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Ten years ago, I helped my wife and two other 1993 graduates of the Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts plan their 10-year reunion. (I graduated from the same school a year earlier than they did.) We ended up losing money on the deal, because we hired a disc jockey who turned out to be an unnecessary expense. As it turns out, when you haven’t seen someone in 10 years, you want to talk with them, not dance with them.

I was reminded of unnecessary expenses on Friday night when I attended Flying Horse, a benefit for my alma mater’s Advisory Board. The organizers booked the Branford Marsalis Quartet to close the show, and they absolutely didn’t need to. Don’t get me wrong; I was ecstatic to have the opportunity to see Marsalis perform live, as opposed to all the people around me who made a beeline to the valet stand when the saxophonist announced that the quartet’s fourth song, “In the Crease,” would be its last. But the talent displayed by Booker T.’s current students was enough to bring the house down and give the patrons — who bought tickets starting at $125 — their money’s worth.

There were two incredible modern dance pieces. The orchestra performed Coldplay’s “Viva La Vida” in the dark, with glowsticks affixed to their bows. A female vocalist and male guitarist gave us a haunting version of “Killing Me Softly.” The Latin American ensemble shook things up while shaking their groove thangs. And a jazz combo did an awesome rendition of “Autumn Leaves.” It was enough to make me and my wife, who were already proud Booker T. alums, swell with even more pride.

And then Marsalis’ quartet took the stage. Technically, they were superb. But you could tell that this was just another paid gig to them. The students, on the other hand, were performing with passion, the kind of passion that only comes from pride in your school.

Memo to the organizers of next year’s Flying Horse: Quit while you’re ahead. The kids are more than all right.

You were just sitting at your desk thinking, “Man, I really need a hug right now.” Well, thanks to the folks at bcWorkshop, you can get one! Head to the parklet at St. Paul, where they’re wrapping up a month of engaging spaces around downtown with the mobile bench unit. There are snacks, music planned by Deep Dallas Music, and, of course, free hugs. They’re there until 4 o’clock.

Plenty of more information here. Tickets go on sale at 1 p.m. I will be involved in some capacity.

My sincerest apologies. I did not conduct due diligence before my post this morning. Leaving out this .gif was a major oversight.

If I didn’t know this occurred over the weekend at the Ballpark, I’d say it was a pitch-perfect representation of how the 2012 season went for the Texas Rangers. Let us hope it doesn’t prove prophetic of 2013.

(H/T SB Nation)

Rod is the former News editorial writer who now is the star columnist and blogger at The American Conservative in Washington. Rod does his writing from his original hometown of St. Francisville, Louisiana, and why he returned to his hometown after years of living in — and thoroughly enjoying — the urban hotspots of America is the ostensible subject of his book. But the book is about far, far more than that. It is about his sister, who died of cancer, but is about more than that. It is about a life lived in grace.

Believe me. This is one of the most powerful, emotionally riveting, and spiritual books you will ever have the good fortune to read. To give you an idea of what I think about this book, I bought 60 copies to give away here at D World Headquarters.

Rod will be in Dallas April 16th for a book-signing at the Barnes & Noble across from NorthPark at 7 pm. You’ll want a signed copy. Heck, I want a signed copy. So I’ll see you there.

This video was posted three days ago. I’m not sure what’s happening here. But I do know that it’s funny as hell to watch while Zac is sitting over your shoulder, commenting on it. Over/under on how long before this video is taken down: 12 minutes.

Cycling blog Hometown by Handlebar over in Fort Worth has the delicious details. The action begins in early April, 1890, as progressive William S. Pendelton takes office as mayor. He lasted about four months. Pendleton turned out to be a little too progressive, especially when it came to comely telephone operator Miss Addie Cullen, described by a Houston newspaper as “a second Venus.” He said he had obtained a “secret divorce” in Chicago from his wife before marrying Miss Cullen in New Orleans. The Chicago divorce, alas, was soon pronounced a forgery.

What intrigues me about the story is how easily people seem to have scooted around the country in 1890. A mayor of Fort Worth gets a phony divorce in Chicago and marries in New Orleans. Who needs airplanes?

Fantastic helmet cam video of a house fire in Dallas last week. DFR Engine 5 doing interior attack. fb.me/252mekiPl

— DFW Scanner (@DFWscanner) March 28, 2013

If you don’t do well in IMAX theaters, don’t watch this. But this is the closest most of us will come to fighting a fire, and it’s incredible.

I’ve been a Trekkie ever since Star Trek: The Next Generation debuted in 1987. Although the original series was never my cup of tea (“Earl Grey, hot”), Deep Space Nine and the other spinoffs were appointment viewing when they originally aired, and I thank the Great Bird of the Galaxy that I can now watch any of them at any time via Netflix.

But in all that time, I’ve never been tempted to dress up as a Klingon or a Vulcan, much less a Cardassian or a Denobulan. So I was skeptical when the Texas Lottery announced an effort to break the Guiness world record for most people in Star Trek costumes at the Dallas Convention Center. (By the way, the record number is in question. The Lottery says it needs 1,041 people in costume, but it appears that a group of 1,084 showed up at a convention in London.)

To gauge whether enough Trekkies would be willing to participate in Saturday’s attempt, I reached out to the commanding officers of several fan clubs in Starfleet’s Region 3. “It is possible,” said Capt. John Coward of the USS Joshua, the Dallas-area’s largest club. “Everyone has been doing their best to promote it and get the word out. Flyers have been out everywhere, and the clubs have been displaying on their tables at the local conventions.”

Commodore Trisa Tunis of the USS Corsair said nobody from her Baton Rouge-based club will be able to make the, um, trek to Dallas on Saturday. However, “it is very likely the world record will be broken. After all, Captain Kirk is leading the effort.”

That’s right. William Shatner is scheduled to be in town Saturday, hopefully sporting a costume that fits a bit better than the one he wore during that Oscars bit.

But if you can’t be there, you have another local opportunity to mingle with hundreds of Trekkies. Rear Adm. Marian Murphy, of the USS Rachel Garrett in Weatherford, is chairing this year’s Starfleet International Conference, which is coming to Dallas in early August.

I planned on posting the above video in honor of Krista, because she likes dogs. I like dogs, too, but this is some next level ish. Anyway, I woke up, turned on FrontBurner, saw Zac had already linked to the story, dropped my head to my desk, wept, then decided to screw it.

See, this takes one step out of the process for you. One click, not two. And FrontBurner is all about wasting your time in the most efficient way possible.

From our friends at Oak Cliff People:

Michael Amonnet, past president of the Old Oak Cliff Conservation League, is none too pleased about Sylvan Thirty developers’ new call for public input on the historic Alamo Plaza Hotel Courts sign. He was under the impression it would stay put, Amonnet tells me, adding that such signage “reflects a certain part of our history — the motor-court era.” Preservation Dallas director David Preziosi echoed his words.

Sylvan Thirty spokesman Cooper Smith Koch has a different take. The sign was never guaranteed to stay in its present location, he said, and some well-known locals (who he didn’t name) have already had some creative suggestions for its use. “Our intention was do to a very good thing — to give our neighbors and friends a role in what happens to that sign,” Koch said, “and to give it a new life.”

I drive by the sign — at the corner of Fort Worth and Sylvan avenues, in West Dallas — every day. It’s beautiful. It would be a shame to see it go, even if it’s preserved elsewhere. Why not keep it there and use it as a message board for Sylvan Thirty?

There’s a new clarification on Sylvan Thirty’s site — “To be clear, we have plans in development for using the sign on our site, which was our original intention. However, community members have come forward suggesting that we allow it to be used as public art to represent West Dallas and the Fort Worth Avenue corridor. As we’ve said before, we’re open to all ideas.” — so we’ll see where this all goes. Developers are accepting suggestions until Monday.

Pick up this week’s Oak Cliff People for more details.