Articles for February, 2012
Why I Hate Mark Cuban’s Skechers Commercial
It debuted during the Super Bowl, and though it was upsetting at the time, the commercial was so bad I just assumed it would go away. But it hasn’t. You can’t have ESPN on for 45 minutes without seeing it. I was hesitant to even mention the name of the company doing the advertising, but if you don’t know what I’m talking about, this is the commercial. There are many, many reasons to dislike this awful ad. Here are just a few.
How Not To Get Out Of a Ticket
Yesterday, while coming back to the office, I was pulled over for turning right at a red light where, apparently, there are two signs prohibiting that. The officer was on a motorcycle. As the officer was approaching my car, I caught a quick glimpse in my rearview. Probably too quick, since the first thing I said was, “Sorry, ma’am.” To the male officer. Anyway, I guess the real point of this is don’t turn right on red at the intersection of Ross and the frontage road of 75. And just say, “Sorry, officer,” if you do. Or say nothing. Yes, say nothing. Or just repeat the Jay-Z parts from the second verse of this.
Uptown Shows Us What’s Wrong With American Cities
Kevin Buchanan runs a blog called Fort Worthology. If you live in Cowtown and care about urbanism or design, you already know this. Well, Buchanan recently paid a visit to our fair city to attend a talk at the AIA Dallas Center for Architecture. When Buchanan made the short walk from the Center for Architecture to Saint Ann, he discovered just how poorly designed that part of Uptown is. He also found what might be a pretty good joke. Recommended reading. (Also, it appears that Buchanan’s discovery has gone a bit viral.)
The Margaret Hunt Hill Is A Brooklyn Bridge For Dallas? Sorry, Get Your Local History Straight
Sarah Cockrell's bridge, which replaced ferry service across the Trinity operated by John Neely Bryan (sorry John)
Something has been bothering me about the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge ever since I read this post by Jason last week. In it, Lynn McBee, a “super-fundraiser” who is helping with this weekend’s opening celebration for the new Calatrava-designed bridge, compares the impact the bridge will have on the western portion of the city to that of the Brooklyn Bridge.
Sigh Let’s jump.
Countdown Till Robert Wilonsky Leaves The Observer and the Dallas Media Landscape Changes Forever
Robert Wilonsky’s last day at The Observer is Sunday, March 4. I assume he’ll work till midnight.
Former TCU Football Player Honored for Coming Out to Teammates
The TCU football program has had some well-publicized problems lately. But here is some good news. In 1994, there weren’t a lot of openly gay athletes in either the collegiate or professional ranks–not a lot has changed that way on that front. But halfway through the football season that year, TCU linebacker Vincent Pryor decided to tell his teammates he’s gay. Not long after, he tied the school record for sacks in a single game. (You can read his entire story here.) Today Pryor will be given the Atticus Circle Award for, in the words of the Dallas Voice, “his courage to come out to his football team his senior year.”
Things To Do In Dallas Tonight: Feb. 29
Leap Day! I’m sure all of you will make the most of the extra 24 hours, much like Christopher Columbus did when he used his knowledge of this lunar curiosity to scam indigenous Americans out of their stuff.
I have very clear memories of my elementary school art teacher, Ms. Larson, not because she was wonderful and fostered a life-long love for tempera paint but because she took great delight in calling me “Elizabeth Two-by-four,” an annoying bastardization of my somewhat unusual middle name. Needless to say, I still hold a grudge and I can’t draw a decent stick person to save my life. However, I’m always open to throwing some paint around when it’s all in good fun and no one will heckle me (too much). Painting and Drinking, an event the lovely and talented Laura Kostelny pointed us to on Monday on the DHome blog, sounds like a blast. Mary Fadian, owner of Mary’s Finds, will lead the evening, and she’ll provide all the supplies you might need to make a piece of modern art you won’t be embarrassed to hang on your wall. Just show up with friends and booze.
Otherwise, you can join the folks at the Dallas Architecture Forum for a talk with Jason Roberts, founder of the Better Block Project, co-founder of Art Conspiracy and Bike Friendly Oak Cliff, and founder of the Oak Cliff Transit Authority. Zac did a Q&A with him back in 2009, in which Roberts already sounded like the Tasmanian devil of community organizing. Tonight he’ll talk mostly about Better Block, an intense urban design demonstration that builds out areas in need of redevelopment (Roberts explains it so much better here). And I know. I’m directing you the Magnolia Theatre, again. Sorry. But our own Peter Simek has called Roberts an effective urban advocate, and it’s worth your time to hear what he has to say.
For more to do tonight, go here.
Does The End of the Arts Center of North Texas Mean Collin County Doesn’t Care About the Arts?
A rendering of the Arts Center of North Texas. None of this will ever be built. No, I'm not sure why these people are giving a standing ovation to the trees. Maybe, like Mitt Romney, they're great admirers of proper arboreal height.
In another life I was editor of The Allen American, then a semiweekly covering that city north of Plano that some of you probably don’t even realize you’re buzzing through when speeding north up U.S. 75. Among the first issues I covered during my time there was the planned creation of the Arts of Collin County performance hall, a four-city partnership that quickly became a three-city partnership when McKinney voters opted not to pony up the $19 million membership fee. Which is to say, the project was troubled from the start. Then a weakening economy slowed fundraising.
It’s been moribund for awhile now, but only this week have the the owner cities — Allen, Frisco, and Plano — decided it’s time to divvy up the corpse.
The project had donated land to build upon, and $57 million in bond commitments, plus another $10 million or so of funds raised. Yet the job couldn’t get done. If it didn’t happen after that much of the groundwork was laid, how long will it be before any of these cities will be interested in trying again?
And did they blow their big chance last year, when they decided to rebrand the effort and chose to call it “Arts Center of North Texas?” As one of our commenters suggested, in such a bastion of Republicanism, a name like “Ronald Reagan Center for Free Enterprise American Arts” might have saved the thing.
Erykah Badu Concert Canceled Over Her Tattoos
Erykah Badu was supposed to play Kuala Lumpur today. Doesn’t look like it’s going to happen. Folks in Malaysia don’t cotton to tattoos in general (Islam forbids them), and they especially don’t dig tattoos of the word “Allah,” which Badu has in this publicity photo. You can read more about the dust-up here.
My question: what about fake tattoos? Because, while Badu and I don’t hang out naked together as much as we used to, I’m pretty sure those aren’t real tats.
Meet the Inimitable, Hirsute Michael J. Mooney
An atheist writer and a couple dozen Baptists walk into a bar.
Sounds like the beginning of a joke. And it just might be. The kind folks from Wilshire Baptist Church have invited Mike Mooney to come talk to them about why he is so awesome. That’s my description. They’ve titled the talk: “Religion and the Media: A Conversation with D Magazine’s Mike Mooney.” And they’re meeting at the Corner Bar. Things get rolling around 7:30 tomorrow, by which time Mike will already be oiled, if I know him. The Baptists? Not sure.
Perhaps the most interesting thing about this engagement is the email press release. It included a link to Mike’s vanity site, which I didn’t know existed. And now I have lost myself in that wily, beard-shrouded smile of his.
Who You Gonna Call For Your Next Car?
There’s a car dealership in Dallas that uses a 28-year-old novelty song about poltergeists as the basis for its radio jingle. I’ve been hearing it as I drive for years — the jingle, not the song — but the absurdity of this concept didn’t strike me until this week. Am I wrong to call it absurd? Is this really a bit of marketing genius?
Leading Off (2/29/12)
DeSoto Doctor Accused of Health Care Fraud. Jacques Roy of DeSoto is accused of creating $375 million in fraud in the past five years. A whistle-blower (you could probably figure out who she is based on this footage) came forward a year ago because she was worried about patients. Through the whistle-blower and two other people, the FBI gathered enough evidence and arrested Roy and six employees yesterday.
Snake Bites Snake Man. Jackie Bibby, who appears on Animal Planet’s Rattlesnake Republic, was bit on the hand last night at a hotel in Fort Worth. I think rather than me recapping what happened, it’s best to hear it in Bibby’s words. “I was doing a stunt where I put rattlesnakes in my mouth, which is one of the world records that I hold,” he said in an interview with NBC 5. “I was bundling the snakes together to prepare to put their tails in my mouth, and one of the snakes crawled over the top of one of the other snakes and got leverage and struck me in the hand.” Bundling the snakes together to put their tails in his mouth. Yep. Oh, and this is the 10th time he’s been bit.
55-Year-Old Grandmother Wants To Be Cowboys Cheerleader. Shannon Simmons thinks she looks just like any 20- or 30-year-old, and she’s got moves. So she’s decided to try out for the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders squad. My computer (which is ancient, slow, and unable to process just about anything) didn’t show a picture of Simmons with this article. (UPDATE: The link wasn’t working, so I have a new link and the new link does show a photo.) I googled her and came across this article from two years ago. She looks great and more power to her, but I’m not sure she looks like a 20-year-old.
What’s Up With Lamar Odom?
Tim touched on this is Leading Off this morning. But Rob Mahoney from The Two Man Game goes a bit deeper here. A taste:
This is no mirage. This cannot be explained away. This is life lingering in the back of a player’s mind, much as it has that pesky habit of doing. It’s not a distraction; basketball is the distraction, with reality as Odom’s far too haunting home. His cousin is gone. His father is ill. He’s a man with a lot going on between his ears, which is a far more healthy result than an overwhelming sense of numbness that might improve the performance of the player, but would ultimately be far more taxing on the man. Odom is dealing with things in the best ways that he knows how, and you’ll understand if he doesn’t apologize for how his personal trials might impact your favorite team.
Things To Do In Dallas Tonight: Feb. 28
Telling you what to do this evening is so easy it’s like taking candy from a candy-hating baby. Can you tell I just finished the second season of Archer? Anyway.
Tonight, FrontRow has teamed up with the Magnolia to present The Godfather, part of an ongoing series “Big Movie” series featuring cinema’s directorial giants. I’m going to go ahead and agree with Peter— I really, really love The Empire Strikes Back but when push comes to shove, The Godfather is probably my all-time favorite movie (and hey, I’ve even read Mario Puzo’s book, which is more than I can say for all those Star Wars spinoff novels). Clearly, we’re obviously not alone in our appreciation for Francis Ford Coppola’s masterpiece. While you’re in the neighborhood, you can imagine the empty Border’s transforming in a Max’s Wine Dive (owner Jerry Lasco probably made the folks at WestVil an offer they couldn’t refuse) and then maybe grab a bite at Malai Kitchen.
Otherwise, Mockingbird Station is hosting a “leap crawl” happy hour to encourage people to partake in the ongoing Yelp Drinks promotion (select cocktails at various places around town are 50% off). You have to download the Yelp app to participate, but once you do that, make a beeline for Urban Taco, the People’s Last Stand, and Trinity Hall (the three participating Station locations). Check in, order one of the discounted cocktails, get a punch card. Get your card punched, obviously, and drink your drink. And then head to the next place. And repeat once more, until you’ve visited all three places and you have three hole punches (I’m assuming they’re just normal round holes, but they could have one of those fancy hole punchers in the shape of a star or a rabbit). Then go back to your favorite place, and if you’re one of the first ten people, you get a $20 gift card.
For more to do tonight, go here.
Leading Off (2/28/12)
Dallas Police Are Writing Fewer Tickets. Interestingly, traffic stops are actually up, but cops have written 56,000 fewer traffic tickets in the last two years. This means the city is leaving millions of dollars in uncollected revenue on the streets. Don’t worry. Those downtown parking enforcement weasels are working to make up the difference.
Dating Site Uses Picture of Dead Soldier in Ad. Alan Burks is suing Dallas-based True.com for using a picture of his dead son, Peter Burks, to drum up business. Peter was killed in Baghdad in 2007, but until recently True.com was using a picture of him in ads that read “Soldiers Want You” and “Military Men Searching for Love.” Not quite as sexy when you know the guy was killed by a roadside bomb.
Lamar Odom Still Hasn’t Rejoined Mavs. Odom is still in California, tending to his sick father. Roddy B is back for tonight’s game, though, having missed five games to deal with the death of his father. Family is more important that basketball. Don’t get me wrong. But I wonder what happens when players elect to miss games like this. Do they still get paid?
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