Is it changing things? … It would be very dangerous if we got involved and then turned around and left. But I think we need to give some very hard thought” to the current strategy.
Brokaw Shuns Twitter, Calling It “An Addiction”
Tom Brokaw of NBC News isn’t a fan of Twitter. Following a news conference in Dallas
today, the veteran correspondent called tweeting “an addiction” for a lot of people, and said he doesn’t need one more distraction. “Do you want to spend your time tweeting, or reading great literature, or an analysis of what’s going on with the economy?” he said.
Asked about these tweets from 2009, Brokaw said, “I have never tweeted. That’s another problem–when [apparently phony tweets] go viral.” The newsman (pictured in photo by Jeanne Prejean) was in town to interview his old friend Bob Schieffer of CBS during a luncheon at the Hilton Anatole. The Face the Nation host was showcased in “A Conversation with a Living Legend” benefiting The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.
Chapter 3: The Mayor Sits in His Car
The first thing the Mayor felt, when we finally woke up, was his ribs. The pain was almost psychotropic, like a bad trip he couldn’t escape. The fact that he had slept slumped sideways in his car, his damaged side right on top of the parking brake, didn’t help. He didn’t remember falling asleep — not where or when.
The second thing he felt was the gun. It was against his temple, and it was surprisingly warm. Not like it had been recently fired, but more like it was alive. He closed his eyes and let himself imagine the gun moving and growing, like a metallic vine, wrapping around his head, enveloping him.
The broken ribs were making him crazy.
The gun disappeared. When he turned to see where it went, he felt a sharp pain and then everything went away. He noticed, just before he disappeared into the blackness, that he was parked on Swiss Avenue.
New D Magazine Search Capability Will Make You Happy
Observant FrontBurnervians will notice that the FrontBurner search box on the right nav of our page has vanished. Yes, it has. Your search box is now in the upper right-hand portion of the page — and it’s about 3 kagillion times better than the old search we offered. Go ahead. Type a query into that little box. See the results you get. Now, instead of just searching FrontBurner, you’ll search the databases of the entire D empire. You’ll get stuff from D Magazine, D Home, D CEO, FrontRow, SideDish, our directories, etc. You can filter the results by media type, author, date. In short, you can now find exactly what you’re looking for — quickly.
Listen, maybe you’re not excited by search technology. I understand. But what our guys have accomplished here is pretty stunning. Thank you to Stephen Edmondson and especially Randy McCluer — the latter of which, our new search tells me, was mentioned for the first time right in this post.
Things to Do in Dallas Tonight: Dec. 13
Friends, I’m sorry to say that your procrastinating ways have finally caught up with you. The Idle Rich Pub has sent word that all the seats for tonight’s Christmas Beer Tasting have sold out.
That means you’ll have to remain sober for tonight’s Oak Ridge Boys concert at the Eisemann Center — a dangerous proposition, I’ll grant you. The barely concealed rage that bubbles just under the surface of their music, the latent animosity apparent in their highly charged political lyrics — (”My baby is American made/Born and bred in the USA”) — threatens to form an explosive mix when exposed to a mind free of inebriation.
I take as evidence these two facts: 1) My best friend in the fourth grade was entirely too fond of repeatedly singing “Elvira” during recess and 2) I broke my best friend’s arm during recess in fourth grade.
Not willing to risk releasing your own violent tendencies? Here are other things to do in Dallas.
Your Daily Cliff Lee Update, Part 1 of 500 (Probably)
If you are on the Twitters, and you go search Cliff Lee right now, you will see uproarious chatter insisting he’s decided to stay in Texas. This probably means the Yankees will announce at 11:45 that he signed with them, or the Nationals will shock everyone and say, “Haha! We got him LAST WEEK and have been messing with you.”
That being said, the New York Times says Texas may look more attractive to the soon-to-be bajillionaire Lee because of its lack of taxes, whereas New York has a state income tax of nine percent. In other words, if he pulls down $23 million per year in New York, he’ll pony up $3 million in state income taxes.
So there you go. Twitter says Lee is going to Texas, as of 11:35 a.m. today.
Jerry Jones Takes a Turn on 60 Minutes
In case you missed it, here’s the 60 Minutes segment on Jerry Jones. Me, I couldn’t help but concentrate on how much cosmetic work Jones has had. His teeth looked like the finest ivory money can buy. And I forget how much plastic surgery he’s had — until I see old video of the guy. Man, his face used to look different. As for what came out of his mouth, most of sentences were grammatically sound. Jones copped to a fear of going broke. I found that interesting. It made me really want to know what his balance sheet looks like. Sure, he’s worth $2 billion but only if he sells the team. I wonder where he stands month to month, though, with his obligations to the stadium. What happens if the players strike next season? I wonder how he’d take that financial hit.
Anyway, remember John Gonzalez, former Observer scribe? I remember John. We played on a basketball team together in a media league. Before a game one time, he punched me in the jaw. Great guy. Here’s what John thought of the 60 Minutes piece and the Eagles-Cowboys game.
Best Gift Books for Giving
Over on that Commie liberal site NPR.org, sometime D Magazine contributor (and Spirit exec ed) John McAlley runs down his choices for the best books for gift-giving purposes. When he’s sober, John makes good choices. Check it out.
How About [Naming] Them Cowboys?
To celebrate the Cowboys’ 50th anniversary, players from each decade were brought onto the field during halftime of yesterday’s loss to the Eagles. But the players were introduced as groups — “the Cowboys of the 1990s,” etc. — instead of as individuals. (The Ring of Honor players were later ID’d individually.) Those of us in the stands were left to identify the rest on our own, in the 10 seconds or so that each group appeared on the Jerryvision.
The 2000s group was only three players. Of course, everyone is going to recognize Dat Nguyen, and I know one of the others was Dexter Coakley. But the name of the third guy escaped me.
In the ’90s herd, I was able to identify Chad Hennings and a much slimmer Nate Newton. From the ’80s, I spotted Randy White. Roger Staubach stood out among the ’70s players, but I didn’t have a clue about those from the ’60s.
Would it have been so hard to have the PA announcer read their names, or at least scroll them across the Jerryvision screen?
David Sedaris And His Dallas Tip Jar
He put one out as a joke when he was signing books on tour, and in Dallas he collected $530.
Leading Off (12/13/10)
1. Did Tony Romo save Army Staff Sgt. Brian Redding’s life, or did these events play out with some Guillermo Arriaga-style fateful happenstance? The soldier bet a dollar that the Cowboys would beat the Colts, which he won. Then he dropped that dollar, and when he went bent over to pick up the bill, he inadvertently dodged a bullet. You decide.
2. I don’t really have the energy to get all excited about First Baptist pastor Robert Jeffress’ Grinch Alert website. To me, it just feels tacky. But the fact that we are talking about it raises a question: has Jeffress used the holiday to remind us of the Gospel or himself?
3. This debate over the value of the straight-party vote on election ballots is yet another reminder that, in light of our new Tea Party-era, The Federalist Papers needs to be on the top of your holiday reading list.
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