Articles for September 13th, 2011
Texas-OU Will Survive Conference Shake-Ups…Probably
Whatever happens to the Big 12, it looks like Texas and OU will continue their rivalry. That’s according to Richie Whitt over at Sportatorium. He says he has “sources familiar with the talks” and that those sources say the schools will keep playing each other after their 2015 contract ends, though they may eventually switch to a home-and-home series instead of playing in Dallas — an idea that has been tossed around for decades. Now, Whitt has been wrong a few times in the past, but this still sounds like it’s probably good news for Sooners and Longhorn fans.
Katarina Vargas, Samantha Cox, Shusmita Farhad, and Aubree-Anna Stinson Need Your Votes
Remember Katarina Vargas, our luscious-lipped model? If you haven’t seen her face grace the pages of local magazines, maybe you’ve seen her out and about with her equally beautiful daughter. Either way. She needs your votes. Get to it.
Remember Samantha Cox? Our fiercely smart attorney with a penchant for comic books and obsession with her dog, Teddy? (Named for Theodore Roosevelt, thank you.) Well, she needs your click of approval, as well. Head over and vote.
Recall the enchanting eyes of Shusmita Farhad? Our 24-year-old Bangladesh babe, working through her bucket list, which, so far, has included a black belt karate class and skydiving? Yep. You know what to do. Give her the vote of confidence.
Think Aubree-Anna Stinson’s top tier? She’s the sultry jazz singer you find charming the crowd at the Library Bar. Think her love of classic music is as beautiful as we do? Give her your vote. Head to the ballot and click away.
Out Of Control Grassfire Near Waxahachie
This is getting a little too close for comfort.
Creating a Tom Leppert Speech Using His Last Eight Tweets
And, also, the first eight results when doing the  Google image search “Tom Leppert for Senate.” The tweets are from the last 24 hours.
Dallas Opera Will Be Dialing for Dollars
If you’re the type who donates to nonprofits like the Dallas Opera, don’t be surprised to receive
an urgent phone call or two in the next few weeks. The reason: the deficit-plagued opera company, which recently had to deep-six one of its main-stage productions for the 2011-’12 season, is nearing an Oct. 31 deadline to match an anonymous, $10 million, dollar-for-dollar challenge grant for its endowment fund not with pledges but with cold, hard cash.
So far, DO chairman Dr. Kern Wildenthal disclosed last night, the opera has raised around $8 million of the needed $10 million. “It’s looking a lot better than it was six months ago,” said Wildenthal (shown in photo by Jeanne Prejean). And while the challenge grant is not an all-or-nothing proposition, he explained, “you hate to leave anything on the table. So, there will be a lot of phone calls going out soon.” A number of people have asked, “Well, should we give for the endowment fund or for the [Dallas Opera's] operating funds?,” Wildenthal added, “and I tell them: Ideally, both!”
Things To Do In Dallas Tonight: Sep. 13
As Rodney my absolute favorite security guard commented this morning, today feels like yesterday all over again. Chuck Palahniuk (who is visiting Dallas in October, by the way) posits that hell is a place where The English Patient is screened on an infinite loop. For extra beatings with the evil stick, I’d like to add a perpetual Monday to the list.
But we’re moving on. The last time she was in North Texas (which was not actually all that long ago), Broadway powerhouse Patti LuPone eschewed Dallas for Fort Worth. This time, the leading lady is all ours. She’ll fly solo without orchestra accompaniment (just a piano player that I hoped in vain would be named Sam) for an evening entitled “The Gypsy In My Soul.” Which is apropos, given that her turn as Rose in Gypsy won her one of her many Tony Awards.
LuPone is set to perform some pop songs and hits from her most memorable roles. Expect “Everything’s Coming Up Roses,” “Don’t Cry For Me Argentina,” and one of my personal favorites, “A Boy Like That” from West Side Story. On a somewhat related side note, there’s an apparently excellent production of Gypsy happening just about 20 minutes away in my home town of Irving that’s using Martin Pakledinaz’s costumes from the 2008 Broadway revival. Which is actually a very cool thing. Pakledinaz is a master. If LuPone is feeling seriously nostalgic and possibly sneaky, she could steal her wig back.
Now allow me to briefly direct your attention to FrontRow, where we have an excellent new-to-us addition to the team. Welcome, Hunter Hauk. Now go read his two part fall music preview, because it’s great. And then go here, for more to do this evening.
Smoke and Mirrors at the University of Texas
Last month I endorsed the questions Jeff Sandefer has raised about the performance of our two major public universities. In answer to those questions, UT Chancellor Francisco Cigarroa presented a “Framework for Advancing Excellence,” which was endorsed unanimously by the Board of Regents and praised widely by editorial writers.
Professor Robert Koons thinks the document does deserve admiration, not as a blueprint for excellence but as a classic in the fine art of academic evasion:
The Plan is packed with words like “action items”, “goals”, “metrics”, and “responsible parties”, all designed to give the casual reader the impression that UT is serious about producing real results.
But the impression is false, because it avoids real accountability for results:
A.H. Belo Adds Two to Board
Just a week after one of its flagship papers - the Dallas Morning News – laid off 38 journalists, and just a couple weeks after also laying off several in other departments, A.H. Belo announced yesterday that it had added two more members to its board, bringing the total members to eight.
Listen, I’m sure John Beckert and Nicole Small are great people. But after another round of layoffs that did not include any upper management, you have to wonder if A.H.B. even actually cares that perhaps the bottom line would be better off with less at the top, and more at the bottom to create a better, more robust product.
Leading Off (9/13/11): The Tame Vulgarities Version
It’s F***ing Hot. Today the mercury will likely work its way up to a buck-oh-five (punchy copy!), bringing us the 70th day this year over the triple-digit mark and breaking the record set in 1980. Take your damn clothes off.
DMN Ed Board Makes Bold Statement. I’m not sure how the headline reads in the paper, but online it goes like this: “Dallas Redistricting Process Tainted by Politics, Backroom Deal-making.” No s***, Shirlock.
Dallas Crime Is Down — Again. The five-oh has the drop on punk-a** b****es filled with bad intentions. Overall crime is down for the seventh consecutive year. In that period, it has dropped a total of 48 percent. The only problem is that, with so many years of improvement, it’ll be hard to drive crime rates down for an eighth consecutive year. My suggestion: the cops need to take it to the next f***ing level.
Army Corps of Engineers F***s Dallas. The City Council learned yesterday that a few years back, the Corps accidentally gave the city $15 million it shouldn’t have. It wants the money returned. And, oh yeah, the Corps has identified some additional improvements it wants made to the levees. Figure another $50 million. Are you s****ing me?
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