Maybe, like me, you were reading the latest issue of Wired, specifically the story headlined “The Rise of Crowdsourcing.” Contained in that piece is a fascinating section about a company called InnoCentive, which was launched in 2001 by pharmaceutical maker Eli Lilly “as a way to connect with brainpower outside…
So yeah, our fine city is most known for one devastating day, the Grassy Knoll, that presidential X-marks-the-spot. While America remains obsessed with our version of the royal family, the name Kennedy has been sadly associated with Dallas since 1963 and probably will be forever. If you search the Internet,…
If you’re a college student looking for some summer cash waiting tables, then we have a deal for you: $8 an hour plus benefits. Sounds great, right? Of course, the commute will be kind of a bitch, since the job’s in New Orleans. Doing our part to help with hurricane…
A law-practicing Friend of Unfair Park who loves good music and hates expensive bridges shoots us this missive in response to this morning’s post about Dallas’ musical legacy and the lack of a museum to honor it: “For a view of how to do [a museum right], see the greatest…
I’m gonna go out on a limb and guess that Alec Lancaster is among the coolest kids in the Plano Independent School District. After all, how many other 14-year-olds do you know with an endorsement deal with a major drum manufacturer? None, unless you know Alec Lancaster. Turns out the…
Blind Lemon Jefferson: Ya know, he’s not just the namesake of a failing club in Deep Ellum. Over the weekend, a friend wondered precisely what good reason this city had for not having a Dallas music museum in, say, Deep Ellum, where Blind Lemon Jefferson and Leadbelly hopped off the…
Roger Staubach thinks Matt Nordgren–the Bishop Lynch stud who went to the University of Texas and found himself killin’ time behind Chris Simms and Vince Young–still has a shot at being an NFL quarterback. (Nordgren’s now with the Philadelphia Eagles, who start rookie mini-camps this week.) Staubach might be the…
Hate to say it, but till this morning, I had never heard of Gary M. Kornman, a Dallas attorney awaiting trial in federal court here after pleading not guilty to criminal charges of securities fraud and lying to the Securities and Exchange Commission. There are also others waiting in line…
The Fab…Six? Trini Lopez joined The Beatles and French singer Sylvie Vartan at the Olympia Theatre in Paris in January 1964. Last week, The Dirty Dozen’s returned on DVD in a double-disc special edition–which wouldn’t mean much to Unfair Park (well, it is one of my dad’s favorite movies) except…
Unfair Park’s spending today reading, swimming, cooking and, of course, memoraling; we’ll return tomorrow. Till then, accept as a token of our appreciation the above interview with Dallas music legend Trini Lopez. It kicks off our weeklong appreciation of Dallas music, its way-back past and its way-out present (seriously, have…
Because they were more interested in playing poker with Phil Hellmuth–who I once told to “shut the fuck up, seriously,” which makes me the 482nd person to do that last year alone–than beating the Mavericks. At least, that’s the impression The Poker Brat gives in this piece appearing today in…
The DISD Board is polarized along racial lines, the black trustees are feuding with administration, and the district’s teachers are disgusted with the entire system. Other than that, last night’s DISD board meeting struck a positive note for public education in Dallas. The meeting began innocuously enough when the newly…
Not to dog on Quick twice in one day, but we’ve a bone to pick with their “Weather” columnist—a blue-green-and-silver bone, with the word “Mavericks” inscribed upon it. See, the column not only offers weather predictions, but suggestions for weather-appropriate attire. For today (and tomorrow, Sunday and Monday), “Weather” shamefully…
It just keeps getting worse for Dallas County Sheriff Lupe Valdez. According to the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education (TCLOSE), Valdez was not even eligible to take the mandatory licensing test she flunked back in April. That’s because Valdez did not show the proctor who administered…
Allison V. Smith Sorta is kinda screwed at the moment: The band has no idea how it’s going to release its new album in time to make the scheduled August 8 release date. Living up to their name, Quick published a music news short yesterday that was all speed, no…
We’re such swell people over here at Unfair Park that we don’t ever have to worry about karma catching up with us. No, sir. We bring you, the people, the news you need and deserve and we sleep comfortably at night knowing we’ve done right by Dallas. But in case…
Irene Corey made the (in)famous Barney suit, and this weekend the Dallas designer’s cleaning out her closets. There will be tons of treasures to check out at a sale to be held this weekend by legendary costume designer Irene Corey, a long-time Dallas resident perhaps best known for building the…
Just wanted to see what it felt like to type those two words together: SMU wins. In the immortal words of Staind, it’s been awhile. Actually, the Ponies’ athletic department has won something. Something called the American Football Coaches Association’s 2006 Academic Achievement Award. The Mustangs compiled an abysmal 11-35…
Sparks flew yesterday when U.S. Attorney Richard Roper debated his former boss, Paul Coggins, now in private practice, about the legality of using warrantless surveillance. OK, maybe not sparks—how about glowing embers? Sponsored by the Dallas chapters of the Federalist Society and the American Constitution Society and hosted by the…
Looks like California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger did OK during his recent fundraising swing through Texas: He took home some $300,000 in campaign donations, says today’s San Francisco Chronicle, including $22,300 from Affiliated Computer Services, the Dallas company with a $10 million financial management contract with the California state controller. And…
If so, Dallas director Gurinder Chadha wants to talk to you. From the sound of this, the director’s been to Texas to scout locations for the big-screen adaptation of the TV show, which probably tickles Dallas Film Commission honcho Janis Burklund; maybe they’ll shoot J.R. in, or around, Dallas after…
One day after news broke here that Sheriff Lupe Valdez flunked a required state law enforcement test, Dallas County Judge Margaret Keliher is thinking that the folks down in Austin need to draw some guidelines on who exactly can ascend to the top law enforcement position in Texas counties. “You…
