Articles for April, 2011
You Want Diversity? We Got Diversity!
DFW International reports that 44 percent of North Texans were either born in another country or are children of parents born in another country.
I don’t believe it. But I don’t have the facts or the time to find the facts to contradict it. So click the link, and you decide for yourself.
Top countries of origin represented in Dallas-Fort Worth are Mexico (natch) at 1,000,000 (even if I don’t believe the 44 percent, that estimate seems low), El Salvador and India at 100,000, Vietnam at 80,000, China at 60, 000, Pakistan and Korea at 50,000. Poland — who knew? — comes in at 40,500.
Mission Accomplished! The Tom Leppert Story, As Told to Zac Crain, Foreword by Gary Sinise
Apparently, the erstwhile Mayor of Handtown is now all like, “It’s cool, whatever, bro” on his quitting his job early to apply for another one. Why? Because he’s already “completed” NAY “exceeded” all of the “specific objectives and priorities” he’d laid out. And you know what? He’s right. At least he appears to be, based on a note we retrieved from an open records request we filed recently — on a hunch — looking into his first few months in office. A copy is available after the jump.
Jerry Jeff: Let’s Focus More on “Nuts and Bolts”
Country music star Jerry Jeff Walker thinks lawmakers looking to cut school budgets have their priorities
all wrong. “There’s too much high-falutin’ stuff going on, and not enough nuts-and-bolts stuff” like education being stressed, Walker said during an appearance in Dallas’ West Village last night. Arts education is important but especially vulnerable these days, he added, pointing out how it had benefited his son, musician Django Walker.
Jerry Jeff, who’s 69, and his wife Susan (pictured in photo by Jeanne Prejean) were doing the red-carpet thing in support of OK Buckaroos, a new documentary about Walker’s life that’s being featured this week at the Dallas International Film Festival. Susan and Jerry Jeff–he’s one of the Austin-based musicians who helped start country’s so-called Outlaw Movement in the early ’70s–have worked as a team for years pioneering ways to book his shows and market his music independently via the Internet, direct-mail, and TV infomercials.
The big takeaway from Buckaroos, Jerry Jeff said, is “that you can be a free spirit” and make it in your chosen field.
Dallas Must-Do List: Slide the NorthPark Planters
It's been a long time since Katie's had this much fun.
I can finally say that I’ve accomplished 12 of the Things Every Dallasite Must Do. My latest opponent was a brick planter outside of Neiman Marcus at NorthPark Center, which doubles as a slide for kids. And, now, for D Magazine interns too.
Here’s what you need to know if you too have never participated in this rite of passage:
First, and most obviously, if you are over 4 feet tall, accomplishing this feat will be a challenge.
Secondly, you must leave your pride at home, at the office, in your car, or wherever you keep it, because this is not a very flattering undertaking.
Third, there was a mall cop watching me the entire time, and he just laughed. No worries about getting reprimanded. (more…)
Big Pink Continues To Confuse My Phone
I promise I won’t put up a picture of Big Pink every day that it’s sitting in front of the Nasher. But have a look at this one I took yesterday on the way home. I promise: no Photoshop. I did use a filter on my iPhone that saturates colors and ups the contrast. That’s it, though.
Things to Do in Dallas Tonight: April 6
My dad and I are both somewhat terrible Italians: we hate fish. However, I realize that some people do actually enjoy seafood — my poor deprived mother being one. And so in light of the nice patio weather, I bring you today’s decidedly fishy offering.
TJ’s Seafood Market is winding down their series of free grilling demos, and tonight’s is a little more special because it involves wine and a cozy location. Show up at the Veritas Wine Room after work to learn how to cook shrimp skewers, Atlantic salmon, and crab cake-stuffed trout on the barbie. When I spoke with the chef at TJ’s, he told me that most people who come in seem intimidated by the idea of grilling seafood. Since the market basically does everything but cook the fish for you, they’re trying to help with a sort of “beginner’s crash course” in grill maintenance, marinades, and temperature. He’ll use a grill pretty much like one you’d have at home, so you should be good to go for the inevitable onslaught of backyard barbecues.
Winding down your evening, I’d stick around Veritas for some local cheese (their selection is pretty incredible) and a half-price glass of vino. For a more substantial dinner, Neighborhood Services is my go-to down the street.
If fish isn’t your thing, feel free to email me so we can commiserate. You can also find more things to do tonight, including a Books concert over at the Modern in Fort Worth, right here.
Can the Rangers Go Undefeated This Season?
I know it might seem like a long shot. But just think about it for a minute. The Rangers haven’t lost a game all season yet. They are 5-0. One of the biggest question marks this year was how Alexi Ogando would perform as a starter. Last night, in his first major league start, he was great, allowing just two hits in six shutout innings. Michael Young was also a concern as spring training began. Last night he made his first start ever at first base and handled the assignment admirably. No sign of disgruntlement. Surely I don’t need to tell you how well the Rangers are hitting. They are hitting very well. So, yes, the odds are against them. But I think the Rangers have a shot at winning 162 games this season and going undefeated. Stranger things have happened.
Update: The Rangers just beat the Mariners again. They are now 6-0. Only 156 games to go.
Your Stolen Bike/Trike Roundup
I do this to support my fellow bike riders and also for you, gang. There are cash rewards attached to both. We could all use cash rewards.
The First Knoxy Clip of the Season
Rangers sideline reporter Jim Knox, for sports bloggers, pays off like a broken slot machine. (While watching the game, Tim and I had a text back-and-forth, unprintable here, based around this idea.) So the clip below (h/t: Deadspin) will likely be the first of many, and he will feature more heavily in the ones to follow. Anyway, the segment I saw him do after the game was probably more insane, but this will do.
Angelika Audience Cheers as Terrorists Win
Last night I had the pleasure of seeing Blood of Eagles, the second in an Indonesian War of Independence trilogy by Dallas’ son-and-father team of Conor and Rob Allyn. (The second Film Festival showing is Thursday at 4 pm at the Angelika.) The audience let out some cheers and applause when the good guys beat the bad guys. The good guys were, of course, the terrorists whom we now regard as the freedom fighters (history has a way of turning one into the other; see War of Independence, American). The bad guys were our allies, the Dutch. The Dutch had a good rationale for imposing themselves on the poor Indonesians: the disparate peoples of the East Indies were too fractured into ethnic and religious groups to build a nation. To protect the Indonesians from the perils of self-government, the Dutch had to resort to killing and torturing, but hey, you gotta do what you gotta do when you are trying to help.
Made me wonder whether a Dutch son and father in the not-too-distant future will make a film about Iraqi or Afghan or, going back 100 years, Filipino good guys against the bad guy Americans. And will a Dallas audience cheer and applaud then?
Probably. History does not pay much attention to good intentions. It tends to pay more attention to results and the carnage inflicted to achieve them. Movie audiences certainly do.
Leading Off (4/6/11)
Dish Network Wins Blockbuster’s Assets in Bankruptcy Auction. “Blockbuster will complement our existing video offerings while presenting cross-marketing and service extension opportunities for Dish Network,” Tom Cullen, an executive vice president at Dish, said, also winning a side bet to see if he could make me care less by using extremely generic biz speak.
Rangers Beat Mariners, Stay Undefeated. I know it’s only five games, so no one should get too excited. On the other hand: CLAW CLAW CLAW CLAW CLAW CLAW CLAW CLAW CLAW CLAW.
A&M Wins Women’s NCAA Championship. Maryann Baker, a guard from Bishop Lynch, scored two points in nine minutes of action. Oh, and then Gary Blair — their 65-year-old coach, who grew up in Forest Hills and went to Bryan Adams — did the Dougie. Sort of.
Southwest Finds Cracks on Five Planes. And not, as I had previously read, crack. Anyway, no big dealOH MY GOD OH MY GOD.
City Still Insists on Building Second Signature Bridge. Even though it seems like it, essentially, is unfunded. And they’re going to have to go after $92 million in federal earmarks to get it funded. Which should make Tom Leppert put out, like, 50 YouTube videos. Oh, and TxDOT would replace the bridge that’s there anyway. Otherwise, seems like a solid idea.
‘God Loves My Politicized Religion’ Seminar
Perkins School of Theology will host a seminar on April 12 at Perkins Chapel on the topic, “God Loves Diversity & Justice.” Here are the self-descriptions of the panelists:
“A Human and Feminist from Gaza, Palestine”
“A Jewish Prophet”
“An Exilic Chinese-American”
“A White American Working-Class Feminist”
“A Feminist Muslim Lawyer”
“A Transethnic Korean-American Feminist Theologian”
“A Progressive White Male German-American Theologian”
“An African American Communications Professor”
“A Jewish Russian-American-Israeli Hebrew Bible Scholar”
This seems to me to be a quite restricted representation of diversity, and I am sure FrontBurnervians will have other perspectives to recommend to Perkins for inclusion. For those interested in attending, the seminar details are here.
Let’s Play A Game: Tom Leppert or Fictional Teenage Girl?
So it’s Tuesday, and I think we should play a game. If you are Twitter-phobic, this won’t do you much good, but if you are on the Twitters, here’s how the game will go:
Every Tuesday, I will post three quotes. One of them will be from former Dallas mayor and current senate candidate Tom Leppert’s Twitter account. The other two will either be made up, or come from a movie, probably one that features a teenage girl. You pick the correct one (preferably without going to look at his Twitter account – honor system, people). You win nothing but the honor of knowing the difference between Tom Leppert and a teenage girl, and a hearty congratulations from me.
This week’s submissions:
1. You mean I’m really nominated?
2. I will always fight for what I know is right. That’s what it means to be a serious leader.
3. So, who wants to eat chiminichangas next year? Not me. See, with me it will be summer all year long.
Noah Hutton Blazing His Own Trail
It wouldn’t have been that surprising if Noah Hutton had chosen to pursue acting, which after all is the family business. With
the late Jim (TV’s Ellery Queen) Hutton as a grandfather and movie stars Timothy Hutton and Debra Winger as parents, the acting gene is sort of in Noah’s blood. But the soft-spoken, super-connected 23-year-old has opted instead to direct films, partly because of Winger, who famously appeared with John Travolta in Urban Cowboy. “She talked me out of being an actor,” Noah said in Dallas Sunday.
He was standing against the wall at a charity party at Post-Op Studios following the local premiere of a new documentary called More to Live For, which he directed and scored, at the Dallas International Film Festival. Winger probably didn’t have to do much talking to dissuade her son from the acting trade, you figure. Hutton (pictured in photo by Jeanne Prejean) said that since he’s something of a science nerd–he majored in neuroscience at Wesleyan College–he’s naturally more comfortable behind the camera, explaining and piecing things together, than in front of it.
Home |
Masthead |
News from D |
About Us |
Contact Us |
Subscribe |
Advertise |
Privacy Policy |
Customer Service |
Awards | Archives | Reprints | d custom | Jobs | Advertiser's Index
Awards | Archives | Reprints | d custom | Jobs | Advertiser's Index