Friday, March 29, 2024 Mar 29, 2024
58° F Dallas, TX
Advertisement

FrontBurner

A Daily Conversation About Dallas

Spotted this last night:

Some choice quotes from O.J. Mayo, via ESPN:

“Man, I was so pissed,” Mayo said after his 19-point, seven-rebound performance in the rout. “It’s just, where does that come in in the game, you know what I mean? He’s a talented player, has a chance to be an All-Star. But you do stuff like that, it takes you down a class.”

“That guy has some mental issues, man,” Mayo said. “He’s a talented player. He has an opportunity to be the face of that organization, but I don’t think he wants it. …

“He’s immature, man. Big maturity problem. Hopefully, he’ll grow up out of it and become great. He definitely has the talent to.”

When O.J. Mayo is smacking your maturity, it’s time to step it up. For the record, Cousins said he was just pushing off. With a closed fist. Into the groin.

Architecture & Design

Leading Off (11/19/12)

Peter Simek
By Peter Simek |

Ann Margolin Will Not Seek Reelection: The last time the district 13 city council seat was vacant, Ann Margolin beat-out Brint Ryan in what was the most expensive campaign for a single council seat in city history. Now Margolin, a respected voice on the council, has suddenly and surprisingly decided to not seek an additional term in 2013, citing “personal obligations.”

Arlington Gym Teacher Sued By Student: The student in question, Alyssa White, has a medical condition. She is also a star soccer goalie. When she was late for gym class one day at Ferguson Junior High, her gym teacher punished the student by making her run strenuous exercises. A lawsuit now claims that those exercises landed White in the hospital and jeopardized the student’s potential soccer career.

Another Piece of Dallas History Destroyed: The 88-year-old Thomas building was imploded Sunday. As we learned awhile back, the building, described as a “relic of when cotton was king,” was razed, its Charlotte-based owners said, because of the high cost of asbestos and disrepair.

Events

Planning Running Events in Dallas Just Got More Difficult

Krista Nightengale
By Krista Nightengale |
Photo by George Vasquez.

When I first heard about the new regulations that are going into effect today for running events, I was a little upset. I like to run. (Or, at least, I like to think I like to run, and by run, I mean walk with bounce.) I like when others run. I also like activity on the streets of Dallas. So anything that makes it harder for people to run on the streets of Dallas makes me a little upset. “But,” people said to me, “what about those who live in houses who can’t get out of their driveways because of runners? What about those who wake up to the sound of runners chatting as they pass their windows? What about those who can’t get to church because the streets are blocked off?” I live in an apartment downtown. Streets get shut down, noises filter through my windows. I have very little sympathy.

Then I talked to the woman who designed the regulations. Her name is Lori Chance. She really believes in what she’s done. If there’s anything that can melt my hardened heart it’s someone who believes in their work. So I talked to a couple other people who are involved in this situation and below is what they said. I tried to be unbiased, because I really do understand both sides. You can yell at me in the comments if you think I failed at that.

This morning, I worked out at the Jewish Community Center. My son goes to summer camp there, and to make that possible, my ex-wife and I have to get a summer membership. So I was trying to make the most of it, instead of wasting that money, as per usual. ANYWAY, when I was getting changed to leave, an older fella walked in. He opened his locker and used the shelf to pop the top off a bottle of Heineken. Then he poured about two inches of it into a water bottle. Then he filled up the rest of the bottle with Perrier. Almost all of this seems like something I would not want to drink while exercising. But I have to wonder: does this guy know something I don’t?

Advertisement
Appreciation

SMU Women Rowers Have Nice Legs

Tim Rogers
By Tim Rogers |

First some guys from the Harvard baseball team did it. Not bad. But then the SMU women’s rowing team one-upped them with their Carly Rae Jepsen routine. Pretty solid work. Far superior camerawork, too.

Education

Michelle Obama Should Focus on the Teachers, Ctd.

Tim Rogers
By Tim Rogers |

An alert FrontBurnervian points us to this survey, which says: “Based on a health and wellness self-assessment survey, 74 percent of [DISD] employees are at risk for high blood pressure, 74 percent at risk for obesity, 67 percent do not get enough exercise, and more than 48 percent have four or more risk factors” (see item No. 16). In short, the people who work for DISD are not a healthy bunch. That’s not good for the teachers (obviously). But it’s also not good for students (lost productivity due to teacher absenteeism as a result of illness, bad examples being set), and it’s not good for taxpayers (we’re paying for part of their healthcare).

I would think that an incentive program could easily be designed to make a huge impact on teacher health. Set a target BMI and then reward teachers for making progress toward that goal. Give them paid days off. Free lesson-planning periods. Hell, even cash. It would pay for itself in saved health-care costs. Even better, you can enlist the kids as a the support group, turn the thing into a class project of sorts. Get all of Mrs. Smith’s students invested in improving her health (and, by extension, the class’s health).

Education

Michelle Obama Should Focus on the Teachers

Tim Rogers
By Tim Rogers |

The first lady is in town to further her campaign against childhood obesity. This morning she visited DISD’s Moseley Elementary, which was chosen because the district has made big strides in improving the fare it serves to students. DISD has more schools than any district in the country that have met the highest standards set by the USDA. I can attest to the district’s progress. The food that comes out of my daughter’s lunchroom is much improved over the stuff they were serving just a few years ago. So kudos all around. Let’s keep working to make those kids healthy.

But we should be looking at the teachers, too. Because — and you’ll forgive my bluntness — I think we’ve got a lot of fat teachers setting a bad example for those kids. The first time I started thinking about this was a couple years ago, after one of those district-wide meetings at the AAC. Afterward, I listened to a handful of teachers talk about how disturbing it was to see so many of their colleagues seriously overweight.

According to this fitness site floating around Facebook, Dallas ranks 33 out of the 58 cities with more than 300,000 people. That’s behind Minneapolis (1), Pittsburgh (4), Seattle (5), Washington, D.C. (7), Austin (9), New Orleans (25), Oakland (28), and San Antonio (32). Behind San Antonio? At least we’re ahead of Tulsa (36), New York (40), Fort Worth (43), Houston (44), Arlington (47), Oklahoma City (49), L.A. (52), Corpus Christi (55), and El Paso (57). Take that, Tulsa.

Advertisement
JC-Penney-Logo
The new logo. Kind of makes you want to put your hand over your heart and pledge allegiance, no?

When Joseph Guinto wrote about Ron Johnson, the new CEO of Plano-based J.C. Penney, in the September issue of D CEO, he raised a number of questions about what the former Apple and Target executive could do for the department store. On Johnson’s branding expertise:

If an executive from Apple is supposed to know anything, it is what the kids (under 35 counts, right?) want these days. And, anyone at Apple–where products launch with a similar look, feel, and level of hype–should have a solid understanding of branding. But Apple products cost a lot of money. The average price for a women’s blouse at J.C. Penney is $15. And, besides, is it fair to compare a shiny iPod to a pair of cotton underpants?

Well, J.C. Penney unveiled its big makeover plan this week, and it would seem that cotton underpants may be getting something closer to the iPod treatment. Stores will begin sporting a new logo (above), the company’s third in three years.

They’ve also unveiled new three-tiered, simplified pricing that they’re calling “Fair and Square Pricing,” which is meant to be represented by that subtly patriotic new logo. Ellen DeGeneres has been brought in as a spokesperson to “help bring the new jcpenney experience to life in her own fun-loving, sneaker-wearing, laugh-making way.”

But most remarkable of all? Johnson, the man behind the creation of Apple’s retail cathedrals hipster havens orgasmatrons shops is bringing some of that same philosophy to transform the staid department store design:

Business

Back on My Feet Gets Our Intern Running With the Homeless

Krista Nightengale
By Krista Nightengale |

Summer intern Kelsy McCraw attended a Back on My Feet run one morning in July. She thought she’d go out, do one run with them, and then do a quick report. But after that initial run, McCraw, a former soccer player at Washington and Lee University, was hooked. She spent five weeks running with the BoMF group. Below is her report.

Sheretta Bodem is shy–not bashfully shy like a child, but hesitantly shy like somebody who’s never been able to depend on anyone. This tough-skinned 25-year-old is about 5 feet 2 inches tall with a curvy figure that is usually hidden in t-shirts, pants, and sneakers. A baseball hat sits atop her braided black hair, slung so low that it just shades her dark brown eyes, as if to reiterate her don’t-mind-me timidity. She sits across the table from me in a back storage room at Dallas LIFE, as she tells me why she walked into the shelter’s doors last November.

She’s a woman of few words, most of Bodem’s answers to my questions are succinct and to the point, but the tall wall she’s built was how she learned to survive.

Bodem says she was spoiled growing up–she always did and got what she wanted. Her mother was a truck driver, so circumstance may have edited the scope of those desires. Nevertheless, her mostly absent parent gave her little in the form of life direction. When her mom would go on her three-month driving stints, Bodem and her younger brother would stay at their less-than-attentive aunt’s home in Richland.

With no discipline, Bodem dropped out of high school at 17 because, as she explains it, it just didn’t seem that important. So, she settled at her aunt’s house with no job, no schooling, and no desire for either. Bodem describes this time in her life as “nothing,” just doing nothing and no plans to change it. At 21, she had her daughter, and at 23, her son. Bodem ruled out living with either of her children’s fathers. “I didn’t want my children to grow up in that kind of environment,” she says. Her “nothing” life at her aunt’s lingered on for a few years until her aunt began clearly favoring one of her children. Bodem wouldn’t elaborate about what happened other than “some other stuff happened…just bad stuff.” She says she really had no choice but to move out. At this point, she had lost contact with her mother and brother. So, with no other place to turn, she sought out Dallas LIFE.

Entertainment

U.S. Women’s Bowling Takes Over Cowboys Stadium

Krista Nightengale
By Krista Nightengale |

Intern Kelsy McCraw tells us all about the U.S. Women’s Open in Arlington.

For Lynda Barnes of Double Oak, bowling is a family affair. Her mother was a program director at her local lanes growing up. “I went from the nursery to the lanes,” she says. “But, my mom wouldn’t let me bowl until I could hold a ball with one hand.” No bumpers or ramps for her.

She says the bowling alley was her second home, where she felt most comfortable. By high school, she was being recruited by San Jose State for their women’s bowling program. She went on to be a four-time All-American and a 12-year Team USA player, win dozens of championships and awards, and make her living playing the game she loved.

Fine, I’ll take the bait. Only because I needed to remind you that voting for the Services round of our Best of Big D: Readers’ Choice poll is almost finished. At the end of Sunday, it’s all over, and your favorite shops need support.

So only because I needed a convenient excuse to post this reminder, I’m embedding the below video that Dr. Peay’s Booty Camp made for its campaign to be named the Best Fitness Program in Dallas. The short film’s artistic vision reveals just how exciting Best of Big D voting can be. Especially if you play a dance mix of the theme to Rocky III on your iPod while filling out your ballot.

VOTE NOW. And once an hour.

Advertisement