Standard Station 10c Western Being Torn in Half, by Ed Ruscha

PODCASTING AT THE MODERN: The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth has launched a cool new feature on its blog. Docent Insights is a series of short podcasts (5-15 minutes each) that feature Modern docents discussing works in the collection. The first podcast focuses on “Texas and the West” and has docents Boots Bailey and Mine Parvaze talking about four works in the museum that fit the topic: Dennis Blagg’s painting Passover, 1997, Robert Rauschenberg’s combine Whistle Stop (Spread), 1977, Ed Ruscha’s painting Standard Station 10c Western Being Torn in Half, 1954 (above) and Richard Prince’s photograph Untitled (Cowboys) #8, 1980-84.

MAGNET UPDATE: At Thursday night’s DISD school board meeting, board members got an earful from parents, teachers and students over proposed cuts to the district’s magnet schools. In case you haven’t heard, the district is considering cutting back funding to the schools so it can continue to qualify for $105 million in federal money. Holly Hacker covered the meeting for The Dallas Morning News and reports that a decision is still pending.

‘HAPPY DAYS’ NEEDS HELP: The new musical based on the Happy Days TV show has taken up residence at the Musical Hall at Fair Park, but it sounds like it’s so light on substance that it could just float away. “Happy Days, despite a couple of flirtations with budding feminism, is all fluff, no spine,” writes Lawson Taitte in his review. The good news is that the creative team behind the show seems to know that it needs a little work. Elaine Liner reports on TheaterJones.com that Garry Marshall, who created the television show and also wrote the book for the musical, is in town to watch a few performances. Word is the show is being fine tuned for a possible London run.