SXSW Comes to Unfair Park

Just a programming note: Beginning tomorrow, Unfair Park will be the host site for extensive South by Southwest Music Festival coverage, with contributions from many of the estimable writers in the Village Voice Media … uh… empire? As a bonus, it’s also serving as a sneek peak at what Unfair…

Or Maybe You Just Listen to Coldplay

Pride Radio DFW — Clear Channel’s new local radio endeavor aimed at Dallas/Ft. Worth’s gay-lesbian-bi-transgender community (“the 6th largest in the nation and GROWING!”) — is getting plenty o’ pub for being the first such station in the area. And while most of us here think it’s way past time…

Rock the Vote — Or, At Least, the Candidate Who Doesn’t

WFAA-TV Our former colleague Zac Crain found himself on Channel 8 last night, defending his voting record — or lack thereof. So, WFAA-Channel 8’s picking on Zac Crain, whilst its Belo print counterpart is stickin’ it to Tom Leppert. At least, that’s the impression this morning after both outlets ran…

Gary Cogill Will Put You To Sleep, Apparently

A few days back, the local Warner Bros. rep called to see if we were interested in talking to Chuck Liddell about the forthcoming big-screen adaptation of Frank Miller’s 300. “Uh, is Chuck Liddell in the movie?” we asked. She said no, but that he’d seen the movie, liked it…

Stuff My Dad Says

Last night, my father and I got to talking about Deep Ellum (where our family’s auto parts store was from 1932 to 1955), Fair Park (where the store’s been ever since) and South Dallas (Dad was born on Park Row in 1944) — all the hot topics, in other words…

The Meaning of a Charged Word

The Dallas Morning News has a story today in the Metro section headlined, “Review sought in judge’s recusal in double slayings.” It’s about the contretemps in Ellis County that erupted when Dallas lawyer David Finn got on the wrong side of District Judge Gene Knize. The whole thing is very…

We Clearly Need New Distribution Boxes

Hey, can somebody go out and pick up that Observer box? That’d be swell. Thanks. Oh, wait. That picture’s from November. Well, that’s very breaking news. (This joke has an expiration date. Someone let me know when the News changes the photo on its home page? ‘Preciate that.) –Robert Wilonsky…

New London Disaster, Redux

I just saw the March issue of Texas Monthly, and I guess you have two options: You can pay to read Katy Vines’ story on the 1937 New London gas explosion, which killed more than 300 school children and teachers and remains the third deadliest disaster in the state’s history…

Funny Money

We’ll have to give Steve Blow credit: We too noticed the odd full-page what-the-fuh? advertorial for the World Reserve Monetary Exchange on page 3B of today’s edition of Dallas’ Only Daily. Almost looked like a regular ol’ story, and it probably did to some Core Readers who were without their…

Dem Apples Don’t Fall Far From the Tree

Speaking of Neil Young (see below), his album Living With War — you know, the one with “Let’s Impeach the President” — has been out since May of last year. So it isn’t new. But what is relatively recent is a review of the disc that can be found on…

Best Anchor in Town Calling It Quits

Yup, Tracy Rowlett at KTVT-Channel 11 this morning announced that when his current contract expires in July 2008, he’s out the door, bringing to a close a career on Dallas-Fort Worth television that began in April 1974, when he moved from Oklahoma City to become an investigative reporter for WFAA-Channel…

No Wonder Channel 5’s Tanking. Mike Snyder’s Disgusting

Glory be to God on high: Uncle Barky says KXAS-Channel 5’s inexplicable chart-topping success at 10 p.m. may soon be coming to an end, thanks to two things — WFAA-Channel 8’s dependable newcasts, anchored by beliked (uh…) stalwarts John McCaa and Gloria Campos, and Channel 5’s desperate, icky obsession with…

Why Do the Muslims Hate Rod Dreher So?

Rod Dreher is no friend of the local Muslim community. He explains why. Should make plenty of new friends. It’s because he’s the “new face of hate,” duh. That what The Dallas Morning News’er and Crunchy Con writes in the winter issue of City Journal, the urban-affairs quarterly published by…

Ed Bark Suffers Sweeps So You Don’t Have To

Ed Bark asks the same thing we’re all wondering: How does any newscast anchored by this woman stay on top? God bless Ed Bark. I dunno how much Uncle Barky’s making over at his Web site — gonna guess probably less than he did whilst toiling for Dallas’ Only Daily…

Hill and Heinbaugh: Issue-Makers

Either Don Hill really is No. 1, or he just shot you with his finger pistol. Here’s some sausage-making for your Monday morning. On Friday, WFAA-Channel 8 sent reporter Chris Heinbaugh to City Hall to ask mayor pro tem and mayoral candidate Don Hill about the segregation taking place at…

Plugging Myself. Right in the Head.

If you wanna see me looking like an aging alternarock bum (yeah, great day to wear the Flaming Lips T-shirt and gray hoodie) whilst going on a lengthy, had-to-be-crazy-ass-sounding harangue about the state of Deep Ellum, by all means tune into KTVT-Channel 11 tonight at 10. Jay Gormley just left…

Molly Ivins Did Say That

No doubt we’ll have a few things here today about Molly Ivins; after all, Schutze and I worked with her at the Dallas Times Herald, Jim much longer and closer than I, and he has the anecdotes to prove it. Most of mine have to do with smoking — as…