Is It Time to Quit My Band?

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…

Zero Hour for Mike Miles in DISD’s District 8

On November 5 in the Dallas school board’s District 8 — sort of a big wobbly east, west and northwest Dallas gerrymander — voters will choose between two candidates, both of whom are exactly the kind of people everybody always says we need more of on the school board. Kristi…

It’s Time to Abandon the Catholic Church

Dear Mexican: I’m a Mexican-American Catholic who is really upset about something I saw after Mass last night. As I waited for my son to come out of confirmation class (yes, I had already attended Mass myself), I noticed something really odd. I saw a grocery cart parked by a…

New Big Tex Is Tanned, Rested and Weird as Hell

Welcome to Alice Column, in which Alice Laussade writes stories about things on (roughly) the same day of (roughly) every week, making it (roughly) a column. Got an idea for a column? Start your own blog and write it up, you lazy shit. Say what you will about New Big…

Mike Miles Gets 90 Days to Grow Up, Dallas Gets 25 Years

In the wee hours of today, maybe a dozen of us media people, half a dozen teachers union officials and another half dozen bitter-enders sat waiting in a semi-darkened auditorium at school headquarters while the school board was in “executive session” — a closed-door meeting in another part of the…

Should I Quit My Day Job and Do My Band Full-Time?

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…

The Cheap Bastard’s Guide to the State Fair

The air is thick with the sweet smell of fried Pepcid. The Texas Star Ferris wheel beckons your sweaty butt to its benches. As you read this, a kid is puking up a Fletcher’s corny dog on the Midway, just as a yellow-naped parrot bird-diarrheas onto audience heads at the…

Prison Sentences for Illegal Immigration a Bad Idea?

Dear Mexican: With the current state and federal prison system spitting out even harder criminals due to overcrowding and gang activity allowed to a certain degree by the “system,” and considering the small percentage of inmates who actually make it out and live positive lives … why are some legislators,…

DISD’s “Case” Against Mike Miles Is Bogus

OK, enough about you, let’s talk about me for a change. I had the very weird experience last week of covering a Dallas school board meeting where a lot of the story I was covering seemed to be about … well, you know … me. Yours truly. It was sooo…