Articles for September 20th, 2012
Perot Museum of Nature and Science to Open Early
The Malawisaurus needs a nickname. Photo by Caitlin Adams
Well, folks, David Flick over at the Dallas Morning News is either the fastest typer known to man or he has ESP. As he reported early this morning (24 minutes after the press conference began), the Perot Museum of Nature and Science will open its doors on December 1, one month earlier than originally planned. The announcement was made this morning to applause and cheers at a media sneak peek.
Tickets will go on sale online Tuesday, October 2, at www.perotmuseum.org. The five-floored museum will have 11 permanent exhibit halls, an education wing equipped with six learning labs, and a 297-seat multimedia theater that will screen Meerkats 3D, among other movies.
Although the announcement was exciting, I couldn’t stop gawking at the interactive features surrounding me. The “dancing water” molecules that hung above my head during the presentation kept me preoccupied the entire time. The 88 floating spheres are motion sensitive, and the animated movements were a fun diversion. I kept walking around under them to trigger the sensors, and I think I started a trend because it didn’t take long for others to do the same.
There is also an enormous Malawisaurus fossil in the main lobby that grabbed my attention. The 35-foot-long fossil was dug up in Malawi, and the head-to-body ratio is unbelievable. Dinosaurs must not have had much to think about back then. Considering I can barely pronounce the scientific name, I think we need to come up with a nickname for our new friend. Any ideas for what we should call it?
Other interactive features outside include a forest that houses large musical instruments for visitors to play, a leapfrog forest where children can run around and learn about species mutation, and a rooftop observation deck.
All in all, the museum looks like it will be a great addition to downtown Dallas, and I can’t wait to check it out when it opens.
Caitlin Adams is a D Magazine intern for fall 2012.
D Magazine Now Available on the Nook
Love perusing the beautiful spreads in the print-based edition of D Magazine each month but find the tactile experience of placing your hands against cellulose pulp distasteful?
Well it’s now available on Barnes & Noble’s e-reader, the Nook. You can subscribe, or get the still-unseen-on-our-website October 2012 issue featuring the Best Doctors in Dallas, right over here.
Tifany Cheatham, Amanda Ward, and Holly Forsythe Need Your Votes
It’s the last week of voting in the 10 Most Beautiful Women in Dallas 2012 contest.
Remember Tifany Cheatham, “domestic engineer” and instructor at The Bar Method in Plano? She needs your vote.
Remember Amanda Ward, accounts receivable management company CEO and philanthropist? She, too, could use your vote.
And how about Holly Forsythe, Sambuca restaurant owner, social maven, and nature girl? Â Give her your vote.
Things To Do In Dallas Tonight: Sept. 20
Oktoberfest in a month I like to call Septemberfest.
Things are starting and ending tonight, folks. It’s the final night of the video art series Four Nights, Four Decades at the Power Station, and if you haven’t checked it out yet, it’s worth your time.
The series has already explored the `70s, the `80s, and the `90s, so tonight we’ll timewarp to the present with guest artist Nadav Assor, who’s selected films illustrate the growth of Middle Eastern video in the 2000s. It’s free, and there’s beer provided by Armadillo Ale Works in Denton. I’ll spare you the story of the time I was terrorized by a real live armadillo that did not, as it turns out, want to offer me a nice refreshing beer.
Elsewhere, you can say guten abend to the first day of Addison Oktoberfest. The gates open at 6 pm, but the official tapping of the keg of Spaten isn’t until 8 pm. Make sure you know all the lyrics to the official Oktoberfest drinking song, “I May Be a Tiny Chimney Sweep, But I’ve Got An Enormous Brush.” Kidding. It’s actually “Ein Pro-sit,” or “No Beer in Heaven.” My question for my German ancestors: how do you know that? Regardless, the song encourages us to drink beer here on earth, for when we eventually ascend to our place on high, there’s apparently no more of the good stuff. Also at the fest this evening, you can witness the finals of the Masskrug Competition, in which contestants, who won their various semifinals in the days prior, are charged with holding a liter mug of Spaten. The winner is the person who can hang on to it the longest, so you could be there all night. Obviously, there are other activities that don’t require you to be at least 21 years of age.
For more to do this evening, including a one-act play festival at the Latino Cultural Center and another family-friendly gathering at the Cedars Food Park, go here.
Michael J. Mooney on the NFL’s Bountygate in GQ
Mike is a known whore. He’ll write for absolutely anyone. Here’s his story in GQ about the guy at the center of the Bountygate scandal.
Dallas Cowboys Launch Gay Dating Site
Okay, the Cowboys aren’t really in the gay romance business. But Deadspin reports that Cowboys.com has launched as a — well, see for yourself. Once upon a time, the team actually won the URL at auction. But then team officials realized that they’d just bid $275,000 and not $275. They backed out of the deal.
Just for fun, I checked Bears.com. It’s also gay, but in a totally different way.
Leading Off (9/20/12)
Tollway Authority To Start Towing Scofflaws’ Cars. Maybe. Defense attorneys think they can’t and the DPS isn’t saying if they will or won’t. The good news is this leaves open the possibility for the NTTA to form its own militia and secede from the Union, as was prophesied in the comic book/auto parts catalog I’ve been leaving at doctor’s offices for the past three years. It’s called The Matrix.
Richardson Deals With Giant Beehive. It belongs to Doris Feffernack, who’s been wearing the hairstyle proudly since 1957. OK, that is true, but there is also a real beehive as big as a 9-year-old girl and as moody as a 16-year-old girl, and as irritating as Tim Rogers, a 42-year-old girl.
Dallas Police Reorganization Adds 50 New Sergeants, Creates Rank of Major. The first person promoted to the new rank? This will sound weird, but it’s actually former Morning News TV critic Ed Bark, thanks to his heavy-handed policing of anyone who tries to post on the internet any TV news without mentioning his site. (Link is sub. req.)
Next Year, DMA Will Recreate Art JFK Saw Before His Death. This is actually pretty interesting, so I’ll save the jokes. Since I have some space: if you learned juggling was going to become an official Olympic sport in 2016, would that make you more or less likely to grow a mustache?
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