Pulse

Dallas
has a new celebrity in town to keep tabs on the celebrities in town. In
addition to being the new weekend anchor on KTVT-TV Channel 11 (CBS),
Michigan native Suzanne Sena is an entertainment and lifestyle reporter for weekday newscasts. You may remember Sena from her work as a correspondent for E! News Daily and E! News Weekend. Or you may remember seeing her sitting aside Regis Philbin. She was this
close to being the replacement for Kathy Lee Gifford on the popular
morning show. “I co-hosted four times during the search,” Sena says.
“When Kelly Ripa came on the scene, that was pretty much it.” You heard
it here first: Suzanne Sena thinks Kelly Ripa is overrated and short.*
Whom else does she hate? “That’s terrible to ask!” she says. “I like to
be what they call ‘celebrity-friendly.’” C’mon, Suzanne. Give up the
goods. What Hollywood couple is on the rocks? Which starlet drinks?
“Everyone asks me, ‘Was so-and-so horrible?’ They have this idea that
celebrities are going to be just wicked, wicked people. But the truth
is, they’re just real people with lots of demands on their time.” Sure
they are.  —Adam McGill

*Sena said no such thing. Ripa is, however, not tall.

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A Few Questions from TRACY ROWLETT

Vowing to become “some Republican’s worst nightmare,” 25-year North Texas Democratic Congressman Martin Frost
is challenging conservative incumbent Pete Sessions in the 32nd
Congressional District. Frost’s old 24th District was dramatically
redrawn into GOP territory in the highly controversial redistricting
process.

Rowlett: Have you ever considered just calling it quits?
Frost:
No. I’m a fighter. I am the senior Democrat from the entire South and
senior Congressman from Texas, and I have done a lot for this area. I’d
like to continue serving.

Rowlett: You were part of the process when Democrats were carving out districts. What’s so different this time?
Frost:
We never tried to eliminate any sitting Republicans. The Republicans
set out from the very beginning to actually eliminate sitting
incumbents. The districts the Democrats carved out in 1991 actually
turned out to be a very fair map because we lost five seats under that
map during elections in the ’90s.

Rowlett: You are being branded a liberal in this race. Do you consider yourself a liberal?
Frost:
The Republicans engage in name-calling and you can’t take them
seriously. They say every Democrat is a liberal. My opponent, Mr.
Sessions, is on the fringe of his own party, and I believe I am very
much in the middle in terms of my own philosophy. On the national
level, I am considered a moderate.
  
Rowlett:
There is a large Jewish neighborhood in the 32nd District, and you are
the only Jewish member of the Texas Congressional Delegation. Will that
be enough to get these voters when, in the past, they’ve supported
Republicans?
Frost: I don’t know what the community will
do, but I am the only member of the Jewish faith ever elected to
Congress in the history of the State of Texas. I have a lot of family
and friends in North Dallas, and this will be their first opportunity
to vote for me. I look forward to campaigning there.

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{HEALTH}
A Better Breast
John Tebbets hits the big time with a more “natural” implant.
by Christina Rees

Dr. John Tebbetts, a big man with an East Texas twang
and a gold hoop in his left ear, was sitting in his plush Uptown office
the other day, talking about his photo shoot with Karl Lagerfeld. On a
coffee table before him lay a half-dozen translucent breast implants of
varying shapes and sizes.

“I couldn’t believe I was standing in
a street in Manhattan, and this famous designer was taking pictures of
me while the paparazzi were taking pictures of him,” Tebbetts said.

The shoot was for Allure,
in which Tebbetts will make his first appearance this month. The
magazine publishes an annual list it calls “The Influencers,” a group
of professionals who are heavy hitters in their respective fields: a
stylist, a designer, a makeup artist, and so on. On the surgical front,
Tebbetts’ contribution is the better boob job.

Tebbetts
designed the “anatomic” or “shaped” implant—more teardrop natural than
cantaloupe round. Patients from all over the world flock to his office,
seeking perfection.

With a different implant, new surgical
process, and emphasis on patient education, Tebbetts said only about 3
percent of his patients require re-operation over a seven-year period
(often because women want even bigger implants). The national average
for just three years is about 20 percent. In fact, he’s so confident
about the improvements in breast augmentation that he gave his wife her
new ones, and he says if his daughter wants some once she’s grown, he’d
approve.

As for his detractors’ contention that a shaped breast
doesn’t look natural when a woman is lying on her back, Tebbetts turns
to the coffee table and plopped down his design next to the standard
round version. “I mean, which one would you rather have?” he asked.

The question was strictly rhetorical.

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{MUSIC}
The Power of Rock
Robert Tilton’s old place goes from a house of prayer to playing the devil’s music.
by Ashley Womble

While phony televangelist (is that redundant?) Robert
Tilton is keeping a low profile in Florida, praying for redemption, his
former Farmers Branch “church”—aka the “Success-N-Life” studio where he
promised followers a spiritual makeover in exchange for cold hard
cash—has undergone a transformation of its own. The 35,000-square-foot
facility has been converted into Maximedia Recording Studios and is now
the largest studio in Dallas.

Marc DeBosier, in charge of
artist development and promotions, who years ago spun records at Club
Clearview, wants to use the massive space to lead a revival among
Dallas musicians. “We’re turning something that was negative into
something positive,” he says.

The studio has been in operation
since 1999, working with local bands, including the Polyphonic Spree
and Pimpadelic, as well as national acts such as Clay Aiken and Mary J.
Blige. But now DeBosier and his colleagues are looking for new ways to
use the abundant space. The building houses three studios, a sound
stage for CD release parties, several lounge areas, and a full-size
basketball court (built by Tilton but now used by hip-hop artists
letting loose between recording sessions). Maximedia plans to build
several rehearsal rooms and possibly a radio station. In January, they
partnered with The Edge (KDGE-FM 102.1) to host a CD release party for
Dallas-based band The Vanished.

Dallas is home to dozens of
musicians who often travel to New York, Nashville, and LA to record.
Now, Maximedia gives them a reason to stay. Hallelujah.

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The Line Starts Here to Get Married

Alison Gentry and her fiancé, Ryan Dalton, met and fell
in love at SMU. So, naturally, when they got engaged, they wanted to be
wed at the campus’ romantic Perkins Chapel—along with about half of Dallas.

Perkins
holds 200 wedding ceremonies a year. When Gentry called, she discovered
that the first available date was a year and a half away. But the
school blocks out dates during the fall, until the football schedule is
announced, to prevent conflicts between home games and weddings. On the
day that the team’s schedule is released, the reservations offices open
at 9 a.m. to start filling in the gaps.

“My mom and I thought
we were going to be really sneaky and get there at 5 a.m.,” Gentry
says. “We were ninth in line. People got there at 8:30 the night before
and slept on the front porch. People were just decked out. They had
those little camping lawn chair things. It was just crazy.”

By the time the doors opened on January 12, about 40 people were in line for the half-dozen dates available.

“There
was a couple who drove in from Austin and spent the night,” Gentry
says. “They didn’t get the date they wanted. They got the Texas-OU
date. Then they had to drive back to Austin that morning and go to
work. It’s just ridiculous what people do for this stuff.”

Ryan Dalton and Alison Gentry plan to wed at Perkins Chapel on August 28. —A.M.