Articles for October 4th, 2012
Will All PR Firms Now Ask Bloggers To Share Their Stats?
Over on SideDish, Nancy started a good conversation about how some bloggers operate with a sense of entitlement and skirt FTC rules about divulging freebies. The conversation started with a post about a “food writer” who schemed her way into a free multi-course wine dinner. Then, yesterday, Nancy let us know that something rather remarkable had happened. In response to Nancy’s post, a local company called Strauss Marketing sent out an email to bloggers it works with, asking them for data. The note read, in part:
In light of recent events and blogs, notably on D SideDish at the end of last week, we are taking a step back and looking at how PR professionals and bloggers can better work together taking into account FTC guidelines. Several of our clients read the blog and comments, and have asked us to find a way to better evaluate their business decisions on offering complimentary products/dinners/experiences. As a service to them we are asking that you please submit your most recent numbers on readership so that we may keep that on file.
Strauss Marketing is to be commended. There are a lot of folks out there writing about food because they are passionate about it and have something to say. If they garner an audience and communicate with it in an ethical manner, then they deserve a seat at the table. Their contributions make for a more informed dining public, while at the same time providing an efficient marketing channel for companies that know how to use it. But there are also a lot of charlatans out there who are only interested in a free meal and an ego stroke. These people deserve only to be kept on file.
Things To Do In Dallas Tonight: Oct. 4
I like cars. I don’t know a lot about them, but I like the pretty ones, the classics, and I love my grandfather, who really loved cars, and did know a lot about them. When I was a kid, he owned a beautiful old white T-Bird that he kept in pristine condition. I think about that car all the time, the polished gleam of the small round mirrors, the reddish leather seats.
Anyway, if you wander over to the Bishop Arts district this evening, you’ll happen on Cruise Night, an informal celebration of vintage vehicles. Classic Chassis Car Club will supply a few Studebakers, MGs, and Citroens, but other enthusiasts are welcome (and if you bring a vehicle, Eno’s will give your free craft beer from 6-7 p.m., and parking for classic cars is reserved). Otherwise, the shops and restaurants will stay open late, and musicians Robert Edwards (piano) and Matt Tolentino will play ragtime and swing for an hour in the street.
Feel like doing a little shopping tonight? The brand new Design District Market is your bag. Troll the 300 block of Cole Avenue for food trucks, beer from local breweries, and unique vendors. Dogs are welcome, and there will be live music to enhance the experience.
This Right Here Is a Post for Dough Crin
Three things you need to know: for some reason, Zac’s dry cleaner has him on file as Dough Crin. Wait. Let me back up. There are four things you need to know: Zac uses a dry cleaner. The second thing, the thing I mentioned earlier, is that this dry cleaner thinks his name is Dough Crin. When he picks up his clothes, that’s the name he has to give them. The third thing you need to know is that I know no one — male or female, young or old — who enjoys a dance-off more than Dough Crin. And, finally, Dough got precious little sleep last night, owing to a secret project he’s working on, and he needs a pick-me-up this morning.
Being Zac Efron: An On-Set Liberal Arts Body Double Speaks Out
Last week Josh Radnor’s second movie, Liberal Arts, opened in theaters. Dallas-native and former FrontRow intern Will Arbery (yes, those Arberys) worked on the film as a body double for Zac Efron and in extras casting. Over on FrontRow, he shares his insight into the starry-eyed world that exists on a film set’s periphery:
There was the old man who showed up because, years ago, he promised his mom that one day he’d be in a movie. There was the woman who started crying when she found out that I was a writer, and told me that she wanted to be a writer once and had a poem in the Library of Congress. There was the adult man whose mother lingered near him the entire time. She was a tall silent woman in a striking green Native American dress. People would talk to me like I was someone, and being no one, I made sure to talk to them like they were someone. They were. I was their experience, and they were mine. Later, I discovered that the Brooklyn bar scene was cut.
Go read the whole thing.
State Fair of Texas Picture of the Day: Oct. 4
photo by Jason Janik
Leading Off (Or Close Enough) (10/4/12)
Nasher Sculpture Listed as “Endangered Landscape.” By the Cultural Landscape Foundation, long my go-to source for any and all endangered landscape lists. Tim just Gchatted me that link, along with a pic of his middle finger and some very colorful language about a certain local columnist.
Rangers Buckle Like A Belt, Face Win Or Go Home Game On Friday. I feel like I affected the outcome by watching (aka the Heisenberg principle, and not whatever I called it yesterday when I already made that same observation).
TCU QB Casey Pachall Arrested For DWI. And whatever that is poking out from the back of his helmet.
Deion Sanders Grilled Over Improper Recruitment For His Prime Prep Academy. Brett Shipp is going to keep his work Oakleys ready, because this thing is a goldmine.
But You Guys Just Want To Talk About The Debate Last Night. Go for it.
Josh Hamilton Is No Longer Totally Awesome
CORRECTION: In this year’s Best of Big D issue, we named Josh Hamilton the best athlete, writing: “There is the left arm, a shoulder-mounted Howitzer. There are the wheels, fast for any player but shockingly fast for a man who stands 6-foot-4 and weighs 240 pounds. There is the bat. He hit four homers against the Orioles in early May, becoming only the 16th player in history to match that mark. Then there is the heart. Later that month, while struggling with an upper-respiratory infection that forced him to take oxygen and an IV when it was all over, Hamilton hit a 13th-inning walk-off home run to beat the Blue Jays.” As it turns out, that’s not true. A couple days ago, he said, “I still had a pretty good year. Just think if I hadn’t taken off June and July.”
Taking off two months of the season? Then came yesterday’s pathetic performance, which included an embarrassing dropped fly ball (followed by a lackadaisical effort to retrieve the thing). If he’d caught it, the fourth inning would have come to an end. Instead, two runs scored, and the A’s pulled ahead 7-5 (and proceeded to pile on five more runs before the game ended). Yes, Josh Hamilton is still big and strong and fast. But clearly his heart is weak, and he is not the best athlete in Dallas. We regret the error.
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