Prologue: “Man, you guys suck. The news about the Greenville parade broke, like, an hour and a half ago. Jeeze. And you’re just now putting it up? And you’re just linking to the Observer?! Epic fail!” Yeah, can you tell we are approaching our production period for the April issue? Can you tell we are running behind?
In case you hadn’t heard, Mark Cuban saved the parade. It doesn’t matter what he does from this point on. If he runs onto the court during a playoff game, wearing a too-tight Ed Hardy shirt, and sucker-punches a ref in the waning moments of the game for making a perceived bad call, that’s fine. I’ll forgive him. Because, in my book, he has earned the right. He is a true American Hero.
Dauben, the iconoclastic publisher we profiled last March, has been sitting in the Navarro County lockup since he was arrested on molestation charges in December. He filed for indigent representation on December 20, according to this story in the Corsicana Sun. The court claims the paperwork was never received. (That seems odd. At the hearing reported by the Sun, the judge told Dauben his attorney would explain the charges against him. But at the hearing Dauben had no attorney, which an observer might think the judge would have noticed.) By law, a request for indigent representation is to be answered in 72 hours.
But things get worse. The court clerk for State District Judge James Lagomarsino told the Dallas Voice on February 13 that a repeat request by Dauben had been received, and the court had appointed attorney Steve Keathey to represent him. So reporter David Webb called Keathey’s office:
At first, a member of Keathley’s staff said the attorney had refused the appointment. When asked for details, she revised her statement to say the appointment was never received. Finally, she transferred the call to another member of Keathley’s staff who said, “You’ll have to call the court. We decided we couldn’t handle the case” and quickly hung up when asked for her identity.
If you haven’t been following the Westminster Kennel Club dog show, please be aware that our newly anointed king is Malachy, an 11- pound Pekingese that looks suspiciously like a lion tamarin monkey. I’m crying foul here, but this could also be because I have difficulty finding room in my heart for tiny dogs.
Tonight you have the first of only three opportunities to view Do the Right Thing in 35 mm at the Texas Theatre (where else?). The right thing to do is to go see this. I might have my doubts (and other associated weird feelings) about Spike Lee’s remake of Oldboy, but Do the Right Thing, an account of rising racial tensions in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn on a hot summer day, is easily one of his most popular and controversial films. No matter how many times I’ve seen Buggin’ Out bug out over his new Jordans, the power behind Lee’s film is impossible to dilute. It’s as funny, uncomfortable, and wonderfully painful to watch as it ever was.
Also tonight, Los Campesinos! play over at Club Dada. I like the band, though I find their dedication to exclamation points a wee bit grating. However, I’ll play devil’s advocate here and say, what’s wrong with being happy and excited and in love with life? Nothing. Experimental pop group Parenthetical Girls is the supporting act, and I always support a pre-concert drink at Black Swan Saloon.
For more to do this evening, go here.
Uplift School Suffers Setback. The charter school that wants to open in Deep Ellum has not been well received. The bar owners and businesses who oppose the school in the area had a small victory (sub. required) yesterday as the city denied Uplift’s request to open with fewer than the required 229 parking spaces. Uplift hoped to close on the school on April 1. That date will now be moved back, but it’s believed Uplift will continue to try to purchase the two-story building.
Argyle Dog Gets Award of Merit at Dog Show. A dining co-worker told me to watch the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show Monday and Tuesday. I didn’t, because of that channel-changer-doesn’t-work/universal-remotes-don’t-work-on-my-TV situation. But I’ve since learned that a Pekingese won, and that a Cavalier King Charles spaniel from Argyle got an award of merit. His owner is hoping next year will be his year. Perhaps by then I’ll have that TV situation fixed and can watch it.
Girl With 18 Months To Live Raises Awareness of Disease. Laura Diosdado has cystic fibrosis. She realizes that there probably won’t be a cure found for the disease in her lifetime. And she’s okay with that. But there are a couple things the 15-year-old would like to do in her lifetime: 1. Raise money for cystic fibrosis research so that her 1-year-old brother may be cured. 2. Meet Selena Gomez. Go to the story on Fox 4 and follow the link to her Facebook page. Let’s see if we can help her with those two things.