MICHAEL FINLEY SAVES $1,000

A round-ball-watching FrontBurnervian notes the Spurs fans are still whining. That Michael Finley technical foul in the second half of the second quarter of Game 4 has been rescinded. “Does that mean we win the game by one point?” Coach Popovich asked. Get over it, people. Go Mavs.

RE: BANK ROBBER

I’d like to point out that the June issue of D has a photo of a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader, too, including her salary. If there are any bank robbers out there right now, and you can’t stand/find a copy of Texas Monthly, pick up D and you can get caught, too.

Additional theory on the Round Rock robbery: the 62-year-old dude wanted to get caught.

TEXAS MONTHLY NABS BANK ROBBER

If you’d just robbed a bank, would you take a seat in the lobby and begin flipping through magazines? Paul Wendell Gunn did:
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HERE IS THE DEAL

Il Mulino is open. But they will be closing “a little before” July 1st. That comes straight from Joseph “Bada Bing” Palladino. “Joseph and Phillip” are going to keep the location, remodel, re-concept, and open after Labor Day. He wouldn’t say what the new place will be, but I get it’s going to be casual and involve steaks. Can’t wait. “Price point” was the reason given for Il Mulino’s decline. Due to a licensing agreement with Il Mulino NY, J&P couldn’t “dumb down” the Il Mulino concept by lowering prices. So there you have it. Chef Michael Abruzese is already making pizza down the street at Palladino’s new spot Coal Vines, another bad name from the company who gave you Oui/We, Fuddrucker’s, and Lobster Ranch: Home of the Bucking Lobster. Phil once told me he wanted to name the pizza joint Pasta Toots. Hey, he lives on Straight Lane and I don’t. Yet.

DUBIOUS JOB OF THE WEEK

I know Booty Parlor Inc. sounds like a good name on your resume, but it might have a backside. (rim shot)

ROCKET SNUBS RANGERS

A small-ball-watching FrontBurnervian passes along this tidbit. Apparently Roger Clemens wants to stay closer to home and will pitch for the Astros rather than throw for the first-place Texas Rangers.

Update: The Rocket denies.

RE: ROMANO’S DIGS

A market-analyzing FrontBurnervian with a head for business and a bod for sin sheds some light on Phil Romano’s property:

he owns that …but lives on 4.7 acres….on Strait Lane…just a bullion throw from Ross Perot. The real digs make that one look like the servant’s quarters.

That’s the 3:30 market report. Coming up at the 4:00 hour…

RE: DMN THINKS I’M DUMB AND LAZY

A legal-minded FrontBurnervian agrees and argues my point much more succinctly and wittily than I did:

Hmm. Nice piece, Tom. Now, what does cachet mean?

RE: TABC

They are not cowboys, they are hillbillies. With guns.

ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER RESTAURANT CLOSING, ANOTHER HOUSE ON THE MARKET

But wait! An alert FrontBurnervian Foodie leads me to this site. Nice digs, eh? They belong to Phil Romano, owner of ill-fated Il Mulino. Coincidence? Probably. But nobody at IM is calling me back and inquiring minds want to know these things. Phil, wassup? Have one of your associates call me. I’m no chiacchierone, I just need a chat with management, ya know.

RE: TABC

An FBvian who’s been around the TABC in a better light sees things a little differently than does Tom Stephenson. And even though TS’s commentary appears at dallasblog.com, we’re happy to print rebuttals here:

I don’t know what’s up with the TABC these days. I certainly take issue with the practice of hounding hotel bar customers and unnecessarily showing off Glocks in public. However, I spent the first many years of my journalism career covering the cop beat and spent many a Saturday night riding shotgun with TABC agents in Central Texas.

So, while I can’t comment on the professionalism (or lack thereof) of the agents we’ve read about in the papers lately, I do have to take issue with Stephenson’s blanket statements regarding all TABC agents.

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DMN THINKS I’M DUMB AND LAZY

Tom Maurstad writes a nice piece about one of my Season Pass shows, Best Week Ever. That’s all well and good. But someone over at the paper worried about using the word “ersatz” in the subhed. The solution the editors came up with? Start the piece off with a definition of the word. Hunh? Look, if I’m a newspaper reader, I think I’m going to either a) know that word, b) figure it out from the 23 incidents of context in the story, or c) take 30 seconds out of my day to sate my intellectual curiosity and look it up. But if the editors fear most newspaper readers aren’t like me, then don’t use that word. I may very well be dumb and/or lazy, but I don’t want my newspaper assuming that I am.

ILL MULINO

Well, two people who, until recently, worked in the kitchen at Il Mulino, called to say that biz as usual is over. Plus, my super-secret-always-right Deep Toque has never been wrong. And if I had to guess, I think the restaurant George is not far behind. Hope I’m wrong, really. I just pass by there several times a night and don’t see the business.

DMN ACE SERIES

Any education-minded FBvians have a take on the 3-part series in the DMN on Randy Best’s idea for global, low-cost college degree programs run online via the American College of Education? And the buying of accreditation in the process? I’m all for innovative ideas to break up the back-breaking costs of education and open it up to the masses a little more, but does this do it? Can’t tell from the stories alone.

Also, it was good that the paper fessed up to the role that its former editorial page pundit Rena Pedersen plays, as a flak for ACE, although that little tidbit was buried deeper than Jimmy Hoffa. IJS.

BASEBALL HAS BEEN BERRY BERRY GOOD TO NADEL

The DMN ran a little bitty item this morning on what I consider to be a big story: Texas Rangers’ management made a great move by extending radio play-by-play man Eric Nadel’s contract and making him a “Ranger for life.” (He’s like an Eagle Scout shining above the sewer rats who run baseball.) Although “Ricky” won’t say how long, I’m guessing he’ll be blabbing on the air when I’m 64. Oh, no…here come those voices in my head!

LITTLE WOMEN, BIG FUN

So our girl about town is also our girl about the world. She just got back from Spain and managed to push the jet lag aside to see Little Women at the Music Hall. Here’s her report:
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IL MULINO IS STILL BREATHING

Just talked with Jesse over at Il Mulilno who claimed the Italian eatery is still open. He said the DMN called this morning. I’m waiting for an “official” call back. But I’m sticking with my source–this place is not gonna be around much longer.

CUBAN COVETS CUBBIES?

A rumormongering FrontBurnervian passes along this one that the Chicago Sun-Times is reporting: Mark Cuban is interested in owning the Chicago Cubs. Of course, Cuban could be messing with them. He loves to toy with clueless sportswriters.

STEPHENSON TAKES DOWN TABC

One of my favorite memories of Dallas writer, legendary bar entrepreneur and professional gruffster Tom Stephenson is sitting at Louie’s, when he told me it bothered him that my hands were resting in my lap instead of atop the table. I think this is how it started to go back for Wild Bill Hickock. Stephenson’s latest thoughts, a righteous rant against the cowboy mentality at the TABC, are at dallasblog.com. Best line comes with his recommendation that all of the TABC field agents be fired:

…let them go to East Texas and sell car insurance. They already have the outfits.

RE: OWEN WILSON

An out-and-about FrontBurnervian had an Owen sighting and offers some more Hollywood-y news:

Owen Wilson was in town on Saturday night he was chilling with friends at the recently opened Central Park (the old Manhattan bar) then stopped to chat with 2 of my friends near ZaZa. Not sure if he went in to Dragonfly or not.

Walking Tall 2 and 3 are being shot in the area (simultaneously). Kevin Sorbo and Yvette Nipar were seen at Primos Sunday night.

Prison Break should start filming in a few weeks, so this city will be a buzz with Hollywood folks….

Oh, and Paul will probably tell you in a couple of days that David Hasselfhoff was at the Mavs game on Friday night. (As was I.) Go Mavs.

DIXIE CHICKS TALK DIRTY

Last week, the Dixie Chicks went on the censor-free Howard Stern show to share too much information. Yikes.

RE: AMAZING KATRINA GRAPHIC

An FBvian with a New Orleans past agrees that the Times-Picayune timeline of Katrina is amazing:

It’s powerful to see the storm’s progression illustrated in that way. When I was a senior in college, we had to evacuate the city for Hurricane Georges. People were saying it was going could be critical path, blah, blah, blah, but I kind of knew somehow that it wouldn’t be as devastating as predicted (even after a 13-hour forced exodus to to Houston). But when they were talking on the news about Katrina, something just sounded different, and it obviously was. I still don’t think I’ve grasped the reality of it. I constantly feel the need to go to New Orleans and grieve for the city that was lost. It’ll never be like I remember it.

OWEN WILSON HAD THE MUNCHIES

Owen and Luke went to the Whole Foods in Austin. Too bad Owen forgot to wear shoes. A security guard Owen Wilson Saved by Pair of Used Flip-Flops” href=”http://www.celebnewswire.com/2006/05/post_174.html”>chased him around the store until the store manager snagged him and escorted him out of the place. Lucky for Owen, a fan gave him a pair of flip-flops so he could continue shopping.