Tag Archives: Dallas Voice

Meet our shamelessly self-promoting summer intern, Dakota Shain Byrd

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Dakota_ByrdHey y’all!

I’m thrilled to be here and be a part of the Dallas Voice team. I’ve written a few articles for the Voice before and am looking forward to working for them this summer.

So some info about me. Despite how young I look, I’m actually 22. Yes, I know I’ll be thanking divinity for my great genes later on. Haha!

I’m a creative writing major at the University of North Texas and am seeking a minor in social sciences with a concentration in anthropology. I’m from a military family so I was always studying people and culture in order to learn how to best try and fit in.

Additionally, just last week I was accepted to the Lambda Literary Writers Retreat for Emerging LBGT Voices. It’s a huge opportunity and is from July 28-Aug. 4, the week after my internship is finished. I’ll need some help getting there, though.

If you can make a donation, it’s 100 percent tax-deductible and every dollar helps! Even if all you can donate is a dollar, it helps. I only have to raise $300. I’m an aspiring author and my manuscript, The Black Night Rave, is under consideration at Razorbill (an imprint of Penguin Group) and has been requested by a few agents. If I get to the Lambda Literary Retreat, this will definitely be a huge plus and garner some notice for my work. So, please help me? In turn, my work would help bring us closer to total inclusion and acceptance into society.

I look forward to hearing from and connecting y’all!

Follow me on Twitter, add me on Facebook, and check out my blog as well! I am launching my blog tomorrow and will update it on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Make sure you bookmark the page to keep up with all the zany, fun, hilarious and outright amazing things that happen on my road to getting published, and for tips on how to break into various forms of publishing and tricks of the trade.

—  Dakota Byrd

Grindr honors Dallas Voice, other locals in gay mobile app’s Best of 2012 Awards

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Voting is in full swing for our own 2013 Readers Voice Awards, and if you haven’t cast your ballot already, you should hurry up and do so now for a chance to win two free tickets on American Airlines. Click here to vote.

While we’re eagerly awaiting this year’s Readers Voice results, we thought we’d share the Dallas winners of gay mobile app Grindr’s Best of 2012 Awards, which were released this week based on user surveys conducted between Dec. 5 and Dec. 22 in Big D and nine other cities.

The winners include Dallas Voice, which was named Best Local Gay News Outlet. Although I’m not sure what our competition was, something tells me that if you look at the cumulative amount of time our staff spends on Grindr, we probably deserve the award.

Here are all the local Grindr winners followed, after the jump, by the full press release with national winners and winners from other cities:

• Gym with the hottest guys:  24 Hour Fitness
• Best place to get a haircut: Supercuts on Lemmon
• Best place to take a first date: West Village
• Best Sunday funday: The Grapevine
• Favorite gay bar/club: The Round-Up Saloon
• Favorite bartender: Dylan Brown
• Best gay night/party: Purple Party
• Best DJ: Brandon Moses
• Fiercest drag queen/nightlife personality: Krystal Summers
• Local hero/community advocate of the year: James Doyle
• Best local gay news outlet: Dallas Voice

 

Continue reading “Grindr honors Dallas Voice, other locals in gay mobile app’s Best of 2012 Awards” »

—  John Wright

Starvoice • 08.31.12

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CELEBRITY BIRTHDAY

Beyonce Knowles turns 31 on Tuesday. The breakout star of the girl band Destiny’s Child, Beyonce has become a gay icon, both with her music (her last CD, 4, came out last year) and her appearances in movies such as Dreamgirls.

………………….

THIS WEEK

Venus enters Leo while in hard aspect to Sun and Jupiter. Yes, there can be too much charm, sweetness and light. Most of the other planets want to get to work. Scale back from saccharine to diplomatic and you can do anything.

…………………

VIRGO  Aug 23-Sep 22
Friends mean well — bless their hearts, if not their brains. Criticizing them will backfire. You need an outlet; save your kvetching for a very trusted and patient friend.

LIBRA  Sep 23-Oct 22
Enjoy the fruits of your labor, but don’t over-indulge. Too much partying could bring latent problems to the surface. If friends offer advice, the less you like it, the more you should listen.

SCORPIO  Oct 23-Nov 21
Too much individual initiative can be your downfall, but with forethought, intuition and advice from friends, you can do almost anything. If you’re not entirely happy where you’re working, get résumés to where you’d rather be.

SAGITTARIUS  Nov 22-Dec 20
There’s a line between flirtation and sexual harassment, and you’re a little too frisky. In the right time and place, that can work for you spectacularly, but it could undermine your reputation.

CAPRICORN  Dec 21-Jan 19
Your drive is strong enough to achieve nearly anything. Keep your mind focused on necessary work and away from arguments, especially at home. Sex may not solve problems, but can help you endure them.

AQUARIUS  Jan 20-Feb 18
Your mouth is the magic door to trouble. Think ahead, listen attentively and be very careful about the right time and place to get down and dirty.

PISCES  Feb 19-Mar 19
Trying to be helpful around the house can cause trouble with your partner/roommate. Match actions to words. An argument with a friend can bruise your ego, but brave it and clear the air.

ARIES  Mar 20-Apr 19
If malaise hits, focus on what’s bothering you and get into action. Your voice is even louder and more forceful than usual. If you feel a need to yell at others, talk gently with a trusted friend.

TAURUS  Apr 20-May 20
Playful flirtations are likely to overstep bounds. Optimistic financial plans are way too much. If it looks too good to be true, it is. Get solid, reliable advice before putting your money anywhere.

GEMINI  May 21-Jun 20
Keep your hands busy, ears open and mouth shut — except in lovemaking. Sex is great, but verbal intercourse can get contentious. Housecleaning is the second best way of working off that energy.

CANCER  Jun 21-Jul 22
Indulge yourself with a massage, a day at a spa, a long leisurely visit at a museum or a scenic hike. The company of a very close, trusted friend is ideal, but solitude is good for the soul, too.

LEO  Jul 23-Aug 22
Venus brings you more charm and gorgeousness entering your sign on the 6th. She’s pretty amped up, so be careful not to overdo it. Are those “friends” laughing with you or at you?

This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition August 31, 2012.

—  Michael Stephens

Scenes from Saturday’s LifeWalk Waterpalooza (which we won in case you hadn’t heard)

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In 2010, the Dallas Voice didn’t advance too far in our debut at Waterpalooza, but after our confident claims (mostly to make ourselves feel better) we redeemed ourselves to take top honors on Saturday during the Razzle Dazzle daytime street fair. As the DV Elizabeth Trail’rs (also our LifeWalk team name), we crushed through the opposition (OK, two teams) to come out as the winner of the Sploosh Ball Tournament and win $100 toward our LifeWalk goal.

Find pics of the event (mostly us) after the jump.

Continue reading “Scenes from Saturday’s LifeWalk Waterpalooza (which we won in case you hadn’t heard)” »

—  Rich Lopez

DV’s WaterPalooza team prepares to open a can

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DV Elzabeth Trail'rs team organizer Chance Browning says "May the limpest wrist win!"

We’ve done the WaterPalooza thing before and sure, we had our asses handed to us by the softball team we played but we’re not deterred. Despite zero practice sessions or courses of attack, our LifeWalk team, the Dallas Voice Elizabeth Trail’rs is determined to advance in this Saturday’s event — even if it is at least one round. Team organizer Chance Browning, pictured, offers these fighting words to the other teams.

“The Elizabeth Trail’rs promise to make a moist impression!” he said.

Ummm, OK, so he needs to work on his competitive edge, but as a a veteran from our previous showing at WP, alongside myself, Browning offered the Trail’rs some coaching tips.

“Not unlike when you’re on a first date, you must be agile, spot your target, maintain eye contact and follow through,” he advised.

Oh man, we’re gonna win so hard.

—  Rich Lopez

Piece of cake: Another close call for charity

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Where I started, below, and where I ended up, above.

I’m sick of coming in second, especially for charity.

As we blogged about three weeks ago, Team Dallas Voice was first runner-up in a wind-power competition pitting journo-against-journo for a $2,500 cash donation to our favorite charity. Instead, we won $250 for Ranch Hand Rescue. (We fell to Colleen Coyle of Channel 8.) I was the star player on my team, of course — i.e., the only one capable of building a $0.15 pinwheel without adult supervision.*

So when I was invited to go solo for another journalist-only benefit competition — this time, $1,000 being donated in my name by Kroger to the North Texas Food Bank and Tarrant Area Food Bank — I relished the opportunity. Plus I didn’t have to go outside as with the wind game … always a plus.

This time, my creativity skills were being put to the test when I faced off against five other journalists at cake decorating. We each had 30 minutes, with the assistance of a Kroger bakery staffer, to turn pasty into a work of art. With the help of La Tricia, I set about it.

Decorating a cake is pretty hard. La Tricia made sure all my pastry bags were filled with butter cream frosting of various colors, and she showed me techniques (apply constant pressure! But not too much!) and walked me through. Being a gay pub, we settled on a rainbow theme, made variously of fruits, jelly beans and frosting.

You can tell I did most of the work myself. I have the penmanship of a serial killer, as Clairee might say, but I also hard heart — and a strong pitch. “You get three points for your presentation,” said Francie Cooper, one of the judges. I thought about a bribe too, but there were cameras on me.

In the end, I placed second after Jana from the Dallas Morning News — another Belo victory! I got no money donated in my name. Instead, I got to keep the cake. I’m feeding the working poor with it, i.e., my colleagues here at Dallas Voice. Ah, well, no reason why you can’t donate to the food banks — they need it. Summer is the hungriest time for kids. Why? Because school is out, so no access to hot lunches unless mom makes it. C’mon, give some money or drop off some cans. Kids should play in the summer, not worry about food.

*That’s pretty much all he did. — Teammates

—  Arnold Wayne Jones

Damn you, Colleen Coyle!

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Team Dallas Voice: Arnold Wayne Jones, Anna Waugh, Rich Lopez, David Taffet

Dallas Voice participated in the Reliant Energy Kite Relay this morning at Fair Park. Anna Waugh, Rich Lopez, Arnold Wayne Jones and I flew a kite, dressed as Ben Franklin, folded a pinwheel, answered energy questions … and came in second.

WFAA Channel 8′s Colleen Coyle beat us by a few steps. She won $2,500 for the ASPCA. Bob Williams from Ranch Hand Rescue, our charity, was on hand and received $250.

“You should have tripped her,” Waugh said. “Next time we’ll know better.”

About a dozen news organizations were on hand to compete.

The Reliant energy-efficient house was on hand. Among the interesting new appliances displayed was a hot water heater that uses heat from the attic to warm the water in the tank and releases cool air into the attic to help cool the house. During the winter, the heater works on electricity as well.

The kite relay was to promote a Saturday event in the Trinity River bottoms near the viaduct behind Lew Sterrett. Closest parking is in the courthouse parking lots. Hot air balloons, hang gliders, kite relay teams will be part of the fun from noon to 6 p.m. More photos from today’s event below.

Continue reading “Damn you, Colleen Coyle!” »

—  David Taffet

REVIEW: “We Need to Talk About Kevin”

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In the paper this week, we have an interview with Ezra Miller, who plays the eponymous child in the indie We Need To Talk About Kevin, opening today at the Angelika. Read the interview, enjoy it — it’s interesting.

But here is my review of the film itself — sort of. I saw it in January with my college roommate and close friend Bruce Fretts, himself a respected media writer and critic, and we recorded our dialogue about the film. You can read the transcript by clicking here. It’s really pretty fun. (It also talks about Pariah.) Bruce and I were a good team, back when Siskel & Ebert were kings. Enjoy!

—  Arnold Wayne Jones

Defining Homes • How Swede it is

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Gay agent Fredrik Eklund is a shark above the rest in Bravo’s new ‘Million Dollar Listing: New York’

By Rich Lopez

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With European charm and no-holds-barred ambition, Eklund swoops in on competitors’ clients and cleverly negotiates the right price for his own in the cutthroat market of New York City.

Turning its eye to the high-rise luxury space of the Big Apple, the Bravo network premieres its latest entry into reality programming with Million Dollar Listing: New York. Three hungry young agents navigate through myriad clients looking to unload jaw-dropping apartments with three floors, major closet space and automatic toilets, and buyers willing to throw down millions for them.

But Fredrik Eklund might just be the show’s breakout star with his good looks, major ambition and a slightly checkered past he has no shame about. Really, he’s a softie at heart with fond nostalgia for the TV show Dallas.

“I was so obsessed with that show when I was growing up in Sweden,” he laughs (and hums the theme music). “But I’ve never worn a cowboy hat. Do they wear those in Dallas?”

He talks with a sincere and almost childlike interest, but he’s anything but when it comes to competing in the intense market of New York City. In MDL: NY, he’s one of three young bucks with one thing on their minds: closing the deal. And Eklund is quick to boast his billion dollars in sales to impress potential clients and make his mark.

“You just have to work harder at [real estate]. Even after eight years of doing this, I am still obsessive about it. I eat and breathe it,” he says.

We see his handiwork when he slyly negotiates offers to his clients’ advantage and will even take a cut in his commission to get it done.

But with commissions running in to the tens of thousands of dollars, he’s hardly missing out. While the money is nice, Eklund says this isn’t what drives him to be the best.

“This fits my brain really well and there’s always something new,” he says. “The number one thing I want to put my mark on is new developments here in New York. Any agent can put up a website and wait for the phone to ring, but with new buildings, I can create a brand for that. That is something I’m very proud of for the future.”

On paper, Eklund has had a privileged life. A successful father provided a blueprint for the success he wanted and ultimately achieved. He studied economics in Stockholm, owned an Internet company by the age of 23, he managed a cadre of music producers to churn out Billboard charting songs in Singapore and Latin America.

Now, at 34, he’s the youngest managing director for Prudential Douglas Elliman, the largest real estate company on the East Coast. Even with his golden career in his hands, the decision to add the show into a busy life was only a positive one — as well as advantageous.

“I knew it was going to be a lot of fun and I have some vanity, but to go so deep into your own life, it does become comical,” he laughs. “But the more serious answer is the international outreach is so important. Everyone wants to own something in New York and so the power of TV is unparalleled. For me, this is an opportunity to showcase my business.”

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The new kids on the Bravo block include, left to right, Ryan Serhant, Michael Lorber and Eklund.

A priceless moment in the pilot comes out of nowhere when cast mate Ryan Serhant outs Eklund’s work in gay porn to a client over lunch.

Without batting an eye, Eklund owns it and swoops in on Serhant’s guest to deliver his card. Eklund is an open book without faulting any past decisions or experiences.

“I’ve always been open about it, but it has never affected my business,” he says. “When people hear me talk about it, I hope they can see in my eyes that it’s nothing. It was a short period of my life, but it’s helped make me who I am and I’m proud of who I am.”

Fortunately for local Realtors, he doesn’t have his sights set on conquering Dallas anytime soon, but if he did …

“I would do what I did in New York and walk around open houses, scan all the top brokers,” he says. “I used to pretend to be a buyer to note who the big brokers are. Every top broker has something that makes you want to really work with that person.”

But his plans right now only include taking over New York, celebrating his engagement to his partner he met during the season and making time to enjoy his whole new life in front of the camera.

“The world s very big and our lives are pretty short. Before we know it, it’s over,” he says. “I want to do so many things and even though I’m calmer about things, I still have that urge.”

Million Dollar Listing: New York premieres March 7 on Bravo. For more information, visit BravoTV.com.

This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition March 2, 2012.

—  Kevin Thomas

GIVEAWAY: VIP tix to “Million Dollar Quartet”

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Thanks to the Dallas Summer Musical peeps for offering Dallas Voice readers the chance to win VIP tickets to the opening night of the musical Million Dollar Quartet. That’s a sweet package of first-orchestra seats and an invitation to the cast party after the show. How many people can now say they are gonna schmooze and mingle with Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins? OK, sorta. MDQ is based on the recording session in which all these legends collaborated and never again. From Dallas Summer Musicals.

On December 4, 1956, these four young musicians gathered at Sun Records in Memphis for what would be one of the greatest jam sessions ever. Million Dollar Quartet brings that legendary night to life, featuring a score of rock hits including “Blue Suede Shoes,” “Fever,” “That’s All Right,” “Great Balls of Fire,” “Walk the Line,” “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On,” “Who Do You Love?,” “Folsom Prison Blues,” “Hound Dog” and more.

This thrilling musical brings you inside the recording studio with four major talents who came together as a red-hot rock ‘n’ roll band for one unforgettable night. Don’t miss your chance to be a fly on the wall of fame… at Million Dollar Quartet!

For tickets, just drop us an email here with you and your guest’s name (for the cast party list) and phone number (to notify winners) with “Gimme a Million” in the subject line. Winners will be randomly selected on Tuesday.

MDQ runs March 6–18 at the Music Hall at Fair Park.

—  Rich Lopez