Back Talk Lakewood/East Dallas

City's recycling program expands in M-Street area

In a brief note just posted on Councilman Angela Hunt's blog (the post includes a great map of various neighborhood association boundaries, too), Hunt says that virtually every neighborhood in the M-Streets area has opted to sign up for the city's Blue Bin recycling program. Hunt notes that according to the city, recycling has doubled in the neighborhoods where the bins have been in use for the past six months or so; the blog indicates that if you're interested in a bin and don't already have one, you should call 311 or go online to dallascityhall.org to put in your request. The actual every-other-week pickup begins Aug. 1. The only exception: The neighborhood roughly bounded by Skillman, Mockingbird, Greenville and Mercedes didn't have enough positive interest, so they're not participating. For what it's worth, we've had a bin for the past six months or so, and I don't know if we're recycling more, but we're certainly recycling more easily. We no longer have to drive to the igloos for one type of recycling, the paper bins for another, and then placing the plastic blue bags out back for yet another.

Voting with your eyes closed

So last November, the people spoke and spoke loudly with their democratic right to vote. The problem is, too many people voted with their eyes closed. This is what you get when an uninformed electorate votes without comprehension of what/who they are voting for. You see, Margaret Keliher, was by ALL accounts doing a great job at her post of County Judge, even earing the respect of her partisan counterparts. But, because she had an (R) next to her name, she got thrown out of office and allowed Jim Foster to get elected - a man clearly inexperienced to tackle the major job of running the County. I think over the next few years, we will see more of this as more of the inept, unqualified newly elected Dallas officials show their true colors. For those of you that think this is merely whining from a steadfast GOP'er...you are right. I am whining because our city/county has been dumbed down. Leaving our County in a legally vunerable position is dumb....remember Terrell Bolton?

Send lawyers, guns and money: Trinity toll road update

Slap the cuffs on me. I’m guilty. I’m gathering signatures for the toll road referendum. I haven’t killed anyone, but I’m sure that’s just a minor inconvenience to the folks at D.

Last week, the intrepid journalists at plastic surgery’s favorite local magazine revealed that a convicted murderer was gathering signatures to get the toll road referendum on the November ballot. He was immediately fired (which they also mentioned, because they are, after all, intrepid journalists.)

This is not a good thing, and he should have been fired. For what it's worth, it's standard practice for campaigns of all kinds to hire people this way, in much the same way people get yard services to cut their lawns. Which raises this question: Why didn’t D find out about this guy when he was working for the anti-referendum people as a poll blocker? Why didn’t D check and see if any campaign workers for Tom Leppert had criminal records? Hmmm. Let’s see. It’s not because D publisher Wick Allison supports the anti-referendum side and supported Leppert, is it? Perish the thought.

Petitions due this week. Turned mine in yesterday. Hit every drinking establishment I frequent, so I did pretty well.

Jury duty and the Dallas crime rate...

At the precise moment that our new mayor was being inaugurated, I was sitting on a hard wood bench at the Crowley county courthouse along with 60 fellow Dallas County citizens being questioned about whether we should be judging a fellow Dallas County resident charged with murder. By 5:30 p.m., I and 47 other members of the jury pool were on our way home, leaving behind 12 jurors to handle the case. As part of the questioning, I learned a few things...

1) Literally about one-third of the people on the jury, theoretically chosen at random from Dallas County residents, said that they or their families had been victims of violent crimes. That seems like a lot, but then again, perhaps that why we're the crime capital.

2) Quite a few people (maybe about one-third again) said they didn't have much respect for our justice system, perhaps because of their experience with violent crimes?

3) Counter to most of our winks and jokes (between us) about spending the day on jury duty, most of the 60 people actually seemed interested in serving. People generally paid attention during the four hours or so of questioning, and I would have been comfortable having perhaps half of them sitting in judgement of me. I don't know about the other half, though...

Anyway, perhaps it's a good thing that Mayor Leppert is focusing on getting us off the major crimes list and adding police officers — based on my experience today, an awful lot of our fellow citizens would be very happy knowing that someone is concerned about crimes like the ones committed against them.

Not the Yaz that I know

I realize this is not neighborhood-related, but the question is driving me crazy. Do any of our incredibly intelligent and well-read Back Talkers know the answer?

Why is a drug for women that treats the emotional and physical symptoms of premenstrual dysphoric disorder (and also acne) called Yaz (there is even a commercial)? That, after all, is the nickname for Hall of Fame baseball player Carl Yastrzemski? Does anyone else think this is more than a bit surreal? Or is it just an extremely Kafkaesque coincidence?

Lakewood Whole Foods

Apparently, there are a couple of things going on with Whole Foods' new store on the old Minyard's site, and I have phone calls out to find out exactly what's what. From what I'm being told, the store won't open until late summer or early fall of 2008. (Note to competition: Now's your chance to scoop me.)

Until then, here are two things to ponder:

• Whole Foods is furious with the Federal Trade Commission for threatening to block its takeover of competitor Wild Oats. This does seem odd, given that the current regulatory climate in Washington favors all mergers and buyouts, regardless of consequences (see the TXU deal). But Whole Foods CEO John Mackey, according to the FTC, has crossed whatever line still exists by saying that a buyout would "eliminate forever" the possibility that anyone else could create a nationwide competitor in the natural and organic grocery business. Whole Foods' take? Mackey (who has his own blog) was misquoted.

• If and when the new store opens, we could get a revolutionary checkout system. The New York Times reports (complete with diagram) that the Whole Foods Manhattan store uses a bank-style line that is faster than traditional grocery store lines.

Hot and humid jazz this Sunday at the lake

Cool jazz it won't be, but "Jampact" will be worth checking out this Sunday. Where else but at the Bathhouse on White Rock Lake can you get jazz quintet that's made up of an academic dean, two Mohameds, and guy named Kim? (I wonder, does he have a brother named Sue?)

I'm often surprised by the caliber of the musicians who hang out in the Dallas indie rock scene, and I haven't much experience with jazz musicians in town. Recently I had a photo assignment to cover some guys jamming at the White Rock Rhythms jazz fest. The guys have gotten together again to have Sunday jam sessions at the Bathhouse. So I could tell you a little more about them, I did a bit of research; I'm in awe...

Jose Bowen, the pianist and writer of the quintet, is the Dean of Arts of the Meadows School at SMU and has also taught at Stanford, Georgetown, Miami University (yay! my alma mater), and in the UK. This guy gets around. He has performed with Stan Getz, Dizzy Gillespie, Bobby McFerrin, Dave Brubeck, Liberace ... (Liberace?! Cool.) and written a Pulitzer prize-nominated symphony. He's an editor for a Smithsonian project, a board member of the Library of Congress, and is a fellow of England's Royal Society of the Arts. Geez.

This Sunday, he just happens to be jamming under the trees at White Rock Lake. He's joined by other SMU jazz faculty: Akira Sato on trumpet, Jamal Mohamed on African drums, Buddy Mohamed (Jamal's brother) on bass, and Kim Corbet on trombone. I'm betting this will be an eclectic and high-energy set. Jazzophiles; grab a picnic and go check out Akira, Buddy, Jamal, Kim, and Jose at WRL Bathhouse, this Sunday 2-4pm on the south lawn; let me know what you think of the jam.

Whither the Medallion Pier 1?

Pier 1's announcement that business is so bad that it is going to cut back even more raises the question of what will happen to its store in Medallion Center, which has to have been there almost 30 years. In the old days, when we still had blue laws, that was one of the few places open on Sunday. Companies typically don't comment on store closings; has anyone heard anything?

Pier 1's troubles also speak to how companies can screw themselves up. What was Pier 1 famous for? Selling inexpensive, well-made, almost funky furniture and accessories (think Mary Tyler Moore's apartment). So what did management do? Got rid of all that stuff and brought in the same sort of merchandise that everyone else sells. And they wonder why they keep losing money.

Changing of the guard, and I witnessed it...

I am fortunate enough to be a member of the Dallas Convention & Visitor's Bureau board of directors, courtesy of an appointment by the Dallas Northeast Chamber of Commerce. And at today's quarterly board meeting, we had the interesting vantage point of watching Laura Miller take her final bow as mayor (she claimed the meeting was her "final act" as mayor) and watching Tom Leppert introduce himself. As always, Miller was a tantalizing speaker, funny and relevant and knowledgeable all at the same time. Every time I hear her speak, I always wonder why she isn't running for senator or president or something really big; then I start looking at what she's doing and what people she deals with every day think about her, and I can't wait for her to get out of office.

Anyway, Miller rattled on for about 6-7 minutes and was gracious about her role in bringing more tourism and business to Dallas, thanking DCVB president Phillip Jones and his staff for their work, and then she left the meeting, leaving a late-arriving Leppert behind. And Leppert, when given a chance to say whatever he wanted to say for as long as he wanted to say it, took 30 seconds and basically said: Thanks for the good work, let me know what I can do to help. And with that, he stayed quiet for the rest of the meeting, paid attention to what was being discussed about the group's financials and seemed interested in soaking up knowledge. Two different styles, which is good for us right now. I'm sick of confrontation, and I'll be very surprised based on what I've seen of Leppert if he's going to stirring things up publicly the way Miller seemed to enjoy doing.

Chicken fried steak alert

Sound red alert! Raise shields! We are in full chicken fried steak crisis mode.

Robb Walsh, the eminent food critic for Houston's version of the Observer, a fellow member of the Southern Foodways Alliance, a contributor to the New York Times, and a man I quoted in my epic chicken-fried steak article a couple of years ago, writes disparagingly about Dallas-area chicken fried: "In Houston, Dallas and Austin, sushi is exceedingly popular; chicken-fried steak, not so much."

Apparently, he was steered to a couple of places that those of us who know chicken fried would not go to (places often frequented by young men who wear their caps backwards and call each other dude, D magazine types, and the like). What can we do about this injustice? How can we tell him about Matt's Rancho Martinez or Vern's or any of the other -- dozens ? -- of restaurants around here that know chicken fried? I feel a Backtalk event of some kind coming on -- perhaps 100 words or so about your favorite chicken fried, and we send the best entries to Robb?