Articles for August 26th, 2011
Real Housewives Russell Armstrong Remembered as a Good Friend
(left) Russell Armstrong (the one with the moustache) looks at the camera at a senior dinner party Randy Edwards held for his friends. (right) Armstrong at the same dinner party with Edwards (in yellow).
Last week, Russell Armstrong, the estranged husband of Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Taylor Armstrong, hanged himself. Some say his actions were a result of what was about to be aired in the next season of RHBH. Bravo, which airs the series, is now apparently re-editing its latest season because the impeding divorce between the Armstrongs was a major plot point.
Until yesterday, I didn’t know that Armstrong grew up here. Follow the jump and read the note sent to me by his friend Randy Edwards. (more…)
The Fall of “The Nature Boy”
Ric Flair isn’t from Dallas, but he plays a big part in our city’s professional wrestling history. In fact, he was involved in one of the most iconic matches, when Kerry Von Erich defeated Flair for the NWA championship at Texas Stadium, following the death of Kerry’s older brother David. (A clip from that match is after the jump, as is a pretty unintentionally hilarious promo for a match at Reunion Arena.) Anyway, most wrestlers don’t grow old and they certainly don’t grow old gracefully. Read Shane Ryan’s recounting of how Flair (or Richard Fliehr, as various court documents know him) slumps along to the finish line, a maybe even sadder, and real-life, version of Randy “The Ram” Robinson.
SMU Wants to Join the Big 12
School officials met with the DMN editorial board this week. It’s part of an all-out effort to get the school back into a big-time football conference. With the Big 12 falling apart, SMU thinks that would make the most sense. They are right, of course, assuming the conference stays together. Oh, how we long for the good ol’ SWC days.
Supreme Court Rules in Favor of “Pole Tax” on Strip Clubs
After four years of legal battles, the state’s high court ruled unanimously today that the so-called “Pole Tax” — a five-dollar per patron tax on strip clubs — is, in fact, constitutional. Club owners have challenged the law, saying it violates their first amendment rights to free expression. In the decision, written by Justice Nathan Hecht, the court says the fee is directed not at the expression of nude dancing, but at the “secondary effects of nude dancing when alcohol is being consumed.” Adult entertainment businesses can “avoid the fee altogether simply by not allowing alcohol to be consumed.” Texas Tribune has the story.
Things To Do In Dallas This Weekend: Aug. 26-28
Lots of talk about natural disaster coming out of the East Coast this week. Is Most Eligible Dallas worse than a (mild) earthquake? Apparently, yes. And then there’s this recent hurricane-prep message from a Texan-turned-Brooklynite: “**** Poland Spring. I’m buying cases of Perrier. I’ve also got some canned tuna.” Just guessing, but it should be a fun weekend for everyone. Most especially me, because not to brag or anything, I’ve got a friend in town from Oxford and there’s Mexican food and cheeseball musicals on my horizon. Oh, and also, the Childrens Hospital Party Down cameo aired last night. You’re so welcome.
Friday
Xanadu, presented by Level Ground Arts, heads into its final days at the KD Studio Theatre. I’m not about to let something so campy close without seeing it. If you know what’s good for you and you’re not entirely unsmiling, you won’t either. Obviously, Xanadu, the 1980 movie musical starring Olivia Newton-Revolting (my dad’s name for her, not mine, after he got sick of me watching Grease over and over), was actually crap on wheels. I can’t even really get behind the big budget Broadway production. However, I do have a fondness for small theater companies making the best of what they’ve got. Read Lance Lusk’s review on FrontRow before you go.
DMN Asks: Who Is Minding the State?
I hate it when a very good question gets answered behind a pay wall, but I guess that’s how you get subscribers. But Colleen McCain Nelson talks about a question that popped up over the dinner table a few days ago – if Rick Perry’s campaigning for president, and David Dewhurst is campaigning for Senate, who is running the state?
McCain Nelson points out that yes, in this day and age it’s easy to work remotely. But she also points out that Perry is known to be an intense campaigner. (more…)
When the Water Runs Out
I am right now editing the Urban Affairs column for the October issue. In it, Patrick Kennedy writes about water — and how much of it we waste on our lawns. The task had me reaching for our 2006 “Parched” issue to track down a fact. In that story, Rod Davis wrote:
Wake-up is going to be a bitch. If, or perhaps when, the spigots cough out nothing more than air and the clatter of slackened flush chains echoes in toilets across exurbia and suburbia, the sounds will reverberate throughout Dallas, Fort Worth, and the rest of the heavily populated hub of commerce that is North Texas. You won’t ever need to watch another disaster movie, because you’ll be living in one. It will hurt. A lot.
The entire story, it occurs to me, as we prepare to smash the record for 100-degree days in a summer, is worth rereading if you have a few minutes.
10 Most Beautiful Women in Dallas: Who Will Be Week 2’s Finalists?
Only you can decide. We know it’s not easy, but you must make a choice. Pick your favorite lovely lady from the Week 2 pack and vote for her. Don’t forget to vote over the weekend. You can vote once a day. Check back at midnight on Sunday, and you’ll find the ladies of Week 3.
Leading Off (8/26/11)
Long on Horn, Short on … well, gettingintopeople’stelevisionsetstuitiveness. The vaunted Longhorn Network finally got its first home, just a few weeks before the start of football season. So yay if you have Verizon Fios. Or maybe not, since Fios is only in about 200,000 homes in Dallas-Fort Worth and you can’t get it at all in Austin, Houston or San Antonio.
Rick Perry Something Something Dead Teachers. This story makes my head hurt. As far as I can tell, it’s saying Rick Perry wanted to somehow make a profit off of how long teachers’ would live, which is silly, because he doesn’t actually think that teachers are all that valuable if you look at the last legislative session. So how could he make any money off that?
Riddle Me This. What costs $3,000 per hour and comes from Garland? Your power during a power emergency. Dear ERCOT: For $500, I will rub balloons on my hair for an hour. Vigorously.
He’s Fine. When asked how this whole FBI probe thing is affecting his work, Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price said he was “focused and faithful.” And “fine,” apparently. Maybe he can shift some of that faithful focus feeling over here?
Do You Remember … when it rained that time? What was it like in the olden days, when precipitation fell from the sky even in the summer?
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