FrontBurner

At 6:25 p.m. tonight the city fathers and mothers are gonna pull the switch to light up the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge’s arch in blue and white lights as part of Super Bowl Week. The arch will dim Super Bowl Sunday at 2 a.m.

Just wondering:

1. Will it look like the world’s biggest balloon arch?
2. Would it be cool to see if the blimp could fly its nightsign through the arch?
3. Is the top of Reunion Tower the best spot to view the electrifying moment?
4. Who’s footing the electric bill?

UPDATE: A Vendome-living birdie snapped a shot of the test lighting last night of the MHHB. She claims it’s

“Like looking at one of those tri-colored Popsicles we ate as kids. Pulses red, white, & blue. Well, the Hill’s always have been colorful.”

The group Traffick 911 has targeted the north Texas area as a possible hotbed of sex trafficking, because reportedly Super Bowls and sex trafficking go hand in hand.  Their campaign, which includes PSA’s from people like Dallas Cowboys tackle Jay Ratliff, is called “I’m Not Buying It.”

Right now, the group says, the NFL has not responded to requests to put up their “I’m Not Buying It” posters. The host committee insists whether the posters go up or not is all in the hands of the NFL, not them. Currently, there’s a petition online to ask the NFL and the host committee to consider putting up the material.

This isn’t my usual beat, but go to this National Geographic map to see what surnames are the most common around these parts. It’s right … here.

George W.  Bush and his wife Laura will attend Super Bowl XLV next Sunday in Arlington, the former president confirmed today. But he won’t be rooting for a favorite team.

At a Dallas fundraiser for Global Health Corps, which his daughter Barbara serves as president, the former chief executive was asked whether “the whole family” would attend the  game at Cowboys Stadium. “Just the two of us,” Bush said, nodding toward his wife. Asked whether he’d root for the Green Bay Packers or the Pittsburgh Steelers–or didn’t care which team wins–Bush replied, “Don’t care.”

The Sunday event was held at Mount Vernon, an 81-year-old mansion on White Rock Lake that once was owned by H.L. Hunt, the legendary Dallas oil millionaire. The home is owned now by real estate magnate John Amend, who threw it open to about 500 people for his Second Annual Super Bowl-a-Thon and Fundraiser, benefiting Global Health. Barbara Bush (pictured at right with her twin sister Jenna Hager in photo by Jeanne Prejean) co-founded the nonprofit, which focuses on public health issues.

ESPN college football analyst Craig James, who’s weighing a run for Kay Bailey Hutchison’s senate seat, says his role in the firing of Texas Tech football coach Mike Leach won’t  hurt him politically–even in the heart of Red Raiders country.

“I feel very confident about our position,” said James (pictured). “Most people in Lubbock support my position. We did what any responsible parent would do. We did the right thing.” A complaint filed by James and his wife over Leach’s alleged mistreatment of their football-player son led to Leach’s firing late last year.

Asked when he’d make a decision about jumping into the Republican senate primary, James said, “I’ve got to analyze it. I’m thinking about it. I’ll announce [my decision] sooner rather than later.”  The former football star was among several luminaries in Plano Friday for the premiere of  SLANT 45 The Movie, a project of the North Texas Super Bowl XLV Host Committee and Big Thought.

Yesterday afternoon, I (and presumably others) received a lengthy e-mail from Dr. Laura McDonald, chair of the Parkland Board of Managers. McDonald disputes the conclusions of the Morning News’ latest story on the hospital, and takes a few swipes at the paper in the process, including:

The truth is, The Dallas Morning News had to wrap up its year-long attack on Parkland in order to meet its Feb. 1 deadline to submit their application for the Pulitzer Prize. They didn’t let truth get in the way of writing their stories, nor do we expect this attack to stop.

Full statement is after the jump.

While DFW was gearing up for Super Bowl XLV, Davos, Switzerland, was hosting its Super Bowl for the world’s elite, the 2011 World Economic Forum. And Dallas’ lovely and talented Jill Beth (JB) Hayes, chief of staff for Ken Hersh, CEO of Irving-based NGP Energy Capital Management, was on the scene–but finding that entree to the main event could be tough. “If you don’t have a ‘hard card’ you aren’t getting into the Congress Centre, even when your boss is speaking twice,” she writes.

JB’s boss was speaking twice, matter of fact–as a discussion leader and a panelist for two sessions on natural resources (energy, metals, water, food, etc.). Meantime JB was negotiating Davos’ snow-slick streets (“snow is slippery–snow grippers are a must even with Uggs”), keeping up with other Dallas attendees (Sarah and Ross Perot Jr., Fluor’s John Hopkins) and checking out a few VIPs. “Lubna Olayan with Olayan Industries walked by me as I left the hotel, as did Khalid Alireza,” JB writes.

Okay, so they have “hard cards” and Lubna Olayan. But do they got Snoop Dogg and Diddy?

This week’s update is brought to you by Nicole Pearce, a graduate student at UNT.

The Dallas Demolition Company has cleared out all of the debris created by razing a large parking garage along North Saint Paul Street, across the way from the First Baptist Dallas’ main campus. Now, the company works to dispose of rubble from a building imploded more than 15 years ago.

No Nudity, Little Profanity, But Someone Lifted Timmy’s Money Clip. That, at least, is what I gleaned from the FrontBurner Live party tweets.

Money Don’t Matter Tonight. But it will if you want to get in to either one of Prince’s two Dallas concerts, since the cheapest option is $12,000 for a table of 6.

Dallas Tries To Maim Lombardi Trophy. It’s true. Dallas tried to maim the Lombardi trophy as former Cowboys wide receiver Drew Pearson was hand delivering it to the NFL Experience. The escalator suddenly stopped, pitching Pearson forward, but he still managed to keep the trophy upright and unharmed. I guess we should be thankful Roy Williams wasn’t delivering it?

Hey, Good News, the Fusion Center Works. Dallas has a Fusion Center, which is basically a place where law enforcement can watch all the cameras, read all the tweets, and any other web chatter that might indicate something is going down. They used it during yesterday’s bomb scare downtown, checking out the shipper and recipient while the bomb squad examined the suspicious package. But still, the name? It seems … weird.

It’s Another Friday, and What Have We Learned? No Doubt isn’t indie music. Seryn is pretty darn good. Dallas needs more strippers. Texas doesn’t cuss enough. What’d I miss?

According to TMZ (via Jezebel), John Walsh, who runs Showtime Cabaret, says Dallas is in desperate need of more strippers for Super Bowl weekend. Apparently, even stripping involves math, and there must be a tourist to stripper ratio of 30:1. Or something.

Anyway, if you like to take your clothes off and writhe on a pole, and only need a big-money job until you graduate law school/grad school/your kid gets in that special school, call John. Or apparently any of the other sundry strip clubs in the area.

Just over the transom:

“D Magazine has an immediate opening for an audience development manager. This position requires someone with exceptional customer service and communication skills. You must be detail oriented, self-motivated, and a quick learner. The audience development manager coordinates with several departments in the company and manages third-party relationships. You must be analytically minded with a better-than-average understanding of Microsoft Excel. Daily duties include handling customer service calls, updating reports, managing department interns, and working directly with the audience development director on creative subscription, insert card, and online initiatives. You must have a good attitude and get excited about your job. Even the Excel stuff. It’s fun! Please send an email with your resume and cover letter to Julie Kinzie at juliebk_at_dmagazine.com.”