Articles for April 19th, 2011
DUCK!
It’s looking bad out there. Denton friends are already talking hail. We’re all under a tornado watch. So find a hidey-hole, y’all, like your bathtub. Unless the bathtub is dirty. Then you might wanna clean that sumbitch before you climb in it. Unless you see a big tornado coming, then just get in it and wear a helmet or something, because a whole lot of nature is about to happen to you.
Or not. This is Texas. Flat nothing might happen, too. So you know, just sit in your living room and eat ice cream*. That’s what I’m doing. **
*Unless you live near Oklahoma. Because it looks like they’re getting the bejeezus smacked out of ‘em along the Red River.
** I am doing this because I am not a weather person. Although, clearly you can see from this post I should be.
Jonathan Neerman Steps Down as Dallas County Republican Chairman
BREAKING! Dallas County Republican Party Chairman Jonathan Neerman is stepping down in the midst of a sex scandal involving Tony Romo’s fiancée, Candice Crawford.
Okay, kidding. Neerman is stepping down in an attempt to regain some sense of normalcy in his personal life and to give local Republicans plenty of time to elect his replacement. He’ll officially resign May 2. Debbie Georgatos will serve as the interim chairman and call the election, which will take place in the spring. That’s a really boring reason to step down, though, so I told Neerman I would come up with something more interesting. I asked him what he planned to do with all his new free time, besides, you know, actually spending time with his family. Neerman said, “I’m looking forward to practicing law and actually billing some hours.”
Those of us in the media who had occasion to bug Neerman in a professional capacity will miss the guy. He’s funny, he’s forthcoming, and he’s ex-CIA, so I have to say that nice stuff. I wish him and Candice many years of happiness together.
Things to Do in Dallas Tonight: April 19
I filled up my car last night. It was actually physically painful to fork over that much cash, so I apologize in advance for sending you way the heck out to Fort Worth (and if you live in Fort Worth, well, all the better).
Tonight marks the conclusion of the Modern’s Tuesday evening lecture series, and the museum has chosen to wrap things up with Brooklyn-based artist Alex Hubbard. His work (a mix of painting, found object sculpture, and video) is complicated and often a bit funny, and he’s been exhibiting steadily after completing the Whitney Independent Study program in 2003 (his pieces were included in the 2010 Whitney Biennial). And since the education department at the Modern does an excellent job of introducing us to important national and international artists while they’re on the rise, it’s definitely worth your time and gas money.
However, if you don’t feel like driving, you can still get your visual arts fix with the Jim Lambie exhibit that opened up at the Goss-Michael Foundation over the weekend. I’m in love with his signature installation, Zobop — the way he uses colorful vinyl tape to transform the floor of the gallery. It’s always different, but here’s a cool time-lapse video from a 2007 Washington DC exhibit (the one at Goss-Michael is full on neon). After that, you’re close enough to West Village to try out Malai Kitchen for dinner and drinks, then add your two cents to Sarah Reiss’ first take SideDish review.
Not feeling artsy this evening? For more things to do tonight, go here.
Dallas Observer’s Richie Whitt: Second Child Less Valuable Than First
I’ve read Richie Whitt’s post on Sportatorium from yesterday a couple times. It came after the Texas Rangers’ Sunday Night Baseball loss to the Yankees but before they bounced back against the Angels last night.
I’d like to think he’s being ironic when he says this, but I don’t think he is:
In Game 2, Colby Lewis is scheduled to start after missing his last regular turn in the rotation because — I’m not making this up — his wife, Jenny, was giving birth in California. To the couple’s second child. …
Don’t have kids of my own but I raised a step-son for eight years. I know all about sacrifice and love and how great children are. …
Departures? Totally get it because at a funeral you’re saying goodbye to someone for the last time. But an arrival is merely saying hello to someone you’ll see the rest of your life.
Dave Bush filled in for Lewis last week in Detroit and threw three scoreless innings of a game that Mark Lowe and the bullpen eventually coughed up. But that’s not the point. Baseball players are paid millions to play baseball. If that means “scheduling” births so they occur in the off-season, then so be it. Of the 365 days in a year, starting pitchers “work” maybe 40 of them, counting spring training and playoffs.
If it was a first child, maybe. But a second child causing a player to miss a game? Ludicrous.
NBA Brings Referee Danny Crawford In To Kick Dallas Mavericks Squarely In The Jeans
Dallas is 0-16 in playoff games Danny Crawford referees. He’s refereeing tonight.
In case you missed that: Dallas is 0-16 in playoff games Danny Crawford referees. He’s refereeing tonight. Dallas is 0-16 in playoff games Danny Crawford referees. He’s refereeing tonight. Dallas is 0-16 in playoff games Danny Crawford referees. He’s refereeing tonight. Dallas is 0-16 in playoff games Danny Crawford referees. He’s refereeing tonight. Dallas is 0-16 in playoff games Danny Crawford referees. He’s refereeing tonight. Dallas is 0-16 in playoff games Danny Crawford referees. He’s refereeing tonight.
You know what? This doesn’t bother me. I welcome the conflict. You know, it’s good to turn up the volume on life.
Brendan Higgins and Kent Rathbun Go on a Man-date
Last we heard from former Channel 5 anchor Brendan Higgins, he was working on a new TV show called Wasted America. The title made me think that Hunter S. Thompson and Jack Kerouac were co-producing. I was ready for the first episode. Well, it took awhile, but I think I just saw that first episode, and instead of Wasted America the show is now called It’s Good to Have Friends With Brendan Higgins. Pardon? Now, apparently, Margaret Wise Brown is producing (that’s a Goodnight Moon joke, in case you missed it).
In the first episode, Higgins and Kent Rathbun spend a day together, taking in some of Dallas’ delights. They go to a Rangers game. They go to a Mavericks game. They stroll the Katy Trail together before hitting the Katy Trail Ice House. Then the two men repair to Higgins’ Uptown Bachelor pad, where he gets to third base with Rathbun.
Okay, I made up that last part. Actually, the show ends with Higgins scarfing pizza at Sfuzzi and telling us: “It’s good to turn up the volume on life.”
WHAT? Brendan Higgins, please explain yourself.
Ticket Giveaway: National Geographic Live! with Casey Anderson
Casey Anderson, host of the National Geographic series Expedition Wild, has done it all: traveled to elephant orphanages in Kenya, hung out with crocodiles, and gotten thrashed by a mountain lion. Almost ten years ago, he rescued a baby grizzly from euthanasia at an overpopulated wildlife preserve, named him Brutus, and promptly built him a new home. The bond between man and 800 pound bear is so strong that Brutus was Anderson’s best man at his wedding. Adorable.
Anderson will be at the Winspear tomorrow night to talk turkey (er, grizzly), and we’ve got four pairs of tickets to give away. Go here to enter, and we’ll draw the lucky winners at 4 pm today.
Got a Special-Needs Kid? Go to This Event
If you have a child with special needs, you know how hard it can be to accommodate those needs. The sea of doctors, schools, and therapists can be tough to navigate.
“How about when you first get a diagnosis? ‘Oh my goodness. Where do I go?’ ” said Meredith Roever. “You go through the pages of Dallas Child magazine, and you see a hundred different providers. ‘Oh my gosh. Am I going to get on the phone and start calling all these people and interviewing these people and finding out what they do?’ ”
Roever and Hollee Mills, co-presidents of the Park Cities Learning Disabilities Association, thought it would be great to put all of these providers in the same place at the same time. That’s why they came up with the Learning Difference Resource Expo. For four hours tomorrow, you’ll have a chance to meet representatives from about 40 providers of services related to autism, ADHD, Down syndrome, and dyslexia.
“We’re so excited,” Roever said of the event’s scope. “When Holly and I were talking about this, we said, ‘Wow. Do you think we could get 20?’ ” As it turned out, they’ve had to turn providers away. But no parents will be turned away tomorrow, and no one will be charged an admission fee. Pretty sweet deal, right?
Leading Off (4/19/11)
Wildfires Burn Unabated. The DMN headlines says, “Texas Wildfires Raging Within 100 Miles of Dallas-Fort Worth,” the clear implication being that we should all start packing up our belongings. Very sweeps weeky. But there’s no overstating what has happened out at Possum Kingdom. Ninety percent of the state park there has been destroyed, and thousands of people have been evacuated.
Great Profile of Abdul Qadir Jeelani. Who is that, you ask? In 1980, he scored the very first points for the new Dallas Mavericks franchise. Brad Townsend chronicles his downward spiral to drug addiction and homelessness. If you don’t have a subscription to the paper, find someone who does and have him email you the story. As the Mavs face the Trailblazers tonight (the only other NBA team Jeelani played for), it’s a must read for any fan.
Public Art To Spruce Up Ross Avenue Underpass. The city has chosen a public art project on which to spend $113,000. Happy Shapes will be installed in the underpasss that leads to the Arts District. “The team of Joe O’Connell and Blessing Hancock of Tucson, Arizona, proposed 30 sculptures made of translucent polyethylene with internal LED lights to be anchored on each side of the highway underpass. The shapes, taken from Arts District architecture, would have tails, mustaches and other ‘evocative’ features, O’Connell said.” I’ll reserve judgment. But I do find it curious that the winning artists are from Tucson, and the other two finalists were from San Antonio and Seattle, and they also proposed using LED lights. What? No Dallas artist knows how to work with LEDs?
Tony Romo Organizes Flag Football Game With Teammates. Cowboys brass isn’t allowed to have contact with players during the lockout, so Romo is organizing team workouts. Because, no doubt, it gives him an excuse to get out of having to help with planning his wedding this summer.
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