June 28, 2008

Some pictures of my visit to downtown Big D yesterday. Despite the 100 degree temperatures, I had a good time with a friend visiting from NJ and his friend from Fort Worth. Below, Pegasus has become an icon of Dallas. He is the former corporate symbol of Magnolia Oil, a subsidiary of Socony Oil (later Mobil Oil).






Above, reproduction of the cabin built nearby by John Neely Bryan - founder of Dallas. How modern of him to include a water feature!


Above: Reunion Tower and the Hyatt Reunion in background, former Texas School Book Depository is the red brick building at left.

November 22, 1963

On November 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas. It is believed that Lee Harvey Oswald perched on the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository building on Dealey Plaza and opened fire as the presidential motorcade passed by. Oswald, who had defected to the USSR and returned, remains a mysterious figure today. Dealey Plaza is mostly unchanged, and it is very easy to imagine being a bystander on that tragic day. After the shootings of Kennedy and Governor "Big John" Connally, the motorcade sped up Stemmons Freeway to Parkland Hospital, where the President was pronounced dead. Connally was seriously wounded but survived.

Theories abound as to the facts of the assassination. Many believe that at least two bullets were fired. One bullet hit the President, exited his body in the area of his neck, and then struck Gov. Connally. Another bullet fatally wounded the President. Oswald was apprehended later in the day after shooting and killing a Dallas police officer. Later, Oswald was himself shot and killed by Jack Ruby, who received a death sentence for the murder. Ruby died of lung cancer before the sentence was carried out, ironically at Parkland Hospital, where Kennedy and Oswald died as well. (The famous "grassy knoll" is in the picture below. It is this section of Elm Street where the shootings occurred. The school book depository building is off to the right of the picture.)

After the assassination, Dallas was depicted in the media as the "city of hate." This image was augmented by some radical political demonstrations that had preceded November 22. Since then, the city has taken many steps to heal the wounds. By 1975, Dallas was named as an "All-America City." This was considered the defining moment of turning the corner after the murder of a President. Today, Dealey Plaza and the Grassy Knoll are among the main tourist attractions in the area, and are home to The Sixth Floor Museum in the former School Book Depository building.

Get Smart

This weekend I saw the new comedy "Get Smart" on a date. I enjoyed the date, and I enjoyed the movie, too. Unlike so many comedies nowadays, this one was witty - with a minimum of crude gags. Anne Hathaway shines, Steve Carell wisely makes the role his own, and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson both looks good in a suit, and continues developing his deadpan comedy chops. If you're looking for a light, entertaining caper, check out "Get Smart."

I Command You

Buy "Velocifero" by Ladytron...scroll down to the Amazon.com link below for easy purchase!

The Happening

(Above: the cast contemplates the end of their film careers after foolishly completing this movie)

I just returned from seeing one of the worst movies I can remember, M. Night Shyamalan's "The Happening." The fact that Betty Buckley steals the show with only about 5 minutes of over the top on-screen time should be revealing enough. Shyamalan has found his nadir in this flick, which is being promoted with the declasse marketing message of being his "first R-rated movie." Let's hope this piece of crap is his last movie of any rating! John Leguizamo should fire his agent for landing him in this movie, considering how particularly unflattering the camera work is to him. The repeated and pointless suicides, depiction of a grotesque lion attack, and the highly offensive on-camera killings of two children are degrading to the audience and play like a grindhouse B-movie from the 1960s, only without the campiness. Shyamalan also falls down on many small details in his shots, such as the grass and weeds growing up between the ties of a supposedly busy commuter rail line in Pennsylvania. From the constant close-ups of the E.T.-like Zooey Deschanel, to the improbable casting of Mark Wahlberg as a high school biology teacher, to the offensively gratuitous and unnecessary violence throughout the film, this dreck deserves to be thrown on the dung heap and forgotten forever.

BHS's ratings:
Acting: 1/5
Script: 0/5 (example: "We can't just stand here as ininvolved bystanders!" Huh?)
Casting: 1/5 (only because Betty Buckley is in the movie, and Wahlberg is sort of cute)

Governor Woof

In all the news coverage of the terrible flooding in the midwest, one thing is apparent: Governor Culver of Iowa is a handsome man.

And, my prayers are with everyone - I've lived through a spring flood event in the upper midwest, and it's a terrible thing.

The Barnett Shale

Since I've returned to North Texas I've been amazed by the proliferation of natural gas rigs in this area, particularly at D/FW airport and northwest into Tarrant and Denton county. Traditionally, the Dallas-Fort Worth area isn't an energy producing region. However, high natural gas market prices, together with advances in drilling technology, have touched off a natural gas boom. North Texas lies over a prehistoric mineral formation known as the Barnett Shale.

The Barnett Shale is a 330 million year old geological formation of sedimentary rock that contains natural gas. Experts suggest that it may be the largest onshore natural gas field in North America. The Barnett Shale has already produced 3.4 trillion cubic feet of natural gas with expectations to produce an additional 30 trillion cubic feet. The formation is estimated to stretch across 17-20 counties in north central Texas, covering approximately 5,000 square miles. The major portion of the development, also known as the "sweet spot of the shale" is located in Tarrant County (Fort Worth), about a mile underground.

Natural gas drilling in north central Texas became economically feasible for development in the early 2000s, when advanced drilling and completion techniques were developed. Horizontal drilling enables production companies to tap into natural gas reserves in the Barnett Shale. While much of the rest of the country appears to be in recession, this region continues to add exploration, drilling and production-related jobs. Not to mention the many millions in royalties already being received by property owners. As horizontal drilling has become reality, even suburban homeowners have received royalty offers from drilling companies. There is a great deal of buzz in the Tarrant - Denton county area about which homeowner associations have received the best signing bonuses and rates for gas to be extracted from deep beneath the manicured suburban streets!

The Weekend

This past weekend was a fun one, and an exhausting one! On Friday night, I left work right at 5pm and headed home. After an invigorating workout at the clubhouse here at the Grand Venetian, I took a disco nap and then headed out to the Eagle, this time wearing leather. It was a very social night and I met some new people to talk with. As an aside, I'm getting a little tired of living here at the Grand Venetian. While I'm glad to be living in a company-paid furnished apartment, I'm not crazy about the complex itself. Luckily I will be out by the end of July when I move to my new house.

On Saturday, my friend Tony and I continued our tour of the area's Army-Navy stores and visited the Army-Navy Warehouse along Stemmons Freeway. My friend and I agreed that this store wins the prize of the best we've found so far. It even featured evangelical music and creepy signs written in childlike handwriting. Unfortunately, I didn't think to take a photo. Anyway, the store was actually clean, cool, and mildew-free, unlike certain others. Recommended! By Saturday night, I was ready to go out again and headed out to the Eagle. I met up with some acquaintances there and even made a new puppy friend.

Once I was up and running Sunday I drove up to McKinney to meet a friend for lunch. We ended up hanging out together and going to eat at Pei Wei Asian Diner (at right.) I had their version of General Tso's chicken, which was too heavy on the vinegar. Prices were similar to PF Chang's and for the same money, I'd go to PF Chang's instead.

Monday was the birthday of my best buddy in Charlotte. Unfortunately he and I weren't communicating very well on Sunday night, and the vibe sort of was spoiled. There are some times and some subjects for humor that don't work very well, ever. Nonetheless, I hope he had a good day.

The weather has been hot here in the DFW area, with daily high temps over 90 for the past three weeks or so. From now on, it's unlikely that the high temperature will be below 90 until well into September, with high 90s and low 100s very likely throughout August. Here we go! I've heard that New Jersey has been experiencing almost apocalyptic problems with the heat. People here find that laughable, and really so do I. As a kid growing up in New York's Hudson Valley, I don't recall the world grinding to a halt because of a 95 degree day, but maybe it did.

Gwen Stefani - 4 In The Morning

Happy Birthday NJTOCLT

Happy Birthday to my friend NJtoCLT!