Why Can’t Mexico Cash in IOUs for its Stolen Culture?

Dear Mexican: I was wondering about the Spanish going into Mexico and taking the gold and artifacts away from the Indians. Could the Mexican government ask for the gold back? Raider of the Lost Chonis Why doesn’t Mexico’s president demand that all nations and/or entities return stolen artifacts taken from…

Deep Ellum On Air’s Jantzen Ray Is a Jedi

See also: Deep Ellum On Air’s Veronica Navarro holds down your Sunday hangover Jantzen Ray, a one-time a producer for Jagger’s radio show on 105.3 The Fan, now resides at Deep Ellum On Air, where he maintains his own Internet broadcast facility in the neighborhood by Murray Street Coffee. Ray…

Penthouse Pets: Going to Church at the Stoneleigh Hotel

“If you are here tonight, it’s because you know somebody. You came here with a friend. And don’t go put this on Facebook, don’t Instagram this. Just put your phone away and have a good time.” A trip to The Stoneleigh Hotel is always a pleasure. The art deco grandeur…

Trinity Toll Road Doesn’t Add Up

From the beginning of the Trinity River toll road debate 14 years ago, one of the biggest hurdles faced by critics of the road has been the unwillingness of urban planners and other so-called experts to publicly speak ill of a project with so much money and power behind it…

From Russia With Glub, a Warning About the Trinity Toll Road

Want to know what’s really going on in Dallas? Keep an eye on Krymsk. Last Saturday more than 170 people died in flash floods in this southern Russia city. Today The New York Times reports that angry survivors think the Putin government is lying to them about a big release…

Boys Will Be Boys, So Segregate the Li’l Bastards

Never ever thought I would hear myself saying this — ever never ever. But there may be something to say for certain kinds of all boys schools. Well, that is, if there is anything good at all to say about boys, and there may not be, then maybe it’s a…

Lauren O’Connor Opens the History Books For Girls Rock Dallas

See also: Girls Rock Dallas gets some help from Amanda Palmer You might have seen a little blurb here or there on DC9 about Girls Rock Dallas, a new non-profit summer camp for girls, in which they learn how to play, write, record and market their own songs. The first…

Mind Your Manners: Getting Your Emily Post On At the Bar

Generally, I take my muses in the form of flappers, gypsies and Dolly Parton. I also heed the advice of Emily Post. Her regard for manners and civility may swing square to some, but I find her devoted involvement to the enjoyment of others helps conquer narcissism and ensures a…

A Plan for Fair Park: Bulldoze It

Over at The Dallas Morning News uniblog, my former colleague Robert Wilonsky has an item keeping us up to date on plans to turn Fair Park in South Dallas into a year-round commercial amusement park, an idea about which I have no personal objections or, for that matter, especially strong…

GOP Arguments Against Obamacare Leave Me Empty-Handed

So I’m doing a this-hand versus that-hand thing in my head on Obamacare. Everybody says the Republicans are going to make this year’s presidential election a referendum on the Affordable Care Act. I just want to be ready. On the one hand, Affordable Care will encourage tons of poor people…

Photographer Mike Brooks Was a Late Bloomer

Freelance photographer (and Observer contributor) Mike Brooks grew up in Hawaii. Pretty easy to fall in love with the visual arts there, but he didn’t start out as a music photographer. Since his days at the Punahou School in Honolulu, and two colleges in Northern California, he’s built a rep…