The Ticket Mystery: Solved?

They like their gigs: The Hardline’s Mike Rhyner and Greg Williams We know where Corby Davidson will be this weekend. We know where Greg Williams still isn’t. But, let’s face it, we’ll probably never know the real identity of Line 4 Guy. “If he walked in this room right now,…

Meet Dallas’ New Federal Judge, More Than Likely

Fresh off declaring a mistrial in the Holy Land Foundation case, Chief U.S. District Judge A. Joe Fish of the Northern District of Texas this month will take senior status, leaving a vacancy in the federal courthouse downtown. By the end of next week, his replacement will likely be on…

Meat Loaf, Well Done?

Marvin Lee Aday, graduate of the great Thomas Jefferson High School, is calling it quits. So reports The Times of London today, anyway. Says the paper, on Wednesday night the man known as Meat Loaf was performing at the Metro Radio Arena in Newcastle upon Tyne when, just before launching…

Two Big Holidays Tomorrow. Well …

Tomorrow marks a major holiday — at least according to the folks at the AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic. Some four years back, the Cotton Bowl folks decided to commemorate the first Saturday in November as National College Football Day, so designated because on November 6, 1869, Rutgers defeated Princeton by…

TrinityVote’s Clever New “Old” Ad

On the YouTubes, TrinityVote has posted three “Vote Yes” ads, in addition to Justin Spence’s Mac-PC parody that Angela Hunt had redone for use on local TV (though why they didn’t completely excise the bleeped-out “fuckin'” is a bit of a head-scratcher, since WFAA-Channel 8 won’t run the thing till…

Zuzu and Marchel, Together Again

We are now taking your requests: A Friend of Unfair Park who would like to see more blues and jazz coverage in the paper also asks me to post the following video of Marchel Ivery performing in 1990 with Dallas’ late blues great Zuzu Bollin at the original Poor David’s…

Dallas Gets Its Toys! More or Less.

On Tuesday, as expected, the Toy Industry Association decided whether or not to keep its mammoth Fall Toy Preview show in Dallas. And the answer is: Yes, absolutely. At least, the TIA will keep its annual shindig at Dallas Market Center through 2010, after which time it will again decide…

They’ve Done Gone Batty at Hillcrest

This is from the original West End production of Bat Boy, but Hillcrest’s version doesn’t look that far off. Hillcrest High School sure has trendy tastes in stage productions: The school’s latest offering is none other than the award-winning Off-Broadway and London West End hit Bat Boy: The Musical, which…

Beating A Dead Mustang

WFAA-Channel 8 Sorry to disappoint, but I’m talking about this deceased equine, not that one. As I wrote in this week’s paper version of Unfair Park, Dale Hansen’s role in the 1980s SMU pay-for-play scandal made him more pariah than Peruna. He broke the story, which, coupled with the death…

After Losing $6 Billion Buyout Bid, ACS Chairman Tells the Board to Scram

Only one day after Cerberus Capital Management LP decided not to buy out Dallas-based Affiliated Computer Services after all — for, like, $6.2 billion — ACS’s chairman, Darwin Deason, is demanding the company’s independent directors resign. Immediately. Wrote Deason in a letter dated today, he wants Robert B. Holland III,…

What’s That The Texas Observer Smells in Dallas?

Cody Garrett of The Texas Observer recounts the pub’s visit to the Lakewood Theater on Friday, where it hosted a reading of classic material, a tribute to Molly Ivins and Jimmie Dale Gilmore performing, what else, “Dallas” and “Deep Ellum Blues.” The Observer folks felt right at home: “The streets…

Marchel Ivery, “The Real Deal,” Will Be Buried on Monday

Many thoughtful and heartfelt comments have poured in concerning the death of Texas tenor Marchel Ivery on Tuesday. Among those who’ve posted is Earl Harvin, who actually introduced me to Ivery and James Clay many, many years ago. Writes Earl, who now lives in Berlin: I’m very saddened to hear…

Dallas Attorney is Anti-Illegal Immigrant, But Very “ProAmerica”

Local attorney David Marlett’s getting a lot of national attention, including a recent shot on CNN, for promoting companies that pledge not to hire illegal or undocumented workers. Two stories today highlight a Dallas-based Web site called ProAmerica Companies, which lists companies that pledge not to “knowingly hire illegal or…

You Like to Watch?

Several viewing options this morning. Could go with the three-part extravaganza, in which some dude hassles a Dallas police officer who’s stopped him for reckless driving somewhere on Northwest Highway. (Here’s parts one, two and three — kind of like Star Wars.) Or we could go with the San Diego-based…

The Feds Are Not Going After Belo For Phony Circulation Numbers

The Securities and Exchange Commission is letting Belo Corp. off the hook concerning those inflated circulation numbers three years ago. Courtesy Editor & Publisher, that info can be found in Belo’s SEC filing yesterday, in which it says: In 2004, the staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”)…

The Ex-Gay Way

Heels: Buzz doesn’t discriminate. Sometimes Buzz is black, sometimes Asian, sometimes white. Buzz can be tall or short, or, um, Republican. (Well, maybe not that last one. We have our limits) This week, Buzz wears the gay hat. See, last Saturday, Irving hosted the annual convention of NARTH, the National…

Holy Land Family Fights Terrorist Label

That Tuesday morning, Noor Elashi awoke to red and blue lights flashing through her bedroom curtains as FBI agents swarmed across the freshly cut lawn in front of her small Richardson house. In the early morning mist, the armed agents rushed to her door and began pounding. “They stood in…

Farmers Branch Pulls in the Welcome Mat

An artist’s work is deemed inappropriate and yanked from the walls of the public library. An 82-year-old woman faces jail time because she can’t afford to pay $1,900 in code enforcement fines. Hispanic activists scramble to educate parents after the city demands the names, addresses and phone numbers of every…