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1.) Forget about buying popcorn there. It’s only sold at selected venues and, like me, you might be directed to three of them–on three different levels–and still never find one. 2.) No videocams allowed. 3.) The video board is so amazing, it may cause conflicted feelings. Watch the action on the field–or on the giant Mitsubishi screen? But if you’re doing the latter, why not just stay home and watch the game on TV? 4.) If you’re 6-feet or better, leave your knees in the car. The seats–at least in the Lower Hall of Fame level–are amazingly comfortable, but there ain’t much legroom. 5.) You gotta visit the Hall of Fame-level restroom if you get a chance, if only to use the paper hand towels. They’re as thick as terrycloth, embellished with a blue-and-silver Cowboys star. 6.) Don’t toss your ticket in the trash, or you could wind up sleeping in the stadium. For some reason the attendants insist on scanning your ticket before you’re permitted to exit. 7.) Mark well where you park. They need more signs flagging the different areas in the lots. Until they get ’em, one wag advises, you might consider leaving bread crumbs.

1. The good folks at SMU have abandoned plans for a pedestrian bridge leading from DART to the Bush presidential library. You know who wouldn’t have given up? The good people at Baylor. They would have built a bridge–over a moat with magic fish–that rivaled the Golden Gate. Of course, Waco lacks anything remotely similar to DART. And yet the city gets mentioned in every single news report about the library. Go Bears!

2. In incredibly sad news, a pregnant woman who was struck by lightning on Thursday not only lost her baby–she, too, died yesterday at Parkland.

3. Does your letter from an outfit called Property Tax Assessor–with promises of hundreds of dollars they can save you on propery taxes for a mere $55 fee–sound too good to be true? It is. The form they offer to work this miracle? You can get it for free on the Tarrant County Appraisal District website. Oh. And they overstate how much you can actually save. Obviously.

At least that’s what this repetitive press release from the National Business Travel Association says. Dallas is ranked No. 3 among cities that impose the highest total taxes per day on travelers, and No. 5 for the highest “discriminatory” travel taxes (those on lodging, car rentals, and meals). I’m guessing this is partially a state matter — since Houston and San Antonio are right there with us on the lists.

(Oddly, Portland, Oregon, is No. 1 for the lowest tax burden, but also No. 1 for the highest discriminatory taxes. Oregon has no general sales tax.)

UPDATE: A helpful FrontBurnervian suggests that spankin’ new sports arenas here and in Houston and San Antonio, and the taxes that we approved to help pay for them, are the culprits.

Are Collin County leaders gnashing their teeth every time they’re reminded of Dallas’ shiny new arts district opening this fall? In almost seven years of efforts, the Arts of Collin County — a partnership between Allen, Frisco, and Plano to create an arts hall and park — has only managed to help build a road.

And while Dallas raised more than $330 million in funding during a nine-year campaign, the Arts of Collin County Foundation collected just $9 million (granted, in only about four years of concentrated effort). For some reason, the Foundation disbanded, saying that the Arts of Collin County Commission could take it — and the remaining $12-16 million shortfall — from there.

Then last year, the executive director who had been hired to usher the project into existence figured his work was done and headed off to North Carolina.  That was shortly after project leaders asked McKinney to consider yet again participating in the project and ponying up $19 million as the other cities already had. McKinney refused even to take it back to the voters that had rejected it already.

Mike Simpson, the former mayor of Frisco, was tapped late last year to get the project out of its purgatory. You certainly can’t fault the man’s optimism. Last week, the Arts of Collin County Commission voted to start taking bids. Though they remain well short of their stated fund-raising goals, it seems they’ve found some new math to lead them to salvation:

Lake Highlands has a strong sense of being a town all its own. But, as I learned in my former life at People Newspapers, one thing they lack in being entirely self-sufficient is a town square, a place that allows them to do most, if not all, their shopping in the neighborhood.

Neighborhood leaders would tell us that they were most likely to drive over to NorthPark Center, or the Galleria area. So there was a lot of excitement about the new Lake Highlands Town Center when plans were unveiled last year. At that time the first phase was supposed to be done by 2010. Now Prescott is saying it won’t be finished until 2012, because of general economic difficulties.

1. The first confirmed swine flu death in Dallas County was reported yesterday. A 52-year-old woman passed away from the virus a week ago. “Should people be afraid? Yes, they should be afraid, because it is a lot of unknowns in this. [It is?] But not the extent that we’re paralyzed and not able to move through our daily activities,” said Zack Thompson, director of Dallas County health department. Um, hold on to your effin mask?

2. Next time you’re flying to Lubbock, be sure to look down. A man there wanted to spread his disdain for Obama’s healthcare plan to pilots coming in from Dallas. So he did what any man would do: He plowed. A lot.

3. Apparently, there’s a light at the end of the tunnel for the jurors in the City Hall corruption trial as the prosecution should wrap up by the middle of next week. Then it’s the defense’s turn. Then there’s that whole deliberation thing. The judge said she wants the case finished in October. Wait, where’s that light again?

4. (Special Nightengale bonus Item!) There’s nothing like spending an afternoon with your mom, then being handcuffed by “immigration officers” and being told you’re going to Waco. Then passing Waco and realizing something’s wrong. Then watching your mom escape from the car and you getting dropped off on the side of the road. In related news, I will be avoiding Valley View Mall for quite some time. UPDATE: The kidnapping happened at a bazaar on Harry Hines. So the mall’s safe.

So says the great (and not easily impressed) Mitchell Schnurman. There should be no doubt in anyone’s mind that Jerry Jones is one our region’s greatest assets.

1. Anthony Kallas and Sheri Brown moved from McKinney to Royse City to protect their dog, Rocky, from doggie death row after he attacked Brown’s mother last year. “Just as long as they know they’re not welcome in Dallas,” Eric Celeste said, as he racked his shotgun and took a long drag from his cigarillo.

2. Is there anything else about a home so attractive to hoodlums as A/C units? If they’re not ripping it apart for the copper, then they are stealing the freon. How about you guys pick on skylights, huh? Everyone knows they have it coming.

3. TCU and SMU want their colors kept off cans of Bud Light as part of the beer’s Fan Cans promotion. Bud Light responded, “Oh, we included you guys? That doesn’t sound right.”

I just had a pleasant chat with Dan Petty, the president and CEO of the North Texas Commission. I’m pleased to report that not once during our talk did he refer to our region using the M-word. This is notable (and Tim noted they were moving away from it last year) because they invented the phrase.

They confirmed that “North Texas” is their now preferred term. Sure, some people elsewhere in the country still think they’re talking about the Panhandle. But they think that will all change when the national spotlight begins to focus on the region next year in the lead up to Super Bowl XLV. By the time the big game is played in early 2011, they expect everyone from Anchorage to Key West will know that North Texas means Dallas-Fort Worth and its surroundings.

In the meantime, Mr. Petty asked that I get Wick’s opinion on another term he hopes will gain some traction. He didn’t coin it, but he’d like to make it the mindset of organizations across the region:

Dallas’ much-praised Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center turns 20 years old next month, and one of the people behind its success is EDS founder Ross Perot, who ponied up $10 million to build the place. During an event at NorthPark Center last night to announce a Sept. 12 gala marking the Meyerson anniversary, the diminutive billionaire recalled an early exchange he had with I.M. Pei, the symphony hall’s world-renowned architect. Perot noticed that some of the center’s ceiling tiles were cut at different angles, and he asked Pei why. The architect replied it was because he wanted the ceiling tiles to match the floor tiles exactly. “Who would ever notice that?” Perot asked. Replied Pei: “I will!” To which Perot said: “Well, you are I.M. Pei–and I am ‘I Will Pay.’ “

It seems every football columnist and talking head from every media outlet in the history of ever has chimed in on the ridiculous “punts hitting the giant TV” debacle. Listen: love him or hate him, Jerry Jones is doing the exact right thing here. He asked the league. They signed off on the height. He’s holding his ground until they pony up some cash to raise it up 20 feet. So there.

But we know the rest of the season won’t pass without people pointing the flamethrowers at the new stadium a few more times. What are the likely culprits? A short list, off the top of my head:

– concession prices
– something to do with tailgating
– parking and/or traffic
– the team
– the Native American burial ground it is built on top of