News

In the movie The Untouchables, Kevin Costner’s Eliot Ness quickly discovers just how difficult it will be to bring down the infamous Al Capone, whose bloody bootlegging operation terrorized a city and made a mockery of the law. Capone has bought off the cops, judges and the mayor and has…

NinjaTune Urban photographer NinjaTune has discovered the Grand Hotel looks like it did a decade ago — without, ya know, guests. As it turns out, my real-estate developer pal was right: Much of the Dallas Grand Hotel is indeed in great shape — left almost as it was when it…

“By the way, if anyone here is in advertising or marketing, kill yourself.” That’s how one of my all-time favorite Bill Hicks routines starts, and I couldn’t help but think of it when I read this article in The New York Times about a recent nifty/nefarious marketing trick pulled by…

I know, I just posted some Norah Jones the other day, but I just came across something that oughta up her hipster factor (or, um, not) amongst those who think her nothing but the siren of Starbucks. As I am not entirely fluent in Italian — everything I learned about…

It’s not terribly interesting that the Addison outpost of a food-n-boozery is hosting a “Wii night” every Tuesday night. Nor is Blackfinn’s wacky slogan terribly wacky (or original): “Real Men Wii Standing Up,” oof. What is interesting — kind of, anyway — is how gamers find Blackfinn’s Wii Night so,…

Justin Terveen of www.theurbanfabric.com For as long as I can recall, the Dallas Grand Hotel has been neither grand nor much of a hotel. Last time I stepped foot in the place, my brother was in town from Norman for Texas-OU — this was in the early 1990s — and…

Chris Holt, bottom right, reminds us this morning of why Carter Albrecht meant so much to so many — because of his inspiring talent. On page 23 of this morning’s New York Times is yet another story detailing the death of Carter Albrecht on Monday, and it covers just about…

You really should stop what you’re doing right now and read former Dallas Observer music editor Sarah Hepola’s essay about Carter Albrecht. Because she perfectly captures the Carter everyone knew, even if they barely knew him at all: Around the time I moved to New York, Carter started playing with…

Ain’t no secret that too much KFC (they’re not allowed to actually say “chicken” any more, right?) will pretty much kill you in a full-on calorie onslaught, coating your insides in a layer of sticky trans-fat and clogging your veins with coagulated chunks of that delicious brown gravy. It’s too…

There are things Mom told you not to talk about in social settings, like religion, politics and your sex life. A new Richardson-based T-shirt company wants to jump-start provocative conversations. Politeed sells tees imprinted with questions sure to set fire to your hottest buttons, among them race, global warming, illegal…

By now, many of you have probably read the MySpace bulletin from Carter Albrecht’s bandmate, Sorta bassist Danny Balis, about the passing of his best friend. In it, Balis mentions the prescription stop-smoking drug Chantix, which Albrecht and his girlfriend had recently begun taking. Balis writes: “i later learned through…

Jen Nabb has sent details for Carter Albrecht’s funeral, which will take place Friday at 2 p.m. It will be held at Parkway Hills Baptist Church in Plano, between Park Boulevard and Parker Road off the Dallas North Tollway. And Carter’s mother has said “everybody” is welcome to attend. –Robert…

This morning, friends of Carter Albrecht’s are dividing their time between mourning the musician and searching for answers — just what happened in the wee hours yesterday that led to Albrecht’s being shot by a man who believed he was trying to kick down his door and break into his…

And now, for something a little lighter — more of Avi Adelman’s home movies. This time, he’s out filming drunks on Lower Greenville Ave., and what sounds like a brewing disaster to some looks like a network pilot to us. Enjoy — but with the sound way down, if you’re…

Disturbing news updates set aside, friends of slain Sorta multi-instrumentalist and singer Carter Albrecht gathered at the Barley House last night. After waiting out the ruckus-raising revelers from the SMU-Texas Tech game, a crowd of mourners grew steadily from 8:30 p.m. on, in spite of the glaring lights and probing…

At this very moment, there’s an impromptu wake for Carter Albrecht taking place at the Barley House — appropriate, as the bar’s MySpace page contains under its “Heroes” category the note that, “yeah, carter sometimes sings that with rock star karoke.” But now, this story is no longer a mere…

Mark Graham Dallas police are trying to piece together the last hours of Carter Albrecht, center. Dallas police Sgt. Larry Lewis, of the department’s homicide unit, has spent the better part of today trying to figure out just how Carter Albrecht ended up shot to death early Monday morning. “And…

Sorta’s Carter Albrecht — center, back row — was killed early this morning. The story has been circulating all morning among local musicians and friends who do not want to believe it, but the sad tale is true: Carter Albrecht, keyboardist, guitarist and singer in the band Sorta, is dead…

It’s a new day at Unfair Park as we come before you offering gushing praise for Dallas County Judge Jim Foster. Seriously. We’re not even going to add a few shots to water down our praise and keep it “edgy.” No. This post is going to be a 100 percent…