We got to know Oak Cliff’s "Book Doctor", Julie Schleier, through a short piece in the September 2008 issue, and this weekend I read a story in the DMN, in which Schleier tells the stories of some of the books that find their way into her Bishop Arts District store.

One interesting tidbit: Schleier and co-worker Candice McKay once spent 15 hours scraping shoe polish off of an 1889 Bible and discovered that the Bible’s cover was embellished with gold.

Along with about 35, 000 other people, I ran the Dallas YMCA Turkey Trot last Thursday. The first couple miles of the 8-miler is tougher each year — people running into and over each other, stepping on spectators, starting way up front and then moving real slow. And that’s the smaller of the two races with only (ONLY) 11,000 or so people.

So I hit my stride during mile two. I’m feeling the energy. Feeling good … and then it gets even better because I see, right around mile three, the Advocate’s own Sally Ackerman jamming alongside her hubby Bob. The Ackermans were one of a few bands playing along the Downtown Dallas/ Oak Cliff course I yelled and waved at her and I’m pretty sure she recognized me. The Ackermans will also perform at the increasingly rockin’ White Rock Marathon (less than two weeks away!) Sally promises to let me know as soon as she knows what mile she’ll play.

This film‘s title alone intrigued me. And as I continued reading about it on Unitarian Universalist Church of Oak Cliff’s website, I found it even more interesting.

"What Would Jesus Buy?" appears to be an appropriate holiday movie for the church’s First Tuesday Social Action Film Festival. The synopsis states that it: "follows Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping gospel choir as they go on a cross-country mission to save Christmas from the Shopocalypse: the end of mankind from consumerism, over-consumption and the fires of eternal debt!" It’s probably not only holiday appropriate but also appropriate for our current economic climate.

Another interesting tidbit: The producer of this "docu-comedy" is Morgan Spurlock, the man behind the movie documentary "Super Size Me" and the more recent FX series "30 Days".

The film’s website is definitely worth clicking through, with plenty to keep visitors entertained. I clicked on "About Us" and found a statement about Rverend Billy’s beliefs that seemed to mesh well with the Oak Cliff philosophy:
"Reverend Billy and the Stop Shopping gospel choir believe that Consumerism is overwhelming our lives. The corporations want us to have experiences only through their products.

Our neighborhoods, ‘commons’ places like stoops and parks and streets and libraries, are disappearing into the corporatized world of big boxes and chain stores. But if we ‘back away from the product’ — even a little bit, well then we Put The Odd Back In God!

The supermodels fly away and we’re left with our original sensuality. So we are singing and preaching for local economies and real — not mediated through products — experience.

We like independent shops where you know the person behind the counter or at least — you like them enough to share a story.We ask that local activists who are defending themselves against supermalls, nuke plants, gentrification — call us and we’ll come and put on our ‘Fabulous Worship!’"

The Observer‘s Robert Wilonsky points to the structure at 104 S. Edgefield, torched by a 2005 fire, as an example of why the city is pressing for new rules that would "expedite the demolition of ‘substandard structures’ in historically designated districts." In this case, Wilonsky reports, the commission’s Winnetka Heights/Lake Cliff Task Force voted not to raze the structure in January of this year, but more recently, gave the city the thumbs up to demolish it.

I won’t reiterate all of Wilonsky’s recent Unfair Park blog post (you should read it for yourself), but essentially, the city is trying to make the case that of the 37 certificates of demolition filed with the Landmark Commission in the last five years, none have resulted in structure repairs, despite the fact that the commission denied 10 and postponed two. So it looks like the city is trying to find a way to take the Landmark Commission out of this process because in the city’s opinion, the commission is simply slowing down demolition orders.

The city’s proposal is scheduled to go before the Public Safety Committee today, but Wilonsky wonders if it won’t be dropped from the agenda — the Landmark Commission hasn’t even been briefed yet.
When it comes to historic structures, residents of Oak Cliff find themselves all along the spectrum — from "everything is worth saving" to "some buildings should just be demolished" to "whoever owns the property has the right to do what he wants with it". (Of course, in neighborhoods like Winnetka Heights, which is an historic district, and Kings Highway, which is a conservation district, property owners agree to adhere to certain standards.)

But no matter where a person finds himself along the spectrum, most people agree that Dallas doesn’t do a very good job of preserving its history — thus the need for the Landmark Commission. In the post, this is what Preservation Dallas‘ Katherine Seale has to say: "The reason why the City Council appoints the Landmark Commission is to prevent needless demolitions, and if they’re removed from the process, there’s no insurance we don’t have buildings that just look bad or are vacant that are otherwise perfect candidates for renovation torn down because somebody doesn’t understand what they’re looking at."

Here’s a fun website devoted to helping people both find and support mom and pop shops. Delocator.com invites visitors to enter their zip codes and find coffee shops, bookstores and movie theaters other than Starbucks, Barnes and Noble, and AMC. (And it has a nifty logo reminiscent of Starbucks, but not so close as to get sued.)

A quick search for "coffee" with the 75208 zip code turns up places like the now closed Nodding Dog, and the site clearly needs to be updated, as it includes a couple of spam posts and coffee shops that are by no means close to Oak Cliff — including Cafe Brazil locations in Carrollton and Far North Dallas. But it also names a couple of Deep Ellum coffee shops, like Murray Street (one of my favorites) and Insomnia.

The site is by no means exhaustive — in fact, it depends on business owners and customers to "delocate corporate businesses in your neighborhood" by submitting the info on local restaurants and retailers.

A Back Talk holiday tradition is our annual Black Friday shopping post. That’s where I wonder in awe and amazement that anyone would get up before breakfast to go shopping for a TV set, and our regular visitors point out that I am woefully out of touch with reality. So go at it — if you went shopping today, leave a comment. Or, if you didn’t, tell us why. The rest of the blog will be off (and I’ll be in Oklahoma without TV set, telephone or Internet access, as far away from shopping as possible).

And, as a public service (and because I think it’s odd), after the jump: A list of Dallas-area stores and when they opened today.
• The Black Friday shopping website. This site tracks ads and sale items for more than 50 retailers, including store hours.

• 4 a.m.: Kohl’s, JC Penney.

• 5 a.m.:Best Buy, Sam’s Club, Sears, Wal-Mart

• 6 a.m.:Burlington Coat Factory, Home Depot, Lowe’s, Kmart, Target

• 8 a.m.: Southwest Center Mall

• 9 a.m.: NorthPark

I haven’t really tried posting videos on our awesome new site yet and I figured now is a good time to practice. It’s a holiday (sort of) and those who are reading, are surely — after all that economy talk and sports analysis among in laws and friends — in need of mindless entertainment — look no more. I am here for you. I haven’t made any videos of my own (that is my next endeavor)  so I went to a You Tube guru, my 10-year old daughter, and asked her what she and her friends  were finding most hilarious these days. Here are a couple gems she suggested: The first is a chocolate commercial about an unblinking woman.
Then we have this spoof of that Jim Carey movie, The Number 23.

What I won’t let her watch in my house? Anything by this annoying kid Fred (and I apologize in advance for this one):

The blog is off today, so we can celebrate the holiday. But we don’t want to leave you stranded — how about these party planning tips from David Letterman, Martha Stewart, and Emeril Lagasse (courtesy of CBS and YouTube)?

Here’s at least one good reason to stay away from the malls and big box stores on Friday (as if the madness and mayhem weren’t enough): Make Studio in the Bishop Arts District is offering a discount of at least 15 percent off anything in the store, and other even greater discounts — like 20 percent off fabrics by the yard and 25 percent off all hanging artwork.

Any classes registered on Friday are 10 percent off, and the December classes are posted on the Make website. Even better, you can sleep late and still find great deals — Make Studio won’t open until 2 p.m. Friday. Any shoppers from 4-8 p.m. can enjoy complimentary Black Friday cocktails.

Happy Thanksgiving!

The title to this post pretty much says it all. I asked some neighbors over the weekend how they were able to have two of those big blue recycling bins, and they let me know that we’re all allowed a couple. News to me, and great news at that — my husband and I always have way more recycling in two weeks than we can fit into one cart.

I’ve confirmed this is true with the City of Dallas. You can call 214.670.8183 to order an extra cart, or do it here online.

Also, I know we’ve posted this before, but there’s some great info about what you can and cannot recycle here. Or find out more ways to be green at greendallas.net.