Posted on October 26, 2007 at 10:33 a.m.

In addition to TXU's givings, two of the individuals listed are former high ranking TXU Officers. Think TXU (sorry - Energy Future Holdings Corp.) has a dog in this hunt, much?

http://www.txucorp.com/media/newsrel/...

http://www.dallaschamber.org/news/Nye...

On Trinity referendum: Who funded the campaigns?

Posted on August 21, 2007 at 3:58 p.m.

If you experience what you consider unethical or errant conduct by your retail electric provider, you should consider filing a formal complain with the PUC:

http://www.puc.state.tx.us/ocp/compla...

On UPDATED: Oh, TXU. Shame on you.

Posted on July 17, 2007 at noon

Damn The Man...! Except when there's a paycheck involved, I guess...

Seriously, way to go and best of luck. And thanks for supporting local music, among other things.

On News about Pegasus News: Domesticated but not fixed

Posted on February 2, 2007 at 1:31 p.m.

Two items of interest from the Texas Music Academy's ("sanctioning" body of the Texas Music Awards) website (http://www.mytexasmusic.com/ ):

• Only performers who are members of the Academy are eligible

• 3rd sentence found on http://www.mytexasmusic.com/ : "In an effort to insure high standards..." "Insuring" high standards should begin by using spell check...

Not trying to deminish the nominies, but sceptical of the organization/process...

On Texas Music Awards announces nominees

Posted on August 31, 2006 at 2:36 p.m.

Thanks for the love... and yes, I'll submit a copy to http://texasgigs.com for a review... but not until after I strap on my battle armor! : )

On JD Whittenburg putting the finishing touches on his new album

Posted on August 31, 2006 at 2:33 p.m.

I'll be backed by a band, but not Trainwreck... really not that important, but wanted to clear that up.

Hey, Hopper... looks like they got it right to me, fella!

-JD

p.s. thanks for the promo.

On Collin Herring / Travis Hopper / The Dirt Blazers / JD Whittenburg

Posted on August 21, 2006 at 12:45 p.m.

One last comment... as it is important to my point above to highlight the fact that http://finelinelive.com did NOT "post a harsh review of SZ". The review was a USER COMMENT. The user's screen name was "Val’s friend Danny," NOT Amanda or Cindy. http://finelinelive.com simply asked users, in this one particular case, to review this album. First one to do so got some silly prize or somesuch... thus the "winner" headline. ...just trying to keep our facts straight...

And while, I have played a show with the band reviewed on http://texasgigs.com, I certainly have no loyalties to them (though I do like the album). My beef was with the tone (spiteful) and methods (ridicule) used in the review. I read negative reviews all the time (received a couple myself...) But, as I stated earlier, most keep the punches above the belt.

However, thanks to your explanations and the disclaimer added to the review since our discussion began, I now know to approach reviews on this site with lowered expectations, as any user may contribute without editorial oversight. I did not previously know this was the case. (...and that is not meant to be a stab at you... the curators of the site.)

On Reviewing reviews and the long-tail of news

Posted on August 21, 2006 at 10:01 a.m.

I appreciate your response to my comments and the explanation you provide as to the purpose of http://texasgigs.com and processes the site employs.

However, I find it somewhat ironic (and misguided) that you link to http://www.finelinelive.com to suggest that the authors of that site encourage harsh reviews (you should probably be aware of this fact since you previously had a working relationship with Cindy). http://FineLineLive.com purposefully avoids negative reviews and sticks to reviewing only those albums the authors enjoy. This is thier approach. It's what works for them.

In fact, the link you provide to this site is the one case that I am aware of in which http://finelinelive.com resorts to the http://texasgigs.com method of inviting user feedback on a particular album. It so happened that the feedback was negative (and rightly so, in my opinion).

If you look at the history of that particular post, you'll find that the band in question came dubiously close to threatening the authors of http://finelinelive.com for having not reviewed thier album in an acceptable timeframe, saying, " i’ve bleedin’ had it w/the two of you. not to be forgotten!!!”".

Best of luck in your endeavors...

On Reviewing reviews and the long-tail of news

Posted on August 21, 2006 at 9:34 a.m.

"You're right about the need to post the explanation of how our reviews are written and by whom. That is our practice and had been inadvertantly left off this review. I added it yesterday."

Had the disclaimer not been left off the page, I most likely would have not had much to say regarding this review, other than, "I've given this album several listens and I've enjoyed it..."

On CD Review: Eastwood's Die Tryin'

Posted on August 19, 2006 at 12:33 a.m.

This isn't the first time I've seen you guys feel the need to defend your review "process." Accordingly, it might behoove you and the integrity of http://texasgigs.com to explicity and prominently state somewhere on your site that "ANYONE in the TexasGigs community" (which should probably be defined) has the ability to post a "review".

I was under the impression that the http://texasgigs.com "organization" was a media outlet staffed by bloggers/writers with a desire to be taken seriously, rather than a message board (of sorts) that allows anyone to comment on a genre, album, issue, etc...

I was not necessarily offended by this reveiw, as I realize opinions differ, but was rather dissapointed with the lack of journalistic approach. Aside from my highschool newspaper, I can't recall the last time I saw an album review published in a legitamate publication (print or web) resort to ridicule to make it's point. To do so goes beyond criticizm and, as I stated previously, borders on vindictiveness. But, I suppose http://texasgigs.com now espouses this the type of behavior (either directly or indirectly) in it's effort to support it's policy to allow "writers" to freely express their opinions.

You know, editorial oversight does not necessarily infringe upon a writer's ability to express an opinion... it just makes for a better, more professional publication. Those running this site should perhaps that this into consideration.

Meanwhile, there are a plethora of websites out there one can resort to for the opinions of their "user community."

Please note that I am approaching this subject not as a musician, but rather as a music fan and longtime (since it's inception) peruser of http://texasgigs.com.

On CD Review: Eastwood's Die Tryin'