Articles for January 28th, 2013
The Morning News Puts Downton Abbey Spoiler Alert, Spoiler in Same Tweet
I don’t even watch this show and this upsets me.
Denton County Brothers Injured After Crashing at the Winter X Games
It’s not too often that two Texans get to make a splash at the Winter X Games. And three years ago, when Krum natives Caleb and Colten Moore first landed at the winter sports showcase, they had only ridden snowmobiles for 32 days. No matter: Colten took home a bronze medal in the snowmobile freestyle event.
Now, three years later, they’re two of the biggest names in the sport. This week, though, they’re in the headlines for the wrong reasons. Colten separated his pelvis during a jump late last week, and Caleb is clinging to life after his 450-pound Polaris slammed on top of his head following a crash. Initial indications were that Caleb was doing well in the ICU, but the Denver Post reported today that he has taken a turn for the worse.
“Caleb is not doing good at all,” Caleb’s grandfather Charles Moore told the Post Monday afternoon. “The prognosis is not good at all. It’s almost certain he’s not going to make it.”
The death would mark the first fatality in the 17-year history of the Winter X Games.
Lance Armstrong Sings Radiohead’s ‘Creep’
Before he was “Lance Armstrong, king of the cycling world/pariah of the cycling world,” he was “Lancey Armstrongy, kid from Plano.” (That’s how you make up nicknames, right?) Anyway, in some unseen footage, Armstrong sang Radiohead’s “Creep” during an unaired portion of his two-part interview with Oprah Winfrey. He nails the chorus.
(h/t Deadspin. Some profane language.)
Boy Scouts of America May Drop Ban on Gay Leaders, Scouts
If adopted by the organization’s board of directors, it would represent a profound change on an issue that has been highly controversial — one that even went to the US Supreme Court. The new policy, now under discussion, would eliminate the ban from the national organization’s rules, leaving local sponsoring organizations free to decide for themselves whether to admit gay scouts.
“The chartered organizations that oversee and deliver scouting would accept membership and select leaders consistent with their organization’s mission, principles or religious beliefs,” according to Deron Smith, a spokesman for the Boy Scouts’ national organization.
Individual sponsors and parents “would be able to choose a local unit which best meets the needs of their families,” Smith said.
I’ve written about the Irving-based BSA before, usually in unflattering terms. The Boy Scouts of America is now, apparently, taking steps to remedy its wrongs, and to open the organization to everyone. As it should. I haven’t been this happy in a very long time. Well, since my wedding in October.
Robert Wilonsky Sings Love Boat Theme
You know him as the Fingers of Fury, but the folks at his son’s school know him as that bald guy who did a really bad rendition of the theme from Love Boat that one time. That’s him onstage, dressed, I think, like Isaac the bartender. I’ll say this: he’s a horrible singer. He’s also way braver than I. No way would I have the cojones to try that.
Actor Josh Henderson: Doing Dallas Will be “Tough” Without Larry Hagman
The second season of TNT’s Dallas remake kicks off tonight, and word is the scriptwriters will be incorporating the real-life death of Larry Hagman/J.R. Ewing into this season’s shows. After that plot line plays out, though, won’t a Dallas without the iconic villain be sort of like Seinfeld without Jerry Seinfeld, or The Office without Steve Carrell? Wrong, insisted cast members who showed up for a Dallas premiere at Highland Park Village Theatre last night. Brenda Strong, who plays Bobby Ewing/Patrick Duffy’s third wife and the new Southfork matriarch, said the show is an ensemble effort, and there will be plenty of strong scripts featuring villainous characters to come.
Dallas-born Josh Henderson, who plays J.R.’s son, J.R. Ewing III, had a slightly different take. “Larry is the heart of the original Dallas, and he is the heart of the show. So all we can do is really pay tribute to him, to his talent, to what he did for TV history, and hopefully continue to move this show on,” said Henderson (pictured in photo by Jeanne Prejean). “It’s gonna be tough without him. Doing Dallas without Larry Hagman is a tough thing to do. At the end of the day we love him and we miss him and we hopefully will continue this legacy in his honor, because, obviously, we still have Patrick and everyone else. But you can’t replace Larry. I don’t think that you can’t do Dallas without him, but it’s a different show. He would want nothing more than for this show to go another 10, 12 years, because he knows as long as Dallas is on the air, J.R. and the spirit of Larry Hagman will be current and in people’s lives.”
Lancaster Woman Scheduled to Be Executed Tomorrow For 1997 Murder
Barring a last-minute legal Hail Mary, Kimberly McCarthy will be executed tomorrow in Huntsville for the 1997 murder of a 70-year-old woman in Lancaster. She will be only the fourth woman executed in Texas in the modern era. The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles unanimously refused a clemency request last week, after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the case earlier in the month. Attorneys for McCarthy had sought a 120-day reprieve, and that her death sentence be changed to life in prison.
The folks at the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty are continuing to fight for McCarthy, since:
Troubling questions surround the jury selection process in her trial — of the 12 jurors selected, all but one were white.  According to McCarthy’s clemency petition, the state struck three non-white prospective jurors (21% of its total strikes). Of the 64 people questioned on individual voir dire, only 4 were not white. Of these individuals, only 3 were African American. None of these figures reflect the racial demographics of Dallas County.
The last Texas woman to be executed was Frances Newton, in 2005. McCarthy is currently one of 10 women on death row in Texas.
Fake Fire Marshal Arrested at Grapevine Bar
Charles Brandon. Photo: Grapevine Police
A Denton County man was arrested over the weekend for posing as a fire marshal to avoid a bar cover charge and receive free drinks, the Star-Telegram reports. According to the paper, Charles Brandon, 33, faces a charge of public intoxication and impersonating a public servant after pretending to be a fire marshal on New Year’s Eve at Glass Cactus, a nightclub at the Gaylord Texan.
“Grapevine’s fire marshal was there that night when someone said that there was another Grapevine fire marshal already there,” Grapevine police officer Sam Shemwell told the paper. “The city’s fire marshal found him, contacted him, and asked him about it. He said at the time that they just misunderstood him and that he never said he was from Grapevine. He said he was from Dallas County and showed a badge. The real fire marshal was so busy that once he saw the badge, he just went on with his work that night.”
This past Sunday, another fire marshal was at the club when “Glass Cactus employees told the fire official that the ‘other’ fire marshal was also at the bar.” Brandon was subsequently arrested and charged. A few things:
1. 33? 33 years old?
2. If you were a bartender, wouldn’t you be concerned that a fire marshal was asking for free drinks?
3. Bud Heavy, right? He looks like a Bud Heavy guy, or maybe rail whiskey.
A Dallas Police Media Relations Officer’s Child Scored a 38 on Fruit Ninja
Classic. RT @dallaspd: I just sliced 38 fruit in Classic Mode on Fruit Ninja for iPhone!ggf # cl.ly/MSrX cl.ly/MSWG”
— Mike Drago (@MikeDrago) January 27, 2013
Our apologies for the fruit Ninja tweet sent earlier. One of our kids played the game on our iPhone and unknowingly tweeted their score.
— Dallas Police Depart (@DallasPD) January 27, 2013
As Tim pointed out a few weeks ago on a post about the Dallas Cowboys/Dallas Stars Twitter fiasco, I’ve done the same thing with my Twitter account and the D Magazine account. It happens. It’s just funny when it’s about a game called Fruit Ninja. Oh, and when it’s not the first time it’s happened to Dallas PD.
(h/t CVG)
Dallas Sidekicks Put An End To The Longest Winning Streak in Professional Team Sports History
The Sidekicks were six seconds away. Last night they were up 5-4 with only six seconds on the clock, against the San Diego Sockers, who had won a record 48 straight games. (There have been longer streaks in college sports, and in tennis, and possibly in professional sports outside of North America, but who’s going to quibble?) The Sockers are an old indoor soccer rival of the Sidekicks from the ’80s, and the team has won the last three PASL championships. The last time they’d lost a game–before last night–was in 2010.
And with six seconds left in the game, with their goalie pulled, San Diego scored and sent the game into overtime. The 4,700 or so people in the crowd got quiet in a hurry. And for the first couple of minutes of overtime, the Sockers dominated, twice hitting the post. But then Dallas native Shaun David turned a long throw into a break away and slipped the ball past San Diego goalie Riley Swift for the game-winning goal. It was David’s second of the game. Mohawk-ed badass Jamie Lovegrove had four goals for the Sidekicks, after one of which he did a pretty impressive “worm dance.” It was awesome.
Park Cities Second-Grader Shoots, Kills Feral Hog
This one comes from Park Cities People, the down-the-hall folks/my former employer. Reed Graff is a second-grader at Armstrong Elementary in Highland Park, and presumably enjoys a good juice box, some down time with a video game, and the finest of cookies. He also likes shooting feral hogs with guns as big as him. From Graff’s father, Stan:
“Fortunately, Reed is getting to learn about land conservation first-hand and has been at the ranch when we have done prescribed burning and many other conservation activities,” Stan said. “Hunting has been a part of our heritage for years, and Reed enjoys understanding nature and has just finished reading the children’s series on Daniel Boone, Wild Bill Cody, and Crazy Horse.”
I’m very interested in the conversation Reed is going to have with his “girlfriend” about the kill.
Things To Do In Dallas Tonight: Jan. 28
This was the Art Con piece I wanted. Other people wanted it, too. Kudos to the artist.
Back in November, there was Art Conspiracy No. 8, a Dallas-exclusive fragrance of art, charity, music, and free-range beer drinkers. It was great. The artist-donated artwork that I wanted was auctioned off for far more money than I could spend, so I bought a blue keepsake koozie instead. It’s almost as good, if not better, than something to hang on my wall.
And presumably, this year’s Art Con raised a decent amount of money for their beneficiaries, the W.T. White Ceramics Program, and Girls Rock Dallas. The organizers will announce precisely how much tonight at their “thank you” party at the Double Wide. The check presentation is set for 8:30 p.m., bookended by bands The Days and The Chloes. Nammi Truck will be there so you can have a barbecue pork banh mi whenever the mood strikes. Art Con volunteers and artists get in free, but otherwise, the cover is five bucks.
Also this evening, far far away in Fort Worth, the second-ever Cliburn Competition winner, Radu Lupu, returns for a one-night solo recital. I can only assume the Romanian pianist has gotten even better since 1966. Lupu interprets the classical masters, such as Beethoven, Mozart, Schubert, and Brahms, with unique flair, and keep in mind that prior to this Cowtown appearance, he played Carnegie Hall just last week. This is also a pretty good reason for me to visit Tim Love’s Woodshed, since I have still yet to do so. Embarrassing.
For more to do tonight, go here.
The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention Responds to Our Post About This Morning’s Suicide
Earlier today, a man killed himself in the parking lot of a Denton County elementary school. I wrote that it was “selfish to the point of possibly damaging hundreds of children forever.” The folks at the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention saw my post, and sent me a note. Published with permission:
…I would caution about editorializing and labeling suicide or this man as “selfish”. Clearly, someone who takes their own life, and especially near a school, is not mentally stable. We know that 90 percent of people who die by suicide have an underlying mental illness at the time. We know that treatment for depression and other mood disorder is the best way to prevent suicide. Stigma surrounding suicide and mental illness is a major barrier to those struggling to seek help.
The more you know. The national suicide prevention hotline number is  1-800-273-TALK.
Texas Legends Trying to Lure Allen Iverson
From ESPN’s Marc Stein:
Iverson has likewise resisted the Legends’ overtures so far this season — as well as a similar offer last season — but sources say that the Legends are trying again now because they’ve moved back to the top of the list in the D-League’s waiver line, meaning they’d have an unobstructed path to signing Iverson if he could be convinced to put his name in the D-League’s player pool.
The Legends’ pitch to Iverson centers around the fact they’ve just convinced NBA veterans Delonte West and Rashad McCants to join their team with similar intentions, after the Legends signed another 37-year-old earlier this month — point guard Mike James – and wound up putting James in position to earn a 10-day callup to the Mavericks that turned into a guaranteed contract after James completed his second 10-day deal Sunday.
Just imagine Delonte and Iverson playing on the same team. Quick list of things that would be better than that: ______. Nothing. Nothing would be better than that. This random Twitter user channels similar excitement:
OH MY GOD IF ALLEN IVERSON COMES BACK IM GOING TO KILL SOMETHING OUT OF SHEER EXCITEMENT
— perrin moore (@perrinmoore96) January 28, 2013
Gaga Fans Camp Out For Chance to Get in the Pit
Lady Gaga, during her 2011 stop in Dallas. Photo: Tiffany Lane
A group of die-hard Lady Gaga fans have planted themselves outside of the American Airlines Center, waiting for their chance to earn a spot in the pit for Tuesday’s show. They started arriving at 4 a.m. Sunday, and will stay until 10 a.m. Tuesday. From Pegasus News:
Another passionate fan, Brandan Gonzales, 19, set up shop at 2 p.m. with his concert outfit in tow. Inside his bag were 3” heels — shoes he says he wears whenever he wants (but especially at Lady Gaga and Madonna concerts).
“I don’t believe in gender-specific clothes; I like to express myself differently,” said Gonzales.
The fans better hope Tuesday’s severe storms hold off long enough to get their wristbands.
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