Articles about Gripes
If It’s Tuesday, It Must Be Time for an Outburst at Commissioner’s Court
Some day, I think, voters will suddenly get very tired of theatrics in their county commissioners, and will instead want to vote for people who want to conduct business without, I dunno, calling people bobos.
And yet, today’s Dallas County Commissioner’s Court outburst is brought to you by Maurine Dickey, who was upset about a county redistricting plan. And listen, maybe it was a bunch of hooey and she was right not to like it. But bobos? And this:
“If you would like to drag me out, please do,” she said. “Do you want to haul me out? I’m ready to go to jail.”
So yes, sigh. For one thing, what does that even mean? Is she referring to an ethnic group from Burkina Faso? A boogyman from Egypt? A Chinese boy band? Or, uh, any of these meanings? And secondly, seriously? There wasn’t a more professional way to register her displeasure? Or for that matter, for any of them to voice their displeasure?
Leading Off (6/6/11)
Mavs Drop Game 3: There is plenty to slice and dice in how the Mavs ended up with a two-point deficient Dirk couldn’t miraculously (again) pull them out of. But I just want it to be clear that if (and it is still an if) the Heat pull this one out that history remembers that LeBron James was a very good basketball player who couldn’t win a title so he went to Miami to have Dwayne Wade win one for him.
Hinojosa Signs $237K Deal with Atlanta district: It’s official, Dallas ISD superintendent Michael Hinojosa has signed a deal to join the Cobb County school district, earning a base salary of $237,000 with upwards of $28,000 in annual perks. That’s actually a pay cut from his Dallas gig. Over behind the DMN’s pay wall, we learn that the district may name an interim superintendent tonight.
Ben Fountain Tips Hat to Kessler Theater in NY Times: The TV show Dallas (the next generation) should start shooting soon, and writing in the New York Times, Dallas attorney turned author Ben Fountain says that it will like put this city’s clichés on display again:
Big deals, big egos, big hair, big bosoms, big and bigger to the nth degree. For locals, that’s what made the show such wicked fun, cringing and snorting as the city’s most cherished clichés got abused in ever more hamfisted ways.
But for a real slice of Dallas life, Fountain says, check out Oak Cliff’s Kessler Theater, a small, community-conscious development project that has brought life to the city in a way, Fountain continues, the big-dollar Trinity River Project still only promises to do. And speaking of the Kessler, don’t forget to stop by the theater June 16 for FrontRow’s latest film series.
Why You Should Probably Vote in City Elections
I know voting can be a giant pain in the butt. OK. No, I don’t. I was trying to sound sympathetic there, but no, voting isn’t a giant pain in the butt. This isn’t Afghanistan or something, where you vote and you might die. Voting in the U.S. is easier than finding an open checkout lane at Walmart, yet the people who will stand in a line 15 people deep to buy one Kit Kat will eschew voting because it’s too hard, even though you can vote early and pretty much walk right up to a voting booth. In the grand scheme of hard work, it’s closer to working an ATM than digging a ditch.
Dallas recently had an election to decide who would be mayor. Mayor of a whole city, a fairly big city, a city looking at a budget shortfall and an aging infrastructure that is home to some pretty awesome stuff but is also home to some pretty bad stuff that should probably get fixed. Someone should really have a plan for that. You know who usually has a plan for that? The mayor. (more…)
A Note About the White Rock Lake Dog Park (Or: Why Some People Suck)
Is there anything worse than people who bore you with stories about their children and pets? The answer is no. There is nothing worse than people who bore you with stories about their children and pets.
Let me tell you a story about my dog. Her name is Katie Dog (pictured). She’s maybe 7 months old. We’re not sure because she’s a rescue mutt. Yesterday my wife took her up to the White Rock Lake Dog Park to stretch her legs. Bad things happened. Tears were shed. I’ll actually let my wife tell you the story. Here’s the email she sent me toward the end of the day yesterday:
It’s a nice day, Katie can’t run in our yard [ed: don't ask], and it was 3 pm. I figured it would be a good, safe time to let her blow off some steam at the White Rock Dog Park.
Within minutes of entering, five dogs came to greet her. Normal.
Then, one part-pit-bull-looking dog got aggressive. Rammed her into the fence once. Twice. Heard her wimper and yelp. Other dogs started joining in. The pit bull dog was mean, relentlessly pushing her, nipping at her. I ran across the field, screamed no, inserted myself as a barrier, pushed him with my foot several times, yanked him off Katie by his collar and screamed, “WHO’S DOG IS THIS????” I started kicking at the dog.
Parking at House of Blues for Super Bowl Media Event is Painfully Impressive
If you’re heading to the North Texas Super Bowl XLV Host Committee’s media soiree at House of Blues, be forewarned! They’ve upped the valet parking from the norm of $15 to $30.
Does the word “gouging” come into mind? Talk about unuser friendly.
Quick Questions For Thursday
1. Is there ever an excuse to whistle to techno music in an office setting?
2. If not, what’s a suitable punishment?
3. What’s your favorite No Doubt song? And do you want to hear it more? If so, click here.
4. Are you going to the Granada tonight?
5. Lemon, lime, orange or plain La Croix?
OK – go. And don’t disappoint me, people.
Sigh … I Want To Love KXT, I Do
Listen, I really want to love KXT, the NPR-offshoot of local radio here in Dallas. And at first, I really did. I’m even a sticker-on-my-car-bearing member. And for a while there, my commute was joyous, because it was full of local musicians and bands, Texas music, and rarely heard stuff that was consigned to B-sides back in the day.
But then, well, then I turned on the radio one day, and heard Dave Matthews Band – “Crash Into Me,” to be specific. “No, No, Gini,” I said under my breath. But then the next song came on, and all was right with the world.
‘Til the next morning, that is. When I got to the exact same spot in my commute, and heard freaking DMB, “Crash Into Me,” again. It was like “Groundhog Day,” without the animal torture. And then I began noticing even more musical detritus creeping into the lineup. Matchbox 20. Jewel. The Wallflowers. Adam Ant. Soul Asylum.
And then I noticed the Twitter chatter. Go ahead, go search #kxtfail. Or search KXT, period. You’ll see I’m not the only one whose noticed the rather Jack FM-ness of this baby radio station that has suddenly replaced the station who would throw on some Dawes and then some Rickie Lee Jones, and right after that some not-done-to-death Muse.
Word on the street is that they’re looking for a Music Director. For now, I’d think a good list of what not to play might be helpful?
Good Deed of the Day: Learning to Merge
I’m considering this my good deed for the day, possibly the week. It’s not as good as the time I gave a homeless woman my lipstick so she’d look good when she met up with her fellow, but it’s probably going to do a whole lot more people a lot of good.
I’m going to explain merging – specifically on to LBJ from a highway on ramp. (more…)
Metal Monstrosity Invades Downtown Dallas
The tree sits and waits for tomorrow night's fanfare.
Maybe monstrosity is too harsh. However, I’ve been looking forward to tomorrow night’s City Lights celebration for about as long as the people at Neiman Marcus have been building their “Big Encounters of the Little Kind” display (which, for those of you who don’t live right next to the store, seems like it’s been about three months, 24 hours a day, seven days a week).
When I heard there was a Christmas tree at Main Street Garden, I imagined a gorgeous evergreen, much like the one that graces Rockefeller Center. Obviously I didn’t do my homework and look up the tree from the year before. So I was surprised when I was greeted by a 65-foot-tall metal structure adorned with more than 10,000 feet of LED lights. I don’t get it. It’s so flashy. And cold. I just don’t feel like it reflects my neighborhood that well. So I asked Kourtny (no e) Garrett, senior vice president of marketing for Downtown Dallas, Inc., to tell me the reasoning behind the metal tree.
“It was designed by the park landscape architect Thomas Balsley to specifically compliment the architecture of the park and grandeur of the surrounding buildings,” she says. “The intent was to reflect the modern, yet warm design of the park (clean lines, etc) as well as the history that surrounds it, for example even the facets in the tree can be said to mimic the historic chevrons on the Statler.
In addition, from a sustainability perspective, a permanent structure is much more efficiently maintained.”
That got me wondering how efficient it could be with all that metal and the thousands of lights. Garrett explained that the city of Dallas park department’s welding shop sculpted and welded the tree, the light design was contributed by LightSwitch, landscape architect Thomas Balsley designed the tree pro-bono, Holly Metal Fabricators donated a large portion of the metal, and Excitement Technologies Group donated labor. Efficient, indeed. And they’re not killing a tree every year. Knowing this and learning about the background of the tree, I do appreciate it more. And I’ll ooh and aaw as it’s all lit up tomorrow night. But I still think an evergreen would be a bit prettier.
ACE Fees Stir Up Highland Park Residents
Our sister blog, parkcitiespeople.com, is on fire with this thread about ACE (Athletic Commitment to Excellence) fees. Merritt Patterson started doing some searching after she couldn’t find a line-by-line description of what the fees are used for. She finally found this. She also discovered that neither Southlake nor Plano have ACE fees. A FrontBurnervian just e-mailed me asking the following question.
I wonder what non-Parkies think of the $250 ACE fee for public schools. Plano and Southlake don’t have them. HPISD says we must charge the fee to make up for budget deficits caused by Robin Hood. Anyone ever heard of cutting the budget?
So what do those outside of the bubble think?
UPDATE: Helen Williams, director of communications at HPISD, called to offer some clarification. She wanted to reiterate that there is a 348-page ledger that breaks out all the costs for the athletic department. This ledger shows that the ACE fee covers 21-22 percent of that budget. Anyone is welcome to come look at the ledger to see where the fees go. Also, Williams wanted to ensure people understood where the audited financial figures for the 2007-08 and 2008-09 athletic budgets (found in this post and in the comments here) came from. You’ll find those documents here, here, and here.
Cyclists Versus Joggers
Last night, a jogger on Katy Trail, who was wearing her headphones, made an abrupt left turn just as a cyclist was trying to pass her. Both were taken to the hospital. The jogger is in ICU this morning. This story is aggravating. And from the comments, it looks like it’s pitting cyclists against joggers. Since I’m more of a jogger than a cyclist, and I’ve had some close encounters with cyclists on the trail, I want to side with the jogger. (Though I do understand it’s extremely important to always look behind you before you make a change in direction.) But why was the cyclist going so fast? Katy Trail is a fantastic place for walkers, runners, cyclists, skateboarders, rollerbladers, whoever to go out and enjoy what they do. Everyone’s welcome. But you have to look out for one another. I’m just not sure it’s the place for avid cyclists to train. Obviously there aren’t many trails out there to really do this training, though some people are trying to change that. But until then, what are cyclists to do? And what are joggers to do?
Bethany’s Diary: Thursday, I Saw Inside Sports in Plano
Last night, I drove up the tollway to Plano, reminding me that whenever I drive the tollway to Plano, I get irrationally angry at Plano.
Why was I going all the way to the Shops at Legacy, you ask? Because I was invited to the red carpet premier of a TV show called Inside Sports: News You Can ALMOST Trust. It’s produced by Mark McClure and Paula Wallem, and hosted by Survivor: Guatemala winner Danni Boatright.
Sigh. The location, Fox Sports Grill, was nice enough. The food was good. But lordy, the execution, and then the show itself? Well, I kept a diary. And whimpered. (more…)
How Not to Get an Internship at D
My mom (love her dearly!) is a helicopter mom. And, quite frankly, from years 13-18, I thought she was the helicopter mom. I’ve since grown up and realized there are those who are worse. And I feel sorry for their kids because I understand what they’re going through. But, ladies and gentlemen, I do believe I have found the queen of helicopter moms. I’ll give you a sneak peak at a little convo I had with said helicopter mom, and you let me know if I’m correct.
HM: Hi. I’m calling on behalf of my daughter, a student in high school. I was wondering if she could have an internship at D Magazine.
What to Do in Dallas Tonight: Sept. 21
Your first order of business today: sign up for a defensive driving course at a location that’s convenient for you. I don’t know whether this is due to a failure on the part of drivers ed programs or something else, but “right of way” is apparently a foreign concept in the greater Dallas area. Yield, people. It isn’t rocket science. And while you’re at it, stop tailgating me.
Ahem. Moving on. The Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and ZZ Top concert happens tonight at Superpages.com Center. If you find yourself screeching along to “Refugee,” “Don’t Come Around Here No More,” and “She’s Got Legs,” I’m confident you won’t be the only one. If you prefer your music with a tad less gray, however, you might want to check out Far East Movement at Aura. This should be a high-energy show, if “Like a G6” is any indication, and you’re likely to be surrounded by a lot of overly groomed dancing folk, so be sure to load up on Red Bull and hair gel before you go. And if you’re wondering whether you can wear your white patent-leather hot pants tonight, the answer is yes!
More in the mood for a subdued evening that involves the chewing and swallowing of food? Check out Mi Piaci’s Candoni wine dinner. All that pasta and wine should help you sleep like a baby.
Not so much? Browse these other great things to do in Dallas.
What to Do in Dallas Tonight: Sept. 14
Tuesday already? My, how the time flies. First off, today I entreat you to weigh in on our 10 Most Beautiful Women in Dallas and Texture of Dallas contests. Why? Because you’ll be supporting the democratic process. Also, 13 contestants remain in the running, and 13 is an unlucky number.
Tonight, grab a fork and your thinking cap for the Dallas Philosophers Forum at Chic From Barcelona. Participants will debate the role of philosophy in modern society. UNT professor Adam Briggle will tell you that in an age when it’s not unheard of to break up via text message or reveal to your husband that you’re pregnant via iPhone, philosophy is more important than ever. Actually, the discussion will focus more on policy, but I thought I’d take this opportunity to remind you that the world’s going to hell in a handbasket.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, we have the Blue Man Group, which begins its Dallas tour tonight at the Winspear Opera House. Bonus points to readers who blue themselves before the show. Heck, bonus points to readers who catch that reference.
Browse these other great things to do in Dallas.
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