Our appointment was at 7 p.m. It was 6:57, and we were at a Mockingbird Lane intersection trying to make out the house number for our destination. We were pretty sure we were outside the right home, and in a flash the lights turned on and the house number was…
Right after the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development accused Dallas last month of massive racial segregation and housing fraud, Mayor Mike Rawlings was all for making nice. That lasted all of two weeks. Now he and the city attorney are telling HUD to go screw itself. Last month,…
One more selfie here: This week I have a story in the print newspaper about City Hall’s efforts to shut down a car wash in a poor neighborhood. It’s actually the second time in a year that photographer Mark Graham and I have worked on a story about Jim’s (no…
It has happened to me a million times. I walk into a bar with the intention of sitting down for a relaxing beverage, and in between the time that I’ve paid and my first sip of beer, I realize that some 22-year-old asshole is having a birthday party. And that…
This week I have a story in the actual newspaper about Jim’s Car Wash at the corner of MLK Boulevard and Myrtle Street in South Dallas — the business that is the object of an eight-year running battle at City Hall. One important point in that story may get short…
Dear Mexican: How do we humanize the illegals in this country? I’ve been in this country illegally for 16 years, y ya chole no? For 16 years I lived my life like anyone else: going to school and working. Eventually I became a teacher for the public schools. It is…
Yesterday The Dallas Morning News carried a really tough, plain-talking editorial condemning City Hall policies that have produced deliberate racial segregation in Dallas. It was the kind of editorial that should be applauded and really doesn’t deserve to be nitpicked. But when did that ever stop me? In a clear…
Jeff Schattle has been working and/or watching live music in Dallas for a solid 27 years. From historic spots he worked like Dallas Music Complex, Bronco Bowl, Deep Ellum Live, The Basement, Bomb Factory, Lakewood Theater and more, Jeff Schattle has worked, and born witness to, the evolution of Dallas’…
Editor’s Note: Shea Serrano is an award-winning music writer and goofball whose recent exploits include Bun B’s Rapper Coloring and Activity Book. In his new column, he writes about his life and times. Right now, Pitbull’s “Timber,” featuring Ke$ha, is number two on Billboard and number one on my GTFOH chart…
If I’m blushing — just the slightest tint of rose upon my gray and whiskery cheeks — it’s because my I was back in federal court again yesterday. Sort of. There was mention of me. U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor handed down a ruling in the Lockey and MacKenzie (Dallas…
Are you a musician? Is your group having issues? Ask Fan Landers! Critic Jessica Hopper has played in and managed bands, toured internationally, booked shows, produced records, worked as a publicist and is the author of The Girls’ Guide to Rocking, a how-to for teen ladies. She is here to…
Lori Ann / FlickrWill music journalism always suck? Probably. MTV will always feature at least three Justin Bieber articles on its news page, and NME will continue their 1:4 ratio of articles about members of Oasis. And of course, people like me will still write articles about botching interviews and…
An editor around here once suggested I could probably blackmail people by threatening to lend them my support. I wonder if acting City Manager A.C. Gonzalez ever thinks about that. Last month I wrote a column saying the so-called search for a new Dallas city manager was a sham because…
Are you a musician? Is your group having issues? Ask Fan Landers! Critic Jessica Hopper has played in and managed bands, toured internationally, booked shows, produced records, worked as a publicist and is the author of The Girls’ Guide to Rocking, a how-to for teen ladies. She is here to…
A reader who is a better student of Mexican history than me (not hard to be, frankly) called with a caveat about plans for a community farm in Mexican-American West Dallas. The idea, cheerfully trumpeted yesterday in a Dallas Morning News editorial, is for some kind of communal farm to…
Brantley Hargrove did a fine job Monday recounting the career of Dallas billionaire Harold Simmons, who died last Saturday at 82. But before the ground hardens over him, I just want to make sure we take note of the one and only thing anybody may remember about Mr. Simmons 50…
Jantzen Ray, who we’ve checked in with before at his outpost of DeepEllumOnAir.com, is watching as his alumni radio show, The Jagger Mafia, is being put back together to return to KDGE. He hasn’t taken it personally that he’s not a part of their current lineup, but it was still…
Editor’s Note: Shea Serrano is an award-winning music writer and goofball whose recent exploits include Bun B’s Rapper Coloring and Activity Book. In his new column, he writes about his life and times. Dear 2013, Oh, man. So you’re officially over. That’s kind of sad. You were mostly a very…
Dear Mexican: One of my pet peeves is Latinos who pronounce their last names with Anglo accents. For example, Rod-driguez instead of Roh-driguez. Would love it if you address this. Personally, I believe we Latinos should educate Anglos on correct pronunciation. Gomez the Groper Dear Wab: Before you start correcting…
The arrival of a New Year always brings about in me a strange and unaccustomed desire to be un-depressing. And I don’t even drink. I don’t know what does it. This year I’m blaming it on Dallas City Council member Philip Kingston. He and I had an interesting chat about…
Hey, I think I have waited about long enough for The Dallas Morning News to weigh in on the racial segregation complaint lodged against Dallas by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban development in early December. A month. Even allowing for Santa Claus and all, a month seems a…
Apparently if you really want to get one of your neighbors to open up about herself, you need to send somebody over to interview her for The New York Times. I learned more about my neighbor Virginia Savage Talkington (lotta names) McAlester from the pages of the Times yesterday than…
