We spoke last week about the way city staff is dealing behind the scenes with a recent accusation of racial segregation by the federal government. Maybe we should talk, too, about the way they’re dealing with it in court. Late last month the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development…
Screenshot from video.Foxes actually make a kind of high-pitched bark/scream sound. You would’ve known that if you just searched the Internet for, like, ten seconds. Music, as a largely subjective medium, lends itself to some thought-provoking questions: What is the best concert you have ever seen? Which is the better…
Deep inside Spotify headquarters, at this very moment, some poor marketing team is tasked with the idea of making Spotify gift accounts sound like a good idea for a Christmas present. I know this because I am too cheap to pay to make the Spotify ads go away. So far…
The city of Dallas went to federal court earlier this week to stop a federal judge from expressing his opinion about a recent federal investigative report accusing Dallas of practicing racial segregation (the city’s brief is below). Plaintiffs in a whistle-blower lawsuit will come back today with their argument urging…
If you’re a fan of Sriracha, you’ve undoubtedly heard of the trouble surrounding the California plant that produces the sauce. For those of you who have had your head in a bowl of pho the past few weeks, a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge ordered a plant that makes…
Most people regard metal music as an anti-intellectual, chest-beating, noisy fit for cavemen. Despite this being 100 percent true, there are a few positive things that result from having an intense dedication toward one of the most juvenile forms of music out there. While listening to metal may still sentence…
James Ragland is back writing a metro column for the city’s only daily newspaper, and that’s a good thing. But Ragland, who took a sabbatical from columnizing to do actual journalism, may need to give himself some catch-up time before launching too many more opinion epistles. He wrote a piece…
Dear Readers: Behold your favorite Mexican’s annual Christmas gift guide, where I give shout-outs to some of my favorite books that deserve your money this holiday season! And for once, I won’t recommend my books — ¡Ask a Mexican!, Orange County: A Personal History and Taco USA: How Mexican Food…
Normally I don’t do this. I don’t suggest solutions. But in this case, I cannot resist. Last week I met with Mayor Mike Rawlings and his spokesperson, Sam Merten, to discuss an issue I had been writing about a lot — a car wash on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard…
Do the people who conceived and designed these metal album covers just not give a fuck, or do they give too many fucks? The answer is not entirely clear, but that’s what makes them so awesome. Behold, the ten most ridiculous metal album covers of the year. By Jason Roche…
Editor’s Note: Shea Serrano is an award-winning music writer and goofball whose recent exploits include Bun B’s Rapper Coloring and Activity Book. In his new column, he writes about his life and times. This game is very simple: Look at the pictures and guess what Kanye West song each one…
We’re always happy to hear about the prospect of [DARYL] getting back together for a one-off show here or there, but I honestly can’t fathom where their guitarist David Wilson would find the time these days. Wilson needs to be first in line to be duped on a 3D printer,…
Not that you asked, but here’s what it’s like to be me. I’m walking my dogs, Penny and Dorothy, up and down alleys in East Dallas, and I’ve got my little cell phone ear-bug deal going so I can talk to people and keep my hands free for clean-ups. And…
Are you a musician? Is your group having issues? Ask Fan Landers! Critic Jessica Hopper has played in and managed bands, toured internationally, booked shows, produced records, worked as a publicist and is the author of The Girls’ Guide to Rocking, a how-to for teen ladies. She is here to…
We spoke here last week about a large section of the city near the new University of North Texas campus that has never had city sewer service. Newcomers and people unfamiliar with the city’s southern hemisphere might find it hard to believe, but we have substantial expanses of unimproved ranch…
Reznor at peak anger.Trent Reznor sure is a happy guy these days. In a recent interview in the Fader, Reznor is even shown as chipper when facing a root canal. Reznor’s apparent changed mood is so interesting because he has faced his demons so publicly in his music. Reznor today…
Odd little contretemps in recent weeks on the pages of our city’s only daily newspaper: On December 4, education writer Matt Haag had a story in the The Dallas Morning News under the headline, “Dallas ISD teachers left at high rate in Superintendent Mike Miles’ first year,” purporting to show…
It was cute when it started. Looking for a way to differentiate their table settings, restaurateurs began replacing traditional linen dinner napkins with dressy cotton dishtowels. There had already been a gradual relaxing of rigid dining protocols as a result of the recent recession, and laid-back dishtowels were a logical…
Around this time of year, a lot of music websites put up “Holiday Gift Guides.” They’re either earnest, articulate and full of enthusiastic suggestions for interesting items for the music lover in your life, or they’re depressing corporate-sponsored flotsam and stand as a remarkably stark representation of the state of…
The Ethan Couch story is a tough one for me, because you know I always like ragging on rich people. And it seems hard to read District Judge Jean Boyd’s sentence any way other than as a get-out-of-jail-free card for a kid whose parents could afford to put him in…
Tuesday I talked to Mayor Mike Rawlings about the car wash on MLK Boulevard that I have written a lot about lately — well, a lot about over the last eight years, as a matter of fact. It’s the one the city recently threatened to take by eminent domain. We…
Dear Mexican: You mocked and didn’t answer the legitimate questions raised in a letter to you a couple of weeks ago, from the guy who didn’t see a rosy future for a Mexican-led America. The writer correctly referred to serious problems in the Hispanic community, such as poor academic performance…
