Articles about robletting
Texas Monthly Editor Jake Silverstein Defends “Metroplex”
I’ve gotten into what a friend of mine calls a “dork fight” on Twitter with Jake Silverstein, the editor of Indianapolis-based Texas Monthly. (By employing the latter appellation, I have satisfied a reader’s request (scroll down).) I noticed that Silverstein used the word “Metroplex” in his most recent editor’s note. After the jump, you can read the exchange that ensued on Twitter. TexMo senior staff writer Jason Cohen jumped in, too. Is it just me? Am I the only one who doesn’t dig “Metroplex”?
Me: Dear @jakesilverstein, please stop using the word “Metroplex.” Here is why: http://d-m.ag/wosPvm Thank you.
Silverstein: @timmytyper if the word is so odious, it shd be easier to kill. 33 yrs is a long time. Shd at least get “worthy opponent” status by now
Me: @jakesilverstein Kudzu is odious and hard to kill. So, too, the zebra mussel. Still, we owe it to our children to fight them.
Cohen: @timmytyper @jakesilverstein so is Denton in Metroplex? anyway, N Texas simply doesn’t work as urban area signifier when W, C, E & S aren’t
Me: @Jason___Cohen @jakesilverstein North TX Super Bowl Host Committee. North TX Council of Gov’ts. Not Metroplex, dents [sic]. Join our party.
Silverstein: @timmytyper @jason___cohen metroplexmayorsassoc.org
Me: @jakesilverstein @jason___cohen Founded by two Jacks (Evans of Dallas and Harvard of Plano). Ancient history.
Silverstein: @timmytyper I can’t stand up for a marketing word, but @jason___cohen is right: NT, as urban place name, lacks style, precision.
Me: @jakesilverstein @jason___cohen “Metroplex” connotes style, precision? Metroplex is the name of a Transformer. See: d-m.ag/Aojj4r
Bush or Perry? Take the Audio Quiz.
The folks at The New Republic have put together an audio montage to test your cochlea. See if you can distinguish between Will Ferrell, Rick Perry, Josh Brolin, and George W. Bush.
Just Kidding About This Book, Perry’s Campaign Says
Remember Fed Up!? It was Rick Perry’s manifesto against all things federal in nature. Well, now that he wants to be well, the head of the federal government, his campaign is apparently distancing him from his own book.
Think Progress reports (see also here and here) that Perry’s communications director, Ray Sullivan, said that “Fed Up! is not meant to reflect the governor’s current views” on how to fix Social Security. He went on to say that the book was “written ‘as a review and critique of 50 years of federal excesses, not in any way as a 2012 campaign blueprint or manifesto.”
But, if I recall, the book was what began in earnest a push to have Perry run for president. It was while doing press appearances for this book that Perry began getting questions about a possible run, which he pish-poshed at the time. At the time, people sure thought it was a blueprint for Perry’s ideal federal government.
So if it’s not, what is Perry’s platform?
So, What Are You Guys Up To?
Me? Just blogging. Or maybe should I say bloggin’, make it a little less formal? You know, take the tie off, so to speak. You?
Another Reason To Love Dirk Nowitzki
I love a good malapropism. And I love people who issue them in humorous ways. My wife, for instance, once declaimed: “You are skating on a thin thread, mister!” That’s good stuff.
Which brings me to this gem from Dirk at the rally inside in the AAC after the parade: “It’s been an amazing ride, an amazing journey. There’s been a lot of ups, a lot of downs. This is the top of the iceberg, and it feels absolutely amazing.”
Bear in mind that he did this in his second language, which makes it all the more impressive. It’s like his off-balance, one-legged fadeaway, a thing of beauty that you want to rewind and watch in slow-mo so you can see just how he did it. “It’s been an amazing ride. There’s been a lot of ups, a lot of downs.” Okay, so those words, for most people, would call to mind a roller coaster. That’s where you expect Dirk to go. But no. He fakes you out and instead goes for — a mountaintop? No! Your second guess is wrong! Dirk is three moves ahead of you. He goes for the top of the iceberg — which, of course, is only a few feet above sea level.
But wait. Also notice that he goes to the “top of the iceberg,” rather than the “tip of iceberg,” the latter (and much more common) expression referring to a large problem, only part of which is evident.
Swish. The ball splashes through the nylon, and Dirk goes running back down to the other end of the court, wagging his tongue and popping his jersey, as you’re left to stand there and scratch your head, wondering how the hell he just did that.
Dallas Daters Dig the Word “Symphony.” Fort Worth Goes for “Loving.”
I love emails like the one below, because they make blogging easy. Many thanks to the FrontBurnervian who brings us the following cool study about the tendencies of Dallas daters.
This is fascinating. Media artist Roger Luke DuBois joined 21 online dating sites to see how singles from different parts of the country describe themselves in their dating profiles. He then mapped the responses — literally on map — by replacing the names of cities and towns with the words used by people in those cities and towns to describe themselves and their ideal dating partners. Each word appears in the place it’s used more frequently than anywhere else in the country. Here’s his explanation.
Here’s the map of Texas.
Having grown up with the innate and utterly reasonable chauvinism that knows Dallas to be sophisticated and Houston crass, I was delighted to see that Dallas daters most use the word “Symphony” in their profiles, while Houston goes for “Rich.” Also, it’s nice to see that Fort Worth is “Loving.” And “Clubs” makes sense for Austin when you consider the music scene.
Other towns are more puzzling: Amarillo=”Setting”; Abilene=”Decision”; Waco=”Exception”; and San Antonio=”Correct.”
NFL Lockout: Winners & Losers
As you may have heard, NFL owners formally locked out the players recently, as the two sides attempt to come up with a new collective bargaining agreement. It’s still early, but let’s take a quick look at the winners and losers so far.
Zac Crain Finds Second Career
A FrontBurnervian whose work responsibilities earlier today took him to MPS Studios sends along the below photo of one Zac Crain preparing to deliver what appears to be an on-camera performance. Zac? Care to explain yourself? What’s this side gig you got going?
Jean-Jacques Taylor Loves Him Some “Poppycock”
A complete accounting of each instance in which Dallas Morning News sports columnist Jean-Jacques Taylor has employed the word “poppycock” in his writing, just because I care about these sorts of things:
December 4, 2007: “Mike McCord, the Cowboys’ equipment manager the last 13 years, assigns numbers to free agents, rookies and new players. McCord wants you to believe it’s pure coincidence that DeMarcus Ware received No. 94, the same number as Charles Haley, the Cowboys’ last dominant pass rusher. He wants you to ignore the fact Ware and Haley play the same position, had similar heights and weights and skill sets. Poppycock.”
February 16, 2008: “Players get traded all the time because it’s in the franchise’s best interest. I have no problem with that because players get paid handsomely for that inconvenience. That said, I have no problem with George exercising his right to nix the trade. Now, I would like to hear the real reason — not the poppycock his agent wants us to believe.”
Dwaine Caraway, Arthur, and Archie
I know Mayor Pro Tem Dwaine Caraway made his statement yesterday, admitted he lied to the DMN about why cops were called to his house, and said, “That’s the end of all of this with me. That’s my statement. There’s not going to be anything else. No more questions, no more nothing.” But I have a question. How do you diagram the following sentence, which came from his statement?
“Those of you in this audience that are married, those of you that are listening that are married, if you’ve not always wanted eggs and bacon and some of you may have wanted something else, but you didn’t get it and that’s just what marriage is all about.”
That’s the way marriage go?
Five Dabney Coleman Movies You Should Watch On Sundays Instead of Wasting Your Time With the Dallas Cowboys
Why Dabney Coleman? Why not? One of them is actually based on the Cowboys, though it’s the one I’d watch last, personally, because 1) I just saw it and 2) it doesn’t hold up very well, unless 3) you like Nick Nolte which 4) I don’t like Nick Nolte.
Rick Perry Fires Up Barbecue Crowd, Media
Last week, while campaigning, Rick Perry stopped off in Temple, where he regaled the crowd at Clem Mikeska’s Bar-B-Q with ways Republicans could win in other states.
Aaaaand then he did something that bent my mind. I mean it. Darn near snapped it in half. I had to nap after I read this, to get my head right again.
“There is still a land of opportunity, friends — it’s called Texas. We’re creating more jobs than any other state in the nation. … Would you rather live in a state like this, or in a state where a man can marry a man?”
So, in other words, jobs will be created in Texas not by incentives or other mundane economical voodoo, but by keeping gays from marrying.
As you can imagine, people have taken notice.
Help These Guys Get Their Panel Into SXSW — Again
Last year, roughly around this time I told you guys about some local bloggers who were trying to get a panel into the Interactive branch of the annual SXSW shindig in Austin. Well, Team CJ did it. Was it all because of me? PROBABLY.
Anyway, they’re trying to do it again and, once more, they’ve turned to the kingmaker. This time, it’s the sort of meta concept Getting Your Panel Into SXSW: An Amateur’s Guide. Like last year, they’ve made an amusing YouTube video to get the word out. That is below. The full release is after the jump. And the link to vote is — wait for it — right — actually, wait another second — oh, okay, HERE. Oh, and today’s the last day, so don’t slack off.
Kansas Guy Gets Lots of Scrilla from Farmers Branch
Meet Kris Kobach. He’s running for Kansas Secretary of State. He likes rowing, missionary work, and belongs, ironically, to the Open Door Baptist Church.
He’s also made a whole lot of money helping municipalities craft ordinances regarding illegal immigration, and then defending those laws. Among those who are now defending a Kobach-penned ordinance is Farmers Branch, who paid Kobach $100,000. Hazelton, Penn., has spent at least $2 million, with Kobach getting $55,000 of it, at least.
And now Fremont, Neb., is looking at raising taxes to pay the $750,000 it projects it will need to defend its Kobach. No word on how much of that will go to the guy who penned their ordinance.
(H/T: The Pitch)
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