King for a Day, And Then Some

Oh, man, I think I may have bone cancer. Not, wait, I must be choking on food. Got the sweats bad. Is my hair on fire? I seem to be convulsing. Oh, I know what it is! I’m trying to spit out a positive remark about The Dallas Morning News…

How Mark Cuban Would Fix SMU (No, Not Like That)

Speaking of local sports team owners, in the February issue of GQ, Mark Cuban sits down for a Q&A inside his Dallas office — “a room filled with pictures: Cuban playing rugby; Cuban in front of his private plane; Cuban presenting an award to Don Nelson, the former Mavericks coach…

Man, They Really Hate You in Liverpool, Tom Hicks

Until Friday, Richie’s June 27 item about a Fox Sports Network TV special on Tom Hicks hadn’t received a single comment; now, there are eight nine 10 a bunch, and they keep rolling in. And most of them are written as open letters to the owner of the Dallas Stars…

And One More Piece of Dallas’ History Turns to Rubble

The McKinney Avenue Baptist Church stood on McKinney Avenue for 97 years. Then Saturday happened. So, I leave town for three days, and this is what happens: The Hard Rock Cafe — otherwise known as the former McKinney Avenue Baptist Church, built in 1910 — is no more. Just one…

Morgan Spurlock’s Beard

Perhaps no film at Sundance is more anxiously awaited than Morgan Spurlock’s Where in the World is Osama bin Laden?, in the hands of Weinstein Co. For whatever reason, folks have been speculating for months that perhaps the Super Size Me director found bin Laden; Spurlock has brilliantly dodged the…

All You Ever Needed to Know About Sundance — Like, Ever

Walter Mosley, author of Devil in a Blue Dress and Black Betty, hanging out in the Sundance HQ Friday afternoon As the sender and recipients of this particular e-mail are fine folks well-regarded in the movie bidness (I know, right?), we’ll leave their names off this missive. But for those…

Dallas Destroyed By Duststorm in an Imaginary Future

Here’s one more WTF video for your Friday viewing pleasure: a decimated-Dallas what-if just posted to the YouTubes courtesy something called CNCNewsTV. Actually, says the NYC-based publicist who shot us the link, it’s for a new series called Six Degrees Could Change the World, which will air at 7 p.m…

A Talk on “Religion and Violence” — Timely

Over the past week, there’s been much discussion in this space and elsewhere about the killings of Sarah and Amina Said and whether their father’s Muslim faith had anything to do with him allegedly murdering them for adopting Western ways. Coincidentally, Saint Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church is hosting…

Hello, My Concubine

Farewell My Concubine is a familiar love story in China. It’s been a poem, a novel and an Oscar-nominated 1993 film. Now it’s also a 90-minute Western-style opera (sung in Mandarin with English subtitles), and it’s coming from China to Richardson’s Eisemann Center with its original 130-member cast and orchestra…

Need a Job? AFI Dallas Hangs Out the “Help Wanted” Sign.

While I’m at one film festival, seems like a good time to tell you about job openings at a cinema-lovers’ shindig a little closer to home: Melina McKinnon of the AFI Dallas International Film Festival sends word that the festival, now in its second year after an impressive bow last…

Hollywood on Ice

Brendan Gleeson and Colin Farrell are stuck In Bruges, which kicked off Sundance last night. PARK CITY, Utah — The Sundance Film Festival hadn’t even officially begun Thursday when word circulated through the 4-below Park City climes that the Directors Guild of America had reached a tentative, three-year deal with…

Say This For Farmers Branch: They Do Stick to Their Guns

By now, no doubt, you’ve read The Dallas Morning News’ piece about Farmers Branch’s tenacity: Despite the fact the federal courts have all but killed Ordinance 2903, which called for punishing landlords who knowingly rented to illegal immigrants, the city council next week will once more consider a revised ordinance…

He Was Just Big-Boned

Dinosaurs and humans once roamed the earth together — ain’t that right, Chaka? Also: “The fossil record speaks of catastrophic events happening several thousand years ago rather than slow processes taking place over millions or billions of years as is held by the popular establishment.” In other words, the Mt…

Spree to Be You and Me

Apparently, few years back there was some contest going on involving the Polyphonic Spree and fan-made videos. Which explains this just-posted video. –Robert Wilonsky…

See There, The Grass Ain’t Always Greener

Jason Garrett had second interviews with the Baltimore Ravens and Atlanta Falcons about their head coaching jobs. But, come on, he never really had second thoughts about actually leaving the Dallas Cowboys. Garrett’s decision to stay in Dallas and become the team’s unofficial head-coach-in-waiting shocked absolutely no one with even…

Girl on Bottom

Well, Austin is south of Dallas. And, don’t lie. Even though you can still find a certain Andrea Grimes in the Night & Day pages of the paper version of Unfair Park, you miss Girl on Top. Well, stop whining and pouring out 40s in her honor already. She’s right…

Pikahsso Will Make You Rethink How You Celebrate Your Birthday

While we’re on the subject of selfless good deeds, we really do need to mention how Pikahsso, of P.P.T., is planning on celebrating his birthday February 1: with a Help the Homeless Community Event & Birthday Party at Hal Samples’ Space Studios on Main Street. Organizers are asking for “old…

Ed Barks, Tracy Bites Back

Uncle Barky’d like for us to remind you to clear the calendar Saturday: It’s time for the second live-to-hard-drive taping of the Uncle Barky Show at Stratos across the street from Bachman Lake, this time with the ain’t-quite-retired Tracy Rowlett of KTVT-Channel 11. Show’s at 4 p.m., and from all…

The Chemistry.com Set

On Christmas Eve, The New York Times noted that Dallas-based Chemistry.com — a Match.com spinoff aimed at coupling “independent-thinking, confident, diverse singles” — was out to out eHarmony.com as homophobic. (But only because it is?) Over the course of 2007, Chemistry.com ran several ad campaigns mocking eHarmony’s refusal to make…