Articles for June, 2011
Cheatin’ Song Stars Randy Travis, Local Couple
When C&W star Randy Travis showed up the other day at a Dallas fundraiser for Mitt Romney, the tall, dark-haired woman at his side sure didn’t look like his longtime wife and manager, Libby Hatcher. Were we ever behind the times. In a steamy saga that’s played out right here in our own backyard, it looks like the singer has divorced his wife of 19 years after taking up with one Mary Beougher, who was married to Randy’s Plano dentist Ritchie Beougher, DDS.
According to various sources, the tawdry tale began when Randy took a walk with Mary while Libby’s teeth were being cleaned at Beougher’s swanky Willow Bend Dental clinic. Next thing you know, Libby had planted a spy camera on Randy’s tour bus and caught the cheating pair red-handed. Now Randy and Mary are supposedly looking for a place together in Gainesville, and Randy’s promising to marry her as soon as she’s divorced. Oh yeah: Travis may have gone back to drinkin’ again, too. All in all it’s a story that would make a great country song, like the ones Randy is famous for.
Let’s Go, Mavs!
Let’s go, Mavs! Let’s go, Mavs! Let’s go, Mavs! Let’s go, Mavs! Let’s go, Mavs! Let’s go, Mavs! Let’s go, Mavs! Let’s go, Mavs! Let’s go, Mavs! Let’s go, Mavs! Let’s go, Mavs! Let’s go, Mavs! Let’s go, Mavs! Let’s go, Mavs! Let’s go, Mavs! Let’s go, Mavs! Let’s go, Mavs! Let’s go, Mavs! Let’s go, Mavs! Let’s go, Mavs! Let’s go, Mavs! Let’s go, Mavs! Let’s go, Mavs! Let’s go, Mavs! Let’s go, Mavs! Let’s go, Mavs! Let’s go, Mavs! Let’s go, Mavs! Let’s go, Mavs! Let’s go, Mavs! Let’s go, Mavs! Let’s go, Mavs! Let’s go, Mavs! Let’s go, Mavs! Let’s go, Mavs! Let’s go, Mavs!
Things To Do In Dallas Tonight: June 9
A genius by the name of Brett Barbour Photoshopped this together and brought it to my attention. Kudos, Brett!
This is definitely what you think it is. Continuing my “things I rarely do on this blog” theme of the week because you’re all going to be watching the Mavs game tonight no matter what I say, here is the best picture I have seen since the last time I saw something awesome. And not to drag this whole Weinergate thing out, but I have two very serious and legitimate questions. One, is Anthony Weiner at all related to Marc Weiner of Weinerville fame (Nickelodeon, 1993-1994)? Because they look so much alike that I really wanted to type that in all caps. And two, why has the rest of the Internet not noticed this yet?
If the Mavs were not playing, I’d suggest that everyone make a pilgrimage to Grand Prairie to catch Earth, Wind, and Fire at the Nokia Theater. It just sounds like plain old fun. I like them for many of the same reasons other people do, but mostly because I spent a ridiculous amount of time my sophomore year in college dancing around my apartment to “September” instead of studying and hardcore spying on the guy with the pet monkey who lived in the building across the street from my window. Not a euphemism, folks, he really had a monkey. It lived in a cat carrier. Anyway, Earth, Wind, and Fire saved me from being really, really creepy and for that, I am forever in their debt.
If you happen to be in Fort Worth this evening and again, not watching the Mavs game, you can find happiness. Happiness Is, a documentary that follows the director on some sort of vision quest, asks notable people (such as the Dalai Lama) and everyday Americans what happiness is and where/how to find it. It’s screening at the Modern. Pretty sure if we win this Finals thing, the entire nation minus the city of Miami will have a good answer.
Speaking of, the Libertine Bar does a mean game day special, and here’s another handy link to Raya’s round up of places to go if you haven’t already staked out a prime spot.
Happy Thursday to you and yours. For more things to do, go here.
NBC 5 Interviews Garland Man Arrested For Pointing Laser at Planes
Sammy Ladymon lives in Garland. He likes to look at stars, by gum. And helicopters and planes keep seeming to fly low above his house to harass him and interrupt his amateur astronomy. So why wouldn’t he point an intense green light at them? I mean, hey, he says, it’s not like he’s firing bullets.
From the NBC5 interview:
Ladymon is charged with illumination of an aircraft by intense light, a misdemeanor. He said he cannot pay his $1,000 bail because he has no family or friends willing to help him.
He said he is housed in a cell with eight inmates who were surprised to learn the charge against him.
“They call me ‘the laser pointer guy,’” he said.
WSJ: Perry Thinks He Could Fill GOP Void
Rick Perry is thinking much harder about a run for the White House, partly because his record helping create jobs would position him well in a race against President Obama. That’s according to the Wall Street Journal, anyway. That scenario might make sense, except for this: the GOP isn’t about to nominate another swaggering Texas governor so soon after W. Not to say Perry couldn’t wind up a VP pick, though.
Leading Off (6/9/11)
Shelter Accidentally Euthanizes Dog. Most of us here at D like dogs. Some of us even love them. (Though I have learned that Tim would never get his dog a masseuse.) Therefore, stories like this one are bothersome. One-year-old Lab Divya escaped from Brian McGowan’s Balch Springs yard. She was found and taken to a shelter. She had her tags. McGowan called to ensure they had his number if they found her. He visited twice to see if she was there. So did his girlfriend. One day he called to check in, and they told him his dog had been adopted. Turns out, she had been euthanized just hours before. No jokes here.
Father’s Punishment Backfires. When Robert Rausch’s daughter decided to have friends over late one night as he and his wife were sleeping, he found a clever way to punish her. He took out an ad in the Southlake Journal offering her babysitting services for free. That ad then made its round on the interwebs. He’s been called a negligent father and criticized in every way imaginable. So he wrote a column in the Star-Telegram defending himself. I like Rausch. I like the way he parents. But if you were his daughter, wouldn’t you just be sitting back laughing?
Jurors Have Tough Decision in Payne Case. A jury has been sequestered and will return today to decide if Charles Payne knew that he was shooting at a police officer when he killed Senior Cpl. Norm Smith. He claims he didn’t know Smith was a cop. Those with Smith claim that they announced they were cops. The jury now has to decide if he should be charged with capital murder (meaning the death penalty), manslaughter, or even not guilty. Right now, I’m picturing the jury sitting in a dark room with no air conditioning, much like a scene from Twelve Angry Men. The jurors have a big decision to make.
Go, Mavs! I’m sure Zac will be along sometime today to do his thing for you superstitious types. Until then, I’ll give you some nuggets to get you pumped for tonight.
Dallas Economy “Accelerating”
New York, Philadelphia, Atlanta, and Chicago are slowing, according the Beige Book just out from the Fed. The other districts are expanding. Dallas is the only district to report that growth is accelerating. That is such a nice word — accelerating. It makes me all warm and fuzzy inside.
Mayor Caraway Introduces Wooden Giraffe to Populace
I almost wanted to have a caption contest with the first photo in Rudy Bush’s blog post. But instead, I’ll just tell you that Dwaine Caraway put a wooden giraffe named J.J. in the foyer of the Mayor’s Office.
Also, those are not pajamas, as many on Twitter were asking me. It’s an agbada, a robe generally worn by important men in Africa. One also assumes that it would come in handy if you were trying to obscure the fact that your pants needed pulling up.
Dallas Baptist University Baseball’s College World Series Hopes Alive
Congratulations to Dallas Baptist University, in southwest Dallas, who managed to win the NCAA baseball regionals and advance to the super regionals against California on Saturday. It’s the first time the school has gotten this far, facing a best two-out-of-three game contest to reach the College World Series.
Which means I’m paying any attention at all to Dallas Baptist for the first time. And I’m noticing that the letters “D” and “B” interlocked make for an awkward blob of a logo.
Still. Good luck, Patriots.
Dallas To Get More Bike Friendly
From Jason Roberts‘ Twitter feed: “The 2011 Dallas Bike Plan just passed the city council unanimously!” That’s good news indeed. And reason to remember this cool story we did last year about Oak Cliff bike culture.
Things To Do In Dallas Tonight: June 8
I have been waiting, waiting, and waiting for this day. I don’t talk much about movies here because everyone writing for FrontRow does the job brilliantly. But The Importance of Being Earnest arrives at the Angelika tonight for a very limited time only. And technically, it’s not really a film so much as it is a fancy HD recording of the recent, Tony-nominated Broadway production I happened to be lucky enough to work on during my time at Roundabout Theatre Company.
It is, in my incredibly unbiased opinion, excellent. It helps that Earnest is already one of my favorite comedies, but Brian Bedford, who also directs, makes a fantastic, ungimmicky cross-dressing Lady Bracknell (if you’re nice, I’ll tell you about the first time the theater’s cleaning lady saw this poster). Santino Fontana, who plays Algernon Moncrieff, will either thrill you or drive you nuts with his winking performance. I actually loved it, and in many ways, he steals the show.
But now I’m going to tell you the real reason you should go to Mockingbird Station tonight. The people behind Earnest (and the theater company in general) are smart and funny and talented, dedicated to the things I love best about live theater: the delicate weighing of risks and possible rewards, the desire to make you feel something even if it’s just the fizzy bubble of a laugh. The show’s scenic and costume designer, Desmond Heeley, is approaching 80. He was the first person to pull down double Tony awards in the same year for set and costumes (1968’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, another one of my favorites, in case anyone cares). His designs for this production, probably his last, are lovely. Still, old age is a creeping thief. Heeley’s health is poor and his leg gives him trouble. But this is man for whom getting up on the ladder to paint the opening curtain himself is the most important thing, and for whom life and work are interchangeable without the air of sacrifice that usually goes along with that. I admire him, possibly because he reminds me a bit of my late grandfather, but also because don’t we all wish we were lucky enough to love something so well?
And now that I’m done waxing poetic, feel free to nominate a foxy lady for our 10 Most Beautiful contest. Consider it your good deed of the day. And if the play/movie is not what you were looking for this evening (especially if you’re still in a celebratory mood after last night’s game), you can find many more ideas here.
The Courts Can’t Convict, or Exonerate, Nader Akhavan. So Where Can He Get Justice?
Nader Akhavan of Frisco was charged with one of the most heinous crimes imaginable, and has been unable to clear his name for more than four years.
Though he has never been found guilty, he is shackled with a record even after a jury acquitted him on one charge and was hung on the other. The DA won’t re-try him, nor clear him. The former DA has told a court that it is uninterested in trying a defendant who a jury will be found “not guilty.”
The Texas 5th Appeals Court wrote that it was uninterested in constitutional or equity arguments. They refused to allow the indictment to be expunged from his record. That record has made it impossible for Akhavan to return to the highly paid career he once had.
Now, a state bill waiting for the governer’s signature may give him a chance. More details at the Collin County Observer.
Rafael Palmeiro’s Grapevine Real Estate Venture Files For Chapter 11
Poor Rafael Palmeiro.
First, he swears to Congress that he never used steroids in his Major League Baseball career. Then he tests positive for using steroids and is essentially forced out of the game. (He claims the positive test was because of a vitamin supplement).
Though he’s not really a Hall of Famer, he compiled enough of the numbers that old-school baseball writers like that he might have had a shot of being elected to the Hall one day. But in January, in his first year on the ballot, the longtime Texas Ranger and Colleyville resident only received votes from 11 percent of the writers (you need 75 percent to get elected).
Now his business venture — a mixed-used development in Grapevine — has had to file for Chapter 11. I guess the Grapevine-Southlake-Colleyville area doesn’t really have “a need for upscale stores and lodging?”
It’s Louder at the AAC
WFAA delved deep into the reason the American Airlines Center sounds louder than the American Airlines Arena. The takeaway? Acoustics, surround sound, mics everywhere, yadda, yadda, yadda, and mostly this, according to the guy who designed the AAC sound system:
“If the crowd was great, it has a chance of being louder, but their crowd is not as good as the Mavericks’ crowd, so it’s not as loud.”
So mostly, it’s because the fans are better. Take that, Miami.
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