As I chill here at the coffee shop unwinding from a long day mining salt for The Man, I prepare myself mentally for the long, emotional evening ahead. Tonight is Frank Anthony Campagna Jr's, aka Frankie 45, memorial show/wake at Club Dada. Frankie is/was deeply loved here in the Deep Ellum community. His father, Frank Sr, is one of the godfathers of Deep Ellum. If there is anyone who embodies what Deep Ellum is and is about, it's Frank Sr. Frankie and his sister, Amber, both grew up here in Deep Ellum and are still a part of this place and always will be.
It's been five days since Frankie took his life and the numbness has started to wear off somewhat. Tonight will be cathartic as the emotions are now open and exposed. It is time to openly grieve, reminisce, celebrate, examine our lives and relationships, confront our own mortality -- our own demons and to say goodbye to Frankie 45.....and rage, rage against the dying of the light.
As much as Frankie is/will be missed, one fact stands unchallenged -- life goes on, with or without us. Tomorrow morning the sun will rise in the east and set in the west. The earth will continue to spin unabated upon its axis. The inexorable march of time will continue. Yet, tonight at Club Dada we will remember, celebrate, cry, shout, shake our heads, console each other and be consoled ourselves......we will grieve. Tomorrow or sometime thereafter -- life will go on. RIP Frank Anthony Campagna Jr.
Life goes on.
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Fool Me Once.......
Gentle readers, I'm sure you know the phrase "Fool me once -- shame on you. Fool me twice -- shame on me." No, it's not "There's an old saying in Tennessee — I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee — that says, fool me once, shame on — [pauses] — shame on you. Fool me — [pauses] — You can't get fooled again." that wonderful ditty from George W Bush. It still makes The Cracker Daddy painfully cringe every time he remembers George W and he live in the same city. Well, at least I'll say this for George W, he's doing more than his fair share and then some in keeping Dallas douche.
Speaking of douche-bags, today is the first day of the new Congress -- the one run by the Republicans now. You remember these fools/crooks/charlatans don't you? Yes, think back to just four years ago when they had just been booted from the majority after 12 "wonderful" years (yes, that's sarcasm dripping). Yes, those assholes. Dana Milbank of the Washington Post happened to notice in today's column that the Republicans appear to be acting like lying hypocrites, or you know just like .......Republicans.
Speaking of douche-bags, today is the first day of the new Congress -- the one run by the Republicans now. You remember these fools/crooks/charlatans don't you? Yes, think back to just four years ago when they had just been booted from the majority after 12 "wonderful" years (yes, that's sarcasm dripping). Yes, those assholes. Dana Milbank of the Washington Post happened to notice in today's column that the Republicans appear to be acting like lying hypocrites, or you know just like .......Republicans.
For two years, Cantor and his colleagues campaigned against high deficits. Now, in the new majority's first major act, they plan to vote to increase the deficit by $143 billion as part of a repeal of health-care reform.
For two years, Cantor and his colleagues bemoaned the Democrats' abuse of House rules to circumvent committees and to prevent Republicans from offering amendments. Now, Cantor confirmed on Tuesday, Republicans will employ the very same abuses as they attempt the repeal.
For two years, the Republicans complained about unrelenting Democratic partisanship. Now they're planning no fewer than 10 investigations of the Obama administration, and the man leading most of those has already branded Obama's "one of the most corrupt administrations" in history.
For two years, the Republican minority vowed to return power to the people. Now the House Republican majority is asking lobbyists which regulations to repeal, hiring lobbyists to key staff positions and hobnobbing with lobbyists at big-ticket Washington fundraisers.
Go figure that. Well, Dana you and your fellow travelers in the MSM Village got punked by the Republicans.......AGAIN. So, shame on you and the rest of the Villagers.
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Happy New Year and Other Musings
Another shiny new year has arrived......whoo-hoo! Be still thy beating heart.
As The Cracker Daddy sits here in Starbucks, thinking of the year past and the year upon us in all of its infantile glory while grooving on some Black Keys, he thinks what the grunt in a foxhole on a cold, wet, miserable night thinks -- this is shit. Yes, The Cracker Daddy has lowered himself to sit in a Starbucks, drink their swill and barely tolerate the consumerist sheep imbibing their crappy coffee. For those of you who know The Cracker Daddy, you know he DESPISES Starbucks. However, into the belly of the beast The Cracker Daddy ventured to have a chai soy latte with cinnamon (what a putrid cup of swill that was) and to write to you gentle readers. Yet, The Cracker Daddy has a bond with this particular Starbucks. In a past life, this Starbucks was a Souther Maid Donut shop. A donut shop where The Cracker Daddy in his youth would skip church (forced religious indoctrination sessions) with his church-going, upper middle-class, hooligan friends. So, when The Cracker Daddy holds his nose to enter this particular temple to consumerism, it is viewed with a forlorn fondness of days past.
The Cracker Daddy's coffee shop of primary preference, It's A Grind, is closed today......as is the coffee shop of secondary preference, Murray St Coffee Shop and as is the coffee shop of tertiary preference, Mokkah. Well, fuck The Cracker Daddy running........Starbucks it is. While mentally pissing and moaning about the dearth of good coffee/chai being available for commercial consumption today, The Cracker Daddy longingly reminisces of his All-Time Favorite (ATF) coffee shop/cool cultural hangout -- The Nodding Dog Coffee Shop......aka The Nodding Dog. Ah, The Nodding Dog.......how The Cracker Daddy misses you! The Cracker Daddy discovered The Nodding Dog back in February 2004 with The Cracker Daddy's Only Legitimate Spawn on a field trip through Dallas on a Saturday to show The Cracker Daddy's Only Legitimate Spawn what Dallas had to offer. The Nodding Dog was in the Bishop Arts District at the corner of Bishop Ave and 7th St across 7th St from Hattie's (another The Cracker Daddy fave). It was a magical place in a magical time. This was before the D Magazine crowd, aka douche-bags, discovered the Bishop Arts District. What can be said about The Nodding Dog -- Great art, eclectic decor and music, great staff...and an area of Dallas that didn't look like suburbia hell. They had free wi-fi, a bottomless coffee cup option, great selection of teas, and were dog-friendly which is solid gold in The Cracker Daddy's book. Such a great, deliciously diverse and eclectic mix of patrons and staff -- The Cracker Daddy had indeed found his nirvana, his Shambala. Alas, as all good things do, The Nodding Dog came to an end in August 2008 -- the victim of the commercial success brought upon by the douche-bags discovering the Bishop Arts District and a greedy landlord's lust for commercial gain. Needless to say, The Cracker Daddy was DEVASTATED at the loss of his beloved home-away-from-home. An establishment that epitomized what it was about the Bishop Arts District that made it an oasis of diverse, heterogeneous, hip coolness in the desert of bland, conforming sameness that is Dallas. Oh, how the Cracker Daddy has wished plagues of biblical proportion upon the douche-bags and greedy-ass landlord -- think Moses and Ramses with some rectal warts and hemorrhaging thrown in for good measure. The Cracker Daddy has refused to even enter the business that replaced The Nodding Dog. It would be like climbing into a grave -- not going to happen. RIP The Nodding Dog -- dear, dear friend you are missed.
As The Cracker Daddy sits here in Starbucks, thinking of the year past and the year upon us in all of its infantile glory while grooving on some Black Keys, he thinks what the grunt in a foxhole on a cold, wet, miserable night thinks -- this is shit. Yes, The Cracker Daddy has lowered himself to sit in a Starbucks, drink their swill and barely tolerate the consumerist sheep imbibing their crappy coffee. For those of you who know The Cracker Daddy, you know he DESPISES Starbucks. However, into the belly of the beast The Cracker Daddy ventured to have a chai soy latte with cinnamon (what a putrid cup of swill that was) and to write to you gentle readers. Yet, The Cracker Daddy has a bond with this particular Starbucks. In a past life, this Starbucks was a Souther Maid Donut shop. A donut shop where The Cracker Daddy in his youth would skip church (forced religious indoctrination sessions) with his church-going, upper middle-class, hooligan friends. So, when The Cracker Daddy holds his nose to enter this particular temple to consumerism, it is viewed with a forlorn fondness of days past.
The Cracker Daddy's coffee shop of primary preference, It's A Grind, is closed today......as is the coffee shop of secondary preference, Murray St Coffee Shop and as is the coffee shop of tertiary preference, Mokkah. Well, fuck The Cracker Daddy running........Starbucks it is. While mentally pissing and moaning about the dearth of good coffee/chai being available for commercial consumption today, The Cracker Daddy longingly reminisces of his All-Time Favorite (ATF) coffee shop/cool cultural hangout -- The Nodding Dog Coffee Shop......aka The Nodding Dog. Ah, The Nodding Dog.......how The Cracker Daddy misses you! The Cracker Daddy discovered The Nodding Dog back in February 2004 with The Cracker Daddy's Only Legitimate Spawn on a field trip through Dallas on a Saturday to show The Cracker Daddy's Only Legitimate Spawn what Dallas had to offer. The Nodding Dog was in the Bishop Arts District at the corner of Bishop Ave and 7th St across 7th St from Hattie's (another The Cracker Daddy fave). It was a magical place in a magical time. This was before the D Magazine crowd, aka douche-bags, discovered the Bishop Arts District. What can be said about The Nodding Dog -- Great art, eclectic decor and music, great staff...and an area of Dallas that didn't look like suburbia hell. They had free wi-fi, a bottomless coffee cup option, great selection of teas, and were dog-friendly which is solid gold in The Cracker Daddy's book. Such a great, deliciously diverse and eclectic mix of patrons and staff -- The Cracker Daddy had indeed found his nirvana, his Shambala. Alas, as all good things do, The Nodding Dog came to an end in August 2008 -- the victim of the commercial success brought upon by the douche-bags discovering the Bishop Arts District and a greedy landlord's lust for commercial gain. Needless to say, The Cracker Daddy was DEVASTATED at the loss of his beloved home-away-from-home. An establishment that epitomized what it was about the Bishop Arts District that made it an oasis of diverse, heterogeneous, hip coolness in the desert of bland, conforming sameness that is Dallas. Oh, how the Cracker Daddy has wished plagues of biblical proportion upon the douche-bags and greedy-ass landlord -- think Moses and Ramses with some rectal warts and hemorrhaging thrown in for good measure. The Cracker Daddy has refused to even enter the business that replaced The Nodding Dog. It would be like climbing into a grave -- not going to happen. RIP The Nodding Dog -- dear, dear friend you are missed.
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