Most people have a love-hate relationship with their local paper — they love to hate it.
Consider this — the latest flashpoint in the culture wars between Dallas and Fort Worth has become, unbelievably, DaFoWoShow, the three minutes of snarkiness brought to you each Thursday by the Startlegram.
OK, that’s massive overstatement. However, there is a difference of opinion between the left and right sides of the Metromess on this’n. I am previously on record as saying I like it, which prompted one S-T editor who shall remain unnamed to say, “I’ve lost all respect for you. How could you think that was funny?”
Well, to paraphrase John Belushi, that’s your bad. You fucked up. You trusted me.
But this person wasn’t the only soul in the Fort with a low opinion. Anthony Mariani at FWWeekly also weighed in with his instant disapproval of the show’s “really lame jokes, or jokes for the blissfully suburban fortysomething-plus set, or for people who’ve only recently become acquainted with the concept of sarcasm.”
But a funny thing happens when you go east of Arlington and HEB where the S-T ain’t so local and there ain’t so much hate for Tarrant’s daily — the show got funnier as it went through the tubes of teh Internets. Maybe that’s why the Frontburner review is far more kind.
Former Startlegramer and current D Magaziner Eric Celeste called DaFoWo “more proof that the S-T gets it. … It’s not riotous, but it’s a clever and amusing webcast, and the use of random video clips is perfect, especially the [David Hasselhoff] vid in the second one we watched. Well done, folks. Should just get better with age.”
Take that D(a)MN! So, is DaFoWo too Dallas? Is it too not funny? Are some people in the Fort just wearing their underwear too tight? Whatcha think?
Frontburner item, Numero Dos: It turns out I’m not the only Frontburner reader around here. Bud Kennedy even dropped a FB-bomb in his Sunday column. He reminded everyone that Fort Worth is not “the Dallas area.” I want to chew on that one and get back to it later in the week.
Post-Goggling: In spite of the rain, much fun was had at Friday’s Southside Arts Goggle. Me and mine started off at StarrTincup for the John B. Davenport show at my new workplace (Holla! Bret, William, Jose, Mark, Dan, Dan and everybody!) Looked at some art, talked organic gardening with Jennifer Starr and quaffed a little Pinot. We then weaved down to Panther City Bikes for fellow blogger Kevin Buchanan’s show which was very, very packed with people not even affiliated with Panther City Bikes or West and Clear. Got to see Chris Cole from Rahr and got to catch-up with Robert and Jenny. And there were lots of other folks out and about. PeteW saw Joel Burns and J.D. Angle making the rounds, as well as Kristin Campbell from the aforementioned DaFoWo Show in the company of prominent Fort Worth unicyclist Pete Asplund. One Startlegramer I did run into at Panther City was Chris Vaughn — good people and a good reporter. From there we adjourned for a rather long and late dinner at Cafe Chadra where I sampled both the buffet and the Victoria Pizza. Big yum. Yep, the Southside is where it is at. But don’t take my word for it — I’m a homer. See for yourself next time round.
Stash Dauber Loves Him Some Chat Room: Further proof that the Southside is where it is at — Ken brings it strong yet again with an excellent post on last week’s The Future of the Ghost show at the Chat. It’s a must-read.
Barnett Shale Expo: Blowjobs for everybody! The Barnett Shale Expo is in town! Former Commerce Secretary Don Evans said that the Barnett Shale is nothing but pure, unfiltered wunnerful. And, of course, a former Bush administration cabinet secretary wouldn’t exaggerate about ANYTHING — would he? … One gas drilling company has got the water recycling bug, but they’re from Canada, so what do they know? And speaking of recycling, Sharon from BlueDaze reminds us about how the gas drillers say they can’t afford to recycle because it’s too expensive. But of course, they only made $400 billion in profit last year.
Eastside Story: Kudos to Jeff Prince of the FWWeekly for his overview of all the Eastside rabblerousers who do so much to piss off Mayor Mikey and Chesapeake Energy, among others. It’s well done and good reading.
SteveB on Lambert’s: “I went to Lambert’s on White Settlement for lunch on Friday. It was great. I was with someone who hates Grady Spears with the white-hot passion of a thousand suns, and this person had nothing but compliments.” Can’t wait to try it.
Speed Burnham: See the last item. Much like Ricky Bobby, State Rep. Lon Burnham likes to go fast.
Forbes on Fort Worth: Forbes Magazine puts the Fort at No. 9 on its list of best places to live and launch in part because of its “abundance of incentives and a laid-back tax structure.” Thoughts?
Need a cab in Philly? Let Francis tell you how to do it.
Bob Schieffer on retirement — Just kidding: So sayeth the NYT.
Hui Chuan and Chadra: These are two of my favorite places, and Fort Worth Hole in the Wall always makes me laugh. Put ‘em together and … well, see for yourself. Check out the Hui Chuan review here and Cafe Chadra review here.
Yo Adrian: Miss Cindy at The Fine Line Live gives local outfit Oso Closo a little love with a video from their show Saturday night at The Grenada. Oso frontman Adrian Hulet is one of my favorite peeps — roll film to see how this man can belt it out.
Happy Monday!
Tags: arts goggle, Barnett Shale, chadra, Chesapeake Energy, d magazine, dafowosho, fine line live, Fort Worth South, frontburner, gossip, lamberts, lon burnham, oso closo, star-telegram
Related Posts on West and Clear
- July 31, 2008 -- Scenes from Meadowbrook
- June 30, 2008 -- Eighth Avenue Showdown Postponed
- June 10, 2008 -- Gas Drilling Task Force Hearing: How About a Game of Charades? Or Maybe Where’s Mikey?
- March 31, 2008 -- Breaking: Chesapeake Energy Buys Pier 1 Tower
- March 26, 2008 -- Near Southside Arts Goggle This Friday!
- August 27, 2008 -- Group Formed to Protect Trinity Trails
- August 27, 2008 -- Coming Soon to the Barnett Shale — NBC News
- August 20, 2008 -- Texas Observer Blasts Star-Telegram’s Barnett Shale Coverage — Tommy Lee Jones Weeps
- August 20, 2008 -- Round Three: Will the Last Star-Telegram Employee Please Turn Out the Lights?
- August 17, 2008 -- A Conversation with Jerry Horton
2 Comments, Comments or Pings
Pete Wann
OOOOOOHH Lon, you totally got called out!
Lon was certainly going fast around the ring of the Coliseum on Saturday handing out Rick Noriega signs and stickers to anyone with an empty hand or lap. It’s nice to see someone with so much experience at the process get so worked up.
Mar 31st, 2008
pete asplund
I love the Chesapeake bit in this week’s dafowo show.
Apr 4th, 2008
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