"Gasland" event/screening at Texas Theater

All the news lately about hydraulic fracturing makes us wish some comedy show would do a parody of The Beverly Hillbillies in modern times. Until Saturday Night Live thinks of it, imagine this opening theme song...

Come and listen to a story 'bout a guy named Jed
He didn't strike oil, but he found some gas instead
He sold his mineral rights and got a little money
And now his tap water's actin' kinda funny.

(Cut to Jed, setting tap water on fire):

Jed: "Weeellll doggy!"

But seriously, folks, the frackers are coming to Dallas. They've already applied for permits to drill near residential neighborhoods and the usual "pro-business" types are ready to welcome them with open arms. It's time to get educated and ask some questions before they start drilling near you!

WHAT: Screening of Gasland followed by Q & A with film director Josh Fox (by Skype), Robert Wilonsky of the Dallas Observer and local activists.

WHEN: Wednesday, June 29th, doors open at 7:00 with screening at 7:30.

WHERE: Texas Theater, 231 West Jefferson, Dallas

HOW MUCH $8.50/$7.50 senior. Enter to win free screening tickets at Dallas Observer event page

Norma's Cafe Turns 55

This week in restaurant news, all the buzz surrounded the opening of a new In-N-Out Burger, the first one in Dallas. "In and Out" is an appropriate name for a restaurant in Dallas--most come and go faster than we can get out to try them. In fact, the location of In-N-Out at North Central and Caruth is the former home of another burger place, Steak 'n Shake, which opened to similar hype a few years ago. We actually got to go there a couple of times before it went "out." The burgers were great--but c'mon, really. How hard is it to make a good hamburger? A burger's a burger--all the rest is marketing.

Yesterday, we went out for lunch to a restaurant with real staying power, Norma's Cafe, which celebrated its 55th birthday by giving customers a good meal at 1956 prices. We went with friends, who suggested skipping breakfast and heading out to Norma's at 10:15. What a good idea that was! The place was already packed when we got there, so while we waited for a table we entertained ourselves by watching a news crew setting up to interview Ed Murphy, who's owned the restaurant since 1986.

As we were seated, we watched the line grow outside the window. Not quite the traffic jam expected for In-n-Out, but this event wasn't widely publicized, either. You have to be "in the know" to get in on this good deal. We got pretty good service for a crowded day; the efficient wait staff was there to take our order within minutes of our being seated. James ordered the chicken and dressing plate, Linda decided on the meatloaf, and our friends both got Norma's famous chicken fried steak. To be honest, the meal wasn't the most incredible food we'd ever eaten, but it was good enough, especially at $1.79 a plate (which included generous portion of meat with 2 sides, and a huge basket of cornbread and rolls).

If you like good home cooked food at a restaurant that's here to stay, check out the original Norma's next time you're in the 'Cliff. (There are two other area locations, one in Farmer's Branch and one on Dallas Parkway in North Dallas). When you visit, be sure to get on the email list for an exclusive invitation to next year's birthday bash, as well as the celebrations of "National Pie Day" and other food related events throughout the year.

For a video of Norma's birthday bash, check out this report from TXA 21 News: Norma's Cafe on TXA 21.

UPDATE: For an eyewitness account of the traffic jam at In-N-Out, check out this story by reporter Michael Samples at Dallas Business Journal: Kicked out of line at the In-N-Out.

Great minds think alike

In today's Dallas Morning News, we were surprised to see the words "Real Dallas" on the Viewpoints page. The writer, Ben Fountain, highlighted Oak Cliff in his article, featuring the newly remodeled Kessler Theater.

The Dallas Morning News has its article behind subscription firewall, and those with subscriptions can see the article at this link: Forget the Ewings — Kessler Theater is a real Dallas treasure (the headline in the print edition, which caught our attention, said "The Real Dallas").

If you don't have a subscription to Dallas Morning News, you can read the article in its entirety without a firewall at The New York Times: Not J.R.’s Kind of Town.

Thank you, Ben Fountain, for carrying the Real Dallas message to the world!

NBC 5 responds to James' email

James emailed NBC 5 yesterday, taking them to task for the story on Soda Gallery, complaining that the media only mentions Oak Cliff if they have something bad to report.

Today, he received the following response:

Thank you for emailing nbcdfw.com.

As a Cliff Dweller myself, I understand your point. I shared the email with Ellen (the reporter) as well as the producers. I'm sorry for the oversight.

Shannon Hammel
Managing Editor
NBC5, Dallas Fort Worth

So there you go, Cliff Dwellers! If you see this bias on TV or in the paper, take the time to phone or email. Maybe, one day, they'll get it right.

Soda Gallery featured on NBC 5

Last night, NBC 5 ran a piece on one of our favorite places, Soda Gallery in the Bishop Arts District. If you're looking for a specialty soda, like real ginger ale that doesn't wimp out on ginger, or that special soda that "they just don't make anymore," check out Soda Gallery. If it's still around, Tony Font can track it down and get it for you.

The NBC 5 report on Soda Gallery highlighted the sodas with real sugar, which consumers are seeking out, now that we're getting educated about avoiding high fructose corn syrup. Soda connoisseurs claim that real sugar tastes better, too, giving the soda a cleaner taste than the heavy corn syrup--and don't even get them started on artificial sweetner! Real soda, real sugar, 28 kinds of Root Beer, and real Dublin Dr. Pepper can all be found at Soda Gallery.

Soda Gallery also features comic books and art, hence the "gallery" part of its name. On the first Thursday of every month, Soda Gallery hosts Dr. Sketchy’s Anti-Art School mini drawing session. Artists are invited to bring their sketch pads and try some cartoon art, and anyone is welcome to watch the art being created.

The only thing that ticked us off NBC 5's report is that they didn't give credit to Oak Cliff for having such a cool store. Several times during the report, they called it "Dallas." This is a huge pet peeve of ours, as well as other residents of Oak Cliff--we never get credit for the good stuff. The only time they mention Oak Cliff on the news is anytime something bad happens south of I-30. Then, they call it "Oak Cliff," even when the incident happens miles from here. The news is always announcing that some horrible thing happened in "Oak Cliff," and we fall for it every time, running to the TV to see the gunman, robber, child snatcher, or whatever, who's loose in our neighborhood. Then, we see the name of the street where the horrible thing happened, and it's some street we've never heard of before. We get out the map, find out it's someplace far away, like near the border of Duncanville, and call the media again. "That's South Dallas," we explain to the geographically challenged media, "Not Oak Cliff." But it does no good.

My joke about that type of reporting is that at least it keeps out the riff-raff--developers who want to fill every street corner with big box retail stores and chain restaurants. Oak Cliff is safe haven for artists, entrepreneurs, and cool independent retail stores like Soda Gallery, just as long as we can keep convincing the "slash and burn" developers that Oak Cliff is too dangerous and they shouldn't come here!