I am posting this at the end of the day because, well, you'll need to clear your weekend to properly enjoy the mounds of photos, fliers, advertisements, magazine covers and other pop-rock memorabilia posted over the last few days by someone with the handle "Trinity River Music." And, see, that's in addition to nearly 3,000 other items that have been finding their way on TRM's Flickr photostream -- items that fall under such headings as "Big D / Clubs, Auditoriums, Concert Halls, etc.," "Big D / Posters, Cards, Ads, Flyers, etc.," and "Big D / 70s - 80s." The latest batch of offerings includes everything from an old ad for Dave's Pawn Shop on Elm Street to 30-year-old pics of the Nervebreakers playing Sound Warehouse to this pic of Tex & the Saddletramps from '81.]]> http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2008/05/do_not_read_this_unless_you_ha.php http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2008/05/do_not_read_this_unless_you_ha.php Local Music Fri, 09 May 2008 16:12:41 -0600

When we broke the news Wednesday about Angela Hunt’s memo to Mayor Tom Leppert, she was still in the process of gathering signatures -- despite having the five needed to force a council briefing on the Dallas County Appraisal District’s new commercial valuations. She ended up with most of the council members’ signatures, but Mitchell Rasansky, Sheffie Kadane and Dave Neumann did not sign.

Hunt tells Unfair Park that she gave all council members the opportunity to sign the memo, but Hunt wouldn’t comment on why Rasansky, Kadane and Neumann wouldn’t give their support for a briefing. Rasansky would not give a statement on the record regarding the memo, and Dave Neumann refused to return phone calls.

Because, notes the Friend of Unfair Park who sent this along, we've got lots of available land, falling unemployment rates and, dang it, because you're smart and beautiful. And, look, if Forbes said it, it must be true: Dallas-Fort Worth, we're officially "Recession-Proof"! --Robert Wilonsky]]> http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2008/05/why_you_live_in_the_dfw.php http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2008/05/why_you_live_in_the_dfw.php News You Can Actually Use, Actually Fri, 09 May 2008 14:31:11 -0600

Yesterday we took a peek at Entertainment Weekly's new issue, featuring Oliver Stone's W -- timely too, considering that just down the road tomorrow, George's lil' Jenna is gettin' hitched with din-din courtesy Eddie Deen and the bridesmaids' gowns by Dallas-born Lela Rose. Well, after we went rollin' with Brolin, news broke last night that Stone's movie found itself a distributor: Lionsgate. And it's got a release date: October 17. Says Ollie: "I'm real pleased that Lionsgate has the independence necessary to bring this provocative story to an American audience." --Robert Wilonsky]]> http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2008/05/yesterday_we_sneaked_a_peek.php http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2008/05/yesterday_we_sneaked_a_peek.php From the RTF Department Fri, 09 May 2008 14:03:12 -0600

As Pete points out over on DC9, some of us 'round these parts got a classified-ad missive yesterday from one John Freeman -- you know, the Dutch Treat behind the shuttered Sloppyworld. Well, Uncle Sloppy is headed to NYC to work on a rock opera with one Corn Mo, but before he heads out thataway, he's got a rather unwieldy piece of equipment to unload: "I am selling off almost all of the Sloppyworld PA equipment to cover some outstanding fees and help pay for some repairs to the space. ... It is a top-notch PA; possibly one of the loudest in town."

Interested parties can reach him here. And, yes, there's a good reason we mention it: "I know you guys aren't The Thrifty Nickel," notes the sweet-talking Johnny Dooms, and, frankly, I wouldn't be so sure. "But I figured I'd rather sell to people in the scene than strangers on stupid Craigslist." That, Friends, that right there is a tear-stained letter. --Robert Wilonsky

Last time we saw Dallas boxer Luis Yanez it was a week before Christmas, and Yanez was hardly in the mood for peace on earth. Instead he was dreaming of wreaking havoc on the Chinese, the Cubans -- the entire world. Since then, Yanez has been in Colorado Springs training for the upcoming Olympics and jetting to places like Puerto Rico to tune up for his shot at Olympic gold. Yanez is coming home Monday for the first time since then, and it will be his last time back in his Oak Cliff gym (GTO) before the Olympics. Meaning it’s your last, and probably only chance to see Yanez in the flesh before he comes home with a medal around his neck.

Yanez is currently ranked third in the world, and he is yet to beat the two fighters ranked above him. But Yanez’s trainer, Dennis Rodarte, says the fighter looked sharp in a tune-up last week in Puerto Rico, in which he stopped his opponent in the third round. “He wanted to make a statement, to show how focused he is,” Rodarte tells Unfair Park. “And I think he’ll continue making statements like that right up to the Olympics.” --Jesse Hyde

This probably won't come as a surprise to anyone who tries get around the city by bicycle, but, yup, Dallas sucks for you. That's according to the June issue of, d'uh, Bicycling, which ranks the best and worst cities for cyclists. Says the list, which ain't up yet, Dallas joins Memphis and Miami as bad cities in which to get 'round via two wheels -- 'cause they're "devoid of bike lanes and ruled by cars," no shit. Not that the city ain't trying to do better. It's just, ya know, a little familiar. --Robert Wilonsky]]> http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2008/05/another_list_ranking_dallas_as.php http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2008/05/another_list_ranking_dallas_as.php News You Can Actually Use, Actually Fri, 09 May 2008 11:00:00 -0600

Some people have the best gossip sessions under a cape, getting snips, foils and whatever else done to their heads by their stylists. Today, however, we get the dish on two Dallas 'do-ers from Bravo as the network pimps the second season of Shear Genius (think Top Chef for hair stylists and hosted by Jaclyn Smith -- and, yes, that Jaclyn Smith).

Seems Matthew Tully, former Best of Dallas™ winner, caught the eye of Bravo’s casting peeps and temporarily abandoned his post at Matthew Tully Hairdressing for a go on the show. Joining him will be Daniel Lewis, co-owner of the Green Peridot Salon in Frisco.

Scanning Variety this a.m., I stumbled across this note from the Film Production Chart: Come Monday, writer-director David Jackson Willis is set to start shooting Renaissance Girl in and around Dallas. Which is interesting for several reasons, chief among 'em the plot more or less suggests at least one location: "In the summer before college, an uptight intellectual 18-year-old girl is forced by her aunt to work at a Renaissance Faire. The chaotic and playful nature of the Faire challenges the girl's rigid ideas about life and love." Same thing happened to me first time I went to Scarborough Renaissance Festival, come to think of it.

Nice cast too: Danielle Panabaker, recently seen swimming with Shark; the poker-playing Jennifer Tilly, so very Oscar-nominated for Bullets Over Broadway in 1994; and Chris Elliott, who, to me, will always be The Guy Under the Seats. Or Cabin Boy. --Robert Wilonsky

At some point, the Texas State Senate's Web site should contain the audio from yesterday's "Roundtable on the Prevention of Wrongful Convictions," held down in Austin. Till then, here's the Houston Chronicle's account of the get-together, during which nine wrongfully convicted men freed by DNA evidence -- among them Dallas County's James Curtis Giles andBilly Smith and former prisoners from El Paso and Travis Counties -- asked law enforcement officials, attorneys and judges from across Texas to form a so-called "innocence commission," as State Sen. Rodney Ellis has called it.

Among those in Austin, of course, was Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins, who said, according to the Chronicle, that "efforts by his office to review innocence claims have restored confidence in the criminal justice system locally." Said Watkins, in the Associated Press' account: "It can be argued that Texas ... may have one of the worst criminal justice systems in this country. We have to start where we have the most problems." Scott Henson of Grits for Breakfast, who also attended, was encouraged by what he saw: "There is room for consensus on some of these questions, if participants coming at the topic from different angles can each set aside their parochialism and actually look for solutions instead of ways to block them." --Robert Wilonsky

Farmers Branch touts itself as a homey community of parkland and wide, landscaped medians -- you know, a "charming" paradise. Only, as you no doubt well know, the suburb has seen some pretty charmless chapters over the past year or so. And as this Saturday's municipal election approaches -- including the caged death match between anti-illegal immigrant Tim O'Hare versus the kinder, gentler, balder Gene Bledsoe! -- the atmosphere is becoming downright nasty.

Today, there was this story about the mayoral candidates' mudslinging over campaign contributions. And, earlier this week, KERA-FM (90.1) ran this piece in which FB resident Maria Reyes says she's "afraid of the climate in her town." Notes the story: "A long-time American citizen born in Mexico, she says O'Hare supporters have called her illegal because of her skin color and insisted she be deported." Charming. --Megan Feldman

If I may direct your attention to our other blogs ...

Over on The Sportatorium, Richie brings news that Your Texas Rangers have indeed begun talking to other folks who might be interested in managing the team if and when Ron Washington's given his adios papers. Sure, the team's winning a few -- against the Mariners, at the moment, the only team worse than Hicks' sticks -- which may be the only reason you haven't seen, oh, Don Baylor, Mike Hargrove, Jim Tracy or Jackie Moore warming Wash's spot on the dugout bench. (Also, on a sportsy note: Eric Green, bravo.)

And over on DC9, Pete has combed through the list of folks to whom the bankrupt TVT Records owes major dough and discovered several locals among them, including the Polyphonic Spree and our good Friend, photographer Hal Samples. Hal's owed his scratch for the Spree video "Running Away," which, as we noted a year ago, was assembled from more than 70,000 photos Hal took of the band. He's owed a few thou, which he could surely use as he gets his new gallery off the ground. As he tells Pete, "I'm still recovering from not having been compensated." Also, notes Pete, the Toadies got a new gig: playing intermissions at Dallas Stars playoff games. --Robert Wilonsky

Tony Romo can't seem to make the cut for the U.S. Open; he's tried for years, and just yesterday shot a 75 at a local qualifier to miss out making the sectionals. Which doesn't bother cancer survivor John Atkinson one danged bit.

Because next month, just a few days before the Open at Torrey Pines in San Diego, Atkinson will still get to play with Romo during a celeb event on the very same course. Atkinson won a Golf Digest essay-writing contest, beating out some 56,374 other entries for the chance to walk the course with Romo, Today's Matt Lauer and Justin Timberlake. Among the 100 words in his essay: "Nothing's better than taking your buddies while on chemotherapy!" --Robert Wilonsky

From the looks of her credits, Dallas author Jenny Block has written for danged near every publication in town -- though, surely, nothing she's done thus far will attract the attention sure to accompany the June publication of her book Open: Love, Sex, and Life in an Open Marriage. It began as this 2006 piece, subtitled "It began with a threesome. And became her key to happily ever after." And from there, well, came the book, which thus far has gotten decent advance notice with a few caveats; notes Publishers Weekly, "Readers are likely to be challenged and provoked by this book's insights into the surprising fluidities in fidelity and sexuality, but might find its repetitive, slightly glib delivery better suited for a magazine article than a book-length manifesto." And, look, it's not every day we get to use the word "polyamorous." --Robert Wilonsky]]> http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2008/05/jenny_on_the_block.php http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2008/05/jenny_on_the_block.php The Unfair Park Book Club Thu, 08 May 2008 14:26:01 -0600