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FrontBurner

A Daily Conversation About Dallas

What’s New Year’s Eve without a few resolutions? Here are mine:

Be more accountable. When former TV anchor/reporter Brad Hawkins, now a spokesman for Southwest Airlines, was busted by cops on a public lewdness charge in a Dallas park, I made a joke here regarding Southwest’s LUV symbol. But when the charges were later dropped, I failed to note that on FrontBurner. Which wasn’t fair to Hawkins.

Don’t have such a short fuse. After my car was broken into in a DART parking lot the first day I rode the light-rail, I swore off DART here for good. That was dumb. Even though I’ve never parked in a DART lot again, I’ve  ridden its trains since and most always had good experiences.

Trying to save money, do not order in sliced turkey breast instead of a full cooked turkey for Christmas dinner even though you know your Better Half prefers the dark meat and the turkey legs. After that happened something else almost got sliced, too.

1. So you probably had plans of imbibing tonight, because it’s New Year’s Eve and that’s what people do. And then you probably thought you’d take a cab. Only now, maybe not. Maybe you’ll drive. But then there’s this. So maybe you should just go ahead and make that stop for the big bottle of Colt 45 and plan to watch some Dick Clark.

2. A family owned popcorn store in Frisco is locked in a David versus Goliath fight or something with some place called the Popcorn Factory over a logo and a name or something. Ironically, the bone of contention centers around the phrase, “Love, Peace and Popcorn.”

3. Former Maverick Nick Van Exel’s son, Nickey Van Exel, confessed to killing a longtime friend. He says they were messing around with a gun he thought was unloaded, and he accidentally shot him, and then panicked and drove the body to Lake Ray Hubbard. The victim’s father isn’t believing it so much.

4. Get well soon, Dirk. Really, really soon. Please?

5. Any plans for New Year’s Eve? Maybe some dancing? Maybe some couch surfing? Maybe some quaffing of many adult beverages? Stay safe out there, FrontBurnervians, and have a great New Year.

Sports News

Wade Phillips Just Might Have a Job

Jeanne Prejean
By Jeanne Prejean |

Wade Phillips IMG_0097Wade Phillips (pictured) is probably gonna be looking for a moving company. It looks like he’s gonna be the defensive coordinator for the Houston Texans according to the Houston Chronicle.

If memory serves me right, his dad, Bum, was head coach when the Houston’s pro football team was the Oilers.

Local Government

Former Arlington Mayor Tom Vandergriff, R.I.P.

Jeanne Prejean
By Jeanne Prejean |

Fort Worth Star-Telegram is reporting that former Arlington Mayor Tom Vandergriff, 84,  has died. During his 26 years as mayor, he was the driving force for bringing the Texas Rangers, the GM plant and Six Flags to Arlington.

Our condolences to the Vandergriff family and the people of Arlington.

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Events

Watch The Bachelor With a Support Group

Laura Kostelny
By Laura Kostelny |

Hello. If you’re anything like me–and come on! Who isn’t?–you’re hard at work on your resolutions. You’ll be happy to know that in 2011, it’s going to be a brand new me. I’m only using exclamation points! I’m going to finish that novel! I’ll sell my car and run everywhere! I will drink water–and only water! I’m going to give up watching that silly reality television! Okay, I went too far. Who am I kidding? Nothing will change. If you’re like me, and you can’t give up bad television either, let’s at least stop watching alone. (Really, it’s almost as sad as drinking alone.) To kick off the 1,290th (or something like that) season of The Bachelor, get to Bailey’s Prime Plus this coming Monday. There, you can enjoy the company of celebrities such as Reality Steve and foot lover Tanner P. You can also sip on half-price cocktails such as Bailey’s Cosmotini, the Coco Chanel, a cucumber martini, and much more. When you’re yelling at the television and/or trying to seduce Tanner with your smashing pedicure, snack on treats (also half-price!) like the French dip, Caribbean-style jerk chicken skewers, a crispy beef and noodle salad, and lots more. Get there at 6:30. Stay until 10. (Or later if you meet THE ONE.) And take notes. I can’t make it, but I want to hear ALL about it.

1. Jillian Smith knew in the sixth grade that she wanted to be a cop. She accomplished that goal. Then, less than a year on the force, the Arlington police officer was killed in the line of duty. The Morning News brings us a touching profile of what sounded like a special person.

2. I don’t quite get all the hubbub over the city’s efforts to eradicate graffiti in advance of the Super Bowl. Blogs carried the story yesterday; the paper has it this morning. First, is there really that much graffiti around Dallas? Second, are Super Bowl visitors really going to have a lousy time if they see it? Third, by crowing about the “sodablaster” and how awesome it is at eradicating graffiti, aren’t city officials essentially issuing a public challenge to taggers, who will redouble their efforts to spread Super Bowl-related graffiti around the city? And, finally, I was disappointed to learn that the sodablaster doesn’t shoot RC Cola.

3. A body was found early this morning in the Design District. The man’s throat had been slashed. That’s the kind of sight, seems to me, that would leave a Super Bowl visitor with a bad impression of Dallas.

Awesome Things

D Magazine‘s Best Pictures of the Year 2010

Jason Heid
By Jason Heid |

Who knew that George W. Bush, Candice Crawford, DJ Red Eye, and the world’s biggest chicken fried steak could be part of the same year-end list?

So last July, we wrote (or the me part of we wrote) that former CBS 11 reporter Christina McLarty was set to civil union Joe Francis in Mexico.

Only now it appears that things aren’t going so well. This makes me sad. I had very high hopes for those two kids.

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1. Collin County Assistant DA Greg Davis has been indicted for tampering with a governmental record. I thought you should know that.

2. About half of Frito-Lay’s snacks will soon be all-natural. Just FYI.

3. Good Morning America picked up that story about the pastor who most certainly didn’t break into her parishioner’s house on Christmas Eve, in case you were wondering.

Not sure where you should celebrate Earth’s completion of its annual trip around the sun?

Our nightlife guide rounds up the best options.

Dallas History

A Lady Does Not Reveal Certain Things

Jeanne Prejean
By Jeanne Prejean |

Willie Ford Bassett Sparkman was a genteel lady of old Texas. Known for always wearing flowers in her hair, the very petite lady died on Dec. 22 and was “the final proprietor of the 136-year old Bassett Farm in Kosse.” Her obituary did not include her age because “One of her opinions was that a lady did not reveal her age, farm acreage or herd size.”

1. I want everyone to say a prayer for Dirk’s knee. He left the game last night after injuring it, and though X-rays showed nothing, he’s having an MRI this morning. So something like: “Dear sweet John Wooden Basketball Jesus, please let the MRI turn up nothing in Dirk’s enormous German knee.” And so on.

2. Speaking of divine intervention, Sandy McGriff is going to need some. She’s the pastor who has been accused of burglarizing a parishioner’s house on Christmas Eve. She says she’s innocent, though. See, the thing was, McGriff saw the guys who actually did the crime. She was just trying to help. She went into the victim’s house through the broken window and carried off those fur coats and purses and the laptop for safekeeping. I’m not even sure John Wooden Basketball Jesus can convince cops to believe McGriff.

3. You should read this interesting story in the Morning News written by a freelancer out of Mexico City. It’s about drug cartels using kids to do their dirty work. Such as beheading people. Hard to make a joke about that.

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