Articles for April 27th, 2012
How the EPA Lost a Big Battle in Texas
A few weeks ago I mentioned the fact that the EPA had settled what looked like a landmark case with the fracking industry in Texas, a case involving a Parker County man who could shoot fire from his garden hose. At the time, it sounded like there was probably a lot more to the story. Well, the Dallas Observer‘s cover story this week, “Fire in the Hole,” gets at the rest of the story. Spoiler alert: fans of the EPA will not be pleased.
Paul Goldberger Is Hot
Goldberger is totally going to put that pic on Twitter.
Right now over at the Nasher, they’re wrapping up UTA’s David Dillon Symposium. I didn’t get to attend as much of the two-day affair as I’d like to have, but this afternoon’s “Criticism Today” talk was time well spent. During a break in the action, a few of us stepped outside and into the garden so that the visiting dignitaries could see with their own eyes the glare coming off Museum Tower. Paul Goldberger, the Pulitzer-winning architecture critic who just left The New Yorker to join Vanity Fair, was mightily impressed by the tower’s power to reflect heat and light. Looking up at it through his dark sunglasses, he said, “That looks like Sauron’s Dark Tower in Mordor, from Lord of the Rings.”
Actually, that’s a lie. Goldberger didn’t say that. That’s what our creative director, Todd Johnson, said when we were working on cover lines for our story about Museum Tower. But if Goldberger were as big a sci-fi dork as our creative director, he could have said that.
Grading the Mavericks as They Head Into the Playoffs
Been a bit of a frustrating season, no? And I don’t just mean my on-again/off-again ability to illegally stream games on my computer through some wonky European-based source. But as Mark Cuban notes here, due to the lockout-shortened nature of the season, everything is a little more up in the air than it normally is. In other words: don’t freak too much that the Mavs are a lowly No. 7 seed, as they get set to face the OKC Thunder tomorrow. I mean, freak a little, but nothing too crazy. If you’re one of those who just jumps in on the NBA when it’s time for the playoffs, I’ll get you up to speed on where things stand for each Maverick.
Things To Do In Dallas This Weekend: April 27-29
Today is a day for music, unless like me you are all set for an incredibly classy theatrical experience in a non-traditional venue. That’s right, folks. I am attending Silence of the Clams. At S4.
Friday
The Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, smartly poaching a concert that’s usually a sell out for the DSO, hosts indie darling Ben Folds this evening. His sensitive, piano-driven indie rock anthems get the full orchestral backing for what will probably be one of his more sedate shows. As opposed to the one where he arranged for someone to throw himself off the balcony during “Jesusland.” You can still snag tickets, but they are inching up into the pricey stratosphere.
Personally, if I was not getting my horror movie parody on, I’d try and make the Mayer Hawthorne show at Palladium Ballroom. I irrationally love this guy, no matter how derivative his soulful sound might be. It was one of the best concert experiences I ever had in New York (at Webster Hall, no less), and I was really sad last year when a concert featuring him as an opening act got canceled. Now he’s a headliner, and I am thrilled. Listen to “Your Easy Lovin’ Ain’t Pleasin’ Nothin’” and “Green Eyed Love” for extra convincing.
Bill Keffer Needs a Copy Editor
Yesterday I had a little fun with Tincy Miller’s campaign mailer. In response, an alert FrontBurnervian sent along a mailer from House candidate Bill Keffer. Click to make it bigger. Then read the first bullet point.
Nicholson to Replace Wilonsky at Dallas Observer
A D Magazine-People Newspapers joint investigation has revealed that the Dallas Observer has hired a replacement for Robert Wilonsky. The new editor of Unfair Park is none other than Eric Nicholson, a.k.a. Jim Schutze’s journalism hero. I gave Eric his first job out of UTD, so this news has me feeling like a proud papa. Since he left Preston Hollow People in the summer of 2010, Eric has been a reporter for the Texarkana Gazette. Now he gets to return to Dallas and unleash his reporting skills on the big city again. Congrats, dude.
DMA Kicks the Tires on Da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi
Somewhere deep in the bowels of the Dallas Museum of Art, there sits a very special painting. It is Leonardo da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi, an oil-on-wood painting that was lost for many years. A consortium of dealers owns the painting. Why is it in Dallas? The DMA is thinking about buying it. Director Maxwell Anderson confirmed: “We are actively exploring the possibility of acquiring it.”
How much might it cost? Well, back in 1958, when people thought a student of Da Vinci’s had painted it, Salvator Mundi sold for about $90. Not $90 million. Just 90 bucks. Now that its true provenance is known, it might cost something like $250 million.
Leading Off (4/27/12)
Pilar Calls Shenanigans on Deion, Prosper Sharing Attorney. In the ongoing drama surrounding the Pilar Sanders and Deion Sanders divorce and lawsuit, the latest salvo was fired yesterday, when Pilar’s attorney pointed out that the City of Prosper and her estranged husband use the same McKinney attorney, Larry R. Boyd. Boyd is representing Sanders, his daughter and his company in a lawsuit filed by Pilar.
Jerry Swerves and Trades Up for Morris Claiborne. Even though everyone thought the Cowboys would stay with their No. 14th pick and go defense shopping, Jerry Jones instead traded up to get No. 6 pick Morris Claiborne, a cornerback from LSU.
Miles Officially DISD Superintendent. It took a two-hour executive session, but the Dallas school board eventually voted 8-1 to hire Mike Miles as superintendent. He will make a $300,000 a year base salary, but could earn bonuses that would bring his compensation up to nearly $500,000 if he meets some as-yet undefined goals.
Operation “Rubber Ducky” Confiscates Millions. Federal authorities have seized about $6 million from North Texas banks in an initiative called “Rubber Ducky,” a moniker likely stemming from the fact that the funds allegedly came from the sale of controlled substances called “bath salts.” Of course, now I have this stuck in my head.
Girl Impaled in Lawn Mower Accident. Alternate subtitle: OMG! WTF? And the most disturbing part? Child-related lawn mower accidents are not uncommon around here, according to Cook Children’s Medical Center.
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