Steve Blow is exceedingly good at his job, which is to reach new heights in daily journo banality as a columnist for The Dallas Morning News. He has seriously got it down. There is real talent in saying absolutely nothing of interest or consequence for years on end. Which is…
Over the weekend — and, really, for the past several days — the admin side of Unfair Park and the other Observer blogs has been acting a bit wonky. Which is to say, one minute it’d work just fine; the next, it became inaccessible. We couldn’t post; you couldn’t comment…
I called Jim this morning at 6:30 — wanted to make sure he was still meeting me at 7 on the West Levee, at Beckley Avenue and the Continental Avenue Bridge, for this morning’s “topping-off” ceremony of the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge. Mayor Tom would be there; Kay Bailey too…
Nice to see someone’s found a use for our former home at 2130 Commerce: Reid Slaughter, founder of Park Cities People and former Cowboys & Indians publisher, and Jeff Hinson’s YouPlusMedia, whose local offering is essentially the “YouTube for Dallas,” in the words of our own Daniel Hopkins — who,…
Richard Hunter has a new member of his household. That’s him, quivering in the corner. Shaking uncontrollably. Convulsing. The 4-year-old is scared shitless. “He lives in fear,” Hunter says of his new best friend, Mel. “You would too if you’d been beating and traumatized your whole life.” Michael Vick is…
Jim’s office has been dark all day. I called him earlier, to see if it he was OK. He spoke in a whisper, sounded down. I told him he was missing it — from the office window we could see them placing the first curved piece on the center arch…
No doubt by now you’ve heard all about Rep. Joe Barton of Arlington (who has a 2 p.m. meeting scheduled with Mayor Tom Leppert on Monday) telling BP chief exec Tony Hayward how sorry he is — how so so so so so sorry he is — that President Obama…
Several Friends of Unfair Park are wondering this morning when Jim’s going to weigh in on the news that Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison added to the Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2010 two exemptions that will make it easier for the city to build the Trinity River toll road between the levees,…
Last night, I ran into noted doc director Mark Birnbaum at a little shindig Lodge owner Dawn Rizos threw in conjunction with the release of good friend and once-and-future Observer contributor Josh Alan Friedman’s latest tome, the autobiographical Black Cracker. Mark — who’s directed such films as Larry v. Lockney,…
So says a press release just in from KTVT’s Lori Conrad, who says the CBS owned-and-operated will bump up CBS 11 News This Morning half an hour beginning Monday. Interesting move, considering that KDFW-Channel 4 just did the same thing with Good Day two months ago. Scott Sams and Ginger…
A Friend of Unfair Park wonders if the rumors are true — if Mike Snyder is indeed out at KXAS-Channel 5 by month’s end. Why, yes, yes they are: Snyder tells Uncle Barky that his 30-year-run with the NBC owned-and-operated will end on July 1, when he retires. So, did…
Per the e-mail that just landed in the Unfair Park in-box, tomorrow Dallas gets yet another all-sports sports site: a local iteration of SB Nation, which promises a “revolutionary grassroots approach to sports coverage [that] places the fan first, with compelling local content.” In other words, from what I can…
It’s been interesting this morning, trying to piece together exactly what Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins is telling Texas Tribune editor-in-chief Evan Smith. At this very moment they’re doing a TT sitdown at the Austin Club, and I’ve been following along via Twitter. The Southern Shift, thus far, is…
KRLD-AM (1080)’s home page still touts News and Views with Ernie & Jay weekdays from 10 a.m. till noon. But one good Friend of Unfair Park says that couple’s been d-i-v-o-r-c-e-d as of yesterday. And, sure enough, the program schedule reveals that after almost five years as one half of…
Vibe’s touting the cover of its June/July issue as “controversial” and “iconic.” Not hardly. There have been plenty more naked magazine covers than the one seen here. Like this. And, this. And, all of these. Still, the Lady of the Lake continues to reap the benefits of a nude springtime…
Late yesterday, Jim was standing at an Observer newsroom window staring, yet again, at the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge construction site as crews began putting in place the opposite side of the center arch. Jim was eating from a plate of ginger snaps resting on the windowsill, one after the…
During our server outage of the last hour, several Friends of Unfair Park wanted to make sure we noted David Dillon’s death at his home in Amherst, Mass. He suffered a massive heart attack at the age of 68. Dillon, who was among those who took a buyout from the…
Two radio industry sources say that CBS Radio and Clear Channel Communications are in negotiations on a deal that could bring controversial and wildly popular radio host Russ Martin back to Dallas radio early this summer. The sources indicate that, should an agreement be reached, Martin — whose Russ Martin Show was taken off…
What you see above are crews using a big-ass crane and a specially made “sling” to set in place the center arch for the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge. Oh, and the view? It’s from high atop Unfair Park HQ. But you can see it right outside our editorial-side windows. Schutze…
The June/July Esquire arrived at the house yesterday — the How to Be a Man 2010 issue, thank God. And contained therein is the fifth annual rundown of the magazine’s Best Bars in America, two of which are in stumbling distance courtesy the contributions of my friend Adam McGill, who…
A Friend of Unfair Park wonders: What in the wide, wide world of sports is up with this job listing on the Texas Workforce Commission’s Web site:Experienced Journalist / Reporter(s) with work experience in the greater Dallas – Fort Worth market. Prefer 10 or more years experience in journalism, both…
Whilst Daniel and Sam wrap up some end-o’-day items, let’s direct our attention to the follow-up videos that follow, all which I found on Vimeo today. It’s quite the hodgepodge.But let’s begin with Jim Moroney, publisher of The Dallas Morning News, talking about the state of the media business to…
