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According to Pegasus News, Angus Wynne has reported the death of 92-year-old philanthropist Nancy Hamon, whose life was filled with much happiness and heartache. Her generosity was overwhelming (SMU, the Dallas Zoo, Presbyterian Hospital, UT Southwestern Medical Center, the Winspear Opera House, etc.); her parties, whether on board a yacht in the Mediterranean or at her Turtle Creek penthouse, were legendary; and her personal tragedies (the premature deaths of her son and her husband) were heartbreaking.

During his long, distinguished writing career, Archer City’s Larry McMurtry has been known to cast a skeptical eye on the American cowboy and the myth of the Old West. So it will be interesting to hear what the author’s got to say (sub. required) introducing the classic John Wayne western, The Searchers, at Snyder’s John Wayne Film Fest on Labor Day.

Coincidentally, McMurtry’s attitudes toward cowboys, masculinity and the West are taken to the woodshed in an article titled “Cowgirl Up” (sub. required) in the August Texas Monthly by journalist Barney (that’s right) Nelson. Barney’s an honest-to-god cowgirl/rancher (and English professor at Alpine’s Sul Ross State University) who seems to know what she’s talking about.

President Bush gave an interview to the National Geographic Channel, which will air a week of special programs under the rubric “Remembering 9/11” to mark the 10th anniversary of the attacks. In the interview, he explains what was running through his mind after his chief of staff, Andy Card, informed him that the country was under attack. Bush, you’ll recall, was in a Florida classroom at the time. After hearing the news, he famously remained seated at the front of that classroom, apparently — apparently — unsure of how to react. Well, Reuters has some advance material from the interview Bush gave to National Geo.

“My first reaction was anger. Who the hell would do that to America? Then I immediately focused on the children, and the contrast between the attack and the innocence of children,” Bush says in an excerpt of the interview shown to television writers on Thursday.

Bush said he could see the news media at the back of the classroom getting the news on their own cellphones “and it was like watching a silent movie.”

Bush said he quickly realized that a lot of people beyond the classroom would be watching for his reaction.

“So I made the decision not to jump up immediately and leave the classroom. I didn’t want to rattle the kids. I wanted to project a sense of calm,” he said of his decision to remain seated and silent. “I had been in enough crises to know that the first thing a leader has to do is to project calm,”

Toll’d You So. Remember earlier, when I relayed an out-of-state reader’s frustration when he tried to pay for the tolls he racked up while visiting Dallas? This probably explains everything. Unless, of course, you can’t get over the pay wall. But then again, the headline pretty much summarizes the story.

Chief Brown Unhappy With Reversal. Chief David Brown is, he says, quite unhappy that a judge ruled to allow an officer he fired for allegedly kicking a handcuffed man back on the force after Brown fired him.

Former Rangers Pitcher Hideki Irabu Found Dead. The former pitcher had a career trajectory that took him from the high of back-to-back World Series rings with the Yankees in 1998 and 1999 before the late George Steinbrenner fired him and called him a “fat toad,” and then finishing up his career in 2002 with a year in the Rangers’ bullpen. He was found dead of an apparent suicide in his home near Los Angeles Thursday afternoon.

If You Like Poking Yourself In the Eye, You’ll Like This. Texas’ sales tax holiday weekend has been scheduled for August 19-21. If you like crowds, remembering lists of stuff you can’t buy and lists of stuff you can buy, and math, you will have a lot of fun.

Play Along, Again. You know the rules by now. Here’s the specially picked because of last night’s screening of “Bottle Rocket” movie. Use the quotes in blog posts. And yes, you can feel free to randomly sprinkle the mayhem all over the D Empire blogs.

I told you yesterday about Micaela White, an Ursuline graduate who’s looking forward to going to college at OU. She survived thyroid cancer two years ago. She’s now fighting for her life as she battles leukemia. While Micaela was in the hospital, a fire damaged her family’s home. Her parents have been splitting their time between the hospital and taking care of her brother, who has Down Syndrome. And now, as a commenter pointed out, there’s this: Micaela’s father has been arrested for accidentally shooting and killing an employee. He has been charged with manslaughter.

I can’t imagine how difficult life is for this family right now. Micaela needs A-negative platelets (which are rare). Please go to the Facebook group “Micaela’s Army” to see how you can help.

Dallas Morning News contributing writer Clayton McCleskey doesn’t think much of DART’s plans for an Oak Cliff streetcar. He’s all for streetcars; he just believes this $35 million effort is doomed to fail because 1) The streetcar won’t run often enough and 2) It won’t take passengers far enough into Oak Cliff, and won’t reach the Bishop Arts District.

In writing about it, he concludes:  “I want to coin the phrase, ‘Pull a Dallas,’ to use when someone tries so hard, yet royally misses the mark.”

Who doesn’t have “coining a phrase” on his or her list of desired lifetime achievements? McCleskey’s attempt is a solid effort, but we all know there are others hoping to seize “pull a Dallas” as their own. A quick online search reveals the top competitors:

1. pull a Dallas – To achieve success much more quickly than anticipated. As when the Dallas Mavericks went from having a win-loss record so bad that they were a lottery team one season to improving so much the next that they reached the second round of the playoffs. (January 2002)

2. pull a Dallas – To have an entire year of storylines turn out to be a dream. As with Bobby Ewing’s famed return to the TV series Dallas. Though primarily television or fiction-related, this could perhaps be expanded to mean a prolonged period of self-delusion. (Multiple instances, including June 2007)

3. pull a Dallas – To shudder and/or shake when you get turned on. It’s in Urban Dictionary, so it must be true. I’d like to know more of the etymology of this definition. (April 2008)

4. pull a Dallas – To choke. To be perceived as a champion but to fail in the face of competition. As when the Dallas Cowboys were the No. 1 NFC playoff seed but collapsed against Eli Manning and the New York Giants. (January 2009)

5. Pull a Dallas – To try hard, but royally miss the mark. As (possibly) with the Oak Cliff streetcar, or the Trinity River Project, or that “Find Your D-Spot” slogan that the Downtown Dallas association embraced a few years back. I’m sure others might be cited. McCleskey’s take. (July 2011)

Given the options, I’m liking the broader meaning of No. 2 best. And its connection to an internationally known television program gives it extra stickiness.

I’ve been going to Good Records for some time now, though I wouldn’t call myself an expert on the store. Given its recognition as the Best Record Store in Dallas, I thought it was time to go straight to the expert–co-owner Chris Penn–to hear about the coolest (and weirdest) records in its inventory. I had dreamed of being shown an ancient, long-lost copy of The Beatles’ Carnival of Light, but what I found instead was a little less dusty and stained. Not that I should have been surprised: Good Records is, after all, a store that predominately sells new vinyl and CDs. Used music is bought and sold, but until Sir Paul walks into the store and hands over his copy of Carnival, I guess I’ll just have to wait. Until then, it’s 3-D and scratch-and-sniff vinyl, “nothing too too out of the ordinary.” Right, Chris.

Hey, we’re happy that you buy the magazine every month on the newsstand. We make more money that way. But you? You’re not being smart. A copy of D Magazine on the newsstand sets you back $4.99. Is it worth it? Most certainly. But if my math is right, you’re spending $64.82 a year to read us in print (still, to my mind, the best way to get it done). A subscription, of course, would save you some dough. For just $18, you can get 12 issues of your award-winning city magazine delivered to your mailbox. That right there, that’s better than a fair deal.

But guess what. Today and today only, you can score a subscription to D Magazine for just $9. Or, for $20, you can get 12 issues of D Magazine and six issues of D Home. That’s insane!

Get your Groupon.

So it’s been hot for 25 million days now*, and we need some rain. And some cooler temperatures. I mean, really – it’s sad when we get excited that it’s only 80-something degrees at night. So I did some research, and it seems that, in addition to washing our cars and moving to new abodes, there are things we can do to make it rain**.

And then I found this. And there are enough of these spells that each of us can take one, and then each feel like a hero when it finally does rain.

Or you can wait and see if this stupid Tropical Storm Don kicks up anything. Your choice.

*An estimate.

** Not in the rap music way. Although if you’d like to do that in my yard, please email me for an address.

There’s Air Conditioning in the Tunnels. Hey, look. It’s a story about why you should like the downtown underground tunnels. They have air conditioning. So you can drive your car to your garage, go to your office, and then go to the tunnels and never have to see the sun. (I was trying to be facetious with that last bit. But then I remembered yesterday’s half-mile walk to work. If only those tunnels actually connected…)

Offensive Doll Kicked Out of Pool. DJ Allan Peck’s daughter left her doll floating around at the Holmes Aquatic Center in University Park. Apparently, parents found the doll offensive. They want it to look more like a doll. So the only way it can return is if it’s dressed in a swimsuit. Peck said he’d just leave it at home next time.

It’s hot. And it’s going to stay that way. And we’re running out of water. Happy Thursday!

In response to the attention concerning nine teen suicides in a two year period in Rep. Michele Bachmann’s Minnesota congressional district, Fort Worth councilman Joel Burns, the one who made us sob in October, will be appearing on MSNBC’s The Last Word tonight at 7:00. He’ll be discussing teen suicides related to bullying and sexual orientation. Set your DVR.