Author: jbenton

I write to you today from the Land of On-Hold Music, where I’ve been for the better part of an hour while trying to understand why my car insurance premiums have suddenly doubled, despite last getting a speeding ticket in 1999 and last being at fault in an accident in 1992. (Are Texas rates really that much more obscene than the rest of the world’s?) It’s always good to know that age and sex discrimination is still alive at least one place in the world, in the insurance industry, where being a 26-year-old male means I must be constantly teetering on the edge of automotive death and dismemberment.
Note to bands everywhere: You should not include cell-phone ring-tones on your albums. It is not nice to people with CD players in their cars and cell phones in their pockets.
I just dropped Kelly at the airport, bringing a sad close to a very enjoyable weekend. We saw a bunch of bloggers Friday night at the Inwood, which meant Kelly had a good opportunity to share embarassing stories about my life circa 1997-2000. Other weekend highlights (sorry, my connection is too slow to dig up links): a trip to Fort Worth for the Stockyards and the Amon Carter Museum, seeing Sexy Beast at the newly opened Magnolia Theater on Lemmon, heading to the Meridian Room, the wonders of weekend brunch (at the Dream Cafe and Nuevo Leon), and too much gelato.

To those of you interested in meeting up tonight: Kelly and I will be at the Inwood Lounge (the one inside the Inwood Theater on Lovers Lane) shortly before 9 p.m. tonight. We’d love to see you there. We may move on to other locales as the night progresses, so if you want to catch up with us later, you might call me on my cell phone. Hope to see you all tonight.

Today’s must read: Go here and scroll down to the Harvard Magazine obituary for one Erik Humphrey Gordon, who died “from complications of injuries sustained in a ballooning accident outside Brussels,” leaving behind, among others, “a beloved pet monkey, Cher.”
Then check out this explanation from the (very alive) Mr. Gordon. (This has been making the email rounds, but it’s too good not to share with whole world.)

My friend and fellow blogger Kelly is coming to visit tomorrow and she’s expressed interest in meeting some of the dfwbloggers who she keeps hearing about and/or reading in my comments. So: who’s up for a mini-blogger dinner/movie/something Friday night? Lemme know. (It could be a rare chance to get some pre-Dallas Josh dish.)
In other site news, the CD Mix of the Month project continues. If you want in for this cycle — and you know you do — get your mix done by Jan. 16, the night of the happy hour. Bring your mixes there if you can make it; drop them in the mail otherwise. For full details, check the project page.
In music news, blowhard-for-the-ages Cornel West had released a CD (!) and shown his usual self-deprecation: “In all modesty, this project constitutes a watershed moment in musical history.”

You know, I really don’t think I can blame the Arizona Republic for not running this editorial cartoon about Dave Thomas. Very poor taste. (Particularly since the man died of liver cancer, not choking on a spicy chicken sandwich.)

It’s that time of year again: You have until Sunday to make your Bloggies nominations. Be sure to find room for DFWblogs as Best Weblog Directory. My nods for Weblog of the Year go to The Morning News (whose server appears to have melted), BoingBoing, World New York, and Looka.

Male anchors react to the “Is Paula Zahn Sexy?” crisis sweeping the nation:
Bob Schieffer of CBS: “I’ve always wanted to be a sex symbol, but I never seem to get very far with it.”
Chris Matthews of MSNBC: “If somebody called me sexy, I would say, ‘You made my day.’ I would also find it odd.”
Dan Rather of CBS: “I’d feel good about it, but I’d also say that stuff’s all right as long as you don’t inhale. Right behind that, I’d say: ‘If I’m really sexy, how come no one has called me to play James Bond? I’m available.’ ”

Am I the only one who think the “rink rage” hockey-dad killer should be sent to prison just for naming his kid Quinlan Junta? Sounds like a military coup launched by a former resident of the NYT op-ed page.

Oh, and here’s my story in today’s paper. (My TXCN appearance went okay; twice got caught up in blabbering on, but nothing too outrageous, at least by my low standards.)

When I moved to Dallas in 2000, I was mightily disappointed with what the radio dial offered up. Crap, crap, crap, leavened only occasionally with lesser crap. The only station that seemed bearable was Merge Radio 93.3, which played the usual radio-ready adult-alternative dreck (yeah, Creed, I’m looking at you), but mixed in some older stuff (early R.E.M., Replacements) often enough to make it work on those occasions that public radio becomes too dull for words.
So yesterday, during a Krys Villasenor snorefest asking listeners to call in with their favorite local community theater troupes (zzzzz), I flipped over to 93.3. And I heard Poison’s “Every Rose Has Its Thorn,” perhaps the most mawkishly mockable power ballad of the 1980s. I thought: “Heh — I guess some DJ has a sense of humor.” But then came an AC/DC song. Then “Purple Haze.” I started to get the idea something serious was going wrong here.
Then came the station promo: I realized I was no longer listening to “Merge Radio.” I was listening to “The New 93.3, The Bone.” The Bone. I doubt they’re trying to target the paleontologist niche market; I’m sure the bone in question is more pants-based. Every third word out of the DJ’s mouth was “bone” — “Coming soon, the Bone-a-thon! We’ll rock you to the bone! No bones about it! Tell your friends, so you don’t bone alone!” The web site prominently features the “Bone Babes.” (Their official tagline, seemingly designed for the slow learners in the audience, is “rock that rocks.”)
I haven’t checked lately, but was there a shortage of Aerosmith on the radio dial? Were there people sitting in traffic, fondling their gun racks, saying, “Man, I sure could use a little Whitesnake right about now, but damn it, there are no radio stations that will cater to my interests! If only there were a 17th classic rock station in the market!” Don’t get me wrong: I hold no grudge against Robert Plant. But come on, help me out here: any of you DFW types know of a good station I’m missing?