Monday, October 02, 2006



The remains of the sign of the Texas Theater over on Jefferson in Oak Cliff. This is where the Dallas Police apprehended Lee Harvey Oswald after the whole JFK thingy. Check over on Dallas Diorama for a couple more pictures of this theater this week.

I had a better day Sunday, having actually had more than 5 minutes to myself and I got my feathers smoothed out a bit. Still, I'm looking at a few working-Saturday-too weeks ahead, I suspect, so I guess I'd better just get used to the over-committed thing.

I decompressed by going to a book store and buying some creatively inspirational reading material, and new cds from Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Muse and Thom Yorke, fellow hypomaniac. Great stuff. Listened to Muse all morning and afternoon as I drove around and snapped photos of Dallas.

At least I don't feel so exhausted, and although the drives with mom have been nice, it'll be good to have a weekend soon when I don't drive 500+ miles, or double that. whew!

17 comments:

Arthur Quiller Couch said...

So far, Dallas hasn't looked very good. Maybe I should check your Diorama.

:P fuzzbox said...

I love old theatre signs it just hearkens back to a simpler time.

phlegmfatale said...

arthur quiller couch - You know, most of Dallas is slick, ultra-modern and very expensively packaged. Here and over at Dallas Diorama I'm showing a lot of things I find interesting in town that are perhaps off the beaten path and not related to mega-commerce and high-end retail. If you want to see that kind of impressive packaging, there are several other Dallas blogs on the net which are dedicated to that aesthetic. One other aspect of the structures and sights here I find charming is that I know many of the things I've featured in Dallas Diorama are prime candidates for demolition, and although I wouldn't cry over just any old pile of bricks, I do think it's an error to fall into the seductive mindset that everything new is better than spending time and energy on preservation and renovation. Chacun a son gout. How anyone could look at the 1932 image of this glamorous movie palace and not see its inherent beauty is beyond me, but my mom always said there's no accounting for taste. This is my taste, and thanks for taking a peek at it, honey.

phlegmfatale said...

fuzzbox - yeah, they really do bring back a moment, don't they, even though they were old when we were just kids?

Will said...

I always wanted to ask. Is there ever an eerie feeling when you travel past the book depository and the grassy knoll ?

phlegmfatale said...

You know, Ben, if I weren't IN Dallas every day it might be a bit more chilling to drive down that little stretch of Elm Street where Kennedy was killed, but usually I'm trying to pay attention to all the pedestrians in the area and to avoid hitting anyone. There's a guy in town that keeps a white "X" painted on the very spots of the street where the 2 shots were fired, and people run out to get their photos taken on those spots. I suspect people are clouded with emotion when they are there and maybe don't pay attention to the fact that there are motorists going about their daily business on the street in cars. I can understand how profound and distracting it can be to ponder people being vile enough to do such a thing.

Frankly, I think it's a tragic story, the whole JFK mess. He was a terrible statesman and couldn't wait to get us into Viet Nam (which considering his and LBJ's Viet Nam legacy, it's funny how that war is totally associated with Nixon in the public's mind) and Bay of Pigs nearly instigated an international nuclear exchange, so even though I wasn't born then, I think I would have despised him as a president. However, just as with the example of Bill Clinton, JFK went a long way toward showing how a charismatic person can get a lot of free passes on a crummy record while in office.

That said, I certainly wish it hadn't happened to him and his family - it was a tragedy for the entire nation, caught on film and happening to someone who very much captured the heart of the American people. The fact that we had entered the moving picture age ensured that this event will be seared into the American psyche until at least the middle of the 21st century, and as long as people who remember that event are still alive.

It's surreal, actually. Disappointing to consider, and terribly sad.

Will said...

There's many who would argue that Bobby would have made a better President. He wasn't scared to take on some tough issues.

He didn't give a shit about upsetting
The Mob
Hoffa
Hoover
The white elitists
and Johnson who was a War monger

None of them match up to FDR in my humble opinion. THE greatest American president.

Barbara Bruederlin said...

That building seems to have an art deco feel to it. I didn't think that really took hold in Dallas, but I don't have anything to base that on.

Nice music pics - I love the new Yeah Yeah Yeahs, you know I adore Thom Yorke with all my soul, and I am beginning to accept that Muse is not actually a Radiohead ripoff.

lilfeathers2000 said...

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Thomas J Wolfenden said...

I really enjoy your pictures... I simply love the old Art-Deco styles from the 30's & 40's.

Keep the pics coming!

phlegmfatale said...

Ben - I sure wish Bobby Kennedy didn't have Marilyn Monroe killed, though. I was particularly fond of the other Roosevelt, too. He was a no B/S kind of guy.

barbara - I'll have to disabuse you of that notion - outside of Miami Florida, the largest collection of art deco buildings in the world is right here in Dallas at Fair Park, which is where we host the Texas State Fair. It started last Friday, and I'll go nab some photos soon so I can school you on the deco tradition in Dallas. : )

lilfeathers - ok.

ranger tom - Gee, thanks! I sure love taking photographs. I'll put them in more often. Yeah, me too, I love the old buildings.

Barbara Bruederlin said...

I stand happily corrected, Phlegmfatale! I'd love to see some of those photos - I'm actually very taken with art deco.

FHB said...

Ben, don't get me started on FDR. And yea, the depository museum is very nice. It's very interesting to be there and look out the window next to THE window, but some of the tourists DO have a death wish. The area is a lot smaller than it seems when you see it on TV, and it's kind of funny to see all the folks wandering around the fence that isn't original, and the "grassy knoll". Conspiracy whackos crack me up.
Plem, keep up the good work. Yer pics are cool as hell. Love to see the seedier side of things, as well as the glitz.

Becky said...

I like the old pictures and a reminder of the fact that we weren't always such a cookie-cutter looking society. It's sad to see the newer picture, but given the area that it's in, I'm not surprised.

phlegmfatale said...

barbara - I can't wait to show you - you're going to love it

fathairybastard - Thanks for the observations - Yeah, the conspiracy folks are a bit out there, but they are so intense and they belive SO hard! Still, with some of the odd coincidences, it's easy to see where they are coming from, but what sticks in my craw is I know what a gossipy lot you men are, and you couldn't keep a secret to save your lives! Glad you like my pictures - I'm very flattered.

ben heller- I will go to my grave believing that he had Marilyn killed. Yes. She was emotional, reckless and needy. Poor woman.

becky - Yeah, cookie cutter schmookie smutter - PA TOOEY! I hate when every suburb has exactly the same malls with exactly the same stores as you drive by on the highway - it's so dull and sadly predictable. I'll take a rusty dust-trap old junk store over a mall any day.

Arthur Quiller Couch said...

Listen for a moment if you've stopped hyperventilating, lady.
The old photo was very attractive. The new one was not.
Could be the photos and not the building.
On the other hand, recreation is sometimes better than restoration.

phlegmfatale said...

welcome back, arthur - you didn't say the photo was what you took issue with. I merely responded. You'll find I'm often verbose in conversation in the comments section.