Articles for January 24th, 2011
Pedicab Service To Launch in Downtown Dallas
I’m told the new pedicabs will start ferrying customers between the West End and Victory on January 28. Here’s a job listing for the pedalers. Seems to me, people have demonstrated that when games at the AAC end they like to get the hell out of there. Yes, if there were more cool (and affordable) places to pass the time in Victory, they might linger. But will they hop in a pedicab to hang out in the West End? Or is the pedicab company hoping that they can entice people to park in the West End and then cab it over to the AAC?
Frito-Lay Goes Gay for Super Bowl Spots
A salty-snack-loving FrontBurnervian passes along a link to a Gawker post wherein you’ll find two gay-themed commercials for Doritos that are planned for the Super Bowl. Gawker asks if the spots are offensive. Being offended is now an American pastime. So, yes, I’m sure someone will be offended. As for me? I just think the sauna commercial is dumb. With all the humidity, there’s no way the chips would still be crunchy.
Update: The fine folks at Frito-Lay send along a clarification. “Just saw your post about the Doritos Crash the Super Bowl contest and it seems like there is a little confusion regarding what our plans are as far which ads will air during the game. Attached is the press release we put out at the beginning of the month regarding our finalist selection and call for votes. Also, here is a link to see which ads American consumers can vote for: www.crashthesuperbowl.com. The ads you profiled are not among our finalists and will not air during the Super Bowl. Hope this helps.”
Amy Chyao Will Be Obama’s Guest Tuesday
This month’s Person of Interest is Amy Chyao, a very smart 16-year-old. Though she thinks teaching herself chemistry isn’t a “big deal,” I do. And though she doesn’t consider herself a genius, I do. (And I’m not gonna lie, I was a little intimidated while interviewing her, especially when she started talking about nanotubes.)
Now comes word that Chyao is going to sit in the same box as Michelle Obama at Tuesday’s State of the Union Address. I’m sure she realizes that this is truly a big deal.
Troy Aikman and His Wife Split Up
Ordinarily, this matter wouldn’t concern us. As far as it is known, the couple is still married. That Rhonda is living in a different house is a matter perhaps worth gossiping about but not publishing. It feels a bit like reporting that the couple isn’t having a happy marriage. Really, that’s their business. They divorce, that’s a different matter. Aikman is a public figure.
But here’s the thing: he’s on our cover this month. Our subhead reads, “The football god on marriage, loss, and how he lucked into broadcasting the biggest game on earth.” For those who are aware of the Aikmans’ split — and it appears that many people in town have known since at least Christmas, when Rhonda did not appear at the annual Aikman party — that cover line will suggest that he talked to the magazine about his marital troubles. He didn’t. Zac Crain reported the story in late November and early December, before we knew about the separation. He didn’t ask about it, and Troy (understandably) didn’t volunteer the information.
That is one way our cover line might create confusion. The story itself, since it doesn’t mention the split, might also lead people to theorize that we worked with the Aikman camp to burnish his image before the news of the couple’s separation got out. That’s not true. We made no agreement with his people about subject matter that was to be avoided. On Friday, I asked Troy’s representative at Fox Sports for comment on the matter; that comment is still, I hope, forthcoming.
Dallas Asks for Texas AG Opinion on Release of Caraway Incident Records
As you, Archie and Arthur, may recall, earlier this month Dallas City Councilman Dwaine Caraway and the missus, State Rep. Barbara Mallory Caraway, had a visit from the Dallas Police Department after Caraway called Police Chief David Brown over a marital spat that may have involved bacon and eggs.
First, he told reporters that Archie and Arthur had a fight over a football game, and he called the police to make sure it didn’t get out of hand. But the puzzling thing was the police report said it was a marital spat. Eventually, Caraway made a statement saying yeah, it was a spat, and you know, bacon and eggs when you wanted something else.
Now city officials are asking for an Attorney General’s opinion on whether or not they have to release the details of the incident, based on criteria that the information may be “highly intimate or embarrassing” and of “no interest to the public.” The Dallas Morning News has asked for the information to be released.
Now, I do get where it might be embarrassing to Caraway. But he called the chief of police for help, which is something your average tax-paying citizen can’t do. The police responded, took a report, and then Caraway sought to discredit them by telling the media that the report was wrong — and it was poor Archie and Arthur arguing over football. But do we, the public, have the right to know all the details of the incident based on Caraway’s actions after it happened?
I guess what I’m asking is this: is this really going to uncover some kind of malfeasance? Or is it just a way to rummage through dirty laundry for prurience sake? If it’s the former, I’m fine with it. If it’s the latter, well, it better involve showgirls and midgets. I mean little people. I mean, well, you know. It better be good.
Restaurateur Rejects Versace-Clad Rat Pack
Much of the uproar over prostitutes flooding into DFW for Super Bowl XLV has focused on the underaged. But some businesspeople aren’t crazy about shady types of any age hitting Dallas for the big game. The manager at one local high-end restaurant, for example, says he recently spotted a party “casing” the eatery’s bar area. “They were all in Versace, and the guys had real tight sleeves, with bulging biceps,” the manager says. The gals didn’t look like Junior Leaguers, let’s say, and one wore a tiny “LV” on the back of her ultra-low-cut blouse. “They said they were in town from Vegas ‘on business,’ ” the manager says. “We asked them to leave. We told them we didn’t want their kind of business here.”
Things to Do in Dallas Tonight: Jan. 24
Happy Monday! Happy for me, at least, since today is my first day on the job here as events editor. Things to know: I’m an Irving native, a former D intern, and I’m recently arrived from that icy tundra otherwise known as New York City (and still unwilling to quit wearing my puffy parka — that sucker is warm). And if your morning isn’t quite as awesome as mine, well — let’s work on your evening.
First up, something definitely impossible to find in the Big Apple: dollar tacos. Dollar anything, for that matter. I’ll probably end up there after work, either tentatively celebrating a successful first day or drowning my sorrows if my boss, Jason, decides to give me the boot at the end of my “five-hour trial period.” He was kidding. I think.
If you’re a hipster, or someone who just likes indie music, artsy tattoos, and Chucks, go see Best Coast and Wavves at the Granada. You’ll be joined by like-minded people all pining for denim cut-offs and sunshine. Tickets are still available online and at the door for the same price, and it’s standing room only. Best Coast is one of those bands that you can brag about seeing live maybe six months or a year from now, before they really take off.
And as always, if you don’t see something to your liking, the rest is right here.
EPA to Buzz DFW, Just for the Super Bowl
If you spot a low-flying aircraft over Dallas-Fort Worth today, do not be frightened. It’s just a black helicopter AeroCommander 680 from your friendly Environmental Protection Agency, scouring the region in advance of Super Bowl XLV for some vague reason or other. Be sure to wave to the nice people from the EPA when you see it.
Austin > Dallas > Houston > Jersey Shore
During an extended online chat on Friday afternoon, ESPN’s Bill Simmons was asked what he thought of the Dallas-Fort Worth area as a Super Bowl site:
It will be a more fun version of Houston, with better food, and the stadium will make up for any weaknesses with the weekend. This could be the first SB Weekend when the experience of attending the game (and being in the stadium) trumps anything that could have happened during the weekend.
That prompted two responses from Texas that made me giggle:
Dallas more fun than Houston? It’s our state’s version of the Jersey Shore. You must have an affinity for cocaine and shiny shirts.
Look, the best Texas city is Austin, hands down. But Dallas is way more fun than Houston, unless you like humidity and obesity.
There Are No Poor Children In Park Cities, And Other Gems
Park Cities People’s Merritt Patterson takes realtor Bill Cherry to task for some of his recent assertions on his real estate blog.
Having read it, I have some questions, too. Should we itemize them? Sure, let’s jump and itemize. (more…)
At Least David Dewhurst Is Trying
His proposal to raise registration fees by $20 to help pay for more roads probably won’t generate all that much money. But give credit to Lt. Gov. Dewhurst for recognizing the problem.
The only fair and realistic solution is to raise gas taxes by ten cents, as we explained at length in this piece. Growth is the state’s biggest problem. It’s a good problem if it is managed well. It becomes a huge problem when it is ignored.
Although Dewhurst’s proposal is timid and if passed, won’t accomplish much, for a prospective U.S. Senate candidate in a GOP primary in 2012 it almost looks courageous.
Leading Off (1/24/11)
1. Here’s some more fuel to throw on Jim Schutze’s smoldering pile of schadenfreude: The city is rushing to fix its Trinity Levee problems before many of the lands surrounding the levees (some of which have been purchased by investors speculating on Trinity River Project-related development) get drawn into the flood plains by federal officials:
“It has just turned things upside down,” said Bob Stimson, president of the Oak Cliff Chamber of Commerce. “And indeed, I think that the values of the properties have been already impacted by it.”
2. West Dallas homeowners seek to preserve their neighborhood: In other Trinity-related news, the bridge is coming to West Dallas, so homeowners in the West Dallas neighborhood of La Bajada, many of whom have lived in the area since the 1940s, are trying to protect their homes from speculative buying and rapidly rising property values by adopting a Neighborhood Stabilization Overlay. The NSO would limit the size and scale of new construction in the stable, single family neighborhood.
3. Terry Glenn arrested in Denton County: If I were Dez Bryant, I would definitely try to line up an offseason move to another football team. The problem with being a Dallas Cowboys wide receiver, it seems, is that at some point you are going to be arrested for a drugs and alcohol-related crime.
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