Articles for February 6th, 2012
Harry Potter Disgusted by Rick Perry’s ‘Homophobic’ Views, Brokeback Mountain Jacket
Daniel Radcliffe, currently at a theater near you in The Woman in Black but best known as the star of the Harry Potter films, gave an interview to the UK gay magazine Attitude, which the UK newspaper The Guardian recaps.
In it, in addition to declaring that he’s a “militant atheist,” he decries the GOP presidential hopefuls, especially Gov. Rick Perry:
He went on to say that he has been “disgusted, amazed, stunned” by candidates seeking the Republican presidential nomination, such as Rick Santorum or Michele Bachmann, who have been openly hostile to gay rights.
“But they disgusted me less than candidates like Rick Perry, who made that ridiculous advert wearing ‘the Brokeback jacket’, and I think pretend to be homophobic just to win votes.”
You remember the ad he’s talking about, right?
(H/T: DMN Trail Blazers blog)
What to Do For Valentine’s Day in Dallas
Brandied cherry, raspberry, strawberry balsamic, hand-painted heart, all part of the hand-painted chocolate collection at Chocolate Secrets. Photography by Manny Rodriguez
Ah, St. Valentine. Patron saint of lost causes, broken hearts, and utter indifference. Kidding. This Hallmark holiday should be all about the good stuff. If you haven’t made dinner plans already, shame on you. SideDish has the nicest looking, most comprehensive list of menus around. And now that you’ve booked a nice meal, allow us to present a few different options for celebrating with your lucky love.
Another Stray Dog-Related Problem in Dallas
Yes, South Dallas has a lot of stray dogs. A few months ago, I proposed a potential solution to the problem. (My fingers remain crossed.) This week the Dallas Observer‘s Anna Merlan brings attention to another stray dog-related problem: the thin line between animal “rescuers” and animal “hoarders.” I’m generally inclined to say that, barring disastrous circumstances, people should be held to the legal limit of pets. But I’m also not inclined to say people like should be forced to put their dogs back in the streets either.
Why D Magazine NEEDS To Adopt TMZ’s Headline Style, Via the Deion-Pilar Divorce
DEION SANDERS I NEVER Offered Cash for Ass
DEION SANDERS Pilar’s Trying to EXTORT Me
PILAR SANDERS SLAMS DEION He’s a No-Good CHEATER … and a MEGA-Narcissist
DEION SANDERS Daughter SLAMS Step-Mom — You’re a ‘Gold-Digging H*e’
And so on. Do people click on those because they’re sensational subject-wise? Of course. Oh my lord. But also, because they generally make sure to CAPITALIZE a word in most headlines. That tells me, as a reader, “There is something important here. Something IMPORTANT. SOMETHING important.” See? You want to click on that sentence don’t you? But you can’t, because all it would do is highlight the sentence, and not take you to a magical, grammatically suspect blog post. Anyway, I’m doing this from now on.
Meet the New Dallas Bus
This morning I mentioned in Leading Off that I think DART could help its bus ridership numbers (which have dropped) if it overhauled its bus model. Well, look-y here: it’s a new bus design that DART plans to roll out. New benefits include: better A/C and composite flooring, which promisses a smoother ride.
Righto, great, great. But this is what I’m excited about: check out those new, sexy wheelchair ramps! I know. Very exciting. Why? Well, the current way people with wheelchairs, walkers, children’s strollers, etc. get on and off the bus is by riding the lift, which moans and groans and takes about three to five minutes to get one person on or off the bus. I ride the Bus 11 up and down Jefferson Blvd. There are a lot of clinics near Jeff and many mothers with young children who ride that route. On most days, we stop at nearly every corner for a wheelchair or stroller. Often, more than one person needs to use the lift at each stop. It makes the ride nothing short of torturous.
Dallas Mavericks Need To Be Schooled in Punctuation
Since I’m the one who has been designated the “grammar prig” by commenters, I’ll go ahead and open myself to some more fire.
Unless it has been recently corrected, a message frequently flashed on the AAC video boards during Mavs games needs some help. An alert, language-loving FrontBurnervian reports that when it’s time to get the crowd fired up, the video board ribbon that circles the stadium and the video board suspended over the court both flash: “Lets go Mavs.”
Now, I can do without the comma after “go.” It would make me happy to see it. But whatever. It’s a video board. Some rules need to be bent. But the missing apostrophe? I think we can all agree that a championship-caliber squad deserves that apostrophe.
Ball’s in your court, Mavs video board message people.
Randy Travis Arrested For Being Drunk at Church
Randy Travis' mug
Denton County Sheriff’s Department arrested country singer Randy Travis at 1:30 a.m. today and released him later in the morning.
The Denton Record Chronicle reports that Travis was found in his car intoxicated with an open bottle of wine outside First Baptist Church of Sanger. He owns a ranch not too far away in Tioga.
The Morning News version notes Travis’ recent problems, how he had to walk offstage during a performance last year. Â But they make no mention of his having stolen his dentist’s wife.
Things To Do In Dallas Tonight: Feb. 6
After actually watching almost all of the Super Bowl (surprising, I know), all I want to do is buy American cars and drink American beer. Does Bud Light Platinum remind anyone else of Bawls? Pretty sure I just invented the new Four Loko.
Your best bet tonight is Coyote, a new play by Kevin Kautzman about a pair of Arizona minutemen. It runs through the weekend at Nouveau 47 in Fair Park, but tonight happens to be industry night. You can pay whatever you wish for a ticket and bring your own booze. Put that stash of airplane bottles to good use. The theater company gave Coyote a reading during their new works festival, and liked it so much they decided on a full production. I haven’t seen it yet, but I’ve heard good things. Post-play, head to the Amsterdam for live jazz, since you’ll be in the neighborhood anyway.
I’ve never been much for horror movies, but the Texas Theatre has a good one that sounds delightfully schmaltzy with just a bit of spook. I enjoy ghost stories way more than the weird sadistic blood and guts stuff, anyway. Peter reviewed The Innkeepers last week on FrontRow, and describes one of the leads as a “sputter-lipped, Dwight Schrute-come-Elvis Costello.” Which means I’m sold.
And, sigh, fine. It’s apparently National Frozen Yogurt Day, so you can get free yogurt at any Yogurtland location. If that appeals.
For more to do tonight, go here.
Ex-Planned Parenthood Clinic Director: PP Doesn’t Need the Komen Money, Anyway
Now that Dallas-based Komen for The Cure’s been beaten down by everyone, left and right, for its clumsy decision-making, a former Employee of the Year at a Texas Planned Parenthood clinic is out with a different view. Abby Johnson, who was the clinic’s director before quitting and becoming a pro-life activist, says Planned Parenthood will use Mafia-style, shakedown tactics against any charity that decides not to fund the group. She also says the Komen dough isn’t really needed for Planned Parenthood’s free breast-cancer screenings, anyway.
Josh Hamilton Sex Tape?
Last week, I said that I needed some more details about Josh Hamilton’s night at Sherlock’s before I was ready to classify it as a relapse. Well, now it appears that there might be a sex tape from Sherlock’s. Randy Galloway says two people are shopping images taken that night of Hamilton in flagrante. Not good.
Rating Super Bowl Ads With Dallas-Fort Worth Locals: Words With Friends and Double the Deion
Here’s a breakdown of how North Texas residents fared in their Super Bowl commercial appearances. We’re rating their contributions only, not the entire ad. Â Starting with the cream of the crop:
The guys who came up with the greatest time-waster known to man, Words With Friends, had the best moment in this Best Buy ad, tweaking the recent Alec Baldwin-American Airlines brouhaha over playing the game on the plane. They show up at about the 30-second mark.  Rating: 9 out of 10
Leading Off (2/6/12)
DART Light Rail Ridership High, But Bus Numbers Falter: Last year was the busiest year ever for Dallas Area Rapid Transit light rail, but ridership on bus lines as well as the oldest light rail lines decreased by a combined 5 million trips (paywall). Why the drop? Officials say it is due to 1) DART bus passengers switching to new light rail service, and 2) the reduction in the frequency of blue and red line trains during rush hour. Both claims I believe, point again to how simple public transit really is. People will take public transit if it is fast and convenient. That’s why DART’s bus system needs an overhaul.
Horse Thieves Hit Camp For Disabled Kids: In the latest installment of crooks who are worse than crooks, two horses have been stolen form Camp El Har, a camp that offers therapy for kids with various disabilities, like autism. Now owners of two other horses on loan to the camp have removed their animals out of fear of further thefts, which has forced the camp to postpone its classes indefinitely.
Will ‘Black Atheist’ Billboard Ruffle Feathers? A group called African Americans for Humanism and the DFW Coalition of Reason will unveil a billboard today which voices support for atheists during African American history month. But while the billboard has already prompted some push-back from South Oak Cliff pastors, pre-event controversy also led to an unexpected act of community service: members of the DFW Coalition of Reason turned out at Pastor Kyev Tatum’s church garden Sunday to help harvest their greens, which will be donated to local food banks. Tatum reconciled the art of charity like this: “the devil might have picked it, but the good lord sent it.”
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