Articles for January 23rd, 2012
The Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge: So, What Are We Actually Going to Call This Thing?
A Santiago Calatrava rendering of the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge.
We need to take care of this before it gets to be too late. We kept telling ourselves we’d get around to deciding how we should refer to the decade that ran from 2000 through 2009. The 2000s? The Aughts? And we never could come to an agreement.
Let’s not allow the same thing to happen to the Woodall Rodgers Extension Bridge, or, as the Hunt Petroleum Company would have us call it: the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge.
Hunt contributed $12 million to the Trinity River project and therefore has the right to honor the family matriarch. I have no objection to that being the official name, for the purposes of press releases and on first reference in newspaper stories. But that’s a heck of a long eponym, compounded by the fact that the double surname makes it difficult to know the proper way to abbreviate. Should it be the Hunt Hill Bridge, or just the Hill Bridge?
Generally, we the media have punted. It’s usually either something like “the Calatrava bridge” or “the Santiago Calatrava-designed bridge” on second reference in news articles. When we just can’t avoid the issue, we’re stuck having to repeat the whole damn name, as the Dallas Morning News does here, or as our own FrontRow blog does here.
Stop the madness. Surely we’re going to come up with a generally accepted nickname anyway. You know, whatever traffic helicopters will say when they need to talk about bottlenecks on the bridge, e.g. Â ”Heavy backup onto Woodall this afternoon due to a three-car pileup on the Marge.”
Let’s make this happen sooner rather than later. My proposals:
D Magazine Cover Model Rick Snyder Becomes President of Dallas County Medical Society
Things To Do In Dallas Tonight: Jan. 23
Happy Lunar New Year and/or happy National Pie Day. When it comes to foodstuffs I like to eat, Chinese and pie are both up there. I’ll probably get both, since it’s Monday and why not.
For places to celebrate the former, check out Carol’s post on SideDish. Steel’s festivities this evening includes traditional lion dancing by the kids from Chin Woo School, which should be adorable. SideDish has also long devoted countless calories and manpower to figuring out where you should celebrate the latter. Don’t let all their hard work go to waste.
Meanwhile, former Meadows Prize winner Will Power returns to Dallas for a chat with Meadows dean José Bowen. Power’s had a couple of intriguing off Broadway productions, including Flow, a one-man exploration of “hip-hop theater,” which has a few roots in France. I got interested in this a few years ago because I had a super cool French professor who also happened to be extremely attractive, but it’s legitimately interesting all on its own. Expect some song, a little improv, and talk about the state of contemporary theater and Powers’ thoughts on community activism and engagement.
And speaking of community engagement, there’s a fine example of it at the Texas Theatre tonight. Last May, eighth and ninth grade students from SMU’s Summer Youth Program constructed a replica of the soon-to-open Santiago Calatrava-designed Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge. The project, sponsored by the Trinity Trust, was turned into a short documentary that the Oak Cliff movie house will screen this evening. For the curious, there will also be a panel discussion about the bridge’s design and engineering. Peter has more details on FrontRow. It’s technically free, but a $10 donation is suggested.
For more to do tonight, go here.
Chinese Dragon Attacks Flora Street, Reveals Dallas Not Yet “World Class”
Friday night, the Crow Collection of Asian Art threw a “Year of the Dragon Preview Party.” There was face painting. There were complimentary Chinese candles. There was kung fu. I think owing to the beautiful weather and the fact that China is the most populous country on the planet, a lot of people turned out for the gig. I’m not great at estimating crowds, but I put the number at 1,289. All in all, it was a fun night. But I’ve got a few complaints. As a friend of mine said that night, “Poor Dallas. We’re trying. But we’re just not quite there yet.” (Update at 1:45 — A little under 5,000 people attended last year. Between 6 and midnight this year, 8,373 people came through the Crow. Yes, the weather made a huge different. And, too, dragons are cooler than rabbits.)
Complaint No. 1: The Nasher was closed, and its windows were dark. Okay, so you’re going to close Flora Street and have hundreds thousands of people milling about till around 9 or 10 o’clock. On a Friday night. Might be a good idea to keep your doors open past 5. Standing on a packed Flora Street, waiting for the kung fu show to begin, I stared at the darkened windows of the Nasher and wondered if the people there ever check out the calendar of events of their across-the-street neighbor.
Complaint No. 2: Drinking was permitted only where you couldn’t see the show. (more…)
Fox 4 Knew About Joe Paterno’s Death Ahead of Time
During halftime of last night’s playoff game, Fox 4 had a heartfelt report about the death of Penn State football coach Joe Paterno. Here is a screenshot.
There are at least two things wrong with this picture.
1) Joe Paterno was born in 1926.
2) Joe Paterno died in 2012.
Terrell Owens: “I’m in Hell”
When T.O. announced last week his intention to play for — and partially own — the Allen Wranglers of the Indoor Football League, plenty of people, myself included, wondered whether the decision was financially motivated or, well, just zany. Well GQ came along with an answer. In this well-written profile of the embattled wide receiver by Nancy Hess, Owens discusses the hell his exile from the NFL has been: most of his friends are too busy for him now, no team will even return his calls, and the $80 million he made playing is mostly gone thanks to incredibly bad investments, poor real estate decisions, and the $44k per month he’s supposed to pay in child support for his four children (the youngest of which is 5 and has never met Owens).
Some delightful T.O. quotes after the jump.
Leading Off (1/23/11)
Why Did Police Officer Not Turn on Lights When Speeding? The police officer who struck and killed Beverly Kirk early Sunday morning was speeding, but the cruiser’s lights or sirens were not on. They should have been, because when another officer killed a 10-year-old boy in 2008 under similar circumstances, then-Chief David Kunkle made it policy that officers must turn on their lights and sirens when they are breaking traffic laws.
Dallas Economy Underperforms State Average: This story about the Dallas Fed’s report on the Texas economy is behind the paywall, but this scribd.com link should get you to the meat. The takeaway, Houston boasts the state’s strongest economy, thanks to a healthy energy market, while DFW (Dallas/ Fort Worth-Arlington) has underperformed the state average over the past five years.
Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders Second Best: That’s right, according to some guy at CNBC, the Super Bowl-bound Patriots have better cheerleaders than the team that introduced the sideline gimmick. What’s wrong with our ladies? Well, not allowing the cheerleaders to have their own social media accounts doesn’t help.
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