Oops. Maybe. Maybe not. Both Gov. Rick Perry (or, rather, his office) and the print shop that fulfilled a man’s order for a Perry for Governor button insist it was completely and totally an accident that the man got instead a Perry for President button. An accident that the button exists, and that someone designed it. Unless, you know, why – was someone interested in Perry running for President? Twist my arm…
The Mood Was Electric. If by electric, you mean angry. Over on the Dallas Morning News‘ Texas Energy and Environment Blog (or TEEB, as absolutely nobody calls it), Elizabeth Souder posted a rather routine item about ERCOT asking people to chill on the energy usage during peak hours because they were trying to avoid rolling blackouts. Seems pretty straightforward, right? Well, as commenters are wont to do (except, of course, you good FrontBurnervians, who would never do anything like that), the conversation quickly went completely off the rails and somehow included global warming, Obama, Laura Miller, light bulbs and how hot 78 degrees Fahrenheit is.
Get the Cluck Out. Arlington Mayor Robert Cluck apparently is rather peeved that someone has opened a Twitter (or Tweeter, whatever) account in his name. He wants it shut down, even though it plainly says it is a parody account.
I Drink Brass Monkey, And I Rock Well … So basically, Downtown Dallas Inc. has asked downtown purveyors of booze to not sell beer and wine with high alcohol concentrations. And basically, I have Beastie Boys in my head now. Alternate headline: Pour a 40 for the 40?
IMDb Roulette. Instead of an earworm, I give you an … eyeworm? I don’t know. It’s some quotes from a show or a movie, and it’ll happen every Friday. Find a way to work them into your comments today, will you?
Back in August of 2010, the city of Fort Worth commenced a third-party air-quality study of its natural-gas-production sites. The study cost more than $1 million to conduct. Well, the results of the big study came in today and … guess what? The report found that these sites pose no significant health threats, and that the existing setbacks (from residential areas) are working just fine, thanks. How soon will it be, though, before the Gasland-style activists find some reason to say it’s all a big bad cover-up?
As of right now, Jean-Jacques Taylor’s Twitter stream IDs him as a sports columnist for the Dallas Morning News, but that’s not true. He now works for ESPN Dallas. He shouldn’t be hard to replace. Though JJT’s favorite word, “poppycock,” will now show up far less frequently in the paper.
Sam Gwynne is also leaving the paper. He shouldn’t be hard to replace either, but for a different reason. It was a big deal last summer when the News hired him as a senior writer. This dude can type. But from what I can tell, he wasn’t doing much of it for the paper. Shortly after signing on with the paper, he wrote two fairly long pieces (by newspaper standards), one 1,700 words long and the other clocking in at 3,000. But since December, his byline has only appeared alongside others’. In his tenure with the paper, his byline has appeared a total of 15 times. Eight times, it appeared on a double-bylined story. Five times it appeared on a triple-bylined story. Not exactly the most optimal way to showcase a great writer’s talents. Kinda like throwing your pâté in with a bunch of peanut butter.
Just seems like no job will be quiet and controversy-free for him, amirite?
As of right now, the government wants Mark Stroman to die, even though the man he shot (in the face) says he does not want that at all, and the victim has filed a lawsuit to that effect. From the free-to-all DMN story: “Bhuiyan, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Bangladesh, launched a campaign earlier this year to stop the execution. Bhuiyan was shot in the face and has impaired vision in one eye. Bhuiyan has said he wants to break the cycle of violence.”
In honor of Bastille Day, I will not tell you about the one particular Le quatorze juillet I spent dancing in Paris streets with members of the city’s fire brigade. Mostly because that’s about all there is to it, except for the amusing and probably super secret discovery that France choreographs their fireworks to songs from The Little Mermaid.
And if you are celebrating the holiday that has nothing to do with Harry Potter this evening, there’s really only one place to be. Bastille on Bishop, a collaboration between Go Oak Cliff, the Alliance Francaise de Dallas, and the French American Chamber of Commerce, is back for a second year with mussels, live music, and a slightly relaxed open container law (the only alcoholic beverage you can drink out-of-doors is wine from Calais Winery). Chefs competing for the honor of best mussels include Scott Romano of Charlie Palmer and John Tesar of The Commissary. Our own Todd Johnson is on the judging panel. A word to the wise, though. Show up early if you want to see any bivalve action, and I’m already sorry for how unreasonably gross that sentence turned out. But some friends and I arrived slightly after the suggested start time last year and the mussels had already gotten gobbled up. No problem for me, since I don’t like seafood, but others in the group were very disappointed.
Meanwhile, back in the Arts District, the writers and editors behind The Onion are making a live appearance at the Winspear. They’ll (humorously, I hope) regale us with the history of America’s Finest News Source and how they come up with stories like this. I like The Onion just fine, but I like the people who don’t get the joke even more. You can still get tickets.
And yes, the final installment of everyone’s childhood comes out tonight sometime between 11:59 PM and 12:01 AM. If you stumble into work tomorrow feeling like your poor tired brain has been split between seven different Horcruxes, blame it on the butterbeer. Side note: Alan Rickman is the best.
For more things to do this evening that don’t include muscling (mussel—ing?) your way into a nearly empty fortress, go here.
OK, I know, the average person probably doesn’t give a fig whether a reporter’s able to talk with somebody for a magazine story or not. But if Dallas City Council member Carolyn Davis is going to duck Q’s, she needs to tune up her spin machine, at least. Late last week I phoned her office several times, hoping, among other things, to get her thoughts about why a big company located in her district had been named in a search warrant in connection with the John Wiley Price affair. (The company, Gold Metal Recyclers, has been a political contributor to Davis.)
A super-polite lady in her office told me that due to the July council recess, Davis would be “in and out of the city” this month, so she would not be able to answer any questions about the company. Then, damned if I didn’t find out that just a day or two earlier, the councilor had found time to turn up for that big Night of Prayer and Preparation for John Wiley at the Kirkwood Temple C.M.E. Then, yesterday, durned if the Observer didn’t place her at a Tuesday hearing of the Redistricting Commission. So Carolyn, I’m willing to let bygones be bygones, if you are. Your nice assistant should still have my number.
I didn’t watch last night, but the Mavericks took home several ESPYS, which I guess is awesome. Anyway, here are a batch of Mavs jokes from Seth Meyers’ monologue last night. Starts at about the 2:45 mark.
While attention is riveted on the debt-ceiling drama in Washington and Rick Perry prepares his presidential announcement, D CEO contributor Mitchell Schnurman reports a startling fact over at the Star-Telegram:
Signs Lowered for Drunk Drivers. So people keep driving the wrong way down the toll road. In order to help the situation, more signs were added. But that didn’t help much. So now the signs are being lowered from 7 feet to 2 feet. This is a two-year initiative. Here’s hoping it works.
Southwest Airline Passenger Throws Peanuts. Pogos Paul Sefilian wanted to smoke his electronic cigarette. He was told he couldn’t. He put it away. Then a little bit later, he tries again. Again, he’s told to put it away. So he starts throwing peanuts. This reminds me of an article Zac wrote awhile ago about trying to get people to notice his electronic cigarette. No one in an elevator or Whole Foods cared if he smoked. Next time, we’re sending him on a flight.
Nicki Minaj Gets a Bruised Face in Dallas. After the concert with Britney Spears Tuesday night, Nicki Minaj got in a fight with the guy she was sharing a hotel room with at the Hotel Palomar. The man shoved his suitcase “across her face.” But she’s not filing a complaint. In the photo I linked to, is that a picture of her before or after the suitcase incident?
It may be completely unrelated to the John Wiley Price investigation. It may totally be tied together. It could have something to do with the delay in charges or what have you regarding the Dallas County constables corruption imbroglio. Or not. Nobody’s saying at this point.
But today, the FBI visited Dallas District Attorney Craig Watkins’ offices today. By the three accounts I’ve seen so far, nobody knows anything, his office isn’t responding to requests for statements, and no materials were seen being carried out by agents, apparently.
Sigh.
The Observer has a pretty good take on the debate over soon-to-possibly-be-banned light bulbs that are not made in Texas here. The gist: a new bill signed into law by Rick Perry will exempt from national regulations the antiquated incandescent light bulbs made in Texas for Texas, which would mean something if any of the bulbs in question were actually made in Texas and not, say, China or Mexico. Of course, when we talk about light bulbs, like anything else, we are really talking about (insert exaggerated air quotes here) “freedom.” The money quote, from state Rep. Marva Beck: “The federal government ought not to be in a position to tell us what we can and cannot buy.” Presumably Beck made this statement while consuming medical marijuana (as opposed to any of those FDA-approved Communist pharmaceuticals) and riding in a seat belt-free car that runs on leaded gas.
Candice & Tony’s Wedding Trailer from Joe Simon Films on Vimeo.
1) Candice didn’t make him shave for the wedding?
2) As with most trailers, it gives away far too much of the movie.
3) What? They couldn’t afford to shoot it in 3D?
UPDATE: Looks like it got pulled offline.
In an article titled “Put Your Money On Texas,” numbers just released by Advertising Age show Texas now with 3,613,473 millennials, a 14% increase from 2000 to 2010. The 24-35 year old age group “is critical to a state’s future because they represent the next wave of families, new home buyers and big spenders.” Telling: Of the top ten states with the greatest increase in millenials, not one was east of the Mississippi.
Josh Venable was officially hired as the Edge’s PD today, 18 years after he started at the station as an intern. We have a brief chat about some of that after the jump. Don’t expect too much journalism. He’s my friend and I had two beers watching the U.S. beat France.