Blitz June 2015

THE ROLLING STONES RETURN TO DALLAS

YOUR GUIDE TO

SUMMER FASHION

JOSH HAMILTON HE’S B-A-A-A-C-K!

TIME TO KICK THE BUCKET STEVEN DOYLE HAS YOUR GO-TO LIST FOR FRIED CHICKEN

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SMARTER, SHARPER MEN

VOL. 8 - ISSUE 5

VOL. 8 - ISSUE 5

JUNE 2015

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JUNE 2015

VOL. 8 - ISSUE 5

2015

JU N E

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Blitz

INTELLIGENCE

5 He’s B-a-a-a-c-k!

Josh Hamilton is a Texas Ranger again.

Will his bat make a difference for the remainder of this season?

7 MLB to Nashville?

Baseball has roots in the Music City and there is a serious possibility that MLB could have a franchise there soon.

10 This Could Be the Last Time The Stones arrived with the British Invasion in the 60s, they’re still touring and remain relevant to this day. Here’s why.

Brand Development and Creative Marketing 469-877-1533

16 Kick the Damn Bucket Love fried chicken? They’re are many versions of this American food staple and Steven Doyle knows all the hot spots.

info@culture-hype.com

18 Weekend Wardrobe 101 Summer is here and it’s time to step up your weekend style with these items.

Publisher and Editor Staff Photographers Kelly G. Reed John Breen, Dominic Ceraldi, Jarrod Fresquez, Michael Kolch, Features Director Rick Leal, Sandy McAnally Amber LaFrance Staff Writers Peter Gerstenzang, Keysha Hogan, Pop Culture Editor Martin Iheke, Frank LaCosta, Ethan Harmon Lance LeVan, Chris Sick Sports Editor Contributing Lance Rinker Photographers/Artists Luca Bruno, Dominic Ceraldi, Copy Chief Mario Escherle, Aubry Roach, Mark Miller Tim Rogers, Alan Sculley, Jim Summaria, yausser Creative Director Contributing Writers Jette Stephens Sarah Badran, Steven Doyle, Andrew J. Hewett, Patrick Malone, Photo Editor Bryan Murphy, Meredith Rimmer, Darryl Briggs Alan Sculley, Chris Sick

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VOL. 8 - ISSUE 5

JUNE 2015

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HE’S B-A-A-A-C-K! UFC 188 Preview

BY LANCE LEVAN – @LANCELEVAN1 Ultimate Fight Championship 188 is being held in Mexico City, Mexico, on Saturday, June 13. This is going to be a very good fight card. The top three fights are going to be serious battles. All of these fights have the makings for “Fight of the Night” potential.

(C) Cain Velasquez (13-1-0) vs. (No. 1) Fabricio “Val Cavalo” Werdum (19-5-1)

Darryl Briggs

Can Josh Hamilton Help the Rangers Return to the Promised Land?

H

BY MARK MILLER – @MARKMYWORDSTEX is blue jersey still has the same number 32 on his back. The long, looping swing from his glory days remains. The hustle more reminiscent of his early years seems to have returned.

Yes, Josh Hamilton is happy to once again be a Texas Ranger following two mediocre seasons with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. After missing all of spring training because of right shoulder surgery and a trade back to his former team when an arbiter ruled the Angels couldn’t suspend him for self-reporting an off-field incident, he spent two weeks on rehabilitation assignments with the Round Rock Express and Frisco RoughRiders. That followed 10 days of extended spring training in Arizona.

Though he started slow with four hits in 19 at-bats with Round Rock, he went on a tear with Frisco (9 for 16). He had four hits his first game in Frisco, went 3-for-3 with a double and three runs scored in his third game, then followed the next day with his first home run in a game that started at 11:05 a.m.

“It felt good,” he said of the first-pitch blast off Midland’s Jake Sanchez in the seventh inning. “I woke up.

Those 11 o’clock games…”

He had three hits in nine at-bats in his final two games back in Round Rock for a .363 overall rehab average.

That was enough for the Rangers to call him up to play in Cleveland on Memorial Day. “When I say I’m glad to be back playing, I’m glad to be back playing. I don’t care where I play,” he said.

“Eventually I’ll be where I want to be but I keep going out there.”

Hamilton and the Rangers worked together to determine when he was ready to jump to the big club.

“In the past, I would have forced the issue to get back but I’m not forcing the issue now,” he said. “I’m trying to grow up a little bit.”

Part of that growing up was helping teach the younger players the right way to approach the game – whether they like it or not.

“As a veteran you come down and see certain things, you don’t blow them up in front of their teammates but you talk to them about things because guys did that for me and it’s only right I do the same thing,” he said. “There are a lot of talented guys but you want to see them do things the right way. It goes a long way.”

This is going to be a five-round heavyweight (265 pounds) title fight. A lot of fans have been waiting to see this one. Everyone likes to see the champion fight the No. 1 contender. It comes down to the two biggest kids on the block…sooner or later, they have to fight. Both of these fighters are powerful strikers. Both have black belts in BJJ. Cain also has a brown belt in Guerrilla Jiu Jitsu and was a former National Collegiate Athletic Association Division 1 wrestler. Werdum in addition to his 2nd degree black belt in BJJ, has a black belt in Judo, and a black belt in Muay Thai. Cain’s ground-and-pound is legendary. Even though both of these giants are very comfortable on the ground, I am willing to bet that they both try to keep this fight standing.

They both feel that they have the better striking ability. Velasquez is the more powerful striker, but Werdum is a more skilled and technical striker.

I would sincerely enjoy seeing this match go to the ground though. I would like to see who is the better overall grappler. I wonder if Cain will try and use his wrestling to get Fabricio to the ground or if he will use his size to try and keep things standing.

Velasquez’s pure aggression and violence once in a dominant position is something that most fighters have not figured out how to compensate for. I think if Werdum can keep his distance and pick the champion apart with precision striking, he’ll have a good chance. But if he gets into a toe-to-toe brawl with Cain, Velasquez will have the upper hand.

My prediction: Velasquez wins via TKO in the third round.

(No. 4) Gilbert “El Nino” Melendez (22-4-0) vs. (No. 10) Eddie “The Silent Assassin” Alvarez (25-4-0)

a skilled submission artist. Over 20 percent of his fights have been won by submission. Both of these fighters are very fast, so if I were you, I wouldn’t get up during the fight. It could be over in the blink of an eye. If I have to choose a victor in this match, I am going to have to go with the fighter who has more experience in the Octagon. My prediction: Melendez wins unanimous decision.

(No. 10) Kelvin Gastelum (11-1-0) vs. Nate “The Great” Marquardt (36-14-2) This is a three-round middleweight (185 pounds) fight. I have very strong opinions about both of these fighters. Anything in this paragraph is purely my opinion, for those fans who don’t like it, too bad. Gastelum was ordered to move up from welterweight (170 pounds) to middleweight because he kept failing to make weight for UFC fights. Dana White finally got tired of that crap and pushed him up to 185 pounds. I hope that he can actually make weight this time without too much trouble. The last fight where Gastelum missed weight, he missed weight by 10 pounds.

Not half a pound, or two pounds or five. But 10 whole pounds. Believe it or not, I really like Kelvin.

He’s a great guy, very humble, takes time to talk to his fans, and puts on an excellent show when he fights. But I have no tolerance for missing weight.

Marquardt is an awesome fighter, depending on which of his personalities shows up on fight night.

Sometimes we see the Nate that is a dominant, force-to-be reckoned with, trained killing machine that cannot be stopped. Other times, we see the Nate who is seemingly unsure of his abilities, doesn’t attack, and sits back trying to win the fight by “not losing.” That makes for a very dull, boring fight for the fans. These fighters are going to make it very difficult for me to choose a winner. If Kelvin makes weight without cutting a million pounds the day of the fight, then I think he has the tools and the ability to easily win this fight. But that also depends on which Nate shows up. IF Kelvin makes weight AND “killer” Nate shows up on fight night, then we will have an awesome match up. If not, then I have no earthly idea who is going to win.

My prediction: Gastelum wins by TKO in the third round.

Most likely the numbers will fall somewhere in between. But whatever Hamilton produces, joining Prince Fielder and Adrian Beltre should, if all are healthy, create a formidable 3-4-5 lineup that is bound to improve the Rangers’ offense.

This is going to be a three-round lightweight (155 pounds) fight. I am kind of torn on this match-up.

I like both of these warriors and they are both great fighters. They both come from a wrestling background, so they are both comfortable on the mat. But, again, I think that these guys are going to want to slug it out, standing. Melendez always puts on a good show and Alvarez always comes to win.

Melendez is a black belt in BJJ under Cesar Gracie.

I am not sure of Alvarez’s BJJ background, but he is

Would such a lineup put the Rangers back into playoff contention? Not by itself since Hamilton can’t improve the pitching staff and can only help the defense somewhat. But with it unlikely the Houston Astros will keep up their strong play and the rest of the division being average, you never know.

Disagree with me about the UFC 188 matches? Let me know via Twitter @BlitzWeekly and we’ll see who has better picks the night of the fights.

“All I can do is go out there and try to be the player I’m capable of being, be upbeat and energetic and hopefully we can have some fun with the guys,” he said. “If you can do that, the other stuff kind of takes care of itself.”

921 West Mayfield Road • Arlington, TX 76015 (817) 652-1555

Will Hamilton provide offense like his American League Most Valuable Player year in 2010 (.359 batting average 32 home runs, 100 runs batted in for 133 games)? Hardly likely. Can he come close to 2012, his last year with the Rangers (.285 average, 43 home runs, 128 runs batted in)? Doubtful. Should we expect a repeat of his two disappointing seasons in California (a combined .257, 31 HR, 123 RBI in 240 games)? Possibly.

PRESENTED BY THE GYM WWW.BLITZWEEKLY.COM

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JUNE 2015

VOL. 8 - ISSUE 5

TIME WAITS FOR NO ONE

Dominic Ceraldi

But, that’s not all. He has already come out and said that if the Mavs were able to snag a guy like Aldridge, he would be willing to even give up his starting spot to take the team’s sixth-man role.

What superstar does that! A possible lineup of Chandler, Aldridge, Parsons, Monta Ellis, Devin Harris/Barea/free agent signee, plus Nowitzki off the bench as a sixth man just about near screams unstoppable.

BY BRYAN MURPHY – @B_MURP15

THERE NEVER WILL be another Dirk Werner Nowitzki.

The list of his prestigious career accolades are endless: 13-time National Basketball Association All-Star, four-time All-NBA First-Team selection, 2006 NBA Three-Point Shootout champion, 2002 FIBA World Cup Most Valuable Player, seventh on the all-time NBA scoring list with 28,119 career points, Dallas Mavericks all-time leading scorer, 2007 NBA regular-season MVP, and of course, 2011 NBA Finals champion and MVP just to name a few.

Although most NBA players won’t even come close to sniffing those kinds of career accomplishments on their retirement resumes, MVP trophies and double-digit All-Star selections aren’t the only things that make the 7-foot power forward from Würzburg, Germany, special.

The Dallas Mavericks’ season recently ended a little earlier than anticipated after being bounced from the first round of the NBA Playoffs by the Houston Rockets in just five games. Nowitzki did all he could in the series, averaging 21.2 points per outing, but it wasn’t enough to propel the injury-stricken Mavs to the second round.

Dirk and the Mavs now head into another long

him a max contract or close to it. Dirk went from a salary of more than $22 million in 2013-14, to just under $8 million this past season. Talk about a team player knowing his best seasons are behind him.

offseason with endless questions regarding next year’s team. Guys like J.J. Barea, Tyson Chandler, and Amar’e Stoudemire just to name a few, are not under contract for next season.

“It’ll be a busy summer again for the franchise,” Dirk said during his exit interviews after concluding the Rockets playoff series. “We’ve obviously got four guys under contract, I think.

But, like always, we’re going to trust (Mavs owner Mark Cuban and president of basketball operations Donnie Nelson) to get the guys back that we had that we liked and get some guys in to make this team better. And we’ll go from there.”

It feels as if the Mavs are constantly attempting to land that “big fish” free agent player each summer who could potentially put Dallas back in serious championship contention. First it was The Colony native Deron Williams who the Mavs failed to snag in free agency. Then, it was Dwight Howard, who chose instate rival Houston Rockets as his new squad over the Mavs and Los Angeles Lakers.

This summer, there are two free agents who could very well be in Mavericks uniforms next

season if the right cards are played. There’s Los Angeles Clippers high-flying center DeAndre Jordan who has openly stated that he would love to play for Cuban and the Mavs back home in his native Texas.

Another Texan who will be highly coveted by many teams around the league, is Dallas native LaMarcus Aldridge. The 6-foot 11-inch Portland Trailblazer is a four-time All-Star and posted a career high in scoring in 2014-15 averaging more than 23 points per contest while snatching 10+ rebounds per game. The only problem is that Aldridge and Nowitzki both play the same position, power forward. Well, that would be a problem if Nowitzki was a young, greedy, selfish, team-killing superstar who didn’t care about winning. Luckily for the Mavs and all of the team’s fans, Dirk is the complete opposite and this is what makes him one of the most selfless and loyal professional athletes on the planet.

Dirk, who turns 37 in June, took a major pay cut last summer so Dallas could bring in younger talent while also not even entertaining other teams like the Lakers who were willing to give

10 K

Looking back on some of the all-time great sixth men in league history, it wouldn’t be ludicrous to predict Dirk being the greatest sixth man of all time if he does indeed end up occupying that role next season. Just about all of these great sixth men like John Havlicek, Jason Terry, Jamal Crawford, Detlef Schrempf, Manu Ginobli, and Toni Kukoc all shined in coming off of the bench for the majority of their careers. The only exceptions are players like Bill Walton who were basically forced to embrace the sixth-man role to due to nagging injuries throughout their later years.

For Dirk, it’s not about nagging injuries or a serious decline in play. He just knows father time is in full effect at this point in his career. Cuban and Nelson are fully aware of that, bringing in Rajon Rondo and Stoudemire mid-season to give the aging Nowitzki another legitimate shot at one more title. Although the Rondo experiment was a failure, that still won’t keep the Mavs from shying away in making even bigger splashes with the roster this summer. When you have a superstar willing to take a back seat for another superstar to come in for the betterment of the team, chemistry will be the last of your team’s worries.

Dirk’s unique style of play that has allowed him to shine in this league even nearing his late 30s and his outstanding commitment and loyalty to one franchise for his entire career are simple reasons in themselves as to why there will never be another Dirk Werner Nowitzki.

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VOL. 8 - ISSUE 5

JUNE 2015

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Underneath the Honky-Tonk Lights Could Nashville Be the New Home to an MLB Franchise?

T

he hot sun begins to set. As the insects start their evening ballad, their buzzing is met with the flashing lights of fireflies dancing in the warm, summer breeze. But it’s not just the bugs that are making noise. Down the road, the music scene is booming.

The honky-tonks are getting rowdy and their music is spilling out onto the streets. The hard twang of steel guitars and banjos is met with the smell of ice-cold beer flowing through the air.

This is Nashville. As soon as the last glimmer of light disappears behind the horizon, the crack of a bat echoes through the all-familiar, local sounds and smells, followed by the deafening cheers of a screaming crowd and an explosion of fireworks.

The Tennessee Shiners just hit a three-run home run to take the lead over the Atlanta Braves at Jack Daniels Ballpark. The 425-foot home run landed in the upper deck and sent the entire stadium into one unison roar. As the three players were heading back to the dug – wait – the Tennessee Shiners? None of that really happened, but don’t fret Tennesseans. It could all become a real possibility.

Nashville, Tenn., has been on the Major League Baseball hot list for an expansion team for a few years now and even more likely the landing spot of one of the leagues bottom dwellers in attendance (we’re looking at you Tampa). And if MLB was smart, it would pull the trigger on such an idea and here is why.

There are baseball roots in the Music City; roots that date back to the 19th century. Nashville has played host to baseball since the 1860s in a place known as the Sulphur Springs Bottom,

BY PATRICK MALONE – @PATRICK_MALONE the name given to Nashville’s recreational area after the city became the capital. Way back when there was this thing called the Civil War, stationed Union soldiers introduced the game to the local community.

The game was played at the Sulphur Springs Ball Park. The field acquired renovations and name changes throughout the years, including Athletic Park and Sulphur Springs Dell, and eventually was demolished in the late 60s.

Then in 1978, the minor league team the Nashville Sounds was established as part of the Class AA Southern League. Over the years, the Sounds have had multiple partnerships with major league clubs and currently are associated as the Oakland Athletics’ AAA minor league team.

In 2015, the Sounds got a new stadium, First Tennessee Park, which was built on the original site of Sulphur Springs Ball Park.

Hence the city, most notable for its musical roots, also has some of the deepest baseball roots in the country.

Now, let’s look at Nashville’s population.

According to U.S. census quick facts, Tennessee’s 2014 population was more than 6.5 million, and of that total, an estimated 1.73 million belongs to the Music City’s metropolitan area with around 612,000 in the city proper. That’s a lot of numbers to crunch in one breath, but the point is it’s a lot and it’s large.

Nashville also is the second-largest city in the state, behind Memphis, and the fourth largest in the southeast. According to majorleaguenashville.com, 76 percent of the U.S. population lives within 500 miles of Tennessee with six states bordering that

do not have an MLB team. Right there are seven reasons Nashville certainly could support an MLB franchise.

Then there is the argument that Nashville is only about the National Football League Titans, which warrants some merit sure, but it’s not as straightforward a statement as it suggests. First, see the part earlier about baseball since the 19th century. Now, the Titans have sold out every game since moving from Houston. LP Field seats a little more than 68,500 fans in a metropolitan area of 1.73 million. Simple logic dictates that there is plenty of room for more sports teams.

Also, the city wasn’t a hockey town either until 1998. Now, the Predators have some of the most devout hockey fans in hockey – and they sell out games.

The Music City has one of the larger media markets in the U.S. ranking 29th-largest (1.04 million TVs in 2014) in the Nielson ratings. To put that into perspective, Nashville has a similar market to Pittsburgh (1.18 million), Baltimore (1.09 million), San Diego (1.08 million) and even Kansas City (942,000), which rank lower than all the aforementioned cities.

And because of baseball’s antitrust exemption, which Beyond the Box Score says allows MLB to monopolize the baseball market, a decision that has been upheld by the Supreme Court, owners can designate territories for their teams and in doing so keep possible relocaters from moving in too close.

For example, according to J.R. Lind of the City Paper, this was “the biggest speed bump in the Expos-to-D.C. move.” When MLB stepped in to

take over the Expos dismal situation, Baltimore Orioles owner Peter Angelos brought up the “territoriality issue.” MLB had to appease Aneglos by guaranteeing him certain shares of media revenue lost due to sharing a market with another team, to which he eventually agreed.

If a team was to move to Nashville, it would lay claim to Middle Tennessee, without worrying about crossing into the Braves, Cardinals or Reds respective markets and territories. That team would never look back, all the while potentially creating a natural rivalry between each other.

It would seem the most likely and perfect fit for expansion or relocation.

Finally, the last piece to the pie, which of course isn’t necessarily a glaring reason to get a team, but it certainly is the fun part. When Nashville gets a team – and most people speculate it’s only a matter of when and not if – it’s going to need a name; one that represents not only the Music City, but also Tennessee.

Now, anyone can do a quick Google search and find some article with suggested names, but to save time here is a quick list of some of the more notable ones: the Fiddlers, the Stars, the Distillers, the Shiners (moonshiners), the Jacks (named for the state’s own, Jack Daniels), the Tennesseans and the Bandits (like the Raccoon).

There are so many good reasons why Nashville should get a MLB team. From the rich baseball history, the very large metropolitan area just dripping in fans waiting to assimilate and the awesome possibilities to add to a plethora of already great MLB names, nothing could be more certain than this – Nashville it’s your time.

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JUNE 2015

VOL. 8 - ISSUE 5

The Broken Kid: The Story of Lawrence Phillips

BY LANCE RINKER – @LANCEMRINKER

UNTIL RECENTLY, INMATE NO. G31982 led a quiet life inside his stony palace within the confines of California’s Kern Valley State Prison.

This fortress was built to house a maximum of 2,448 men beginning in June 2005, though continued overcrowding of prisons has resulted in this Level IV maximum security institution’s population to swell to an almost unmanageable 4,200 inmates – or more than 170 percent of capacity.

Lawrence Phillips is inmate No. G31982 and currently is being investigated in the strangulation death of a cellmate, while serving a 31-year sentence. But Phillips used to be known as much, much more before life inside a concrete box.

Long before Phillips landed in prison just more than four years ago, he grew up in foster care – and ultimately MacLaren Hall, a juvenile detention center where abuse was rampant according to Carla Rivera of the Los Angeles Times.

It was 1987 when Phillips’ mother, Juanita, invited her boyfriend to live in their Inglewood, Calif., home. Reports surfaced from friends and neighbors that Lawrence and the boyfriend were constantly at odds, with multiple sources stating Lawrence repeatedly was abused by his mother’s boyfriend. Eventually state officials intervened and placed Lawrence in a foster home, but after living there for only two weeks he was transferred to MacLaren Hall – a place where your childhood was stolen from you for the fun of it.

Fortunately, for Lawrence, Barbara Thomas saw something in him and decided to take him into her group home in West Covina.

“I knew sports would give him a chance, so I took him into our home and immediately enrolled him in sports leagues,” Thomas told Lars Anderson in 1995, who was covering Phillips for Sports Illustrated.

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Up to this point Phillips had already had an unusually hard life compared to most kids his age, but he soon emerged as one of the top high school running backs in the nation. He was a bully of a running back with game-changing speed and played well beyond the whistle. Those athletic gifts and killer instinct on the football field is what allowed Phillips to have his pick of nearly any college in the nation.

It was the University of Nebraska he ultimately settled on largely due to how far away it was from his troubled past in California. As a Cornhusker, Phillips established himself as the best running back in the country and proved impossible to bring down singlehandedly on the football field.

During the 1994 season Phillips proved he had no equal on the field by rushing for 1,722 yards, still a record for a sophomore at Nebraska, and scoring 16 touchdowns. Phillips essentially helped Nebraska win the 1994 National Championship on his own.

According to several former Nebraska staff members who were with the team at the time, Phillips’ rage surrounding the traumatic events and abuses towards him early on in life were a best friend on the field – rage that fueled him endlessly sometimes.

responsibilities – most adults go through life able to develop a solid foundation of ways to cope with loss, disappointment, and failure. Phillips wasn’t one to handle any sort of trauma well, nor was he the type of person who could handle letting others down or someone else letting him down.

life in prison without the possibility of parole.

However, according to people still close to Phillips, he’s had a target on his back for being who he is ever since he stepped inside those deadly prison walls.

According to his former coaches, he never was coached in the ways of life and that’s what ultimately became his undoing.

The cellmate, Damion Soward, was found unresponsive in his cell in April and coroner’s officials determined the cause of death was neck compression asphyxia (strangulation). His death has been ruled a homicide.

Phillips’ downward spiral began well before finally landing in prison for battering his live-in

Soward was a well-known gang member from the Inland Empire serving an 82-year-to-life

“I KNEW SPORTS WOULD GIVE HIM A CHANCE, SO I TOOK HIM INTO OUR HOME AND IMMEDIATELY ENROLLED HIM IN SPORTS LEAGUES” girlfriend and then, reportedly, using her vehicle – which he stole – to run over three teenagers who he accused of stealing his belongings after a pick-up football game. Phillips began his descent while he still was an impressionable child, as his life growing up was filled with people who were supposed to care for him and love him abandon him, abuse him, and constantly demonstrating that violence can solve any problem.

sentence in the execution murder of Michael

was a result of self-defense.

In his less than two seasons with the Rams, Phillips was fined more than 50 times for various violations and never seemed to shape up to the expectations beset upon adults and professional athletes.

Officially, Phillips has been locked in a prison cell since 2005 – serving 31 years and four months for convictions that include “inflicting great bodily injury involving domestic violence, corporal injury to spouse, false imprisonment and vehicle theft.” That, of course, is in addition to being convicted of driving that stolen vehicle into those three teenagers.

It’s no surprise Phillips had such a difficult time adjusting to life as an adult, with adult

Fast-forward to today and if Phillips is found guilty of murdering his cellmate, he could face

needed and simply was unable to conquer the

Unfortunately for Phillips, he was not able contain that rage to just the football field.

After declaring for the 1996 National Football League Draft, Phillips was selected sixth overall by the St. Louis Rams but due to off-field issues and an inability to control his emotions he flamed out of the NFL within three seasons.

Fairly, a rival gang member. Phillips was placed in a cell with Soward after having requested to be placed in solitary confinement for his own protection multiple times.

Those familiar with Phillips say he has his demons and a troubled past, but don’t believe he’s a murderer and are convinced the death of Soward The story of Lawrence Phillips is a familiar one for those who grow up in troubled areas, with a serious lack of a support system, and more options and opportunities to make poor decisions than good ones. The story of Phillips is one of a broken child who never got the help he demons that plagued him.

VOL. 8 - ISSUE 5

LEV: Fear No Evil

JUNE 2015

BIO

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Aubry Roach

BY SARAH BADRAN – @BLITZWEEKLY

Electronic-Pop Act is More Than Meets the Eye Despite its rather unstable history, the Czech Republic has held onto one aspect of its identity – the lion adorning its national emblem – since medieval times. No matter who ruled the country, that symbol of valor reminded its citizens to stay brave and strong.

The Czech lion also resonates with Dallas electro-pop-soul artist LEV, who so loves those “fierce and noble and courageous” cats, she has an artful rendering of one permanently inked on her right wrist.

But LEV (aka Holly Peyton) was unaware of that nation’s Sympatico symbol until she began a search for her musical identity. As she and her husband Eric Neal hunted for monikers like a pair of expectant parents, he stumbled upon the Czech word for lion. She loved it.

“When it comes to making music, I strive to be fierce and noble and courageous, too,” LEV explained.

She nails those intentions completely on her new EP, Fear No Evil, released in May on Vintage Lion Records. Elegantly produced by Neal, these five tracks herald the arrival of a formidable vocal and songwriting talent, one who’s not afraid to stay true to her musical vision.

Full of sensuous grooves seamlessly integrated with dance beats and synth sounds, these songs carry what Peyton accurately describes as “an electronic ‘80s pop vibe” reminiscent, but not retro; evocative, but not copy cat. Funky, soulful and sonically beautiful, Fear No Evil is old-school in one significant way: It starts and ends with words and melody. That alluring voice you hear in these songs clearly is the real deal.

Where It All Began LEV’s history begins in Tyler, where Peyton grew up and became enthralled by 70s disco and

80s synth-pop, along with Fleetwood Mac, New Radicals, the Verve, U2 and other artists.

“I love anything with harmonies; that’s what I was most drawn to as a child, which is why my songs are filled with them,” she said. “I love Michael Jackson, of course, and how he used simple drum beats, catchy bass and voice one-offs (his famous vocal punctuations) to create the catchiest songs ever. They just make you want to dance.”

Those sensibilities are well reflected in each track; “Shadow” and “Try,” for example, carry beguiling hints of early-era Madonna, though listeners also will detect thoroughly modern references, too.

“Shadow,” the opening track, exudes empowerment, announcing itself with percussion that pulsates like the heartbeats of animals roaming Africa’s savannah. Yet it began, Peyton said, as a struggle for confidence.

“It was written about a time where I put myself behind a shadow and started getting too comfortable there,” she said. “Even though I was dying to come out of that shadow and be the person I knew I was, I started letting the fear of ‘I can’t ’ keep me back. Months after I wrote this song, I realized my own shadow was what was standing in my way. Once I decided to step out of the background into the open, everything started to change.”

Several years ago, Peyton got an opportunity she’d dreamed of since childhood: a chance to record a solo album. The self-taught songwriter and guitar player was introduced to a producer in Nashville, where she found herself recording country-pop songs. She was close to signing a contract when she realized she’d also be signing away her soul; the music just didn’t feel right.

“I was young, and because these opportunities were something I never imagined would happen, I was letting people tell me what my music should

sound like,” she reflected. “But the whole time I was recording, I was miserable inside.”

A sage advisor told her to follow her heart; she walked away from the deal and, she feared, her only chance at musical success.

“I put my guitar away. I didn’t even want to look at it,” she confessed. “It was a weird wounding, in a way, to be with it, because you’re on this plateau and then you just come off and you’re nothing again.”

The Inspiration Her (then) future husband encouraged her to try again.

“He told me, ‘Nothing bad comes from trying. Just start writing what you want to hear.’ ” And so she did. A fan of electronic pop, she wrote with movement in mind. Even though she composes on acoustic guitar, she hears her songs fully formed. Neal was able to hear them the same way, and translate them into polished gems.

LEV’s lyrics and dynamic vocals could stand on their own even if stripped bare (as they are when she performs the occasional solo acoustic set), but multi-instrumentalist Neal’s cascading

keyboards and drummer-bassist Matt Trimble’s well-placed beats, melded with her lushly layered vocals, give these songs momentum that does indeed ignite an insistent urge to move. With the addition of electric guitarist Stephen Goodson to the performing lineup, LEV – a name also chosen for its simplicity – has begun hitting stages throughout Texas.

Inspired equally by city skylines and the natural beauty of places like New Mexico and the Texas hill country, Peyton rents lakeside cottages or city condos when she wants to escape for a writing retreat. Detaching herself from electronic tethers, she’ll fill pages of her journal, finding inspiration in the rhythms of nature or the beat of a city.

When it comes to getting onstage, however, you won’t see her in Texas-girl cowboy boots. She’s more into the motorcycle variety – along with big, lion’s mane hair.

She remembers the lessons learned in Nashville.

“I’ve been able to see that all of that happened for a reason,” LEV said. “And now, I’m making the music that I always wanted to make.”

Check her out June 13 at Club Dada or visit the web site: LEVthemusic.com.

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Luca Bruno

BY PETER GERSTENZANG – @HAPPYSPAPPY

They are older than their idols now. So frighteningly white, so impossibly skinny, their faces so seamed, their bodies seemingly so fragile, you feel that if you patted one of them on the back, mummy dust would fly off. Yet when they hit the stage, something so supernatural, so spiritual happens, someday they probably will have a chapter devoted to them in the New Testament.

Three of the guys wear jeans and T-shirts so tight, they probably put them on in the 70s and forgot to take them off. The fourth man, behind the drum kit, dresses like a barrister at a law firm who’s decided to take his suit jacket off for the drive home. The two guitarists play a few blues licks, the “Chuck Berry” riff, then strum the open chords they seem to have invented.

The singer, still sexy at 71, his face as cheerily sardonic as ever, even if it’s as lined and parched as a piece of the Dead Sea Scrolls, says hello! Then huffs a harmonica lick into the microphone. Suddenly, they’re playing rock and roll. Better than the kids. Better than the kids they used to be. Still loose and funky, but tighter now.

They are the Rolling Stones. People in the audience range from their teens to folks from assisted-living centers, with medical emergency call buttons around their necks. This insanity has been going on for more than 50 years. Why is that?

If you go see them June 6 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington you will be reminded. With the first few chiming chords of Keith Richards on guitar and the unmistakable handgun bang of Charlie Watts on drums, it’ll all come back to you. After all the terrible years of slow, self-important Pearl Jam sludge, with a singer who sounds in need of epilepsy medication, plus all the slew of sleepy bands who copied them, one listen to the Stones and you’ll remember what rock and roll actually is.

SMARTER, SHARPER MEN

It’s for dancing. It’s for screaming along to. It’s fast, furious and hilarious, even when the singer’s bellowing about the awful deeds of The Devil. It’s also about the drummer. Charlie, who was born before your parents, grew up listening to guys who swung. Buddy Rich, Chick Webb, Gene Krupa. You don’t listen to him and analyze things. You involuntarily move your body.

Steve Van Zandt said it all perfectly a few years back: “Once upon a time we danced to rock and roll,” he said. “Then we started listening to it. And it’s been going downhill ever since.”

I spoke to other rockers to see if I could get a handle on why, after 50 years, the Rolling Stones are still here. And when they come to town, you are compelled to go and see them.

Elliott Murphy is one of the most eloquent rockers America has ever produced. Even if he now lives in France. From his debut, Aquashow (sporting “Last Of The Rock Stars,” which could sum up the Stones) to albums like Night Lights, Coming Home Again and his heartbreakingly beautiful re-do, Aquashow Deconstructed, he has some wise words that start, at least, to sum up why this band has lasted so damn long.

“When it comes to popular music,” Murphy writes, “The Beatles gave us love, Dylan gave us smarts, Bruce gives us hope...all admirable elements of the human condition, but sadly, non-essential. On the other hand, the Rolling Stones gave us, and continue to offer us, the one essential ingredient for the survival of the species...sex. The forbidden fruit, wrapped in superfine songs, played with majesty and self-confidence as only the Brits can do. Honestly, it doesn’t seem to matter how old these guys get... they continue to seduce big time. More than any other band or artist that I can think of, they epitomize a primordial force, risen from the ooze of the blues, set in perpetual motion by the bump and grind of ‘50’s Rock ‘N’ Roll, emerging almost unscathed from the druggy mist of the cultural revolution, which, it must be said, they won hands down.”

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To paraphrase Paul McCartney’s grandfather,

JUNE 2015

Jim Summaria / jimsummariaphoto.com

‘Murphy is only right.’

There is the sex. There are also the songs.

Let us forget all the Sixties bullshit for a minute.

All that softheaded ‘Soundtrack of Your Life’, crap.

Sure, that’s the decade when the Rolling Stones first broke through and became players on the world stage. And kids in caftans and headbands did indeed twirl in acid-induced ecstasy to the scowling mugs playing onstage. But the songs have lodged loose from their time and they’re free now. Smart 16-year-olds in the mood for fast, dirty songs about miscegenation, still dance and shout along to “Brown Sugar.” Broke and busted gamblers, in life or having just left Las Vegas, can still relate to the sexy strut of “Tumblin’ Dice.”

Feeling lately like the world is about to spin off its axis? That whether the apocalypse is taking shape in the Middle East or the middle of your bed, when you hear “Gimme Shelter,” you’re ready for The Rapture, in whatever form it appears.

“Dandelion” or “Amanda Jones,” “Ruby Tuesday” or “Street Fighting Man,” “Paint It Black” or “19th Nervous Breakdown,” the songs definitely charted the zigzagging, chemically-influenced moods of a generation. But anyone of any age, who cares about great songs, cares about the Rolling Stones. It’s those tunes, brilliantlyconstructed, melodic, played by guys who Mario Escherle know how the parts are put together, that keep people coming back, 50 fucking years later.

I’m not Nostradamus.

But I don’t think the music of The Dave Matthews Band will have that effect in 30 years. Bet me?

Johnette Napolitano, former lead singer and writer for alternative greats Concrete Blonde, who has a great new e.p. entitled, Naked, knows a little bit about rock and roll. She has her own singular reason as to why she thinks the Stones remain so popular-especially among the younger set: “Kids are hearing the Stones’ records from their parents’ or grandparents’ collections and it sounds...real to them. A bunch of these ‘kids’ came of age in the 80s and 90s, with electronica (which I love by the way) and all this MTV shit and they got used to it. But then they heard the Stones. And they also heard about The Stones. And they wanted to see what the legend was like live.

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“I think they craved something real.

Aside from the fact that Mick and the guys are still playing great, there’s the groove. The Rolling Stones play rock and roll and it makes you want to dance. Dance was here before we had music. It’s primal. And that’s what the Stones appeal to in people – even the new generation that’s coming to see them. They’re real and they’re primal and younger people really respond to that.”

There’s not much left you can count on in this life. The people who run this country trade their ideals faster than collectors get rid of Johnny Bench baseball cards. Bill Cosby has turned out to be scarier and more hideous than his sweater collection. We’re wiping out the wolf population. The Chinese aren’t eating rice and vegetables, but dachshunds and fox terriers.

It’s all so bleak, bewildering and undependable. But then these four guys blow into town, minus founders Bill Wyman and that brilliant weirdo, Brian Jones. They don’t simply stomp their stupid jackboots on the stage and chant that they will rock you-date unspecified. They strum a few chords, smack the snare, toot a harp and light into, oh, “Jumpin Jack Flash.” And they don’t promise. They fucking rock you! The 60-year-old guy behind you, with the Hawaiian shirt outside his dad jeans knows it. The 15-year-old kid with the purple Mohawk knows it, too. Pretty soon, there’s a consensus in the room that any politician would kill for.

They’re still too thin. Two of them still smoke with the same intensity that most of us save for working out.

They still stagger ballet-like on the stage in that same stoned dance they pretty much invented. And suddenly the horrible reality of politics, the deceit of public figures, the murder of innocent animals, is forgotten. At least for two hours.

This is what the Rolling Stones do for all of us tired, angry, wellmeaning, confused fans. They’ve done it since 1962. They may very well be doing it after we’re all gone. Who cares if that means that Mick, Keith, Charlie and Woody are vampires? Considering what we so-called human beings have done to the world, that isn’t an insult. And even if it is, the Rolling Stones have proven time and time again, that they don’t give a shit what you think of them. And maybe for that reason and that reason alone, is why we still love them.

BY ALAN SCULLEY – ALANLASTWORD@GMAIL.COM To mark what is potentially the last opportunity for Dallas-area fans to see the age-defying Stones in person on June 6 at AT&T Stadium, here’s a look at this writer’s top 10 Rolling Stones studio albums.

1) Exile on Main St. (1972) – More than any other album, Exile captured the grit, decadence, swagger and range of the Rolling Stones. The classic hit, “Tumbling Dice,” is a perfect example.

2) Let It Bleed (1969) – Song for song, it’s tough to beat Let It Bleed. Five of the nine songs here have been cornerstones of the Stone’s catalog and live shows.

3) Beggars Banquet (1968) – The Stones were never better than from 1968 through 1973 – a period where rock music as a whole came of age. The Stone’s magical run began here with the album that includes two dark epics – “Sympathy for the Devil” and “Street Fighting Man.” 4) Sticky Fingers (1971) – Two years in the making, this was one of the Stones’ more labored albums. It didn’t show in songs, like the iconic “Brown Sugar” and “Wild Horses” or other standout tracks like “Sister Morphine,” “Bitch” and “Can’t You Hear Me Knocking.”

5) Some Girls (1978) – After hitting a career peak with Exile on Main St., the Stones slumped considerably, then came Some Girls. Going back to the band’s rough-andready guitar-bass-drums basics, the album had stingers like “Shattered” and “When The Whip Comes Down.”

6) Aftermath (1966) – The first Stones’ album to feature all original material, the Stones grew more adventurous stylistically and instrumentally on Aftermath, with hits like “Paint It Black,” “Under My Thumb” and “Lady Jane.”

7) Between The Buttons (1967) – A consistently strong album that found the Stones broadening their stylistic reach and hinting at the edgier and more accomplished material that was just around the corner.

8) Voodoo Lounge (1994) – The Stones’ four most recent studio albums were all solid efforts. Voodoo Lounge though is the best of the post-90s albums, with plenty of taut rock.

9) Out Of Our Heads (1965) – The Stones’ fifth U.S. album was the one where the band moved from emphasizing covers to featuring Jagger/Richards originals. This is the album with “Satisfaction” – reason enough to put this benchmark album in the top 10.

10) Tattoo You (1981) – After the spotty 1980 album Emotional Rescue, the Stones returned to form on Tattoo You. The songs are inspired enough that Tattoo You doesn’t feel like an album that leaned (at least to a good extent) on leftovers.

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THREE UT O B A S THING TIFUL A BEAU N WOMA

ERIKA OLIVER What are you doing or wearing that makes you feel the sexiest?

There’s just something about leather that never fails to make me feel like a badass.

What confuses you the most about men?

OUR PEDIGREE D MAGAZINE READERS CHOICE “BEST HOT DOG” 2014 BLITZ WEEKLY BLITZIE AWARD “BEST HAMBURGER” 2014 URBAN SPOON “MOST POPULAR HOT DOG” 2013 D MAGAZINE READERS CHOICE “BEST HOT DOG” 2013 BLITZ WEEKLY BLITZIE AWARD ‘BEST HOT WINGS” 2013 DALLAS OBSERVER READERS CHOICE “BEST HOT DOG” 2013 DALLAS MORNING NEWS “BEST BURGER IN DFW” 2013 BLITZ WEEKLY “BEST SPOTS TO WATCH THE SUPER BOWL” 2013 HOW ABOUT WE “TOP DALLAS DATE SPOT” 2013 CRAVE DFW “BEST DOGS OF DALLAS” 2012 DALLAS MORNING NEWS “BEST BURGER IN DFW” 2012 DALLAS OBSERVER “BEST BURGER” 2010 DALLAS OBSERVER “BEST GREASY SPOON” 2009 DALLAS OBSERVER “BEST NACHOS” 2009 D MAGAZINE “D-BEST HAMBURGER” 2006 DALLAS OBSERVER “BEST BURGER” 2006 AOL CITY GUIDE “BEST CHEAP EATS” 2006 AOL CITY GUIDE “BEST LATE NIGHT DINING” 2005 AVID GOLFER MAGAZINE “BEST WINGS” 2004 DALLAS OBSERVER “BEST HANGOVR THERAPY” 2003 DALLAS OBSERVER “BEST HOT DOG” 2002 DALLAS OBSERVER “BEST HAMBURGER” 2002 DALLAS OBSERVER “BEST PLACE TO BUY A DOG” 2001 D MAGAZINE “BEST HANGOVER HELPER” 2001 THE MET “BEST BAR FOOD” 2000 D MAGAZINE “BEST WINGS” 2000 DALLAS OBSERVER “BEST WINGS” 1998 DALLAS OBSERVER “BEST HOT DOG” 1994 DALLAS OBSERVER “BEST WNGS” 1992

Any man who underestimates the power and intelligence of a woman baffles me.

What type of guys are always attracted to you?

I often attract guys that are introverted and calm-spirited.

Jarrod Fresquez Model: Erika Oliver Make-Up: Makeup Junkies, INC. - Jai Okoli Hair: Makeup Junkies, INC. George Graham SMARTER, SHARPER MEN

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BY ALAN SCULLEY ALANLASTWORD@GMAIL.COM

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PROFILE

The Joker Still Takes a Big Ol’ Jet Airliner

Steve Miller is one of the lucky ones – a music artist who has sold multi-millions of albums, has a catalog full of hit singles, and 50 years after he got his start playing blues in bars around Chicago, still has a thriving career.

I

t’s something he never could have fathomed growing up in Dallas where he formed his first band “The Marksman” while attending St. Mark’s School. That’s where he met and taught legendary bluesman Boz Scaggs. But after he was kicked out of St. Mark’s, he transferred to Woodrow Wilson High School from where he graduated in 1961.

“When I was a kid, I never thought I would ever be able to make records and never really thought seriously about a musical career because a musical career was being Fabian or Frankie Avalon or something,” said Miller, whose band plays June 1 at the Verizon Theater in Grand Prairie. “It didn’t make any sense. There wasn’t any possibility to get into that world.”

If Miller were coming up now, he said he would have a very similar outlook on his prospects in music.

“It’s kind of like that for kids right now,” he said.

He started his professional career in the mid1960s playing the tough Chicago blues club scene before hearing about San Francisco and its vibrant music and concert scene and what were the early days of what was to become a true cultural and lifestyle revolution that spread world-wide as the ‘60s came to a close.

That legendary San Francisco scene is worth noting because Miller is touring with another group with roots in the city’s music scene of that era – Journey.

Of course, by the time these two acts started having major success in the mid-1970s, the glory days of the San Francisco scene had faded.

Miller arrived in San Francisco in 1965, signed with Capitol Records and spent the first five-plus years of his career on pretty much of a non-stop cycle of recording and touring. He was selling roughly 200,000 albums a year – not bad – but he wasn’t getting played on the radio or making

“But it does get old for me when my audience is just only interested in something they’ve already heard, and it makes doing new stuff very (difficult) – it’s a strange experience right now.”

“Right now, I don’t think they have much of a chance. I think all of this get it on the Internet is all BS and nonsense. You have to really connect with people. There aren’t very many clubs. There’s no place for people to develop and play. It’s a bad time right now for young artists.”

enough money to enjoy anything resembling a good living

Reaching million-selling success didn’t come easily – or immediately – for Miller, either.

“I thought my career was over. It was my seventh album for Capitol Records and they had pretty

SMARTER, SHARPER MEN

By the time he finished recording his 1973 album The Joker, Miller’s expectations were modest at best.

Alan Sculley much moved on from my world,” Miller said. “I remember leaving to go on a 60-city tour and somebody at the record company said, “Well, I think “The Joker” might be a single” and I said, ‘You know what? Don’t worry about singles. It just would be nice if you actually have records in the cities where I’m actually going to be working.

That would be a good idea, and here’s a list of the cities I’m going to be in in the next 75 days.’ We left to go do that tour not really expecting much to happen and when we came back it was the No. 1 single in the country.”

It was merely a sign of things to come.

His next two albums, Fly Like an Eagle and Book of Dreams, were blockbusters that went multiplatinum and produced a string of hit songs. The 1982 album Abracadabra gave Miller one more million-selling album and enough enduring hits to keep him on classic rock radio and allow him to continue playing large venues through the next three decades.

Miller has released only three albums since 1993, but he said he continues to work on new music.

In fact, he recently recorded a live version of The

Joker album for its 40th anniversary. But Miller is discouraged by how illegal downloading has made it difficult to sell albums, and he isn’t giving The Joker the high-profile release some might think the project deserves.

“It’s really a live performance and we love it,” Miller said of the new Joker. “We decided not to give it to a record company, and we’re putting it out and we’re going to sell it ourselves at our concerts. It doesn’t make any difference whether Capitol Records and EMI put it out, or Universal or whether we do. They’re not going to sell any of it anyway.”

He’ll continue to play his hits during the concerts this spring and summer, but Miller wishes audiences were more open to him playing lesser known songs and stretching out musically in concert.

“I love performing and connecting with an audience never gets old for me,” Miller said.

“But it does get old for me when my audience is just only interested in something they’ve already heard, and it makes doing new stuff very (difficult) – it’s a strange experience right now.”

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THERE AND BACK AGAIN The Met Turned 21 and Dallas Rejoiced!

BY KELLY G. REED – @BLITZWEEKLY

Tim Rogers a.k.a.

Mr. Funny Guy

Back in April of this year, a publication that several old timers in the media world thought was dead and gone suddenly reappeared. The Met and all it stood for had made its way back onto news stands. In its contents it was mentioned to be a farewell issue but also a reminder had it remained in publication to this day would have been old enough to consume adult beverages by turning 21.

I believe that The Blitz readership would want to know more about The Met due to the simple fact that most of our readers probably have no idea what The Met was about or even existed. The Met was the “alternative to the alternative” free publication that apparently competed with the Dallas Observer for readership, advertising dollars and prominence. Sounds like a familiar concept right?

I reached out to Tim Rogers (currently Editor of D Magazine), a founding father of The Met for answers to these burning questions (read: questions The Blitz staff discussed during happy hour). He was polite and gracious enough to shine some light on a variety of topics concerning The Met and its place in Dallas history. Now on to the man who helped make the magic happen…

How and why did The Met come into existence back in 1994?

An SMU graduate by the name of Randy Stagen started it. Founding editor was Eric Celeste. Why did they do it? I guess to make money.

Randy was a recent grad. He had started and ran a paper while as a student. The Met was the next evolution of that. Eric had been an editor at D Magazine, which had just folded (it started back up less than a year later, under different ownership), so he needed a job, too. Randy’s idea was to counterprogram the Dallas Observer.

No crime and politics. The Met was supposed to be for people who partied and like to laugh (to oversimplify).

What was the media landscape like back then compared to today?

Um, different? There really wasn’t an internet in 1994. No blogs. No Twitter. No Facebook. It wasn’t just a different landscape; it was a different planet in a different galaxy far, far away.

Based on the wet loaf of bread throwing incident and nearly decapitating Harvey Martin story, The Met was banned from future Greenville Ave. St. Patrick’s Day Parades. At the time how did you and the staff feel?

We felt proud. I was the guy operating the slingshot. Of course, I wrote an apology letter to the organizers of the parade. But at the same time, I was like, “How amazing is it that we got kicked out of the parade for throwing dinner rolls?”

definitely saw it as a competition. I remember when Joe Bob Briggs’ syndication contract with the DO came up and we stole him away. That was a big deal to us.

And the two weeklies competed for talent. They stole our art editor from us. I once wrote some jokes about how their editor wore his pants sideways (which he did, and which jokes he didn’t appreciate). But “bad blood” makes it sound worse than it was.

And, no, it doesn’t continue to this day. In later years, I did freelance work for the DO. Eric Celeste wound up working there. I’ve hired people from the DO to work at D Magazine. And, hell, we are all in our mid-40s now. The competition between the two papers happened 20 years ago.

After reading the 21st Anniversary edition of The Met, the stories of founder and publisher Randy Stagen gave me the feeling that The Met operated similarly to that of the members of the Delta Tau Chi fraternity in Animal House. Was it really that crazy on a day-to-day basis?

It really was that crazy. Maybe not on a daily basis, but certainly on a weekly basis. It was a frighteningly fun place to work. Of course, you have to remember that I am old now and am probably nostalgic about the thing in ways that cloud my memory and burnish its edges, making it look more crazy than it really was.

What do you think was going on in Joe Tone’s (currently Editor of the Dallas Observer) mind when he saw a copy of the current issue of The Met? Has there been any correspondence between the two of you?

You’d have to ask Joe what was going through his mind. But here’s what I HOPE was going through it: “Tim Rogers and all those guys who once worked at The Met are the funniest, smartest, most handsome people in Dallas. I can’t believe they bothered to print an anniversary issue of The Met. Those scamps!”

Yes, Joe and I exchanged emails. He was bemoaning the fact that he was at Luscher’s Red Hots for lunch, and the only paper he could find was The Met. If The Met had not been purchased by New Times in 2000 and put out to pasture, do you believe that it would be a major player in the Dallas media market today? Become more corporate in its approach and company line?

No. 9/11 and the recession that followed would have killed The Met. No question. That’s one of the funny things about it. New Times paid something like $2 million to shut down the paper down. If they’d just waited a year, they could have saved themselves some time and effort.

How often was The Met introduced to ceaseand-desist orders?

Oh, I don’t know. You’re not talking about getting kicked out of places now. You’re talking about lawyers sending letters about content we published? I’m sure it happened, but I can’t recall when or why.

Be honest here, how bad was the blood between the Dallas Observer and The Met? Does it continue to this day?

We were the upstart, the underdog. So we

The Met braintrust in 1994, from left: Tim Rogers, Eric Celeste, Randy Stagen and Joe Capasso.

Any last words?

We printed the magapaper at the same plant where The Met printed back in the day, Midway Press.

When we went to pick it up, our old account rep was there. He came out from the back of the shop with this wild look in his eyes. He said, “The guys from The Met! I can’t believe you’re back!” He and some of the pressmen had read the entire issue.

They were always fans of ours those many years ago. It was pathetically gratifying to see how happy they were to hold another issue in their hands.

How fucking stupid are WE? To take such joy in making pressmen happy? The whole project didn’t make much sense. It was perfect.

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WINNER WINNER CHICKEN DINNER It’s Time to Kick the Bucket!

Sissy’s Southern Kitchen

BY STEVEN DOYLE – CRAVEDFW.COM

W

Sissy’s has garnered plenty of accolades and for good reason. The chefs here are deft at the art of chicken and make a fine example. The dark fried crust is light and airy, while the juicy meat squirts with piquancy. The sides are not to be missed especially the fried okra and creamed corn. Both are decadent. Located on Henderson Avenue, there will be a second location coming soon in the downtown Dallas area. sissyssouthernkitchen.com.

e love our fried chicken, and have been seeking out the very best Dallas has to offer. We scoured the streets and found some with an ethnic twist, others are straight forward crispy fried and juicy.

We had to eliminate a few that didn’t qualify as traditional, such as Bon Mua’s fried Cornish hen, which still is worth making the drive to Carrollton.

In making our list we were shocked at how many plates of fried chicken we had sampled over the past months. Colonel Sanders would have said he was too drunk to taste the chicken after dining at a few of these places.

Pecan Lodge

Enjoy our list which is in no particular order.

We tried to give a good mix between the more refined and the more obvious yard birds.

We have you looking twice, right? Yes, this is home to the best brisket in Dallas and made our top five list for BBQ. But, the owners make some damned good chicken. The pieces are mammoth and served fresh with each order. pecanlodge.com.

Babes

Hatties

The standard by which all fried chicken in the Metroplex should be judged. The location in Roanoke seems more authentic, but there are plenty of locations, including the cousin store, Bubba’s. Brined so it carries saltiness and served up with some amazing sides including fluffy biscuits and plenty of house-made cream corn. babeschicken.com.

BbBop

Currently with two locations in Dallas, this homegrown Korean fast-casual restaurant makes that wonderful light and airy-crusted Korean fried chicken that has a kiss of a sweet chile sauce for a bit of spiciness and kicked up flavor. Both locations are on Greenville Avenue, with the latest store on the lowest half near Ross where all the cool restaurants play. bbbop.com.

Remedy

Across the street (literally) from BbBop sits perched one pretty fantastic old school-styled restaurant which likes to emulate a soda fountain.

Besides a pretty terrific grilled cheese and tomato soup combo, Remedy also has this seriously delicious fried chicken that has been simmered in its own fat before deep fried. You also will taste some of the best pie around the Dallas area. remedydallas.com.

SMARTER, SHARPER MEN

The buttermilk chicken that is served with a Tasso gravy on the brunch menu at Hattie’s serves as a shining example of southern fried glory. Enjoy this dish along with other southern favorites such as the very best shrimp and grits in Dallas. hatties.com.

Stampede 66 Celebration

This home-cooking Mecca has been in business a fast and friendly 40 years serving up chicken fried steaks, meatloaf, catfish and southern fried chicken. The sides are sturdy and the chicken is light and crispy. For those with a “get in me belly” outlook on lunch, you may order as many plate refills as you can sample. celebrationrestaurant.com.

Rudy’s Chicken

If you enjoy a little theater with your dinner, Rudy’s is the place to check out. This Oak Cliff hot spot serves its fried chicken simple, hot and delicious. Served atop a few slices of white bread (presumably to soak up any extraneous grease) and a side of spicy peppers, Rudy’s is inexpensive and delicious. For less than three dollars you can get a meal of fries, two pieces of chicken and those peppers. The seasoning that is added after is salty and addictive. Be on the lookout for the

entrepreneurial type who will want to sell you today’s catch in the parking lot.

3115 S. Lancaster Rd., Dallas.

Max’s Wine Dive

Nothing pairs better with fried chicken than a nice bottle of Dom Pérignon. No, seriously. The iconic French champagne is served by the glass, along with plenty of other labels you would not expect from a place that served late night fried chicken. And to boot, the chicken is pretty wonderful. Very wonderful. maxswinedive.com.

Chicken House

This is your basic fried chicken done very well.

The crust is substantial, well-seasoned and perfected amiably. This is another example of ghetto bird that will have you driving circles around the building for a closer inspection, but all is good in the house of hen.

4839 Gaston Ave., Dallas.

This is the holy mother of fried chicken. Pyle’s version will no doubt be the best you have ever tried and it actually is injected with honey for an insanely good flavor. Your fist bite will reveal a shower of juiciness and droplets of that injected honey. An obligatory ‘yeehaw’ is due about right here. stampede66.com.

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Summer Fashion

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YOUR SUMMER GUIDE FOR CONQUERING THE WEEKENDS

BY MEREDITH RIMMER – @MEREDITHRIMMER Hallelujah, it’s summer! The time for shorts, beach trips, and backyard barbeques finally is here! Also not to mention summer Fridays!

Yes… summer is here and the time for longer weekends is among us. So in honor of summertime and the glorious extended weekend hours, we have provided you with a summer guide for conquering your weekend wear attire.

Because let’s face it, your work week is hard enough so figuring out what to wear over the weekend shouldn’t be.

[1] Backpacks If there is an “it bag” for guys this summer, it’s the backpack. Sporty and masculine, a backpack is the perfect companion to carry all your weekend essentials. Don’t resort to using your car as a means for lugging around your water bottle, sunscreen, and Frisbee. It’s messy and completely impractical when you could be looking stylish with a new backpack.

SMARTER, SHARPER MEN

[2] Dock Shorts Your answer to weekend wear. Dock shorts not only are great for the weekends but also perfect for surviving the summer heat. They’re cool and fun, yet comfortable and causal. They are the weekend staple for guys as they are a short that can keep up with anyone and their active lifestyle.

[3] Prints Prints are your friend during summer weekends.

I totally understand if you’re more of a simple solids man, but you have all week to stick to your traditional blue and white button downs. When the weekend rolls around it’s time to let loose and embrace some prints into you wardrobe, and trust me if there is anytime a guy can pull off prints it’s during the weekend – so go for it!

[4] Linen I don’t know what it is about linen and men, but

for the summer there isn’t a greater pairing. You always see a lot of linen during summertime, whether that be linen shirts, shorts, or even blazers. It’s an easy find and with good reason too. Linen’s lightweight quality and ease makes it the perfect summer fabric. So when the weekend hits and you’re questioning the options in your closet, look no further than your favorite linen piece! Don’t own any linen?! Fix that right now…

[5] A Pair of Shades Seems like a no brainer, but some guys often forget about what a good pair of shades can do to enhance their style. And for the weekend, your shades should be right up there on your checklist with phone, keys, and wallet. Opt for a pair with mirror lenses or ones with clear frames to really be on point this summer season. However if trendy sunglasses aren’t your thing, one can never go wrong with a pair of aviators (thank you Top Gun).

[6] Colored Chinos Even though it is summer, the time will come when shorts simply won’t do and you will need to find a pair of pants to wear. So when this happens go for a pair of chinos, more specifically colored chinos. These lightweight pants are your alterative to jeans, but that’s no reason to be boring with color (it is the weekend after all).

Shades of white, blues, greens, or even reds will do the trick of helping you step up your weekend wear game.

[7] Slip-on Sneakers Just what you would want for the weekend slip-on sneakers are easy to put on and durable enough for whatever adventures you have planned. Make sure you have at least one pair in your closet as these shoes are the perfect go-to for guys who are constantly on the move from park, to lake, to bar. You just can’t go wrong with them!

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There We Said It, Now Read the Damn Article!

Few topics grind a polite conversation to a screeching halt like talking about porn. Unless you preface it with a qualifier like “food” or “car,” you probably can expect to be met with some uncomfortable silence.

Polling has found that only 30 percent of Americans believe it’s morally acceptable to view pornography, with 66 percent indicating it is wrong. The study, which focused on changing values among Millennials compared to older Americans, found that younger Americans are much more open to pornography, but only relatively so – they split on the issue, 51 percent indicated disapproval and only 41 percent approval.

These findings might not sound that surprising if you’re not familiar with the fact that the Internet is for porn, literally, with estimates that up to 30 percent of all Internet traffic is pornography.

Other metrics, such as unique visits, suggest that porn sites attract more eyeballs than streaming

answers. The numbers from sites like Pornhub and similar sources suggest that far more Americans are watching porn than not, despite consistent and widespread moral disapproval.

This suggests a lot of shameful private browsing is happening, but why the fear of being honest about it?

For Her Eyes Only To better understand, it might be helpful to look at the emergent genre of porn explicitly for women. For the most part, many producers of porn aren’t concerned with what women might want to see. It’s a little tricky to gauge, but Nielsen data suggests that women might account for up to a third of porn viewers.

However, they make up such a tiny percentage of paying customers, that payment processors automatically flag female names as potentially fraudulent charges.

It’s long been accepted wisdom that women don’t watch pornography or do a lot of other

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BY CHRIS SICK – @CHRISSICK

demographic to know that a large percentage of women watching our stuff do not want to see cum shots above the neck. They don’t want to see something that is gonzo or all-sex.”

These issues have led some producers, such as Saint James and Courtney Trouble, to offer an alternative model to the mainstream industry.

While Saint James has produced porn “for women,” Trouble and others are focused on creating pornography that isn’t just feminist and female friendly, but also ethically produced.

So-called “queer porn” also attempts to explicitly work to present a range of body types and gender and ethnic identities in a sexual way without fetishizing them. Many of these producers are women who watch and enjoy porn, and are working to create porn that’s as ethical as it is arousing.

Real-World Consequences The moral disapproval of porn has real-world ramifications, beyond the sanitization of Times Square. When the Department of Justice was caught pressuring the banking industry to crack down on less-than-savory-but-still-legal businesses, such as payday lenders, apparently on their list were porn producers and performers.

But that disconnect – between what people do behind closed doors alone with their laptop and what they’re willing to admit or accept in public – might be one of the bigger problems. More honest conversation about what gets us off and how often might mean less stigma of the industry, and less seediness overall.

video services such as Netflix or Hulu, by several orders of magnitude.

It’s pretty unlikely that the lonely 30 percent of Americans comfortable judging porn as morally acceptable are responsible for all that traffic.

There’s a lot of evidence that respondents are less than honest about what they get up to when no one is looking. A survey about Americans’ work habits found 3 percent willing to admit to watching porn at work, but the Nielsen Company reports that the real number is closer to 30 percent.

The data only can tell us so much from the outside, but if we accept all (or at least, most of it) at face value, we’re left with more questions than

things, because they’re just not as interested in sex as men. But research suggests it might have far more to do with social conditioning. When research includes controls for that, reputational damage, and potential risks of assault, they’ve found that women are just as likely as men to accept offers of casual sex. More and more it’s becoming accepted that woman are just as interested in visual sexual stimulation as men, and just as likely to watch porn. Other research has found that as many as 40 percent of women film their own pornography, the problem with mainstream porn might not be women, as much as what they’re seeing on offer. Female porn director Jacky Saint James told Slate.com in 2013 that: “We’ve done enough research on that

Whether it’s complaints about the implications of the content, or the confused expectations of a generation brought up on porn as sex education, there’s a lot wrong with porn, and little suggests we’re going to have much luck getting people to watch less of it. Porn serves as a safe space—for both women and men, based on the search queries – to explore fantasies they might not get to enjoy in real life.

But the lack of acceptance of the industry, and our widespread use, if not exactly “support,” of it leaves it strangely out on the margins. As sales dwindle thanks to more widespread access to free sites, producers seem to be in a race to the bottom to produce the most extreme scenes, get the youngest models, and generally one another.

An honest reckoning of how mainstream porn is – get everyone talking – all 2,300 Americans visiting Pornhub right this second – bout what kind of fantasies they really have and what kind of porn they’re willing to accept.

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SMARTER, SHARPER MEN

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Bits of Wisdom…Joe Pesci You don’t say hello to Mr. DeNiro. Show the respect, will ya?

I’ve been married three times, but I’ll never forget my first trip as a young man, on my honeymoon, with my new wife.

My father loved me so much that he did not want me to be a laborer or anything. I don’t know if it’s the right thing to do - push your kids into something and then stay on them until they do it.

Let them pick what they want to do.

yausser

I couldn’t get any jobs, and when that happens, you get so humble it’s disgusting. I didn’t feel like a man anymore - I felt really creepy. I was bumping into walls and saying, “Excuse me.”

Andrew J. Hewett chewednews.blogspot.com MORE THAN A DISCOUNT Shoppers at a Harris Teeter supermarket in Raleigh, N.C., got a really, really big discount on Feb. 27, 2015, when the cash registers at the chain’s Cameron Village store crashed. After 15 minutes of customers standing in line, the manager gave them the items they’d selected free.

Gemini: May 21-June 21 It only makes sense that your career change from pro wrestler to porn actor will be a success since after taking a chair to the face – everything else seems manageable.

Virgo: August 23-September 22 The stars advise that the next time you’re at an orgy, be the guy midway through who brings refreshments so that you’re remembered as the one who didn’t finish first.

Cancer: June 22-July 22 Later this month you’ll walk into your boss’ office to ask for a raise and walk out unemployed.

Libra: September 23-October 22 There will be tons of praise and admiration for you this month, but don’t get too excited, this is the social norm at funerals.

Leo: July 23-August 22 Your girlfriend will suggest that you start using a safe word during sex – not because you’re into BDSM or anything weird, but in case she gets bored and wants you to stop.

Scorpio: October 23-November 21 Your life has been going so fast recently that you should really slow down and appreciate the car wrecks on the highway.

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SEXUALITY IN WEE BITS Have you ever heard the word OMORASHI? It is the name of a Japanese fetish, or subculture that finds it sexually arousing to have a full bladder or to see someone (especially a well-dressed or dignified person) who suffers from “bladder desperation” and wets on themselves in public ...when they can no longer “hold it.”

BUT DID HE TIP THE WAITRESS? A man bowing his head for prayer over a sizzling steak fajita skillet at an Applebee’s restaurant in Burlington County, N.J., suffered burns, then sued, claiming the waitress did not warn him. Hiram Jimenez said he then panicked and knocked the hot food on his lap, causing more burns. Two courts threw out his case, saying the dangers were obvious.

Sagittarius: November 22-December 21 Once again a battle of wills shall take place at the office. You will be victorious since you’re a spoiled, worthless, manipulative dickhead.

Capricorn: December 22-January 19 Remember: With hard work and determination, you’ll be able to accomplish something someone with natural talent just did without trying.

Aquarius: January 20-February 18 Sometimes in life it’s best to let events unfold. That being said, doing so for the last 20 years was probably a huge mistake.

Pisces: February 19-March 20 Summer is here and now you can watch everyone having fun while you sit on your porch stroking your… cat.

Aries: March 21-April 19 Your prized collection of Family Circus cartoons will inevitably result in your being beaten to within an inch of your life by your cell mates at Lew Sterrett.

Taurus: April 20-May 20 Once again your insurance company will insist that it has no obligation to insure you as long as you’re still frozen in carbonite like Han Solo.

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THE SUPERHERO LANDSCAPE IS EXPANDING: STRAP IN JUNE 2015

he superhero genre is exploding, and the latest sequel to the Avengers franchise is only the beginning. Marvel has movies lined up to 2020 along with several Netflix series, DC is competing with Marvel with its films – also leading to 2020, Valiant Comics just received a green light for three of its books to hit the big screen, and Image Comics has seen success with The Walking Dead and has more hits on the way, i.e. Sex Criminals.

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BY ETHAN HARMON – @ETHANWRITESHARM

must gather again to save the world. Hell, even Thanos was teased again (spoiler again, but if you haven’t watched the movie yet, then that’s your loss) and future storylines were set into motion.

These films continue to truck onward, as the company has a plethora of insanely successful films, and even minor misses (looking at you Iron Man 2) that do not hinder the overarching narrative being laid out. Each

care about their heroes (again, dark, gloomy, gritty Superman). The Dark Knight Trilogy gave us a dark, gritty landscape, but that doesn’t mean that DC should make all of their heroes brooding and angry. DC can bring things around, as it does have the star-power and interest to bring people to theaters.

The biggest and most welcome surprise comes from the indie leagues. The Walking Dead has been a runaway success, and even when the

Basically, if you are a fan of comic books or comic-based films, then you are in for a treat over the next few years. However, if you are feeling as if the silver screen has seen too many action-filled heroversus-villain ventures, then you are not going to see the end of it anytime soon.

We can spend hours debating whether or not theaters are oversaturated with these films.

I, for one, do not believe that audiences are becoming tired of them. At least when it comes to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the company has achieved a seemingly impossible task. It has effectively created a contained universe that no longer requires explanation, build-up, or drawnout origin stories. Almost everyone has seen Avengers: Age of Ultron, but for those who haven’t, skip the next paragraph, because I will dive into parts of the film to further this idea.

When the film starts, the Avengers have assembled and they are in the thick of battle.

Unlike the first film, which spent the entirety presenting an antagonist established in an earlier film and providing a situation that gave reason as to why these heroes needed to band together, the sequel assumes the audience already witnessed these events. So, Ultron is created – with little origin – and the Avengers SMARTER, SHARPER MEN

movie set the groundwork for the next film in line, which keeps the interest level high and fans clamoring for more. DC, on the other hand, must prove itself. Green Lantern was, well, awful, and Man of Steel was a dud (dark Superman? - that’s not fun for anyone). The company has a plan in motion and a preJustice League movie on the way in the form of Batman v. Superman, but the plan can crash and burn if the upcoming release doesn’t impress audiences or give them a reason to

show hits its lows, it is still a ratings juggernaut that dominates Twitter on Sundays. It should be no surprise that Image now has more on the way, as Spawn and Sex Criminals will now be in the spotlight.

Though I’m not a fan of The Walking Dead, I can understand the fandom with the quality of writing and production, and if Image pushes for this with every venture, big screen or small, it will continue to gain notoriety and viewers.

Valiant Comics fell ill to the lackluster comics of the 90s and into obscurity, until a few years ago when it reemerged with its stellar, reinvigorated characters. Now, the company is riding high with its constant praise, which led to producers pushing for its books to grace the silver screen. Within a few years, audiences will be treated to Harbinger and Bloodshot.

This all sounds very exciting, but with personal biases and anticipation aside, it is easy to see why some people can become weary of these films, or wonder if they will become tired of seeing heroes in epic third-act throw-downs. As stated earlier, I don’t believe this is the case, or will become the case.

These companies all have a wide variety of characters, each with interesting backstories, motivations, etc. The mainstream heroes had early entrances into the lives of casual moviegoers, but now lesser-known characters are having their moment to shine.

Daredevil is a critical success and Guardians of the Galaxy blew audiences away, which means people are more willing and ready to see the more unknown characters, which in turn gives these companies a chance to push different films. It’s not about the genre becoming oversaturated and bloated, but more about how these companies approach the way they present these heroes, and if they can create new, fun adventures with each outing.

The superhero landscape is expanding, which has me excited. I think we should all strap in, grab some popcorn, and enjoy the ride.

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