Articles for August 22nd, 2012
Tux Challenge Day 22: Single Digits, Dude
Today is a momentous day. No longer am I staring at a double-digit time clock. At 8:45 tonight, I will pour myself a Patron XO Cafe on ice with Dr Pepper (a drink I just invented, called El Oso Pardo) to celebrate the fact that I have but nine days remaining in the Great Tuxedo Challenge of 2012.
One more thing, and I’ll let you go. Here’s the beginning of a conversation I have at least once a day:
Person: “You lose a bet?”
Me: “No. I’m winning a bet.”
Alison Draper Returns to Dallas Morning News
Once upon a time, Alison Draper was the publisher of the Dallas Observer. This was back when the thing was printing 200 pages every week. The halcyon days. (Full disclosure: I did some work for her as a freelancer then, and I recently ate pork Wellington at her house.) Draper left the Observer to become publisher of Quick, which was a bit shocking at the time. “Alison Draper? Hard-charging, shot-shooting, ass-kicking Alison working for the — gasp — Morning News?” But she killed it because that’s what she does. Then, if memory serves, she went to work for a fish wholesaler. Same thing: “Fish? Are you serious?” While I have not audited the books of said fishing concern, my understanding is that she orchestrated a turnaround of the company, and it did prosper. Next up was a gig with Creative Loafing, Inc., which owned the Chicago Reader and the sundry Creative Loafing papers. Draper ran the Chicago Reader and served as group publisher for Creative Loafing, but things did not end with confetti and high-fives there. Creative Loafing had been bought in bankruptcy by a venture capital firm that was intent on selling off the pieces. Draper helped sell the Reader earlier this year. Which left her with nothing to do but cook pork Wellington. (Or, truth be told, hire someone to cook pork Wellington, which is always the safer course, if you ask me.)
Well, there’ll be no more lolling about for Alison Draper. Comes news that she has returned to the Morning News. She’s now the GM of an independent operation called CrowdSource — a great name of an events-producing joint, which is exactly what it is. Or, as the official release puts it: “Breaking the mold of traditional events sponsorship models, CrowdSource will create partnerships with event producers and others to provide an array of business and operational services, as well as branding and marketing that leverage the vast inventory and audience relationships of the portfolio of products produced by The Dallas Morning News.”
Quite a mouthful. With Draper at the helm, though, my bet is that it will be as good as the Wellington.
African-American Council Members Walk Out of Meeting In Protest, Ctd.
Continuing the neglected “Stuff Dwaine Caraway Likes” meme: Dwaine Caraway Does Not Like Janky City Council Meetings.
African-American Dallas City Council Members Walk Out of Meeting in Protest
The council was considering municipal judges today, and the African-American members of the council – Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Tennell Atkins, Councilman Dwaine Caraway, and Councilwomen Vonciel Jones Hill and Carolyn Davis – felt there were fewer African-Americans than there should be among the choices, Oak Cliff People reports:
As the four councilmembers walked out, a contingent of residents began shouting at Rawlings.
“Where the black people going?”
“Oh, this is a white people thing?”
Following the vote, Caraway vowed to fight the appointments.
“You all wanted to play games, well the games just begun,” Caraway said.
The Most Corrupt Apple Store in America
The tech blog Gizmodo brings us a delicious story titled “Confessions from the Most Corrupt Apple Store in America,” and the Morning News says that the store in question is the NorthPark location. Here’s the first paragraph of the story:
“The saying goes: Don’t fuck with the person that serves your food,” a former Apple Genius tells me over IM. “Don’t fuck with the person who repairs your computer.” He–we’ll call him Ronald–spent six years as a member of Apple’s Genius squad in a busy Southwestern store. It was a model store: shiny as the best of them, teeming, making money. But in back rooms and in plain sight, the employees ran wild: giving away computers, stealing phones, drunkenly destroying customer property. Ronald saw (and did) it all.
Things To Do In Dallas Tonight: Aug. 22
Rodeo clowns.
The National Endowment for the Arts just gave Shakespeare Dallas money to bring Shakespeare to Title I high schools. Meanwhile, presidential nominee Mitt(ens) Romney has big plans for the NEA, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and PBS, institutions that help people become and remain thinking and feeling humans. I recommend reading Alyssa Rosenburg’s piece on Think Progress.org, which reminds us that “talking about cutting arts funding is a diversionary tactic, both in terms of the amount of money that would actually be saved by doing so, and in terms of a philosophical discussion about what the proper funding of government is.” Cool. Looks like Aaron Sorkin got one thing right.
Coincidentally, this morning I found this wonderful study via The Hairpin that concludes that artists report higher job satisfaction than non-artists. Of course, the study was conducted in Germany. However, The Texas Theatre, right here in Oak Cliff, offers a little art-inspired relaxation for you. Tonight, at the lobby bar, Julie McCoullough of Make will act as art teacher/guide, supplying additional supplies and inspiration if you need it (but of course, feel free to BYO). The theme of the evening was supposed to be a secret, but the Texas Theatre’s Facebook event page for this dropped way too big of a hint. I’m about to spoil it for you. Ready? Look away if you want to be surprised. It’s The Wizard of Oz, which the theater will screen later this week. My Glinda the Good Witch wand could probably use some more glitter.
Elsewhere in Oak Cliff, there’s a thing called the Disco Chicken Solstice Rodeo. Wait, that’s wrong. It’s the Dallas Solstice Disco Rodeo at Chicken Scratch. Both sound great, frankly. It’s a bit costly to attend ($55), but kids are free with parental units and the weather is perfect for an fundraising party featuring samba dancers, rodeo clowns, balloon twisters, and spin artists. Dallas Solstice is a planned three-week art festival that ends in a parade set to take place in June of next year, when it will again be hot as blazes out. The ticket price tonight helps get the fest off the ground.
For more to do tonight, go here.
Nominate a Nurse Who Has Made a Difference
Slightly more than two weeks remain to nominate a nurse for our Excellence in Nursing Awards. If you know a nurse who deserves recognition for what he or she does, then you owe it to that person to spend a few minutes telling us why they are so awesome. Get to it.
You Don’t Want to Grow Old in Dallas-Fort Worth
D Healthcare Daily makes note of a California think-tank’s study that ranks Dallas-Fort Worth as only the 73rd-best large metropolitan area in the country for “successful aging.”
Apparently we’d all be better offer spending our golden years in Utah.
Will Dallas Begin Burning Its Waste?
Update (12:28): Whelp. The plan passed.
Update (10:44): Rudolph Bush has an important piece about committee members who say they never served on the committee that was supposed to review this solid-waste master plan.
Original post: At today’s Dallas City Council meeting, the city will seek approval (paywall) of a solid-waste master plan that not everyone is onboard with. The reason: the plan appears to call for burning trash. Is this the first time you’re hearing of this? That’s because there hasn’t been any public debate of the issue. That’s why Zac Trahan, regional program director for the Texas Campaign for the Environment, says we need to hold up a minute and make sure we get this thing right. Here’s a letter from Trahan to the City Council explaining his position:
Mayor Rawlings and City Council Members,
It is very encouraging to see so many terrific provisions in the Dallas Local Solid Waste Plan. The stated goal of becoming a Zero Waste city by 2040 is indeed admirable. However, we believe this plan needs important changes before being formally adopted. In its current form, the plan could make Dallas a recycling laggard–not a leader. Our suggestion is to delay adopting this plan as it is currently proposed, and instead support changes that will strengthen it and speed up recycling programs in Dallas. We also believe you should invite public input through town hall meetings and public hearings, because all residents should have an opportunity to participate in this important planning process.
Best of Big D Giveaways: Goodies and Gift Card to Froggies 5 and 10
Today’s prize in the Best of Big D Giveaway series is a handful of fun goodies and a $20 gift certificate to spend at Froggies 5 and 10, the editors’ and readers’ pick for Best Toy Store.
Leading Off (8/22/12)
Sanders Talks About Football Season Being Only Four Games Long. Deion Sanders’ Prime Prep Academy has faced scrutiny since day one. On Friday, the District 11 3A voted to not play football against the school. The district says Prime Prep doesn’t have enough varsity players. One student said that kids are teasing him for this shortened season. In the most uncreative taunt ever, the kids are saying, “four games, four games.” Watch how Sanders defends his academy. He’s got some quotes that could give those taunters a run for their money.
More Details Emerge on Woman’s 911 Call. As details emerge, this situation that Tim wrote about yesterday is not looking any better. Those who heard the 11-minute 911 call say they can hear Deanna Cook dying. But officers took their time in responding (answering an unrelated burglar alarm first) and then turned away when no one answered the door. Also, when the family tried to enter the house and no one answered, they again called 911. They were told that since no one answered the door during the last time cops were sent out, they’d have to call all the hospitals and jails in the area first to look for Cook. The family decided to break in. That’s when they found Cook dead. The call center operator defended her work to the Morning News.
Investigation of Death of White Buffalo Closed. In a strange turn of events, the investigation into the death of the sacred white buffalo, Lightning Medicine Cloud, has been closed. The sheriff said that the buffalo was buried for three days and that it had actually been dead for six days before the department got a call. It was concluded that the buffalo (whose owner, Arby Little Soldier, said had been skinned) died of a bacterial disease called black leg. The case can be reopened if new information becomes available.
Volunteers Paint Trees to Deter Beavers. It took 20 volunteers two hours and $700 to paint a sand mixture on 40 trees to try to keep beavers from gnawing on the wood. A family of just four to six beavers is wreaking havoc on the trees in the area east of White Rock Lake. Too bad we can’t do beaver spraying.
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