W Stands for “Winner”

There were a million photos we could have run. We decided to go with this one of swimming pool model Daniel and KDFW-Channel 4’s Good Day Dallas producer Dana Rogers. Former mayor Ron Kirk wouldn’t engage in a little nyah-nyah-toldya-so last night at the everybody’s-a-VIP opening of the W Hotel…

Where Did You Go, Raffy Palmeiro?

The Rafael Palmeiro most of us remember, before the steroid test that ruined his career. This morning’s Baltimore Sun contains the first interview with former Texas Rangers first baseman Rafael Palmeiro since Congress cleared him of lying under oath. The paper’s reporting that a year after failing a test for…

Nothing’s Free. Not Even Freestyle Rap.

As promised in this week’s And Another Thing, here’s the Astronautalis freestyle recorded over the phone on Tuesday morning. After you have a laugh at the fact that I actually beatboxed on this recording, consider how hard it has to be to come up with a freestyle rap off the…

House of Cards

Today, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott said he’s shut down a housing scam that his office claims defrauded folks “out of tens of thousands of dollars” locally. This permanent injunction stems from an April 2005 lawsuit filed under the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act (DTPA), which claimed that Dallas-based FCI…

Katie’s Coming

Yeah! Wee! Whopee! Katie Couric’s coming to town July 11. And you can meet her! WOW! Katie Couric’s coming to town July 11 as part of a six-city exploratory mission, and yer welcome to come meet the former Today show co-host who, on September 5, takes over as anchor of…

Buh-Bye, Basketball

Ladies and gentleman, meet your newest Mavericks, Maurice Ager. Dude looks tough, which is nice. You know those old eight-panel leather basketballs you grew up with? Gone. The old, American-dominated game you used to love? Gone too. First the NBA announced it was making a radical change to the sport’s…

The Arts Behind Craft

This is Tom Colicchio’s official photo on the Craft Web site. He doesn’t really have this much hair. Or any, really. That’s what opening new restaurants’ll do to ya. Tonight, the W Hotel in Victory Park official opens with a red-carpet shindig; should be many celebs there, though I don’t…

The Worst Mothers Ever

Andrea Yates is back on trial for killing her kids, one year after her 2002 conviction was thrown out. The retrial of Andrea Yates is underway down in Houston, riveting both the public and defense attorneys who have followed the case for five years. Accused of drowning her five children…

Helping the Healing

Saddened by recent spills but stimulated by his new grills, Dallas Mavericks guard Marquis Daniels steps into the batter’s box. Awkward and unsure at the plate, he resembles his NBA Finals team down the stretch. As the pitching machine expels the ball toward him at 60 mph, Daniels takes a…

Sour Town

Think of it as Garland’s version of the Alexander Hamilton-Aaron Burr duel, only this suburban showdown didn’t hinge on honor or ambition, and no one got shot. At least not yet. In 2003, City Council member Harry Hickey wanted to pass an ordinance restricting citizens from parking recreational vehicles in…

No, trust this

No, trust this: Buzz has a deal for you, Dallas voter. For free, we will come by your house and do an inventory of things that need to be repaired, replaced or added. It’ll be a long list–face it, if you’re letting Buzz inside your home, it’s a dump–but we’ll…

Swami and Wry | Batting .500 | Swing Low | Majority Report

Swami and Wry He sees all: “The Amazing Schutzini” (June 22) did it again. In his uniquely insightful and incendiary way, he reminded us all that the pain and frustrations through which we now suffer have a greater purpose…and that the future of Dallas is bright, but it will take…

Eye of the Beholder

Elaine is talking over some bad techno music at the Absinthe Lounge in the South Side on Lamar building. She’s telling me about her brilliant 17-year-old son, who bestows his wisdom upon a younger friend. “And so he tells this kid, ‘All those rich people in Highland Park, if you…

A Strongman Scorned

Phil Busch is a giant of a man, with a withering glare that he uses liberally whenever the conversation turns to televangelist Pat Robertson. “Me and Robertson are coming in a head-on crash,” the 6-foot-4-inch, 42-year-old Addison bodybuilder declares. Fortunately for 76-year-old Robertson, the collision is metaphorical, a legal clash…

TV Dinner

The last thing Tom Colicchio wants anyone to think is that he’s an interloper, a celebrity descended from Mount Epicurean to dispense fine victuals to the chicken-fried schmucks. The chef–the Top Chef, if you will, as Colicchio’s a regular judge on Bravo’s TV series–sits in a booth in his restaurant…

Sore Winners and Losers

The U.S. Supreme Court decision on Texas redistricting is out, and by almost any measure it’s a Republican victory. A 5-4 decision isn’t exactly crushing, but the effects certainly are: DeLay’s 2003 map, known as Plan 1374C, is left almost intact, as is his new tactic of redistricting whenever power…

Sweet Emily

If you’re not too busy dashing off to see Superman return today, stop by Zeus and meet the boys who fathered Emily Edison. Right now, and until 7 tonight, two guys are sitting at Zeus Comics on Oak Lawn Avenue waiting to meet you. While that may sound unappetizing–yeah, that’s…

Excuse Me, I Speak Gay

I, like Matt Weitz over at The Dallas Morning News, attended the Kathy Griffin show at the Meyerson Symphony Center Monday night. Griffin is known for offering up gay-friendly humor and even dished that while entertaining troops in Iraq, she found one soldier with whom she communicated in “fluent gay.”…

Baby Makes Three

“I suspect he’ll become a mighty drummer,” one-man-band Chris Holt says about his brand new son. Hey, fatherly pressure worked for the Jacksons… Because people love baby photos (and we love making people happy), we’d like to congratulate Dallas Observer Music Awards Musician of the Year Chris Holt and his…

Rough Draft

LaMarcus Aldridge could wind up at the No. 1 pick in tonight’s NBA draft. Some of us will always have him as No. 1 in our hearts. For the first time since becoming owner of the Dallas Mavericks, Mark Cuban won’t be sweating out the NBA draft, which takes place…

Pro Se Can You See How Sick They Are?

With an ongoing federal investigation into the health care practices at the Dallas County Jail, numerous litigious inmates are, it seems, jumping on the bandwagon, alleging to be the victims of medical neglect. These are largely pro se federal lawsuits, with their scribbled allegations calling to mind some sort of…

Culbreath in “Grave Condition”

A concerned Friend of Unfair Park called early this morning with the news that City Plan Commission chair Betty Culbreath is in “grave condition” at a local hospital, following emergency surgery last night. Apparently, Culbreath had a routine procedure done earlier in the week that went awry, forcing the surgery…