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…

TXU Says “F.U.” To You and You and You

It’s not a good morning for TXU, and the opening graf of this subscription-only Wall Street Journal piece says it all: “TXU Corp. may face tougher scrutiny of its proposed $32 billion buyout by private-equity interests including Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. as a result of a finding it has…

Green is Golden

So, Sunday, my partner in dining and I were about to tuck into some deliciously bad for us brunch at our neighborhood’s pride, the Gold Rush Cafe. As is the case for most meals at the Gold Rush, we ran into five people we knew, including our own Jim Schutze…

Zac Crain: No More Flip-Flopping (Stomach, Anyway)

Zac Crain, who apparently used to work here, turned in his paperwork today, which means he’s now (almost) an official candidate for mayor. Our pal Zac Crain just called from the car — on his way back from City Hall, where he dropped off his paperwork to git himself on…

More on Hate Crime Trial in Denton

Jamie Beck, first assistant to Denton County District Attorney Paul Johnson, sheds some light on the “hate crime” trial that took place last week in Denton. On Friday, a jury acquitted George Clifton Young of assault under the Texas hate crime statute. “We believed it was a hate crime,” says…

News From the Flatlands

So after six months in Texas, last week I officially had my strangest experience yet. Dallas Observer business took me to the Panhandle, where I got to stay in the lovely little highway town of Dumas. Like nearby Sunray, home to the world’s largest grain elevator (holds 7 million bushels,…

Light Sabers at the Ready!

Is that a light saber in your pocket, or is this your wedding night? Busy this Saturday? I know it’s St. Patrick’s Day and all, but who really wants to go run around on Lower Greenville, downing pints in broad daylight with a bunch of other drunks wearing green? You…

Dear Miss Lonelyhearts

The perfect man. OK, Miss Lonelyhearts, this one’s for you. Men’s Health magazine did all the work for you in your quest to find Mr. Right by analyzing the single-women to single-men ratio of 101 cities across the nation, and your man is out there somewhere. Criteria also included divorce…

Metroplex Monopoly

We always forget Greg Ostertag went to Duncanville. Then, we always forget Greg Ostertag. Teardrop. In December, Cedar Hill and Southlake Carroll swept the high school football championships in the state’s two largest classes. Last week Fort Worth Dunbar and Rockwall nabbed the girls’ two biggest classes in basketball. And…

Gay Friendly Denton?

On Monday, a case goes to trial in Denton County that might answer a question brought up last year: Can a crime against a homosexual be successfully prosecuted there? The case involves Christopher McKee, a mental health caseworker who, on December 3, 2005, was badly beaten outside a Denton club…

Zzzzz…Huh? Oh Yeah. That Mayor Thingy.

Have you heard? Tom Leppert is a businessman. There is the glamourous and consequential side of journalism: Covering a presidential race, writing about a war, detailing the side effects of a new cancer drug, profiling Maggie Gyllenhaal. And there is this: Attending a debate for Dallas mayor at 7:30 in…

The Kinky Preacher

Pastor Sherman Allen of Shiloh Institutional Church of God in Christ offered advice on proper sex techniques, a source says. In what kind of church atmosphere would a woman submit to the unthinkable — allowing her pastor to paddle her repeatedly in various states of undress, sometimes causing bruises and…

C.J. Wilson Appears to Have a Very Bad Sense of Humor

Anyone seen Deadspin today — by which I mean this particular item about Texas Rangers reliever C.J. Wilson and the photo he (allegedly, since we’re so into covering our asses) posted to his pal Brandon McCarthy’s MySpace page? (It’s the February 1 posting, if you’re so inclined.) Yeah, just checking…

Sandra Bernhard is Hot*

Sandra just doesn’t get Bible Girl. We know the feeling. Seems as if our very own Bible Girl is becoming a celeb’s celeb. Well, maybe that’s overstating it, but she’s on at least one celeb’s radar: None other than queer icon Sandra Bernhard brought Bible Girl up during my recent…

Soak in Some Sound

Folk singer/songwriter Tom Brosseau grew up in Grand Forks, North Dakota, a city devastated by the massive Red River (not ours, theirs) flood of 1997. Though it’s taken him a solid decade, Brosseau’s newest album — simply titled Grand Forks — gives a voice to the once struggling residents of…

Did Someone Say “Definitive Dallas”?

So, he’ll be on the list, right? Right. In case you’re interested, yesterday’s posting concerning the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s “Definitive 200” list — argh — has turned into a “Definitive Dallas” discussion. So join us, if you’re interested, in determining the most essential albums recorded by local…

Re: Hard Rock and a Hard Place

I finally talked to Jack Gosnell, the broker handling the Hard Rock Cafe sale on behalf of Brett Landes, and he could not have been more insightful concerning the battle over the fate of the 97-year-old former church on McKinney Avenue. Turns out, our Friend who attended Monday’s Landmark Commission…

Cyberstalking? Or Free Speech?

Phil Haberman’s lies to his former wife started a legal mess concerning postings on his missus’ blog. Calling her a “cyberstalker” and “a menace,” a judge in Florida has ordered Kristen Rhoad to remove all her postings about ex-husband Phil Haberman from the Internet — including not only her own…

Deja Boo?

The only guy standing between the Mavs winning 16 straight is this little dude. Believe it. We’ve been here before. Sorta. Almost two months ago to the day, the Mavs waltzed into Lakerland with a big winning streak and got stung by somebody named Sasha Vujacic. Back then it was…