I don’t write a weekly music column, which has two advantages. One, I probably haven’t insulted your band. Two, I probably haven’t insulted your friend’s band. As such, you can approach this entry with little to no prejudice against my opinions and decide only after you’ve read this that I…
After years of making promises to southern Dallas that turned into threats, the city has apparently decided to put its money where its mouth is. According to this story from the Dallas Business Journal, the city is considering using money from the upcoming bond election to buy property in the…
This float, built by David Hall, gave Saturday’s protest a distinctly parade-like vibe. Except for all the hate. I couldn’t tell you how many there were: fewer than 100, according to some estimates; almost 500, say others. But on Saturday, at the intersection of Walnut Hill Lane and North Central…
Seven years ago I almost moved to Lower Greenville; hell, everyone else was doing it, and property values were only gonna go up. Starting to think I made the right decision to stay away. –Robert Wilonsky…
The Dallas Mavericks won’t win the NBA’s Southwest Division championship. But last Friday night in San Antonio they earned something more precious: confidence. With a 92-86 victory over the Spurs, the Mavs proved they can win playoff-intensity road games against the league’s defending champion. And that will be important a…
Stop yer whining, Dallas, and keep drinking. Turns out Dallas ain’t high on the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission’s list of best cities in which to bust boozers–not even in the top 10, which is awesome. Just stay away from small towns when popping yer tops. –Robert Wilonsky…
Observations from a Texas Rangers game: The hot dogs out at the Ameriquest Ballpark at Arlington Stadium suck this year, at least those being sold by the guys in the stands. That is, when you can find one: When we went to a game during opening week, just a single…
Yesterday’s New York Times’ Arts & Leisure section had a small piece on a movie we’ve written since last summer–and just about every week since we started this danged blog. Stephanie Goodman asked: What becomes of local filmmakers Mark Birnbaum and Jim Schermbeck’s movie The Big Buy: How Tom DeLay…
U.S. Rep. Joe Barton, who’s as (R) as they come and who keeps homes in Ennis and Arlington when he ain’t doing Big Business’ bidding in D.C., has a pretty lousy rep among lefties on a number of issues; they don’t call him “Smokey Joe” because he’s against companies filling…
So the Wall of Sound Festival is finally gonna happen; in roughly 18 hours, the doors to Fort Worth’s Ridglea Theatre will open to throngs of people hungry for local music greatness. Dallas Observer staffers and contributors will be there in droves (no name tags, sorry, but you can find…
The Fort Worth Startle Gram offers tips today on how to get to “Texas Moor Speedway.” Location for fast-moving North African Muslims or destination for thrill-crazy high-altitude British fields? You decide. –Andrea Grimes…
Secret Machines–Dallas-to-NYC ex-pats Josh Garza and bros Ben and Brandon Curtis–release their new disc Ten Silver Drops on April 25; Interweb users, feel free to get it now from iTunes. We review the disc next week, but if you want a sneak peek, here’s the video for “Lightning Blue Eyes,”…
Former Inside Edition anchor Bill O’Reilly, who apparently has gained some renown as the right-wing’s Jon Stewart, has a new favorite newspaper: your own Dallas Morning News. Actually, it’s hardly his fave; turns out, in Papa Bear’s estimation, Dallas’ Only Daily has turned so sharply to the left it’s not…
When I was in high school, the school participated in a program called Shattered Dreams just before prom season. It’s meant to instill fear of drunk driving in the hearts of binge-drinking high schoolers who may imbibe on their magical evening. The point is to create a shockingly real, disturbing…
I’m already a C-SPAN junkie–more gut-busting laughs and wrenching human drama than in a season’s worth of E.R.–but now I’ve got a better reason to watch than Karl Rove’s keynote address at the annual conference of the Republican National Lawyers Association, which airs live today at 3:15 p.m. (Swear to…
There has to be a lot of hooplah going around about the Dallas Mavericks upcoming playoffs run, because I can promise you that if there was only minimal hooplah, I wouldn’t have any idea it was even basketball season. (Heart you, Mark!) Anyway, what would hooplah be without viral videos?…
Is there anything Adelfa Callejo won’t protest? Of course, we ask with love; she’s a powerful and sincere attorney-activist-advocate whose life story is so compelling that in 1999 a Stanford law student made her the subject of this comprehensive paper that serves as a pretty inspirational tale. But you know…
Or, at least, you better. Texas Rangers fans, your old friend Kenny Rogers returns to the south park known as Ameriquest Field this weekend as a Detroit Tiger. Rogers, last seen in these parts attacking Fox 4 cameraman Larry Rodriguez for no good reason, takes the mound Sunday afternoon. And…
A few people fell for our Dirk Nowitzki April Fool’s prank, including Mike Rhyner and Greg Williams, hosts of “The Hardline” on KTCK-AM (1310, The Ticket), but most people didn’t. The song did make its way around the Internet, though, which was good enough for us. One blogger called it…
Looks like the great white robes got a shout-out from Rolling Stone. Odd timing for the Polyphonic Spree’s forthcoming album, which is due out this summer, but, hey, take what you can get, right? Stranger still, the pAper chAse, cited not only as “punk” but also a “trio,” may get…
Well, really, not much of a kick to this one, but Rhino Records announced the first Old 97’s greatest-hits album today, set for release on June 20. Since Rhino’s at the helm, that means material from the semi-Dallas band’s various record labels–Big Iron, Bloodshot and Elektra–will be combined on one…
Plan your holidays around something different this year–like, say, football. The NFL just released its 2006 schedules, and your Dallas Cowboys close the season with home games against the Philadelphia Eagles on Christmas night and the Detroit Lions on New Year’s Eve afternoon. The Cowboys and new receiver Terrell Owens…
