Two of 2007’s finest films (No Country For Old Men & There Will Be Blood) were shot in and around Marfa.
It is also home to the world’s most isolated Prada store.
Archive for the 'The State Of...' Category
Seasons greetings from the 1986 Dallas Cowboys. Their enthusiasm during this performance echoes my sentiments for the town exactly. Notice there are no shots of people doing Christmas-y things around town. That would have meant actually finding those people outside when they are clearly inside watching TV. Plus I don’t think a video showing warm weather, traffic, and people crowded into shopping malls would really capture the holiday spirit. My family isn’t even putting up a tree this year.
I posted a few months ago about a two-line blurb I had read in the Christian Science Monitor regarding the proposed embracing of cycling by the City of Dallas. According to this story that ran in the Dallas Morning News on November 19, these plans are no myth. Alright! Good for us!
But bigger problems persist.
- Trails not lit.
- No racks anywhere to lock to.
- Broken glass on every street. The worst is downtown & in South Dallas.
- A noticeable percentage of motorists who are either drunk, retarded, or on the phone while driving. It is often difficult to distinguish the nature of their impairment.
- Also, when I hear urban rednecks yell, “Git th’ f**k owt th’ road,” to me it demonstrates ignorant hostility toward cyclists which I can’t help but think may be caused by…
- The fact that I hardly ever see any adults riding in the city.
There are so many places to ride, yet most everyone restricts their riding to White Rock Lake because of its uninterrupted loop. Unfortunately, when people don’t ride anywhere else, it does nothing to enrich cycling culture in Dallas.
I suppose I’m hoping for a day when people start using their bikes to run simple errands or to commute to work/school. Hey guess what: You don’t have to be a racer or a triathlete to be a cyclist. Just look at places like Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Portland, New York, San Francisco, Chicago, even Austin, and you can see that thousands of people have discovered how riding a bike is a viable mode of transportation.
From travelandleisure.com
“Affordability is the area’s best quality.
The worst: its people.”
———–
Out of 25 cities, Dallas came in close to last in most categories.
I included some of my favorites.
Come visit me if you like BBQ and sports.
Otherwise, you may want to stay away.
———–
Live music - 24
Singles scene - 24
Characteristics (Overall) - 25
Ease of getting around/public transportation - 24
Environmental awareness - 24
People-watching - 25
Access to outdoors - 24
Cityscape (Overall) - 24
Pedestrian friendliness - 24
Public parks/spaces - 24
Skyline/views - 22
Architecture/notable buildings - 23
Underground arts scene - 22
Barbecue - 4
Coffee - 25
Ethnic food - 24
Athletic/active - 23
Attractive - 23
Diverse - 25
Fun - 24
Intelligent - 22
People (Overall) - 25
Worldly - 25
Active/adventure vacation - 24
Business trip (that’s secretly fun) - 25
Romantic escape - 25
Sophisticated getaway - 24
Sports fan’s vacation - 7
————
Ok that’s it. I’m moving as soon as I can.
…because I’m living here now and I think it might be a lie.
Cities build new bike paths. Will cyclists come?
(Christian Science Monitor - June 19, 2007)
•Dallas/Fort Worth has $900 million in bike trails planned. “Texas is reaching out to embrace biking like never before,” says Robin Stallins of the Texas Bicycle Coalition. “That says a lot about a shift of cultural values.”
What? Why is there no mention of this anywhere else on the internet? Wait. I’m not living in Bicycle City, am I?
If this is a real plan, I will need some more concrete evidence than a two line blurb on csmonitor.com. I moved back here for school but if North Texas can become some sort of cycling mecca during this time, I will be thrilled.
After 6 fun-filled years in the Windy City, I’m going back to where it all began.
I’ll be couch surfing in Chicago until the end of September.
Somebody please stop me.
Brilliant! The quintessential hot & stupid blonde, Ms. South Carolina is a role model for future trophy wives everywhere in the U.S. like, um… in South Africa and “the Iraq” or everywhere, like, such as.
It continues to terrify me. Only a few years ago, one could have embarrassed oneself on national television & everyone would have forgotten about it after a few days of water cooler banter. Not the case anymore. These moments will forever live in infamy due to dumb blogs like this one. Nowadays if you see a camera lens, you’d better be on your best behavior and armed with logical responses or else your reputation will be tarnished by one seemingly innocent but well-documented misstep. It can only get worse from here.
But this is wonderful:
Oh… right.
I do remember hearing about
West Virginia.
Also…
The Hubble telescope is capable of detecting over 80 billion galaxies.
But it hasn’t yet.