Articles for February 9th, 2011
If WFAA Wants To Know About School Closures, They Will Come Find You
WFAA, during its 5 p.m. broadcast, did a rundown of districts that closed today, and what their plans might be for Thursday. One of those districts? Dallas ISD, where they apparently showed up at district spokesman Jon Dahlander’s house, dragged him out to the front yard in his pajamas and his wife’s coat, and then asked him if the district was ready to make a decision about tomorrow.
The answer? Not yet.
Furry Critters Spotted at the Hilton Anatole
Fur-bearing creatures
Hey, Tim, I spotted some fur-bearing creatures, too! They were leaving today’s Saint Valentine’s Day Luncheon and Fashion Show at the Hilton Anatole.
Despite the wretched road conditions, half of the guests showed up to raise funds for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
Bobcat Cruises North Dallas
A restaurant-running FrontBurnervian passes along this photo taken in her North Dallas hood, just south of LBJ between Hillcrest and Preston. Apparently the thing has been spotted quite a bit by the neighbors, too.
Rangers’ Young: Too Sensitive–or Just Fed Up?
Over at the DMN (subscription required), the traitor Evan Grant argues that while there’s fault on both sides, the Texas Rangers’ Michael Young is guilty of being “over-sensitive” about his treatment by the team’s management. Give me a break.
Let’s review: First, the brains in the front office asked this All-Star/team leader to switch positions from shortstop to third base. Young did so, and the Rangers wound up winning a pennant. Then, for the upcoming season, the bosses asked Young to move again: give up third base this time and become a “DH/super utility player.” Young may not have liked it, but he was willing to go along with the scheme. Next “trust” broke down somehow, and now Young’s asking to be traded and being called just too darn sensitive.
Think about it: If you’d been jacked around by your overlords for several years in a similar manner, wouldn’t you give a thought to walking too?
Food Nerd News: Ancient Beer Found in Shipwreck! Let’s Name It!
Five bottles of dark, foamy beer were found by divers searching a 19th century shipwreck near Finland’s Aland Islands. Scientists are breaking it down to determine the recipe so they can brew it again. We want YOU to name it.
Angela Hunt: I Will Not Run for Mayor
Sam “Scoop” Merten has it over on Unfair Park: City Council person Angela Hunt will not be running for Dallas mayor.
Gormley: Winter Storms “Rare” in DFW? Not Really
Under fire from critics, everybody from DART and the NFL to the Super Bowl XLV host committee has been stressing the “rare,” record-breaking nature of last week’s storm. But according to this opinion piece from CBS11’s Jay Gormley, harsh snow and ice storms have become almost routine in North Texas in the 2000s. So maybe it’s time for the spinmeisters to quit relying on that particular excuse, and come up with something else that has more credibility.
Things to Do in Dallas Tonight: Feb. 9
Fear not, Dallas. The snow monster has paid us another visit, but we shall overcome.
The DMA, the Crow, the Fort Worth Modern, and the Kimbell are all closed, yada yada yada. Let’s talk about what’s open. As of right now, the Southern rockers of Ingram Hill are still set to perform tonight at the House of Blues. But I’ll be honest. I wasn’t that excited about this show until I heard that Austin-based band Dexter Freebish is playing, too. Who else remembers these guys? I spent the better part of eighth grade with the song “Leaving Town” on infinite repeat. This could just be nostalgia talking, but I still think it’s pretty freaking great.
You know Feb. 14 is approaching when Ye Olde Romantic Movies start getting the big screen treatment. When Harry Met Sally, my second favorite pre-surgery Meg Ryan vehicle, is showing tonight at the Plano Angelika. Sure, notoriously cranky author and pop culture fanatic Chuck Klosterman thinks the film is singlehandedly responsible for ruining a lot of people’s lives, but Valentine’s Day is upon us much like the plague. I think we just have to ride it out.
For those who prefer their cinema with a tad less schmaltz, the recently remastered Amarcord is on at the Texas Theatre as part of their evening celebrating filmmaker Frederico Fellini. Fellini fanatic and Fort Worth resident Don Young will be on hand to show off some pieces from his massive memorabilia collection — the largest of its kind in the United States.
If none of these ideas grabbed you, you can always find more things to do tonight here.
Why Tim Rogers and Jim Schutze Can’t Stop Fighting
Because they are BEST FRIENDS.
Sigh …
I know there are places that have this thing called winter all the time. But this is Dallas. If I wanted to spend this much time at home, being contemplative and making chili, I’d move to Alaska – even Sarah Palin’s Alaska.
But today, I’m just wondering if it’s really that bad out there. And if I have to stay in all day, what do I do, FrontBurnervians? Play with the contents of my wet bar? Sit in the hallway and watch the contractor work on my decimated bathroom? Re-read my Laura Ingalls Wilder books? Play TV channel roulette? Knit? Sleep?
Help. Me.
Dear Mark Cuban, It is Time for the “Homer Broadcast”
In defending Bob Ortegal in the comments of this morning’s Leading Off, I brought up this idea:
I still think Cuban would be the ideal team owner to try my version of “freshening things up”: Have a regular broadcast, with Mark, Skin, and whomever — I don’t think [Brad] Davis or [Derek Harper] bring much, but they’d do, I guess. THEN, on HDNet or wherever, the Homer Broadcast. Completely biased coverage: calling out the refs, indulging long-held grudges and minor gripes, occasionally questioning shot selection, cursing, going wildly off-topic if the situation calls for it.
I’m not doing anything else, so let’s explore this a little more.
Leading Off (2/9/11)
Some city council members are iffy on the idea of “Mayor Dwaine Caraway.” But not Caraway. “I think, with the exception of a few last-minute blow-ups and mishaps, and maybe we should call them hiccups, I’ve displayed good leadership,” he says. And he’s right: aside from some blow-ups and mishaps or, as Caraway would have it, hiccups, or maybe gaffes or blunders, or we could call them letdowns or setbacks, or — hey — what about bad breaks? Yeah? No? Anyway. Aside from those things, totally smooth sailing.
ERCOT puts the state on a “Power Watch.” It’s not as much fun as when Epcot does it. I hope you read that half-sensical stab at something before the rolling blackouts hit your house.
Long-time Dallas Mavericks broadcaster Bob Ortegal is out after 23 years. Weird that Ortegal would be sent packing mid-season, and weirder that Mark Cuban’s aim to “freshen things up” means replacing him with Brad Davis and Derek Harper.
Mary Thornberry, 76, former Fort Worth nurse, is back from Cairo. No word on whether she still has her arsenal — walking cane, rolling pin, kitchen knife — on her, but I like to think you can take the 76-year-old woman out of Tahrir Square but you can’t take the Tahrir Square out of the 76-year-old woman.
Oh, and it’s cold. But it probably won’t seem that bad without a few hundred sports media folks in town griping about it.
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