Articles for September, 2011
Dallas Home Sales Soared in August
U.S. home sales spiked 7.7 percent, surprising analysts who expected a very modest 1.5 percent increase. Dallas-Fort Worth was fifth in the nation among top metros, with a 29.1 percent increase in sales. The local .3 percent increase in prices outdid the other top ten cities, according to the National Association of Realtors.
Mike Modano Makes His Retirement Official
Comes news that Mike Modano is hanging up his skates. This means he’ll be golfing more. Keep your head on a swivel, guys. Mo’s dangerous.
BREAKING: Jury Finds Against ESD in Civil Trial
UPDATE, 3:24 p.m.: The total damages awarded by the jury are more than $9 million.
Things To Do In Dallas Tonight: Sep. 21
I know you’ve just been waiting and waiting for this day. VideoFest! It’s a big fun deal that’ll run through Sunday, mostly taking place at the Angelika Film Center with the notable exception of this evening.
The opening day festivities are happening at the Texas Theatre, where the first film up is Jean-Luc “Cinema” Godard’s newest, Film Socialisme, which was actually screened at Cannes last year. Here’s a trailer, but just a warning— it’s a total tease on warp speed. And also, for those whose French is rudimentary at best (as mine is), even viewing this movie with subtitles is going to be tough. Godard, ever the slippery sort, wrote them in the “Navajo English” of old Hollywood westerns. So instead of, “I’d like that ear of corn,” you’re going to get something like “You. Me. Corn.” The official synopsis is deliberately confusing; apparently this movie concerns vacationing Europeans, a whole bunch of pretty locations, and a lot of other stuff. None of this will stop me. I’ll be watching my favorite clip from Band of Outsiders all day for prep, but you should also check out Peter Simek’s detailed preview on FrontRow.
And though I can’t think of much that’s more serious than Godard, the TedxSMU talk at the Nasher is obviously up there. Melissa Chiu, director of the Asia Society Museum, and Jeremy Strick, the Nasher’s director, will discuss the state of arts in China and the effect the current political climate has on what artists are allowed to create.
For more to do tonight, including a free concert at the Granada featuring Fort Worth favorite Burning Hotels, go here.
Note About Technical Issues Today
As you may have noticed, we’re experiencing some glitches this morning with the blog. Our apologies for the slow load times and the error messages. A verdict is due any minute on the ESD teacher-student sex trial, and quite a few people are hitting the site of our sister paper Preston Hollow People, looking for the news. Their site and our site live pretty close to each other on the internet, so the traffic is affecting us, too.
Thank you for your patience.
More Proof That Rob Ryan Is Super Awesome
If you haven’t yet read the Sports Illustrated story about the Ryan brothers, you need to track it down. (I talked to the internet and couldn’t find it, but here’s the “sweet live ass” cover.) The other thing you ought to do if you care about the Cowboys or awesome things is follow Rob Ryan on Twitter. He only took to Twitter a few days ago, but he’s already proving himself to be a master of the medium. Last night, for example, he tweeted the following to Bob Sturm of The Ticket:
Note to @SportsSturm: Don’t waste your time trying to explain my defense to your listeners. You’ll be wrong. #MasterofConfusion
Then there was this, about his brother Rex, who coaches the Eagles:
I’ve only been Tweeting for a few hours & I’m killing. Rex couldn’t produce this much quality content with a 53-man roster of writers.
Highly recommended.
Leading Off (9/21/11)
Dallas Farmers Market Struggles. Not sure what is new in this story, but it is a good reminder of the struggles the vendors at the Dallas Farmers Market are having. A study three years old lists improvements that still need to be addressed: the market has visibility issues; the homeless shelter is not desirable; signage is bad; and Shed No. 3 just needs to be replaced entirely. The $6 million for improvements of the Farmers Market that was voted on in 2006 has not been used effectively. This is all such a shame. As Nancy has pointed out, Pecan Lodge is one of the best restaurants in town. Let’s all do our part and go get a sweet potato from there this afternoon.
Hummer, Porsche To Be Used for Recruiting, Undercover Operations. As Tim mentioned yesterday, the sheriff and district attorney are wanting to keep a couple vehicles that were seized. One is a Hummer. As Elba Garcia points out, Hummers are no longer produced, thus making its upkeep expensive. As Sheriff Lupe Valdez pointed out, it’s a free vehicle that can be used for recruiting. In the end, everyone was able to keep his/her car. Watch the video of this heated discussion. Notice how JWP keeps very silent.
Golf Tournament Canceled Because of Buzzing Hazard. Approximately 70,000 bees made their presence known at UTA’s Waterchase Invitational after a branch fell. The casualty count was about 16. They’ll be fine after the buzz wears off.
TSA Finds Dallas Woman’s Hairstyle To Be Dynamite
Or well, they were pretty sure, anyway.
Is DART the Failure It Appears To Be?
Austin and Houston are now engaging in the same light-rail transit battle we enjoyed 20 years ago, and opponents are getting plenty of ammunition from the low performance of the Dallas system. Their most piercing criticisms come from data reported by the News’s Michael Lindenberger in June (liberated from the paywall, scroll down at the link):
A Dallas Morning News review of passenger data from the past 15 years shows that despite massive promotion and billions in tax dollars spent, most of DART’s rail stations serve fewer people now than when they opened.
DART’s ridership projections have time and again proven wrong — massively wrong.
Calling All Engaged Couples: Win Two Round-Trip Tickets on Virgin America
Virgin America's coach cabin. Pretty sweet.
Do you know an engaged couple that needs a break from wedding planning? If so, be sure to tell them about our “Stylish Ride for a Stylish Bride” contest and they could win two round-trip coach-class tickets on Virgin America to anywhere they fly in the Continental U.S. and Mexico. All they need to do is send a video of the two of them telling us how they met. There’s no need for fancy camera work or to hire a videographer. What we are looking for is the most interesting or heartwarming story, not the best videography. Here are all the deets:
- Couples must be currently engaged.
- Couples must submit a video link (from YouTube), no longer than two minutes, of them telling the story of how they met. They then need to submit the link to us via this form and fill out all required information.
- Editors will narrow it down to five finalists whose videos we will post on BridalBuzz and they will be voted on for one week by the public. The one with the most votes wins.
- Submissions will be accepted from September 5 until 11:59pm on September 23.
- Voting will begin October 10 and last until 11:59pm on October 14.
- We will announce the winner on BridalBuzz on Monday, October 17.
- Travelers must depart on Virgin America from DFW airport.
- Travelers must have the exact same flight schedule.
- Travel must be completed by June 8, 2012.
- Read detailed rules here.
Why the Cotton Bowl Could Become the Next BCS Game Pretty Soon
Tonight’s episode of HBO’s Real Sports will reportedly have a segment about the corruption behind the scenes at the Sugar Bowl. We already knew BCS officials were investigating whether the Fiesta Bowl should keep its elevated status. And we knew the Cotton Bowl was already in a good position and more than willing to step up. With this new bit, it looks even more likely. That is, unless all parties involved somehow become rational and institute a playoff.
Dallas Business Journal Dismisses Editor
When Juan B. Elizondo Jr. was hired as the editor of the Dallas Business Journal in April 2010, publisher Lisa Bormaster said, “I’m very excited that Juan is joining our team. He brings a depth of reporting and editing experience to the Dallas Business Journal, along with outstanding newsroom leadership. He will help our team of seasoned journalists continue to bring readers the breaking business news and in-depth reports they’ve come to expect from the DBJ.”
But Bormaster is no longer the publisher of the DBJ. That job belongs to Tracy Merzi, who sent the following note to the staff this morning: “Hi all, I want to communicate to all of you that Juan Elizondo has left the Business Journal as of today. He has been with us for the last year and a half and we certainly wish him well.”
I called Elizondo to see if he had a comment. Understandably, he didn’t. “Tracy’s note speaks for itself,” he said.
Things To Do In Dallas Tonight: Sep. 20
Are you originally from Staten Island? Do you know someone from Staten Island, where in the face of Hurricane Irene, everyone stocked up on deli meat? Do you read or pretend to read The New Yorker? Here’s a just-because-it’s-Tuesday gift from me to you. The Staten Islander, which is now beating Fiddy’s Biddies in my Best Tumblr contest, which is akin to my Sexiest Cyclist contest in that it is not really a contest at all.
I’ve been told that it is football season. I even half-watched the New York Giants game last night, and by that I mean it happened to be on at Lakewood Landing, which is where I was, and it’s hard not to look at the big TV every once in awhile. Anyway, I’m going to go out on a limb here and assume that some people still host watch parties (gatherings?) at their humble/not so humble abodes. Duo has a series of classes, the first of which is tonight, specifically for this sort of entertaining.
T.J. Lengnick, chef de cuisine of Whiskey Cake, hosts. He probably will not give up that cake recipe, but he’ll share some others plus tips for tailgating. Common sense tells me that maintaining a solid beer to human ratio is paramount. But then again, I know nothing. NYU hasn’t had a football team since the 1960s and our mascot is alternately the Violet (flower power), the Bobcat (named for our library system, thanks), or the Flaming Torch, depending on who you ask.
Speaking of the ’60s, you may have noticed that all the trees and little poles around the Winspear Opera House are wearing cozy knitted sweaters to combat the cold weather we’re having. The AT&T PAC sent out a press release about this “yarn bomb,” to which I say, it’s not a yarn bomb if it’s sanctioned. Regardless, Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical opens tonight, and you can still find a seat on all levels. The Age of Aquarius barrels on.
For more to do with your evening, go here.
North Texas Needs 12 to 15 Inches of Rain Now
So we’re told that the last 11 months in Texas have been the driest since at least 1895. It’s so bad that ranchers are going to slaughter about 500,000 more beef cows this year than they normally would because they can’t afford to keep feeding them. That’s going to drive up beef prices to a record next year.
The Climate Prediction Center at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration put together this map showing just how much rain we need to alleviate the drought conditions. Much of Texas needs more than 15 inches.
And the next 6-8 months don’t look promising.
I need a drink.
Leading Off (9/20/11)
Irving ISD Has Race Issues. The district paid a consultant $100,450 to figure out why it was sending a disproportionate number of black students to alternative schools. He came back with a report saying that black and Hispanic elementary students are in the midst of a “race war” (sub. req.). That wasn’t what school board members wanted to hear, so they’ve halted the consultant’s work. The Inuit students claimed victory.
DA’s Office Wants to Keep Porsche. The Dallas County District Attorney’s Office has asked County Commissioners if it can keep a seized 2001 Porsche Boxter to use for drug busts. Is there any question that car will wind up in John Wiley Price’s garage?
Mark Cuban’s Financial Advice. Yesterday on his blog, Cubes dropped some financial advice, encouraging people to “get out there and make a boatload of money” and “enjoy the shit out your money.” The post did not escape the notice of the Huffington Post.
North Texas Foreclosures Down. October foreclosures are down in North Texas 17 from the same month last year and 13 percent from last month. Way to pay your bills, people.
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