kevin

• 3 years ago
  kevin's comment on:

  Dallas has 2 of the top 20 country radio stations in the U.S.

  Very easy reason, Blair. If my experiences in DC are any indication, most northern cities will have only one major country station, so the market doesn't fragment among several stations. What would be interesting to see is the total share of all country stations in DFW versus one of the northern markets you cite.

• 3 years, 1 month ago
  kevin's comment on:

  Country rocks

  Yes Chad, they're (we're) all rednecks.

• 3 years, 1 month ago
  kevin's comment on:

  Trinity Hall

  I'd say it's a great place to meet your future wife on your first date. :)

• 3 years, 1 month ago
  kevin's comment on:

  Dallas Stars v. Gary Glitter

  Regardless of whether the Stars are supporting Glitter financially by playing the song (fortunately it appears the answer is no),he song is so cliche by now. I'd much rather have a song that was more uniquely ours rather than just play the same song that every other professional and college team in the country plays. Well, except the NFL anymore, thankfully.

• 3 years, 1 month ago
  kevin's comment on:

  New Interview: The Killdares

  Hey, that's me in the background! My first video!

  I hadn't really been exposed to The Killdares before they visited our offices, but I have to agree that they are incredible. I've already given "Any Given Element" several plays and it keeps getting better each time.

• 3 years, 1 month ago
  kevin's comment on:

  Johnny Lloyd Rollins live videos

  As the Beatles>Stones guy in the office, I have to agree with you on the assessment . . . and obviously I like the CD as well. This CD, the new one from Jayson Bales -- it's been a good week for new releases by local artists.

• 3 years, 1 month ago
  kevin's comment on:

  CD Review: Jayson Bales & The Revival's Cruel & Unusual

  I agree wholeheartedly with Blair. I've given the CD a couple of listen-tos myself and it is easily one of the best CDs I've heard all year.

• 3 years, 1 month ago
  kevin's comment on:

  An Open Letter to Kinky Friedman

  As I said above, it is a general impression I have of West as well as of a great number of members, R and D, of the Texas Legislature that I have formed from watching the Legislature from afar over the years.

• 3 years, 1 month ago
  kevin's comment on:

  An Open Letter to Kinky Friedman

  Grampa, I just want to make clear that you're not claiming that Wynne is looking for Kinky to throw in the towel because he's buying into the claims being made that he is a racist.

  Juliro, I would be careful about overstating the effect such ads, if they do run, would have on black-on-white relations in Dallas, as their resulting in violence seems an impossibility to me even in a worst-case scenario, but obviously I'll remain very interested to see if they do run in Dallas, and how Bell reacts as a result. If we're lucky, there will be no money to run the ads, or better yet, these ads may never even be recorded.

  And Alan: Hey what can I say? You got me. If the establishment media believes that an insider like West wouldn't be a hack, then whom am I as a mere citizen to have an honest difference of opinion?

• 3 years, 1 month ago
  kevin's comment on:

  An Open Letter to Kinky Friedman

  Personal opinion based on observing him over a number of years. Don't worry, Alan, this isn't any particular picking on West, as I'm pretty liberal when it comes to members of the Texas Legislature whom I'll call that name. :)

• 3 years, 1 month ago
  kevin's comment on:

  An Open Letter to Kinky Friedman

  My personal opinion is that West is already a typical partisan hack, regardless of whether these ads run, so I will call him that "name" in any event. And if these ads are as suggested above, it will signal a clear attempt by Democratic operatives that they will clearly be distorting decades-old comic routines to scare many of their core voters into thinking that a man, who by nearly all accounts is anything but a racist, is in fact racist. And if these ads run and Bell doesn't disassociate himself from them, I will have all the information I need to stay with Kinky.

• 3 years, 1 month ago
  kevin's comment on:

  An Open Letter to Kinky Friedman

  Thanks, hardg23. Such ads, if and when they air, will do nothing for me other than assure that I will no longer consider switching from Kinky to Bell. If Bell is going to run as a common-sense centrist but allows partisan hacks like West to do his racially-charged dirty work for him, then screw him.

• 3 years, 1 month ago
  kevin's comment on:

  An Open Letter to Kinky Friedman

  Juliro, thanks for your follow-up comments and clarification of your earlier post. Seems to me that, although we probably have differing ideologies -- I am much more of a libertarian with conservative leanings on economic and security issues -- we share a desire to see some change in Austin and to get rid of Perry. And though I am a mere "casual observer" in this race, I have more than enough experience in politics to have a clear understanding of what sort of mud is being flung by the worker-bee gnats of the Republican and Democratic parties.

  Speaking of which, you refer to some vicious ads that you believe will soon be launched by local Democrats, Royce West in particular, and presumably against Kinky. Any chance you could elaborate on what you know?

• 3 years, 1 month ago
  kevin's comment on:

  An Open Letter to Kinky Friedman

  "Why the hell not" is Kinky's official campaign slogan, meant to inspire potential voters to think beyond the confines of the typical two-party political structure when making their choice for governor.

  "Elect me" is my personal shorthand for the political philosophy for a woman who has done nothing, other than repeatedly getting married and divorced, over the course of her political career besides run for office and then immediately begin plotting her run for the next highest office, all the while only adopting for her personal political philosophy of the moment that which is most suited for her next campaign. For an example, see her current strong opposition to the Trans-Texas Corridor. Though I strongly agree with her on this issue, I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that the only reason she is against the TTC is that Perry is for it.

  That's the difference.

• 3 years, 1 month ago
  kevin's comment on:

  An Open Letter to Kinky Friedman

  As a random aside on this thread, is there ANYONE who can tell me why they're voting for Strayhorn? I haven't met anyone who is considering voting for her. She strikes me as being 100% opportunistic, without any sort of discernable political philosophy other than "elect me". It's hard for me to trust any politician who's had as many party affiliations as husbands, but maybe that's just me.

• 3 years, 1 month ago
  kevin's comment on:

  An Open Letter to Kinky Friedman

  Sparselogic, I think when Wynne wrote "Bush Baby," I'm pretty sure he's referring to Perry (as Bush's successor) and not to Bush, so I'm not sure he has the "bigger plans" that you're inferring.

• 3 years, 1 month ago
  kevin's comment on:

  An Open Letter to Kinky Friedman

  That, shetexan, is what I'm talking about. Very well-put.

  Question for you, though: how in the world do you convince Bell to throw his support behind Kinky and not the other way around? Or do you think it's possible for Kinky to win even if Bell and Strayhorn stay in? Seems to me that, in a still heavily-Republican state that allows staight-ticket voting, it will be virtually impossible for Perry to fall much below 38%-40%, even with a four-candidate race and with very little love for Perry, to say the least, even among Republican die-hards. How do you get someone else besides Kinky to throw in the towel?

• 3 years, 1 month ago
  kevin's comment on:

  An Open Letter to Kinky Friedman

  PS: I would put the accusations of racism being thrown at Kinky by Bell and his allies as being in the juvenile camp as well, to slightly amend what I said earlier about not having seen anything as bad out of his camp as I see from the three Kinky supporters above. And it's stereotypical partisan hackery like that from Bell that will make it tough for me to move over as I decide where to cast my anti-Perry vote. But really, Kinky, with friends like these...

• 3 years, 1 month ago
  kevin's comment on:

  An Open Letter to Kinky Friedman

  ... as to how Perry can be defeated through Bell throwing his support behind Kinky and not the other way around.

  And I say all this as someone who's proudly had a Kinky Friedman doll on his desk for nearly a year now, despite the intra-office mockery I get for playing with dolls.

• 3 years, 1 month ago
  kevin's comment on:

  An Open Letter to Kinky Friedman

  My lord, julior, LinkLemaster, and nicolrenee, I can't believe what I'm reading from you three.

  Shannon Wynne posts his opinion, calling Kinky a "masterful megaphone for all that is wrong in Austin," but just because he believes that the best way to defeat Perry is to consolidate behind one candidate, and he believes that candidate to be Bell, you three in turn call him "a quitter and a coward" (julior), a "moron" (LinkLemaster), and "part of the problem" and, most unbelievably, a "traitor" (nicolrenee). How in heaven's name do you three Kinky supporters think you're going to win over undecided voters, or keep wavering anti-Perry pro-Kinky voters like me from jumping ship, if you keep on engaging in this sort of junvenile name-calling?

  I thought one of the most important ideas behind the Kinky candidacy was to rise above this sort of pettiness. Yet as soon as someone writes a column that is, in fact, pro-Kinky on a personal level, regardless of his opinion that Kinky needs to withdraw to aid the defeat of Perry -- a very rational opinion from which reasonable and mature minds can disagree -- you three engage in the sort of childish retorts that are worse than anything I've seen from the Perry, Bell or Strayhorn camps.

  Instead of calling someone a "traitor to this state in country," which is unbelievably unnecessary and inflammatory language -- really, nicolrenee, you're saying that Wynee has aided and abetted the enemies of this country?!? -- why don't you try and constructively make your case . . .

• 3 years, 1 month ago
  kevin's comment on:

  An Open Letter to Kinky Friedman

  Mike, I think the real fairy tale here would be the Democrat bowing out of the race and throwing his support to the indy candidate.

• 3 years, 1 month ago
  kevin's comment on:

  An Open Letter to Kinky Friedman

  If Trista really wrote that coming out of the Bell campaign, then she ain't too bright.

• 3 years, 1 month ago
  kevin's comment on:

  An Open Letter to Kinky Friedman

  Jeremy, to be clear, I was using "chief executive" in its general sense and not what may or may not be its precise meaning within Texas politics.

  Whether or not the governor of Texas is technically the state's "chief executive" is not important to me; what is important is the ability to set an agenda, as you point out. As in command of the issues as Bell may be on a wonkish side, I have been disappointed to hear make a couple of appeals in commercials that seem out of the typical Democrat playbook rather than more common-sense appeals to the vast majority of the Texas electorate. I tend to believe that Kinky would be able to articulate those common-sense and less stereotypical R or D appeals than would Bell.

• 3 years, 1 month ago
  kevin's comment on:

  An Open Letter to Kinky Friedman

  Alan, I understand from multiple sources that Bell performed very well and Kinky did not at last week's debate, and I am seriously considering shifting my support from Kinky to Bell, since Bell now seems to have the best chance to beat Perry. And getting rid of that slimy former Aggie cheerleader is my highest priority in the election.

  I'd just be careful saying that being "stong on the issues" is the "most important criteria" for electing a chief executive. Naturally you want someone who understands the issues and is in agreement with you more frequently than not, but if being "strong on the issues" were the primary criteria for electing an executive, you could go elect any old policy wonk who knows the issues inside and out. We know that's not wise. I would say the ability to lead, clearly and decisively, is a more important criteria for choosing a chief executive. I'm not quite yet convinced that Bell is that leader. He comes off a bit too wonkish to me. And I'm sure I'm just seeing it through the eyes of my Kinky doll, but I still sense a bit more of a leader who cut through the garbage in Kinky.

  This all begs the question, though: why haven't we heard any reports of Kinky or Bell trying to get Grandma to drop out? She loathes Perry and would seem to be the most likely candidate among the three challengers to try and thwart Perry any way she could.

• 3 years, 2 months ago
  kevin's comment on:

  Things you hear around the TexasGigs office

  What I actually heard him say was that it was Michael Bolton with Celine Dion opening.

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