Subject: State Fair of Texas

• Naughty Dallas

  October 19, 2006

• The Fair Can Be So Unfair

  October 10, 2006

• Something Rotten

  September 8, 2006

• How to Get Into the Baseball Hall of Fame

  July 2, 2007

• Batter Worlds

  September 25, 2007

• Havin' a Ball at the Fair

  October 1, 2007

• On Your Mark … Get Set … Goal?

  October 3, 2007

• Nothing Like a New Pickup When You Need That Crap Economy Pick-Me-Up

  September 26, 2008

• Dallas, We Have a New Corn Dog Eating Champion. So Proud.

  September 29, 2008

• The State Fair? So Far, Fairly Empty.

  October 1, 2008

• Howdy, Folks, I'm an Impostor

  October 8, 2008

• Fair from Over

  October 21, 2008

• OK, Now This Is Schadenfreude: Towing Company Gets Its License Revoked

  November 4, 2008

• This Morning, Lone Star to Demand City Return its License to Tow

  The things you learn by peeking at the Permit and License Appeal Board meeting agenda set for this morning's hoedown. For instance, Jose Rodriguez will be down at City Hall this morning appealing the city's decision to deny him a late-hours dance-hall permit for the San Luis Night Club, which he wanted to open at 1418 N. Industrial Boulevard -- previously the site of Los Tiburones and Tejano Joe's. City says it's too close to Trinity Loft on Slocum Street.But, see, that's just burying the lead:

  December 4, 2008

• Events for the week

  September 28, 1995

• Events for the week

  September 26, 1996

• Dallas, Both "Silly" and "Self-Confident"

  Jeremy Gerard, a theater critic for The Dallas Morning News some two decades ago, is now a New York-based editor for Bloomberg News, the first media outlet to which George Steel denied he was leaving his new Dallas Opera gig for an opening in New York. This morning, Gerard weighs in on Steel's abrupt departure from Dallas last week, insisting, as others have in recent days, that Steel had already worn out his welcome here and that it was probably best he return to Manhattan. Which isn't the part

  January 22, 2009

• Events for the week

  October 2, 1997

• Night & Day

  October 8, 1998

• Best Place to See Pets You Can Eat

  September 20, 2001

• Buzz

  October 11, 2001

• Midway or All the Way? Yet Again, State Fair Officials Promise Year-Round Attractions.

  From the Fair Park Comprehensive Development Plan, dated October 2003"Provide year-round midway features: ferris wheel, carousel, roller coaster, sky ride and observation tower." So says Page 22 of 2003's Fair Park Comprehensive Plan, which offered myriad suggestions for turning Fair Park into a year-round attraction rather than the ghost town it becomes during those 49 or so weeks out of the year when the State Fair of Texas doesn't fill the fairgrounds. It's been a document often referenced by

  May 18, 2009

• Fair Play

  September 25, 2008

• Blackjack Pizza

  September 25, 2008

• Fair to Midway

  Maybe we should stick some of the bands in the deep-fryer

  October 11, 2007

• Museum's Loaded

  September 27, 2007

• See You at the Fair

  September 27, 2007

• Fried Magic

  September 28, 2006

• This Week's Day-By-Day Picks

  September 23, 2004

• Money for Nothing

  A fund aimed at boosting South Dallas is hammered by deadbeat borrowers and city hall neglect.

  November 17, 2005

• Deep-Fried Fun

  The State Fair of Texas is as eccentric as the state's residents

  September 29, 2005

• Dog Show

  An all-day tribute to batter-dipped meat on a stick

  September 29, 2005

• Fair Play

  August 18, 2005

• Dog Gone

  Have a ball with the Corndog Festival

  September 23, 2004

• Fair Game

  Don't stand up Big Tex

  September 25, 2003

• Batter Up

  It's incredibly corny over there

  September 25, 2003

• Fair Fare

  The State Fair of Texas offers delights from corn dogs to corn-fed cattle

  September 26, 2002

• A fair question

  Can you find any art at the State Fair of Texas?

  October 7, 1999

• Little wooden men

  Puppetmasters pull a Beauty

  September 2, 1999

• Corn Dogged: Garrison Keillor Visits the State Fair of Texas For National Geographic (?)

  Allison V. Smith's photo of Big Tex's 2008 makeover remains one of our favorite State Fair of Texas photos ever.Actually, once you read the piece -- which appears in the issue hitting newsstands this week but which you can read right now -- it seems rather unlikely that the Prairie Home Companionist actually came to Dallas for the State Fair, as his is more of an essay about the pleasures of state fairs in general. (Among them: "To witness the stupidity of others, their gluttony and low-grade ob

  June 30, 2009

• Why Just Hitch a Ride on a DART Bus?

  ​Didn't wind up with one of those Dallas Fire-Rescue pumper trucks up for auction last month, which is just as well -- wouldn't have had room for one of the Dallas Area Rapid Transit buses that went up for grabs late yesterday on my favorite everything-must-go Web site. Really, it just makes more sense to buy a bus. So much more practical.You can do what this feller did and transform an old bus into an eco-friendly RV. Or, you can use them to shuttle the elderly. Or, you can start your own fam

  September 9, 2009

• Fry Girl

  September 10, 2009

• State Fry of Texas

  September 24, 2009

• Weekend Roundup: The Dodos, En Vogue

  The Dodos, House of Blues, Friday, Oct. 2ndThe San Francisco psychedelic folk trio is having a charmed year. They scored a Miller Chill commercial song placement, and in November they'll head off on a European tour. But they were cool enough to stop at House of Blues in Dallas first.

  October 5, 2009

• If You're Not an Oprah Winfrey Fan, You May Want to Skip the State Fair of Texas Monday

  ​Specifically, you'll want to stay away from the Chevrolet Main Stage at 10 a.m., when Oprah Winfrey will begin taping her State Fair of Texas special that'll also include a performance by Martina McBride. Winfrey's production company just sent the details for her appearance, if you have further questions:Join Oprah Winfrey as she tapes segments for an upcoming Oprah show at the State Fair of Texas' Chevrolet Main Stage on Monday, October 12, 2009. A crowd of approximately 4,000 is expected fo

  October 9, 2009

• Everybody Gets Fried Butter!

  Flickr photo: cmiked​A good Friend of Unfair Park who was out at the State Fair of Texas today sends word: OMFG, Oprah! Fried butter for everyone! Nice photo of the clusterflock at top -- especially of WFAA's Cynthia Izaguirre, who looks damned happy to be there -- but this one's the keeper.

  October 11, 2009

• Today's Quality of Life Update: How to Report Dead Street Lights, and TX-OU Tow Warnings

  Zazzle​Amazing the things you learn from city council briefings. Like this: Oncor has a Web site that allows you to report street-light outages by address or pole numbers. It's been operational since August, but the council's Quality of Life Committee is getting a briefing on the subject today. The Web site's a good time suck if you're curious about how many public and private street lights are in your neighborhood -- just type in your address and have at it. Another fun fact: There are 86,000

  October 12, 2009

• Today's Sign of the Times: Where You Can Park for the Red River Shootout on Saturday

  ​Meranda Cohn at Dallas City Hall sends word for those heading to the Red River Shootout on Saturday: Take the Green Line or at least park on Fair Park property, where spots are $10. But if you insist on parking off-site, in one of the privately owned lots where spots run upwards of $15, just one favor: Keep an eye out for these signs.The city issued 250 of them before the State Fair of Texas, following new permitting procedures put into place shortly after last year's illegal-towing debacle.

  October 15, 2009

• State Fair of Texas Files Application to Build Giant Greenhouse, Growing Area at Fair Park

  Something like this Rough Brothers-designed greenhouse is what the State Fair of Texas has in mind.​Earlier this afternoon, I noticed on the Landmark Committee's Fair Park Task Force meeting agenda for Wednesday a most intriguing note: Someone has applied for a Certificate of Appropriateness to build a "7,600 square foot Greenhouse and 6,000 square foot growing area" in the Midway at Fair Park. And by someone, I mean Errol McKoy, president of the State Fair of Texas.Took a little bit of diggin

  November 6, 2009

• Breezeway: El Centro Wants to Put Wind Turbines on Top of Old Sangers Building

  View Larger MapThose Landmark Commission meeting agendas are full of interesting hints -- like, oh, that green house the State Fair of Texas wants to build in Fair Park. Or, now, this vague note concerning the installation of 21 wind turbines on the rooftop of 801 Main Street. We should have more about that proposed Fair Park palace later today, but Unfair Park did a little digging this morning and found out that El Centro College wants to put those turbines atop the old Sanger-Harris building a

  November 9, 2009