SAMPLE OF COPY I AM PROOFING RIGHT NOW, ON FRIDAY, AT 5 O’CLOCK, WHEN I’D RATHER BE DOING TEQUILA SHOTS AND DANCING WITH MORALLY CORRUPT BARMAIDS:

“The favorite here is Dutch import Marlies Dekkers, an out-of-this-world European line with sexy, strappy, bras, bustiers, and unusual panty designs.”

STEVE GUTTENBERG DOES MARK CUBAN

An alert FBvian passes along this link to Zap2it, where Guttenberg addresses the rumors that his Veronica Mars character is based on Cuban:

I do know Mark Cuban. I love his cigars. I know they’re illegal in the United States, but I love them. I always walk into a cigar place and say, ‘Do you have some Cubans?’ And they never do, that’s illegal, but you go to the back and you get a Cuban. And I put a little mark on mine. So I know it’s Cuban.

RE: PROGRAMMING NOTE

Wow. Tim acts like you’ve left already, Brian. As if you weren’t even here.

PROGRAMMING NOTE

For those who weren’t able to attend the Best of Big D party, you can see it all happen on TV this weekend. Channel 11 airs a special show about it at 5 p.m. on Saturday. If you miss that one, you can catch it at 6:30 p.m. on Sunday. Look for Adam in his seersucker, my shameless attempt to bed Mattie Roberts, Wick’s, um, wickness–and more!

RE: MORE RADIO

Sudden thought: if KMGS is a sister station to Mighty 1190, would Nifty 1160 be a better name? Just a thought–one that I coulda charged thousands of dollars in consulting fees for.

RE: MORE RADIO

A PR-practicing FrontBurnervian sez:

Here’s the release on Magic 1160, which is the sister station of Mighty 1190. I should have sent it to you rather than Rogers.

The release, and other news about First Broadcasting, can be found here.

RE: GOOD NEWS

Here’s the NYT story about the House passing the bill (reg. req.).

SOME GOOD NEWS FOR DALLAS

I’m told the federal transportation bill just passed in D.C., and it includes $65.8 million for the I-30 bridge and $12 million for the I-35 bridge. Now if Calatrava can only stay on budget.

RE: GEORGE BUSH

A weather-watching FBvian brings up a good point:

What astonishes me is not the month in Crawford. I’m confident the president can adequately conduct his business from Crawford in this day and age. What I don’t understand is August. August? You could not pick a worse month to spend in Central Texas. The hottest month; everything is drying out; it’s dusty and downright miserable in rural Central Texas. (We have property in Groesbeck; I don’t bother with August).

41 used to summer in Maine. That does seem a wiser choice.

RE: GEORGE BUSH, BRIAN SWEANY, LAZY

Hey, guys. Just woke up from a nap and had to finish emailing D’s editorial calendar to some “friends” in Austin.

Anyway, it’s worth pointing out that our friends over at CBS 11 will be running a special on our Best of Big D party tomorrow at 5 o’clock. Don’t miss it. And I am praying, Tim, that Mattie and Suzanne run the greatest hits from your speech. It was priceless.

DALLAS REAL ESTATE EXPLAINED, SORT OF

Steven E. Landsburg over at Slate talks about a “zoning tax” and uses Dallas as an example.

GEORGE BUSH IS EVEN LAZIER THAN BRIAN D. SWEANY

The following item appears in the Metro briefs today:

President Bush plans to address the annual convention of the American Legislative Exchange Council on Wednesday in Grapevine, White House aides said Thursday. The president is expected to leave Washington on Tuesday for his ranch near Crawford, Texas, where he intends to spend most of August, then fly up Wednesday for the luncheon speech at the Gaylord Texan Resort and Convention Center on Lake Grapevine.

My first thought is that Dallas and Fort Worth are doing a swell job of attracting visitors to Grapevine. The Dallas Convention Center will one day make a great skate park, when it has to be re-purposed for lack of use.

My second thought: “Where he intends to spend most of August?” Good grief. The guy is supposedly running the country, right? As many of you know, Brian leaves us next week to go be Evan Smith’s manservant at Texas Monthly. To say Brian has been coasting these past couple of weeks would be an understatement. In fact, I now realize, Brian has been “spending time in Crawford.”

My third thought: this post is too long.

RE: MORE RADIO

Only caught a couple of songs on my way to and from lunch. “Band of Gold” = Yay. “Shout” = Yawn. Stay tuned. (That’s a radio pun.)

MORE RADIO

Billboard has a quick item about KMGS (Magic 1160), “Smokin’ Oldies.” I’ll give it a listen on my way to lunch, but my guess is that Mighty 1190 is 30 better.

KELLY CLARKSON MASH-UP

Goldenfiddle always brings me joy. Today, it brings this link to a mash-up version of “Since You Been Gone” and Frank Black’s “You Ain’t Me.” Love it.

BAD NEWS FOR PEOPLE WHO LIKE JOHN’S CAFE

A now-morning-news-anchoring FrontBurnervian has some bad news about John’s Cafe:

Wanted to pass along some disappointing news–at least for those of us who love John’s Cafe on Dallas’ Lower Greenville. After 33 years in the neighborhood, John’s is getting the boot. They have 5 months to vacate. Coming in its place? A bank. Will the ‘hood fight to keep John’s there? Stay tuned.

Film at 11?

RE: NEPAL

The family has set up a web site to document the search for Trevor.

FRIDAY FUN

Getting there is half the fun in today’s Friday Fun. Go here and click on Gemsmith, the top game listed. Then click the yellow gem, the one called Diamond. I played Ruby, and wasn’t too impressed. Diamond seems like the better game. Rotate the gems until all of the hatch marks line up. Games other than Gemsmith might be a hoot, but you’re on your own there. Happy Friday.

RE: GIANT REDESIGN

I’ve mentioned Giant before, the magazine funded by Mort Meyerson. I’ve even mentioned the recent redesign. Yet, somehow, I still feel compelled to post MediaBistro FishBowl NY’s analysis of it. And, no, I didn’t get a free subscription just for mentioning the thing so many times. You’d think I would, though, right? Where’s the love? Where’s the graft?

RE: FULL FRONTAL’S BEST OF BIG D

Yes, I was handing out chair massages at the Best of Big D party. But I can’t believe the Observer operatives didn’t notice Tim’s generosity in the other corner of Gilley’s, where he was handing out Misty Wizards like they were going out of style.

SPEAKING OF RESTAURANT DEPOT

A little blue bird from the north just flew into my inbox to say:

Restaurant Depot has now opened in Richardson, at 1300 Glenville Drive, just N of Arapaho. Slogan: “It’s where the restaurants shop.” Competing with Sam’s Club and Costco, based in College Point, N.Y., Restaurant Depot stores carry fresh meat and produce, frozen products, dry groceries, paper supplies, cleaning supplies, beverages, and equipment. It has about 35 stores across the country, but this is the first one in Texas; according to the company’s Web site, more stores are coming soon to Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio.

On your mark…

A POST ABOUT LOCAL MUSIC THAT ADAM WILL WISH HE’D POSTED

A musically inclined FBvian lets us know that Sports Illustrated’s Luke Winn (who?) was recently in Dallas and caught a Professional Juice show at Club Dada. Winn really dug them (scroll down). I think the last time I saw a show at Dada, it was Ten Hands. Me = old loser.

ANOTHER IMPOSTER

An FoF has found another bogus FrontBurner. The Restaurant Depot has a newsletter with a name that’s going to get them a letter from our attorneys (scroll down, left side).

RE: NEPAL

I really hope this story ends well. One FrontBurnervian who knows Trevor says he’s “like, a trained wilderness survival guy, so there’s an outside shot.” But another, law-practicing FrontBurnervian says he’s spoken to Nepalese abducted by Maoists and held for ransom. There’s even a travel warning.

RE: D DOES GOOD

Glad you posted that pic, Adam. The few people left working at the Observer implied this week that we didn’t actually raise money for Scottish Rite (click here, scroll down to the Full Frontal image with the two monkeys). And, Adam, I didn’t know you were giving chair massages at the party.