Articles for May 2nd, 2012
A How-To Guide to Making People Magazine
How do you get picked to be in People magazine’s first-ever “Real Beauty at Every Age” feature (on newsstands now)? In the case of D’Andra Simmons, a 43-year-old businesswoman/philanthropist from Dallas, you submit your head shot, fill out a form online and write, “Real beauty is a positive attitude, a pure heart and a willingness to serve others.” You get interviewed a number of times by the magazine and sign a notarized document swearing you’ve never done any nude modeling or anything otherwise scandalous or illegal.
You wait around and wait around until last Friday, when you find out from a friend that, out of more than 15,000 women who entered, you made the magazine’s May 7 issue. You go on WFAA’s Daybreak and Good Morning Texas and, this Friday, on CW33′s national morning show to talk about it. You learn that because of the exposure, Westerly Natural Market, a hot-shot New York store, has placed an order for your Hard Night, Good Morning skin-care line and that the product’s sales are “going through the roof” in general. Then tonight your friends throw a party for you at the Bubble Bar (pictured), where everybody celebrates with drinks and a big pink cake.
Troy Aikman Buys Roses for His New Girlfriend
You gotta love Troy. Only he could be so charmingly shy in front of a TMZ camera.
A Proud Day To Live In Dallas
We want to build parking lots in the park around our lake, and a toll road in our river bed, while we make a risky investment in the condo tower that is frying our city’s best museum. Well done. Really. All around. Are there any baby animals at the zoo we can suffocate with poisonous fumes while we’re at it?
Via Dwaine Caraway.
“White Rock Lake is our Disney World, our River Walk, our Lake Austin,” he said, noting it’s as much an economic generator as nature preserve and teaching center. “In order for us to grow, in order for us to be able to be a first-class city of the United States of America, we must deal with the need to grow. We cannot put a cap on where we’re going to go. … We’re going to have parking for the Arboretum. Put me down with it to do whatever we need to do. … We’ll have the parking,. I don’t care what we have to do, but we’ll have parking at the Arboretum at White Rock Lake. … To the people listening, put me down as a lead advocate to make sure they know we’re gonna get that parking.”
Yes, that happened. So no more complaining. We now know exactly why Dallas looks like Dallas.
Museum Tower Not a “Nuisance�
“What if a developer changed the grade of the field at Cowboys Stadium? Or what if Love Field’s air traffic was re-routed immediately above the Meyerson Symphony Center? Art and art museums’ primary requirement for functionality is light. Remove the light source or interfere with it sufficiently and you have effectively removed the building’s functionality.”
More via Richard Patterson on FrontRow.
Now It’s Bloomberg’s Turn To Look at Museum Tower
Bloomberg does what Bloomberg does: looks at the numbers. Forget the art and the aesthetic considerations. Bloomberg wants to know about the risky investments made by the Dallas Police & Fire Pension System. That right there is the big question. Andrew Biggs is a former deputy commissioner of the U.S. Social Security Administration and a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington. From Bloomberg:
Last year, the fund asked members to approve benefit limits after projections showed assets “would deteriorate over the next few years to levels that threatened the system’s ability” to meet future obligations, according to a July 2011 letter in the fund’s annual report.
Even after the members approved the changes, the fund’s liabilities exceeded assets to pay benefits by $885.5 million, according to the report.
“Stuff like that seems silly to me,” said Biggs. “Their jobs is to protect the taxpayers and the pensioners.”
Things To Do In Dallas Tonight: May 2
Who remembers their grade school photographer? I had the same one from kindergarten to graduation. His name was Jeff, but in my head I just called him “Lifetouch Guy.” He was especially memorable for his jolly appearance and for his pre-photo catchphrase: “One, two, threeeeeee.” I saw him yesterday for the first time in six years. He still says “One, two, threeeeeeee,” even to adults. So just when I’m tempted to write life off as a fickle beast, it appears that some things remain constant.
If “cocktails” happens to be the first word in an event title, the part of my attention that enjoys a drink is already good and piqued. Cocktails, Cheers, and Charity has the added bonuses of A) happening at Local, a great restaurant, and B) benefiting a good cause. It’s a fundraiser for Positive Living for Active Youth, and the evening includes cocktails (of course), hors d’oeuvres, and live music. You’ll also witness Local’s chef Tracy Miller and P.L.A.Y.’s Jen Griffin (who rediscovered cooking after losing her hands to sepsis) duke it out in the kitchen in a pretaped video. Tickets are on the pricey side, but again, good cause. The P.L.A.Y. Foundation gives out educational, athletic, and arts grants to amputees.
Also tonight, new Dallas Museum of Art director Maxwell Anderson, who started in January, chats with KERA’s Krys Boyd about his recently published book, The Quality Instinct. In it, he discussing examining artwork from a museum directors perspective, with which he only has a tiny bit of experience. It’s in the Horchow auditorium. He may or may not refer to the “Metroplex.” Major no-no.
For more to do this evening, go here.
Tickets Now On Sale For FrontRow Live: STRFKR, Onra, Ben Aqua, and More
Food trucks, free drinks, three incredible musical acts, a bunch of art, and some theatrical surprises: the second installment of our musical bash, FrontRow Live, takes place on May 31. Now you can get you tickets. Just go here.
New York Times Weighs in on Museum Tower
The problem with the Museum Tower’s death ray popped up on the front page of the New York Times today, just below the fold. It’s only May 2, so I doubt you’ve exceeded your free views already this month. You can read the story here. My favorite part is this section, toward the end:
Not everyone here, of course, views the dispute as a cataclysm. Writing in The Dallas Observer last month, the columnist Jim Schutze made light of it.
“Nothing takes our minds off this misery we call middle-class survival in America like a rich kids art fight,” he wrote. “It’s like our own little hometown Brangelina.”
Leading Off (5/2/12)
AAC Parking Lot Issue Settled. Parking on the lot north of the American Airlines Center will be allowed until June. Most of the “F” parking lot will be closed off so an apartment development can be built. The reason I’m telling you about this is because I have a bone to pick with that whole parking lot situation. I use that lot to park in when I take my dog to Katy Trail. Or, I should say, I used to use that lot. But lately, the lot has been chained off at all times, unless there’s an attendant there to take your money. And, apparently, I had missed the whole kerfuffle between Hillwood and AAC, because I called to see what was going on. I have to say I was less than impressed with the response. So now I’m off to find a new parking spot for my runs with the dog. If anyone knows of a good spot that’s free, easy to access, close to downtown, and in close proximity to a lot of squirrels, let me know.
17-Year-Old Leaves Hospital, Is Shown a Lineup. The teen who was brutally attacked last week has now left the hospital. She was able to be interviewed by the authorities and viewed a lineup.
Transsexual Woman Given Citation for Using Women’s Bathroom at Parkland. Paula (formerly Paul) Witherspoon has been transitioning for six years. She has a letter that she carries that reads, “She is expected to use facilities consistent with her external presentation, which is female.” But she was still given a citation for disorderly conduct at Parkland after using the women’s bathroom.
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