Articles for November 7th, 2012
A UniGoat Crashed Our Election Party Last Night
Photo: Herbert Chee
Someone dressed as a very life-like unigoat attended D’s election night party at the Granada last night. We do not know who this was.
I’ve narrowed down the options, and the comments are open for other suggestions:
a. Delonte West
b. Delonte West
c. Delonte West
d. Someone less awesome than Delonte West
e. Chuck Norris on Rick Perry’s shoulders
Rick Perry Heads to Colorado, Invents New State
Packed house in Grand Junction CO. GOTV effort in full swing. #jobsforcorado campl.us/mHVT
— Rick Perry (@GovernorPerry) November 5, 2012
BREAKING: Eric Celeste to Quit CultureMap Column
Where to begin? Eric Celeste has quit too many things to list here (The Met, Star-Telegram, Observer, etc.). There isn’t enough internet. So let’s begin in April 2010. That’s when Eric, having already quit his spot as the managing editor of D Magazine, quit from a whole separate division of our company, D Custom. He went off to create his own consultancy thingabob called Three Treatments, whose highest-profile client was DA Craig Watkins’ reelection campaign. Eric quit that campaign in October 2010. Less than a year later, he quit Dallas, moving to Atlanta to become the editor in chief of Creative Loafing. He beat the over and stayed in Atlanta longer than a year but then quit Creative Loafing last month.
Now comes word that Eric is back in Dallas and hiring out his services, apparently, to anyone with a spare login who is willing to defend rapists. (Wow, even I think that was mean.) Starting Monday, Eric will write a daily column for CultureMap. The easiest way to describe that column would be to call it an adaptation of our own daily Leading Off post (which is fitting, because Eric created that concept for us). Sources did not disclose (or we weren’t sober enough to ask) what the title of this daily feature will be. But one thing we can say for certain: Eric will quit CultureMap. Just a matter of time.
If you doubt my powers of prognostication, here’s an exchange between me and Eric in the comments section to a July FrontBurner post about turmoil in the upper ranks at CultureMap:
Eric Celeste @ 1:23 pm on July 25, 2012: They just hired Teresa Gubbins, too. I dunno, Timmy, seems like a pretty solid enterprise. Good, smart people, most of whom hate you. I freaking love that business plan.
Tim Rogers @ 1:31 pm on July 25, 2012: When’s your first day?
Eric Celeste @ 1:44 pm on July 25, 2012: Weird thing: They said I don’t hate you *enough*.
Alzheimer’s Association CEO Charged With Sexual Contact With a Minor
Photo: Jeanne Prejean
Michael Spencer, the president and CEO of the Alzheimer’s Association of Greater Dallas, was arrested and charged with criminal sexual contact with a minor under 13 yesterday, WFAA reports.
The alleged crime occurred in New Mexico, and Spencer is being held in McKinney. He’s been placed on administrative leave by the association.
This Albuquerque Journal piece lists Spencer as the city’s “Fugitive of the Week,” which probably doesn’t come with a special parking space or high five. It also lists him as “5 feet, 1 inch tall, weighing 230 pounds,” so he clearly doesn’t need to grope children to get dates, your honor. Just a tall, strapping, fit man.
Quick, unfortunate update: Seems that before his time with the Alzheimer’s Association, Spencer spent 17 years with various Boys and Girls Clubs across the country. The work brought him from Lubbock to Colorado to Montana, and he eventually became the regional vice-president for the Club’s Southwest operations.
He also has three children.
Delia Jasso Wants to Bury a Time Capsule, Then Get All Antsy and Open it in Only 15 Years
Time capsules: hilarious. Case in point, this Nickelodeon-inspired one from 1992, full of MC Hammer’s ATM receipts and the hospital reports for a girl who choked on Gak.
Anyway, Councilwoman Delia Jasso has a plan to make her own time capsule, to be buried Nov. 20 at Bishop Street and Colorado Boulevard. Community members are invited to contribute items, provided they fit in a 12″ x 12″ x 16″ space.
The best (BEST) part? They’ll open it in 2027, 15 short years after its burial. This would mean that an album from 1997, say, Def Jam’s How to be a Player soundtrack, would’ve been unearthed this year. Those hoverboard-riders are going to be sooo confused by our iPads.
Snap Judgment: Fort Worth’s JFK Memorial vs. Dallas’ John Fitzgerald Kennedy Monument
Fort Worth image, via Fort Worth CVB; Dallas image by Flickr user gorik
The Fort Worth Convention and Visitors Bureau just tweeted out that picture on the left, which is the city’s spanking new John F. Kennedy Memorial in General Worth Square in downtown Fort Worth. It officially opens tomorrow, but is getting a press preview today.
Let’s compare it to downtown Dallas’ JFK monument, designed by Philip Johnson, built in 1970. Who does the assassinated president’s memory prouder?
PollWatch 2012, Ctd.: Reverchon Park, Dallas
From a judging FrontBurnervian:
I saw a number of the posts regarding the photo ID law and felt compelled to respond now that I’ve experienced the process as an election judge:
1. The request for a voter registration card or photo ID is entirely reasonable when you have voting for several precincts at 1 location, such as Reverchon Park. We had approximately 10 precincts. If you don’t have your voter registration card, there is no way of knowing which line you should be in. With the registration card, the clerks can put you right in the proper line because they know what precinct you are voting in. Without the card, a voter can wait for 30 minutes, get to the clerk, and as each clerk may only be handling 2-3 precincts, the voter could be in the wrong line and have to go to another line and repeat the process all over again.
2. I cannot speak for every precinct, but the notion that precinct workers or judges are trying to suppress votes is far from reality. First of all, I think almost all election volunteers take the process seriously and want people that are registered to vote to get their ballots Every now and then an early voter would try to vote twice or some other irregularity would occur, but they are quickly addressed, and if there is any issue, the voter can always sign a provisional ballot. Of course, each deviation from the norm takes time for the election clerks / judges, and that is why the lines can be long and move slow.
Bottom line – when there are several hundred people waiting to vote, if everyone cooperates and bring their registration cards, the process moves much faster. I would bet that less than 40% of voters bring their cards with them.
EndOfPollWatch! Hopefully!
Things To Do In Dallas Tonight: Nov. 7
Get after these donuts. Photo by Brian Lopiccolo.
Thank you to everyone who came out to the Granada for the election party last night (especially this rather solemn unigoat). It was a really, really good time.
Following a bit of a nutty Tuesday, SMU grabs life by the intellectual horns with a free author talk and book signing with journalist/historian Edwin Black, who in 2001 published a book about American company IBM’s role in the Holocaust. It was a secret, profitable partnership with the Third Reich that went on, the book claims, for 12 years. He’ll discuss that tonight. Before or after, drop by East Hampton Sandwich Co. in nearby Snider Plaza. SMU alum Hunter Pond has come up with some darn good sandwiches, even if the chips do leave something to be desired. I loved the goat cheese and avocado veggie sandwich, but the folks I know recommend the short rib sandwich and the lobster roll. Do get the donuts, which are almost more like beignets, for dessert.
A bit further away, the Lone Star Film Festival kicks off this evening in Fort Worth with Jayne Mansfield’s Car, a `60s set family drama directed by Billy Bob Thornton, who will be in attendance (and also given the Lone Star Film Society’s Achievement in Film Acting and Directing Award). He’ll present the film, then participate in an audience Q&A at the AMC in Sundance Square. After the screening, there’s an opening night reception at the Flying Saucer. It’s five bucks to get in, and Oh Whitney provides live musical entertainment to go along with your beer.
For more to do this evening, go here.
What the D Magazine 2012 Election Exit Poll Teaches Us About FrontBurner Readers
Most of you are a bunch of god-forsaken liberals, looks like. According to the results of our exclusive election exit poll conducted yesterday, 61% of you voted to re-elect Barack Obama compared to just 33% for Romney. That’s an even bigger margin than the 57% to 42% margin that the president tallied in Dallas County voting.
Now that we know it’s four more years of Obama, 14% of you indicated you’ll be planning to move to the libertarian island paradise in which billionaire Peter Thiel, founder of PayPal, has invested. Best of luck to you.
Only 51% of you identify yourselves as “liberal,” but that’s still significantly higher than the 33% claiming to be “conservative.”
55% of you voted on Election Day itself, and 63% of you said the entire voting process took you less than 10 minutes.
The questions I was most interested in were what enticements could convince people to surrender their right to vote. Only 19% of you would accept four VIP tickets to every Super Bowl for the rest of your life in exchange for never again casting a ballot. But 71% would give it up if it meant winning $350 million in the lottery tomorrow.
I can only assume the other 29% of you are liars. Or billionaires.
Observer Editor Heads to Reddit to Defend Paper
Last night, after returning from our fantastic election night party at the Granada, I stumbled onto Reddit and saw this post titled “Dallas Observer- WTF Happened”:
I understand that I’m bitching about what is essentially a free service/news source/whatever, but man the Dallas Observer needs to get their sh*t together. Ever since Village Voice Media split, I feel like the Observer’s website has been on a steady decline, starting with replacing disqus with the infinitely sh*tty Livefyre and and a new focus on obnoxious ads (on their site, and in their content.) Wilonsky’s gone to the DMN, Pete Freedman’s CentralTrack is kicking their ass in terms of content (their mobile site still sucks, unfortunately)…it’s driving me nuts. a big city like Dallas NEEDS alternative news sources from their dominant daily newspaper, and I feel like the Observer is kinda losing it lately. Now their site is riddled with 330 errors? ugh. What’s going on?
This is typical. Reddit can be a wonderful resource, but it can also be just a drainage ditch of filth. I was ready to toss it into that pile. Then Observer editor Joe Tone showed up:
This is Joe Tone, editor of the Observer. Sorry about the errors today. We had some server issues. They should be resolved now.
As for everything else:
The split from VVM hasn’t even happened yet, so whatever you’re seeing has nothing to do with that. It goes through January 1 I think; I doubt you’ll notice a difference.
We got a lot of complaints about Disqus, and were hoping Livefyre would be an upgrade; so far it hasn’t been. We’ll either get it fixed or get a new system.
Wilonsky’s departure obviously hurt. We tried to keep him, but Belo’s got Belo money. I think Eric Nicholson’s doing a great job on Unfair Park, mixing it up, breaking news, having fun. Those are tough shoes to fill, but he’s on his way.
I’d beg to differ on music stuff; I think Audra is doing really interesting coverage of the scene, and her showcase lineup for Deep Ellum this weekend is remarkably fun and diverse. Traffic to her blog and votes on our music awards seem to agree with me. But if Central Track is drawing you away, that’s good for everyone. Competition breeds quality.
Anyway, thanks for reading, and for taking time to voice your concern.
Joe
Could’ve ended there, but it didn’t. Tone answered questions for a few hours, defending his paper when necessary and admitting fault when it was due. Then he returned this morning to chat some more. Well done, Joe.
Matt Bondurant Gets a Big, Wet Kiss for The Night Swimmer
In the current issue of the lit and fine arts journal Golf Coast, Garret Dean Johnson reviews UTD prof Matt Bondurant’s novel The Night Swimmer, which came out this summer. Says Johnson:
Like his characters, Bondurant’s prose itself is alive, immediate, often simple and declarative but given to occasional bursts of lyricism. He handles both the rough, wild terrain of coastal County Cork and its attendant vernacular with a kind of seamless, hard-edged grace. As arresting as Bondurant’s depiction of place is a sense of subtle magic pervading everything (the land, the people, the events).
I’m almost finished with Bondurant’s most well-known novel, from 2008, Lawless (first published as The Wettest County in the World). Based on the strength of that work and also on something very violent and funny that Bondurant wrote for our December issue, I highly recommend The Night Swimmer.
Rick Perry Reacts to Mitt Romney’s Defeat
“WOOOOOOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!! Hahaha! Eat it, Big Love! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”
Leading Off (11/7/12)
Four More Years. Tim already broke the news about who won the presidential election. He totally stole my thunder.
Local Politics. But the presidential election wasn’t the only thing that happened yesterday. Go here to see what happened in North Texas elections yesterday. (Could I have put this as part of the previous post? Yes. In fact, they were the same post. Then I realized that all the important news was the election. There really wasn’t much left over.)
Amber Young Is Real. In case you, like me, thought Amber Young, the person who racked up more than $180,000 in NTTA fines, wasn’t real, you were wrong. She is real, and she’s going to pay off her bill. (I know I’m late to this, but there was an update to the story with fresh content, so that makes it not so late. And, again, most of the news is about elections.)
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