Articles for January 27th, 2012
Rawlings Eyes ‘Accomplishing LGBT Objectives Long-term’
Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings says he isn’t surprised that gay-rights activists are upset with him for declining to sign a pledge supporting same-sex marriage. But he hopes Saturday’s closed-door meeting with about two dozen LGBT leaders will lead to more understanding, at least.
Asked before a North Texas Commission luncheon today whether he expected such an uproar from the LGBT community over his stance, Rawlings replied, “I was not surprised. They are an important constituency and passionate about their concerns. I wouldn’t expect anything less of them.”
So, what will he tell them tomorrow? “We’ll be talking about how we accomplish their objectives long-term, and how we understand the different players.” Also on the agenda: “How they can leverage me as a mayor, and how I can best represent their concerns. … That can only be accomplished through good conversations, and that’s what we’re going to have.”
A List of Potential Books By People From Dallas That I Made Up As I Typed It, Presented For No Particular Reason
No More Handouts!: A “True Conservative” On What’s Right With America, What’s Wrong With Washington, and Other Things He Thought Would Help Him Get Elected To The U.S. Senate, by Tom Leppert
My Favorite Key is “Return”: The Best of Steve Blow, by Steve Blow
Wildcatter: My Life In And Out Of Football As Well As, You Know, The Oil Business And I Also Talk About Other Things Such As My Life And, Of Course, Without Question, The Dallas Cowboys Are A Big Part Of This, Vis a Vis, The Broader Impact And So Forth, By Jerry Jones, with Jean-Jacques Taylor
The Further Adventures of Arthur & Archie, By Dwaine Caraway
9/11: The Sequel (ARE YOU TERRIFIED ENOUGH TO COME TO CHURCH YET?), By Robert Jeffress, Afterword by Michael J. Mooney
The New Quality Analects of Mr. Funny Guy, by Tim Rogers
Sue Ellen To Run for Governor of Texas
A spy sends along this photo taken on the steps of SMU’s Dallas Hall. It’s a set for TNT’s Dallas relaunch. Zac, time for your Rick Perry series to get fired up again?
Semi-Regular Friday Afternoon Pre-Happy Hour Hypothetical
Would you rather drink whatever kind of beer/liquor you prefer, but you can only drink it one day a week, OR drink 7-Eleven’s own branded Game Day beer as much as you want, whenever you want? You still have to pay, and you can’t break any current laws. I mean, if you want to drink one in the car, OK, fine, I guess, but just know you’d still get pinched.
(Also: I know Game Day isn’t new; just picked it because it’s local-ish. And, not to taint the results, but we’ve had some here at the office. The most gentle review I can give it is it does seem to actually be beer.)
Why the Dallas Cowboys Should Join the Dallas Opera
Forget the The Magic Flute simulcast. I mean, it’s a fine idea, but nowhere near as entertaining as the announcement I was hoping for: an opera actually performed on the field at Cowboys Stadium (caveat: acoustics, but amusement trumps). And then I realized how the Dallas Opera could kill a bunch of grackles with one teensy, tiny stone.
Inspired by the Dallas Opera, Texas Motor Speedway Bringing NASCAR to Park Cities
Vowing not to be outdone by the Dallas Opera’s move to screen The Magic Flute at Cowboys Stadium, Texas Motor Speedway says it’s decided to run its April 13-14 NASCAR Sprint Cup race through the streets of the Park Cities. The unusual plan was announced this morning by TMS CEO Eddie Gossage and the mayors of Highland Park and University Park. “We want to get NASCAR out of the speedway, and bring it to a whole new audience,” Gossage said. “So we gonna do it up right.”
Under the plan, stocks cars competing in April’s Samsung Mobile 500 will follow a circular route bounded roughly by University Boulevard on the north, Preston Road to the west, Armstrong Parkway/Byron Avenue on the south and Hillcrest Avenue to the east. Those streets will be blocked off to usual traffic, and the cities will waive some noise ordinances, open-container laws, and restrictions against RV parking for the weekend event.
As a result of the latter, tailgating by NASCAR fans will be allowed during the weekend at Highland Park Village, on the grounds of some gated mansions along Preston Road, and on the golf-course fairways at the Dallas Country Club. Food trucks from Denny’s, KFC and other restaurants will cater the event. Tailgaters with special permits also will be allowed to relieve themselves in Turtle Creek during the weekend, the officials said.
Rod Dreher Lands Monster Book Deal
The former DMN editorial boarder and current American Conservative writer has cut himself quite a deal. The New York Post is saying that he landed an “estimated” $1 million deal to write a memoir about how a small Louisiana town supported his sister as she died from lung cancer. The book is titled The Little Way of Ruthie Leming: A Southern Girl, A Small Town, and the Secret of a Good Life. It’ll come out in the spring of 2013.
I asked Rod about this $1 million figure (I’d heard it was slightly higher). He wrote back: “I’m not going to confirm a rumor, but I will say that the money will be sufficient to provide a college education for my sister’s children, provided they go to a state school and, unlike their no-count uncle when he was at LSU, stay the hell out of the barrooms.”
Just How Unpopular is Craig James?
Yesterday we talked about how, needing a serious boost in the polls, Craig James released his tax returns. That boost he needs is even more serious than previously expected. Like, he needs a 28-point jump if he’d like to see the other side of 30 percent. But because he’s running against several opponents, those numbers make it tough to gauge exactly how popular — or unpopular — James might be. But this story, from The Post Game, is much less ambiguous. The headline: “Craig James: The Most Hated Man in West Texas.” There’s even mention of how James is less popular in West Texas than Barack Obama.
Things To Do In Dallas This Weekend: Jan. 27-29
Don’t laugh, but my actual, real plans this weekend include seeing both Beauty and the Beast in 3D and One For the Money, despite the utter failure of the casting director to get anything right and the fact that Lionsgate didn’t even bother to pre-screen it for press. Katherine Heigl as Stephanie Plum? Ugh. Debbie Reynolds as the feisty, gun-toting Grandma Mazur? Double ugh. I remember reading the first few of Janet Evanovich’s numbers series during free time in my high school French class, and everyone probably thought I was a lunatic, spluttering and snorting and crying, trying not to laugh too loudly. I hate you, Hollywood, for running these delightfully trashy books through the boring crap blender.
Friday
Other plans include movies with actual artistic merit (not that Beauty and the Beast isn’t awesome, but did we really need to do it in 3D?). The Texas Theatre has an excellent double feature running on 35 mm through Sunday. Thematically, this is awesome, since Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill Vol. 1 and Francois Truffaut’s The Bride Wore Black have two of my favorite things in common: grudge-holding and revenge. Peter talks about the films much better than I ever could over on FrontRow, so go read that first. Stick around this evening for a Bride Wore Black dance party featuring DJ Wild in the Streets.
And since it’s been an unacceptable number of weeks since I’ve had goat cheese tater tots and an 87 Ways, Tillman’s is the only place I can even think about eating right now.
Plano’s J.C. Penney Gets a Makeover: New Logo, Ellen DeGeneres, and Apple-Style Genius Bars?
The new logo. Kind of makes you want to put your hand over your heart and pledge allegiance, no?
When Joseph Guinto wrote about Ron Johnson, the new CEO of Plano-based J.C. Penney, in the September issue of D CEO, he raised a number of questions about what the former Apple and Target executive could do for the department store. On Johnson’s branding expertise:
If an executive from Apple is supposed to know anything, it is what the kids (under 35 counts, right?) want these days. And, anyone at Apple—where products launch with a similar look, feel, and level of hype—should have a solid understanding of branding. But Apple products cost a lot of money. The average price for a women’s blouse at J.C. Penney is $15. And, besides, is it fair to compare a shiny iPod to a pair of cotton underpants?
Well, J.C. Penney unveiled its big makeover plan this week, and it would seem that cotton underpants may be getting something closer to the iPod treatment. Stores will begin sporting a new logo (above), the company’s third in three years.
They’ve also unveiled new three-tiered, simplified pricing that they’re calling “Fair and Square Pricing,” which is meant to be represented by that subtly patriotic new logo. Ellen DeGeneres has been brought in as a spokesperson to “help bring the new jcpenney experience to life in her own fun-loving, sneaker-wearing, laugh-making way.”
But most remarkable of all? Johnson, the man behind the creation of Apple’s retail cathedrals hipster havens orgasmatrons shops is bringing some of that same philosophy to transform the staid department store design:
Embattled Former Yale Quarterback Did a Swim Through Highland Park
By now perhaps you’ve heard about Patrick Witt. He made headlines last year when he apparently gave up a shot at becoming a Rhodes Scholar so that he could lead Yale on the gridiron against rival Harvard. Except now we’re learning that Witt really didn’t really have such a great shot, seeing as how a classmate accused him of sexual assault, and the Rhodes people aren’t impressed by such behavior. A story in today’s New York Times details the whole affair. The most interesting thing to me is how hellbent his parents were on getting the kid a starting spot on a high school team, moving the entire family across the country when it became necessary. One of their stops was Highland Park. Witt wasn’t good enough to start there, so they moved again, to Wylie.
Update 10:31 – An alert FrontBurnervian points out the other North Texas connection to this story: the Yale coach who was forced to resign, Tom Williams, played his high school football at Trinity Valley, in Fort Worth. Perhaps I forgot to mention this connection because when I tried to tackle Williams several times, he ran over me like I was a kindergartener. Still painful to remember.
Update 10:40 – Huh. I just received a response to the NYT story made on Witt’s behalf by his management and PR firm, Atlas Strategies. They take issue with how the cause-and-effect relationship the NYT laid out concerning the assault allegation and Witt’s decision to forgo the Rhodes Scholarship. Jump for the full statement.
Leading Off (1/27/12)
Contentious Cost Saving. The Dallas ISD Board of Trustees voted 6 to 2 last night to shutter 11 elementary schools, lay off 177 full-time employees and extend teacher work days by 45 minutes. The meeting got so contentious that the board retreated to a smaller room at one point to discuss and vote. Who stayed behind? Carla Ranger, who told reporters that, “The board walked out on the community.”
Oh, That Wasn’t a Thing Already? Apparently there are a bunch more roads you can drive 75 mph on in Texas. And – whoa – roads you can drive 80 on. This is good news for me and my swagger wagon, since we frequently rounded up anyway.
Rainy Days Stave Off New Restrictions. If your domicile is within the confines of a municipality that is a customer of the North Texas Municipal Water District, good news: The district voted to hold off on adopting the much more stringent stage four water restrictions. However, officials are quick to warn that the more severe restrictions could be inevitable.
Perry’s Popularity Plummets. By 10 points, according to a survey conducted on behalf of five Texas newspapers. The survey also revealed that more than half of those polled did not want Rick Perry to run for another term as governor.
Chicks, Man. If you want chicken in University Park, you’re pretty much going to have to go to Chik-Fil-A. Because the city council says it’s still verboten to have chickens in your backyard (or anywhere else, I’m guessing). Speaking of, a running-type Frontburnervian told me recently that he was running in the Preston Hollow area and heard a rooster crowing from behind one of the fancypants houses there. Anybody else hearing random roosters?
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