Kim Gatlin, we’re officially in a fight. Sure, it hurts my feelings that you are a good 20 pounds lighter than I am on the best day. Maybe there were a few hard feelings about the fact that you were once married to a Gatlin brother. (I used to have a mad crush on Larry Gatlin in second grade. Sing it with me: “All the gold in California….”) And of course, I harbored a lot of sour grapes about the fact that you not only finished writing a book, you got it published. And now this. According to Perez Hilton and the very smart Robert Wilonsky, Darren Starr, creator of Sex and the City and Melrose Place, has optioned Gatlin’s Good Christian Bitches, and he’s shopping it at all the major networks. Well played, lady. Well played.
Happy Tuesday to you, readers. If today is your birthday, you are a Virgo. And if you are a Virgo, this is your horoscope:
It’s a really good time for you to stretch your boundaries and ensure that your people are all making way for you. Your great energy is just right for trying something that is totally new to you [emphasis mine].
What excellent advice! So excellent, in fact, that I recommend even non-Virgos heed it today, by doing the following:
Want to work side by side with Zac Crain? Want to hear Nancy Nichols tell stories about Skip Bayless in editorial meetings? Want to get paid to use a keyboard attached to an actual computer? Then peep this job listing, and act now if you’re qualified. We’re about to wrap this search.
D Magazine has an immediate opening for an assistant editor. The job entails writing pithy descriptions and reviews of restaurants and bars across North Texas, using a web CMS to wrangle the large database of listings that feeds our online offerings and our iPhone app. The successful candidate (hereinafter called the “SC” to avoid that thorny “he or she” gender issue) needs to be unafraid of computers and telephones. The SC needs to give a damn about the local dining and bar scene. The SC needs to be of legal drinking age. The SC might not have any journalism experience but might just perhaps already have a blog on which the SC writes about food and/or drink. The SC will be meticulous, because in this brave, new digital world, copy editing and fact checking aren’t going to be done by anyone other than the SC in most cases. The SC, in other words, will know the difference between “everyday” and “every day” – and, while we’re at it, that “whipped chick peas” on a fancy menu really just means hummus. The SC might be able to tell us who cooked at Aurora without having to resort to Google. And, finally, the SC will be happy to work long hours for short money. Just being honest here.
Jonah Lehrer looked at the latest research and found:
…the percent of professional athletes who came from cities of fewer than a half million people was far higher than expected. While approximately 52 percent of the United States population resides in metropolitan areas with more than 500,000 people, such cities only produce 13% of the players in the NHL, 29% of the players in the NBA, 15% of the players in MLB, and 13% of players in the PGA.
Why is this? Lehrer posits several theories, but the one that intrigues researchers the most is that small towns are less competitive than big cities. Play is less structured. Children try their hand at a number of sports, rather than being forced into a single track at an early age. This seems to help them develop the characteristics — persistance, hand-eye coordination, etc — that make them superior athletes. Read the whole thing here.
1. This story is just heartbreaking. David Jones was found guilty of manslaughter of a couple and their three children. Yesterday, he gave an interview. I truly feel he is sorry. Though he was sentenced to 15 years, he says dealing with his paralysis and the guilt of killing those five people is a life sentence. But he still lays blame on the brakes of his car not working.
2. This 8-year-old abduction story is quite different from last week’s 5-year-old abduction/miscommunication incident. Instead of following a stranger to his vehicle, she yelled until she was able to get someone’s attention. Now she’s giving talks about it. So my question is: is the difference because she’s three years older or because she’s been taught what to do?
3. Here’s something you don’t often think about worrying about while in a plane: your pilot becoming distracted by a strip club. But that’s what happened Sunday when a flash of light blinded a pilot before his descent into Dallas. The light was traced to Bombshells Caberet on I-35 and Walnut Hill. I have nothing to add.
So, it took a couple of days, but Wonkette has a take on the whole Eddie Bernice Johnson thing, too, including a translation of this statement, “Had there been more ‘very worthy applicants in my district, then I probably wouldn’t have given it’ to the relatives.”
Wonkette’s translation: “All black kids in Dallas are dumb, except for the ones related to me or my employees.”
News & Tech says the Dallas Morning News will put much of its website behind a pay wall in the next sixth months. It’s not going to be an easy transition, but it’s a necessary one. Here’s hoping the move (a trend among publishers) works.
In the comments of Rhonda’s post, occasional FrontBurner commenter “Ryan” decided to bid our land of hyperlinks a hasty adieu. You know what, I’ll just let him tell it:
Ahhhh, boohoo. You slipped and fell. Now go cry about it on your big blog. Come on! This is why I am never coming back to frontburner again. These aren’t stories. This is a cry for attention. Why don’t you get in shape and maybe you’ll be able to catch yourself next time!
That, folks, is courage. After the jump, a tribute to Ryan and FrontBurner’s time together.
A couple hours ago, Wick and I popped over to a new charter school called Laureate Preparatory that opened three weeks ago in the West End. Uplift’s CEO, Yasmin Bhatia, and its chief development officer, Deborah Bigham, showed us around the joint, which has a little more than 100 students right now and will have 480 once all grades are enrolled. I myself today dropped off my little girl for her first day of pre-K at Hexter Elementary. The halls of that place were raucous, ankle biters caroming off walls, giving each other the business, some of them in tears (my daughter). Contrast that to Laureate Prep. The kids were getting lunch when we visited. The place was literally as quiet as a church. Kiddos were lined up, holding their lunch trays, all polite smiles when I said hi to them. I mean, it was shocking. And it’s not just about behavior. The 15 Uplift schools in the area that were already in operation last year all outperformed their nearest DISD neighbor school (with all but three — Hampton Primary, Middle, and High — receiving an “exemplary” rating from the state). Then know this: Laureate Prep has a partnership with the Museum of Nature and Science. When the new museum opens in 2012, those kids are going to be able to walk across the street to it. Pretty cool.
All of which I mention because Laureate Prep still has openings in the 1st and 2nd grade.
Last Friday afternoon, I walked into Central Market on Lovers Lane for possibly the last time. And, in retrospect, I feel lucky I was able to walk out.
After picking up a few items, including a thoughtfully selected group of ingredients from the salad bar, I was making the circle around the prepared-foods case when suddenly I found myself on the ground. I had fallen forward, my left knee slamming into the floor. The basket I was carrying also flew forward, propelling salad in all directions. Confused and embarrassed, I picked myself up and told the fellow shopper who had to come to my aid that I was okay. When I turned around, I was still embarrassed but no longer confused. Behind me was a puddle — and I do mean puddle — of spilled oil. My left foot had hit the oil patch and flung me forward.
Eventually, embarrassment would turn to disappointment.
The deal is finally done. Modern Luxury Media has been sold. The buyer is Atlanta-based Dickey Publishing, which controls Cumulus Media, the overlords of the Ticket. Modern Luxury will be managed by those same Cumulus folks. FOLIO has some more details, the most curious of which is that three years ago, Modern Media (of which Modern Luxury Dallas is a part) was sold for $243 million. The rumored sales price now? Just $20 million. (I’d love to be at the next Cumulus Christmas party to see how the Ticket guys get along with the Modern Luxury Dallas gang.)
