If you appreciate the signs of life that have sprouted downtown in recent years -- and anyone who loves this city does -- Jeff West is at least partly to thank.

The 54-year-old, who died Monday, was a tireless advocate for downtown and the city. He headed the Sixth Floor Museum for 11 years, the Dallas Theater Center for 5, and was a managing partner in Matthews Southwest, the firm that developed the Omni Dallas Convention Center Hotel.

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Whilst browsing through the YouTube moments ago I stumbled across the video you see above, which was just posted by the TEDx'ers: Jason Roberts on the OU campus talking, at times breathlessly, about how to build a better block on January 27. It's but the first in a long line of similar presentations Roberts is giving this year; he did TEDxAUSTIN just a couple of weeks later.

I asked Roberts this morning about the reactions to his presentation. Following the OU talk, he said, "A ton of people came up afterwards and were excited about this idea of communities coming together and creating solutions rapidly. The frustration we have in Dallas is the same frustration everywhere: We're meeting to death, we're planning to death, we're just talking. They can't move fast enough to make these changes permanent."

In coming weeks the gospel will spread -- to McComb, Mississippi, and Wichita, Kansas, and San Antonio. In all of those places, says Roberts, "streets have been widened so much, and regulations restrict how they can be used. One thing I've learned is: We're not in this alone. This process is revealing that to a lot of people. And this isn't about the paint, the pop-up shops, the cafe seating. It's getting everyone in a room to talk about problems and put together solutions in days, not years."

Via.

Cuban in his passing out days.

Yesterday we emailed Dallas Mavericks Owner Mark Cuban to ask why he decided to save the Greenville St. Patrick's Day Parade.

"I didn't want to see it go away," he wrote back.

A great answer. A noble answer, especially since he also cut a $25,000 check to a Dallas ISD scholarship fund that's historically been one of the parade's beneficiaries. Still, not good enough.

So we doubled down. Last night, before Mavs-Nuggets, I caught up with Cuban in the team weight room, where he was pumping away on a Stairmaster, red-faced and sweating into a towel. Oddly, the towel was not made from Apple stock certificates.

So, Mark: Why'd you really save the parade?

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This is absolutely within the purview of Unfair Park's more musically inclined sibling; my apologies in advance, Audra. But for months I've had this song stuck in my head; the same goes (and then some) this morning, following Lady of the Lake Erykah Badu's appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman with Mark Ronson, drummer Zigaboo Modeliste and a few of the Dap Kings on loan from Sharon Jones. My kid calls it "The 'Unh' Song." That's about right.

It's actually titled "A La Modeliste," a strong-as-coffee-and-chicory New Orleans homage cut for the RE:GENERATION film project directed by Amir Bar-Lev, whose My Kid Could Paint That and The Tillman Story sit high on the list of favorite docs of recent vintage. This film's a bit lighter: The filmmaker tails Ronson, DJ Premier, The Crystal Method, Pretty Lights and Skrillex as they retool modern music with the likes of Mos Def, Martha Reeves, a few of The Doors, the Funk Brothers, Ralph Stanley and, speaking of locals, LeAnn Rimes, among others.

The film opens in Dallas tomorrow, matter of fact -- for one night only and at but a handful of locations, all of them Studio Movie Grills.

​A few days back James "Big Bucks" Burnett, proprietor of the world's only Eight Track Museum (for now ...), sent out a mass email asking for help scaring up a few bucks for a letter presently being sold at for $599.99 on the eBay. The seller's advertising it as: "THE WHO/PETE TOWNSHEND SIGNED ORIGINAL LETTER REAL! WOW." And you'll note the letter, dated March 18, 1985, and penned on Faber and Faber letterhead, is made out to one James Burnett. The very same. And he needs it back, which is why, among other things, he's discounting the collectible vinyl he has stashed away in a very impressive corner of Dolly Python.

In a February 5 emailed, Bucks explained the meaning behind the missive: "it pertains to the Ronnie Lane autobiography I was supposed to help Ronnie with." Says Bucks now, it's "the only existing evidence of my deal with Pete to help Ronnie Lane publish his autobiography, from '85, when I lived with him." Lane, that is, not Townshend. Alas, says Bucks, "Manager botched the deal." Always does.

Yesterday, after Bucks dispatched another plea for help, I sent him a few other questions about why he sold it in the first place, whether he can even tell for sure if this is the real thing and not a copy of his original and why he's now in such a panic to get it back. He explains ...More >>

​Maybe you saw KXAS-Channel 5 last night -- why, yes, that was Jason Roberts and wife Andrea seated next to First Lady Michelle Obama at a Fort Worth Olive Garden last night. But, but ... how'd the would-be congressional candidate and the missus land the seats? And what did they talk about? Besides hats.

Roberts says this morning that Obama -- in town on a health-and-fitness "Let's Move!" anniversary tour that'll include a drop-by with some DISD kiddos, Dallas Cowboys and Top Chefs today -- found out about the Oak Cliff-dwellers through former Dallas Morning News photographer Sonya Hebert, who went to work at the White House last month -- spending half her time covering the First Lady.

"The White House is looking for families in the area promoting healthy lifestyles for kids," says Roberts. "So Sonya called and said, 'Would you be interested in going to dinner with the First Lady?' And I was like, 'Yeah, ya know, let me check our agenda.'" He laughs. "Absolutely. Without a doubt."

The couple was seated with a few other local families, and among the topics of conversation: the Robertses' efforts to get kids bicycling to school (so retro it's revolutionary!) and, of course, Jason's ongoing Better Block-ing efforts around town. Jason figures they spent 10, 15 minutes on those two things as they went 'round the table gobbling up ideas. The obvious question is: Will they make it past the dinner table at the Olive Garden?More >>

From long, long ago, George Gimarc with Iggy Pop, who's a pretty funny guy.

​If anyone would know the answer to the question, "Has there ever been an all-comedy radio station in Dallas?" it would be George Gimarc, who has spent most of a lifetime on Dallas radio whilst also collecting its related ephemera. No, he says. "Not that I'm aware of." Not till now, at least -- or February 1, to be specific. On that date Gimarc, the man behind KZEW's late-great The Rock and Roll Alternative and The Edge, will take control of 1700 on your AM dial. And he will replace KKLF's current programming, nothing more than a KLIF simulcast, with his own: all comedy, all the time.

We first told you about Gimarc's venture into the laugh factory in May 2010, back when he was launching what was then known as the Donkey Comedy Network. It has since changed names: 24/7 Comedy. And in recent months it has spread nationwide and even across the northern U.S. border: In October it took over the Emmis-owned frequency formerly occupied by KGSR's simulcast in Austin, and "we're killing it down there." Gimarc says the comedy format has also launched in Kansas City, Norfolk and Toronto, among other cities. And in coming weeks it will debut in Phoenix and Raleigh-Durham.

Says Gimarc, the deal in Dallas isn't necessarily permanent, at least not yet. At present KKLF is a Cumulus station, but it must sell the station following its acquisition of Citadel; the chain simply has too many local frequencies. And KKLF's an interesting spot on the AM dial: Originally licensed in Richardson it's not easy to pick up south of, say, LBJ. "We're bringing Comedy to North Dallas," Gimarc says. "Inside your building, I doubt you could pick up the signal because it doesn't have that much oomph. It's more of a McKinney-Sherman-Allen-Addison area kind of thing." Ah, The Golden Quadrangle.More >>

Photo by Justin Terveen

​Speaking of energizing downtown Dallas ....

The storms that moved through, oh, an hour ago are but a prelude of the downpour to come. And if there's electricity in the air, Justin Terveen's there to catch it, as always. He just sent this freshly minted postcard, along with the note that there's a bigger, better, badder version suitable for framing here.

bcWORKSHOP

If you notice anything different about the Knights of Pythias Temple, or Union Bankers Building, in Deep Ellum ...

​Last year, you may recall, Brent Brown's bcWORKSHOP spent the Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service by posting 'round town those cutouts intended to raise awareness about how to end homelessness; but in the end, the city didn't take kindly to their presence, threatening to remove them for being in violation of city code. Moments ago we got word: bcWORKSHOP is once again putting up signs in various parts of town.

But this year's project has a decidedly different agenda:  Titled Public Info Act(s), the markers-slash-art installations being placed in front of four different buildings are "designed to inform the public about the city's past in order to generate ideas to enhance its future." You can see the markers here, where you'll note the structures: the former Knights of Pythias Temple in Deep Ellum, the Forest Theater (which, as you'll note in the photo below, is still in need of someone to take over where Erykah Badu left off), Frederick Douglass Elementary School and the Sunshine Elizabeth Church in Oak Cliff.

Says the PIA(s) website, "These Act(s) intend to empower people, foster neighborliness and inspire civic engagement. We believe people determine the shape of the places they inhabit and those places should be made for them, by them, with civility and respect for the public good." Hence, as you'll see, the comments section asking for suggestions about what to do with these historic sites.

Bill Holston

​There's no need to introduce Bill Holston -- attorney, KERA contributor, nature-trekker -- to longtime Friends of Unfair Park; he's one of the good ones, and has been for a long, long while. But Bill's about to disappear from these virtual pages, at least for a little while; he writes, "I promise I'll make time for blogging," but he'll be busier than usual. That's because after 25 years at his namesake law firm, Brother Bill has a new job: He is taking over as CEO of The Human Rights Initiative of North Texas, which offers gratis legal representation to those who've come to this country, and Dallas specifically, after having fled religious and political persecution in their home countries.

Bill's been taking on pro bono asylum cases for the last 13 years; at long last, when offered, he decided to lead the charge. "It is with mixed emotion that I leave the excellent lawyers and staff at Sullivan and Holston (where I've been for over 25 years) , and I do that only because the work I've done with HRI is the most fulfilling work I've ever done," he writes. "I sincerely believe it is my calling to work with this great organization." The formal announcement, dispatched late yesterday, follows.More >>