Articles for January, 2011
Kunkle Is Definitely Running for Mayor
No big surprise here, but David Kunkle’s wife, Sarah Dodd, sends word that the man has filed paperwork naming his treasurer. And that treasurer? None other than Steve Wolens, Laura Miller’s husband.
I have two questions about candidate Kunkle: 1) Can he convince the business establishment that he’s their man? And 2) will voters have enough exposure to him to learn that he’s not a cyborg? Kunkle isn’t the best public speaker. If you don’t know him, on first blush he can come across like he just suffered a head injury and isn’t quite sure he remembers how to speak. But if you spend a little more time with him, you begin to understand that he’s just a very careful, thoughtful person.
In any case, what might have been a boring election just got more interestinger.
Super Bowl Changes for Prince, Pamela Anderson and Gene Simmons
It’s only Monday and Super Bowl mega-events are already changing. The Morning News is reporting that the Prince concert on Friday at the tented acreage that-once-was-Reunion has been moved to the InterContinental. At last check, tickets were still starting at one mortgage payment. . . or, rather $1,500.
Discount hound Big Bob Wilonsky over at the Observer has discovered that both Pamela Anderson’s Friday Super Bash at the Fashion Industry Gallery and Gene Simmons’s Wednesday Aces & Angels at Fair Park have had their ticket prices reduced.
FrontBurner Live Video for Watching
At the FrontBurner Live gig last week, I accosted people as they came through the door and made them suffer questions for a video that I hereby present for your viewing pleasure. Thanks to our video intern, Robbie Curtis, for making it happen. And thanks to the following, in order of appearance: DTC artistic director Kevin Moriarty, the beloved Adam McGill, nJane McGarry, Gordon Keith (great joke), longtime commenter Harvey Lacey, attorney Bill Holston, novelist Harry Hunsicker, producer David Burrows, traitor Evan Grant, educator and artist Terri Muldoon, and artist and sometime contributor Laray Polk.
Dallas Sixth Vainest City in the Country
According to the latest survey that combines three sort of random figures to come up with another sort of random ranking. And we lost to Hartford! COME ON.
Dirk Nowitzki is Germany Bound…
…if there is an NBA lockout. Which there might be. Via Bethlehem Shoals at Business Insider, via Scout.com, via BILD magazine, The Big German says:
“Rather than do nothing at all for a year, I would come to Germany [to play].”
Where?
…those choices center on three teams with ties to Dirk: Bamburg (which is near Dirk’s hometown of Wurzburg), Alba Berlin (which has the biggest arena, best tradition, and whose coach is a close friend of Dirk), and Bayern (which has two players who are close to Dirk, and whose coach is the coach of the German national team).
Worth clicking through for more of Shoals’ thoughts on lockout-based player movement.
Things to Do in Dallas Tonight: Jan. 31
Can you believe it’s almost February? Sure you can, because the radio weatherman told me that it’s supposed to start raining “ice pellets” around midnight. Nothing says February in Texas like some sort of ambiguously named, winter-esque precipitation.
On the bright side, I just learned that the obscene amount of time I’ve spent playing Fruit Ninja wasn’t entirely wasted after all. There are life lessons to be learned here, people, like thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s Frenzy Banana. Or, you know, don’t be jealous if you can’t tango like these guys. Brave the pre-Super Bowl weirdness (lots of closed streets, so beware) of downtown Fort Worth and watch the Argentine troupe steam up the stage tonight at Bass Hall.
For those planning on hibernating tomorrow, perhaps a more low-key precursor is in order. Fortify yourself with a good beer and free live jazz at the Amsterdam Bar. It’s my favorite Monday night spot, because it feels like I’m just easing myself out of weekend mode instead of quitting cold turkey.
Browse more options right here, and drive safe tonight.
FrontBurner Live at the Granada Photos, So That You Can Feel Like You Were There
So you were busy last Thursday, and missed the big party. You’ve read the tweets. Now use your eyes to look at the glorious photographs, taken by a bona fide shooter, and not Tim’s iPhone. Your vicarious attendance is now complete.
Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge Arch Goes NFL Blue and White Tonight for Super Bowl
At 6:25 p.m. tonight the city fathers and mothers are gonna pull the switch to light up the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge’s arch in blue and white lights as part of Super Bowl Week. The arch will dim Super Bowl Sunday at 2 a.m.
Just wondering:
1. Will it look like the world’s biggest balloon arch?
2. Would it be cool to see if the blimp could fly its nightsign through the arch?
3. Is the top of Reunion Tower the best spot to view the electrifying moment?
4. Who’s footing the electric bill?
UPDATE: A Vendome-living birdie snapped a shot of the test lighting last night of the MHHB. She claims it’s
“Like looking at one of those tri-colored Popsicles we ate as kids. Pulses red, white, & blue. Well, the Hill’s always have been colorful.”
“I’m Not Buying It” Campaign Addresses Sex Trafficking During Super Bowl
The group Traffick 911 has targeted the north Texas area as a possible hotbed of sex trafficking, because reportedly Super Bowls and sex trafficking go hand in hand. Their campaign, which includes PSA’s from people like Dallas Cowboys tackle Jay Ratliff, is called “I’m Not Buying It.”
Right now, the group says, the NFL has not responded to requests to put up their “I’m Not Buying It” posters. The host committee insists whether the posters go up or not is all in the hands of the NFL, not them. Currently, there’s a petition online to ask the NFL and the host committee to consider putting up the material.
What’s in a Surname?
This isn’t my usual beat, but go to this National Geographic map to see what surnames are the most common around these parts. It’s right … here.
Leading Off (1/31/11) – Super Bowl Week Kickoff Edition
1. Dallas Maintains Image-Conscious Neuroses: What better way to kick off the first Super Bowl week in North Texas history than to remind ourselves that we are insecure about the image this region projects to the rest of the country. The DMN urges visitors to ignore the stereotypes, just as last week’s DMN editorial more or less supported them.
2. Frostbitten Festivities: I was out in Fort Worth over the weekend, enjoying the 75 degree weather and a beer on the roof of the Flying Saucer as the crews hustled below to get Sundance Square ready for a week-long outdoor celebration. It seemed a brilliant idea at the time, only now, things might get chilly at Sundance. Nonetheless, the show will go on.
3. Jerry’s Bargain with Mephistopheles: Yes, we’ve heard the bit about the Packers and Steelers coming to play in Dallas and dance on the Cowboy’s shallow graves at Jerry World, but, per usual, the New York Post finds the flair for re-telling this story:
Well, Dallas — Arlington, technically — gets the party now, and it comes as a Faustian bargain of the highest order. Not only did the Cowboys suffer through an endless season of purgatory, finishing dead last in the NFC, getting a coach canned midstream and spending weeks at a time as a laughingstock; now, when the Super Bowl finally does arrive, this is what the locals get to see next Sunday at Cowboys Stadium:
The Steelers on one sideline.
And the Packers on the other.
Bushes 43 to Attend Super Bowl XLV
George W. Bush and his wife Laura will attend Super Bowl XLV next Sunday in Arlington, the former president confirmed today. But he won’t be rooting for a favorite team.
At a Dallas fundraiser for Global Health Corps, which his daughter Barbara serves as president, the former chief executive was asked whether “the whole family” would attend the game at Cowboys Stadium. “Just the two of us,” Bush said, nodding toward his wife. Asked whether he’d root for the Green Bay Packers or the Pittsburgh Steelers–or didn’t care which team wins–Bush replied, “Don’t care.”
The Sunday event was held at Mount Vernon, an 81-year-old mansion on White Rock Lake that once was owned by H.L. Hunt, the legendary Dallas oil millionaire. The home is owned now by real estate magnate John Amend, who threw it open to about 500 people for his Second Annual Super Bowl-a-Thon and Fundraiser, benefiting Global Health. Barbara Bush (pictured at right with her twin sister Jenna Hager in photo by Jeanne Prejean) co-founded the nonprofit, which focuses on public health issues.
James on Leach Flap: Most in Lubbock Support Me
ESPN college football analyst Craig James, who’s weighing a run for
Kay Bailey Hutchison’s senate seat, says his role in the firing of Texas Tech football coach Mike Leach won’t hurt him politically–even in the heart of Red Raiders country.
“I feel very confident about our position,” said James (pictured). “Most people in Lubbock support my position. We did what any responsible parent would do. We did the right thing.” A complaint filed by James and his wife over Leach’s alleged mistreatment of their football-player son led to Leach’s firing late last year.
Asked when he’d make a decision about jumping into the Republican senate primary, James said, “I’ve got to analyze it. I’m thinking about it. I’ll announce [my decision] sooner rather than later.” The former football star was among several luminaries in Plano Friday for the premiere of SLANT 45 The Movie, a project of the North Texas Super Bowl XLV Host Committee and Big Thought.
Parkland Hits Back at Morning News
Yesterday afternoon, I (and presumably others) received a lengthy e-mail from Dr. Laura McDonald, chair of the Parkland Board of Managers. McDonald disputes the conclusions of the Morning News’ latest story on the hospital, and takes a few swipes at the paper in the process, including:
The truth is, The Dallas Morning News had to wrap up its year-long attack on Parkland in order to meet its Feb. 1 deadline to submit their application for the Pulitzer Prize. They didn’t let truth get in the way of writing their stories, nor do we expect this attack to stop.
Full statement is after the jump.
‘Hard Cards’ a Must at Swiss Super Bowl
While DFW was gearing up for Super Bowl XLV, Davos, Switzerland, was hosting its Super Bowl for the world’s elite, the 2011 World Economic Forum. And Dallas’ lovely and talented Jill Beth (JB) Hayes, chief of staff for Ken Hersh, CEO of Irving-based NGP Energy Capital Management, was on the scene–but finding that entree to the main event could be tough. “If you don’t have a ‘hard card’ you aren’t getting into the Congress Centre, even when your boss is speaking twice,” she writes.
JB’s boss was speaking twice, matter of fact–as a discussion leader and a panelist for two sessions on natural resources (energy, metals, water, food, etc.). Meantime JB was negotiating Davos’ snow-slick streets (”snow is slippery–snow grippers are a must even with Uggs”), keeping up with other Dallas attendees (Sarah and Ross Perot Jr., Fluor’s John Hopkins) and checking out a few VIPs. “Lubna Olayan with Olayan Industries walked by me as I left the hotel, as did Khalid Alireza,” JB writes.
Okay, so they have “hard cards” and Lubna Olayan. But do they got Snoop Dogg and Diddy?
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