Articles for June, 2007
First iPhone frontburner post
Oh, Adam…lookee what I have! (And, yes, I posted this from my phone. Giddy. Up.)
Update: just got off the phone with AT&T because my old number still hasn’t ported over to my iPhone. The service rep said there’s a huge backup because of everyone switching over because they bought iPhones. IJS.
RE: IPHONE IFANATICS
A cell-phone-industry-working FBvian sends an insidery dispatch (jump, please) about the particulars of Apple’s new cash cow. I don’t have any idea what most of it means, but it’s not going to matter much to these people, this guy, or that girl.
RE: IPHONE IFANATICS
A media-minded FrontBurnervian passes along this footage of former Dallas-bureau Fox reporter Laura Ingle in NY interviewing tech columnist and iPhone-having Steve Levy. Right after Laura jokingly says, “We’re going to need some security around here,” a not-so-innocent bystander goes, “Doot-de-doo” (at least that’s what I imagine him saying) and grabs the mic, thinking it’s the iPhone. Check it out.
NBA HANGOVER
Trying hard to get over my draft-watching party so we can finish up the print version of FrontBurner. But one last NBA note: Former Lincoln High star and current Toronto Raptor Chris Bosh is right this minute enjoying him some Maguire’s in Far North Dallas. (I feel so TMZ.com right now.)
BLOCKBUSTER NOT ON EVERY BLOCK
Blockbuster needs to increase revenue per store, so it’s closing stores. A lot of stores. More than 280 this year, on top of the 290 it closed last year. True, the online initiative is gaining on Netflix. But …
RE: IPHONE IFANATICS
iGot a news release.
UNCLE BARKY TAKES BELO’S BYRON HARRIS TO TASK
Much ado about nothing, or old-fashioned yellow journalistic pugilism?
(Question: How can you say you don’t read someone’s column, and in the next sentence ask “(D)id you ever apologize or retract your mistake on your comments regarding my first story?”)
RE: IPHONE IFANATICS
Apparently, someone in the marketing department at Apple didn’t think the media was aware of today’s iPhone release. Any other D Maggers get this e-mail? Jump for the image.
RE: FRIDAY FUN
Nice try, “theantimcgill.” But your maze-building and creep-killing is still only second-best.
RE: IPHONE IFANATICS
With all due respect to Alex, I think he got the wrong first-in-line guy at the Knox Apple store. I swung by after lunch and shot the picture at left. (I apologize for its quality. I promise much better once I get my hands on an iPhone.) You can’t make it out in the photo, but the family in front is wearing lime green shirts, no doubt provided (and smartly, too) by neighboring retailer Current Energy. The free (?) advertising paid off, as a news team gathered footage about an hour and a half ago.
BIG FOOT IN NORTH TEXAS WOODS?
If you’re going camping this weekend in North Texas, that wet dog smell in the woods may be a wet Big Foot.
MICO RODRIGUEZ WILL GET HIS iPHONE
Only in Dallas would a restaurateur carry the clout to pull this off. From a FrontBurnervian in the field:
I just stopped by the Apple Store on Knox to see how much Apple Kool-Aid was being consumed and ran into Mico Rodriguez as he was pitching an Apple Store employee on a “trade” of Mi Cocina food for the employees in exchange for an iPhone. Of course the employee wouldn’t do the deal, so Mico walked out to the line (about 40 people at 10:45 a.m.) and asked a group of guys, “Any of y’all Mi Cocina customers?” To which one young guy answered, “Are you Mico?” And, thus, Mico will get his iPhone, as this young guy (from Mico’s “old neighborhood,” evidently) will wait in line for him.
RE: HOW WET ARE WE?
This is a good time to take advantage of the elevation at Reunion Tower to get a jaw-dropping view of the extent of the Trinity flooding. The observation floor doesn’t require dining.
RE: IPHONE IFANATICS
A brother-having FrontBurnervian writes:
Just wanted to pass along a funny story my iPhone-obsessed brother passed along to me…
He went by the Apple Stores this morning and saw that there were already lines formed, so he went by the AT&T store on NW Highway. He and a friend pulled up to the store and were the first ones there. He had brought a few chairs with him for himself, the friend and our dad just in case he wanted to join them. So he and the friend sit down and within an hour, a gentleman pulls up and asks him if they would be willing to save his place in line. The gentleman says he’ll be back at 2pm. They said yes, for a price, $300. The gentleman agrees and says “See you at 2″. My brother takes the $300, gives $100 to his friend to sit in the chair for the gentleman, and promptly goes and buys 6 more folding chairs. He calls a few other friends and tells them to get down to the AT&T store with folding chairs to help him “chair scalp”. Last I heard he had already sold another chair for another $300. And he still has the 9th, 10th and 11th chair in line. Life is good.
Get ‘em while they’re cheap. (The spots in line, not the phones themselves.)
CELEBRITY SIGHTING: RICK NIELSEN
Friend of FrontBurner David Burrows ran into the Cheap Tricker at Eatzi’s. It’s true.
HOW WET ARE WE?
Glad you asked. It’s not only the wettest June on record, it’s our 10th-wettest month of all time.
CUBAN SUING NELSON
His theory is the Mavs lost the championship because…
PERSONAL SOMMELIER
Speaking of iPhones, there is a new mobile technology that allows anyone to be a sommelier. Oh I forgot, that’s already the case. Sarcasm aside, if you take your cell phone to dinner and need advice on what wine to pair with your meal, just text eWineMatch at 411511. Type in an an ingredient or cuisine type and you will receive three wines than span a range in varietal, region, and price. The good news is that the service is free, the bad news is that it promotes cell phones in restaurants. I’m old (old) school. I prefer to ask a human. What’s left of them, anyway.
iPHONE iFANATICS
In case you hadn’t heard, Apple’s iPhone comes out today. And in case you couldn’t guess, some of us want one. Or two. Extra shiny. We are not alone. FrontBurner picture-taker Alex Muse snapped a few shots of the eager souls waiting in line (or on line, if you insist) at the Apple store on Knox this morning. Here’s the first guy in line and here are some other pictures. Note: The Apple site said the phones don’t go on sale until 6 pm today. Hope it doesn’t rain.
PESTILENCE?
My doggies were so happy to see blue skies this morning. To rid them of cabin fever, we went for a long walk. I returned to find over 30 mosquito bites on my hands, ankles, and face(s). The good news is that our local purple martins will be too fat to fit into their expensive digs. In other bird news, I have some monk parakeets visiting my backyard. The starlings are not happy. That’s a good thing. Oh no, I feel a song coming on!
FRIDAY FUN
You may recognize today’s Friday Fun, and if you recognize it you probably just looked at your schedule for today, sighed, then shook your head slowly because you know none of that work you’re supposed to do today is going to get done. That’s right, it’s Desktop Tower Defense, new and improved. Just as before, the object is to build a maze of towers that obstruct and destroy the creeps that move across the screen. In version 1.5, there are new creeps and new towers. Post your score in the group “FrontBurner” to see how you fare against your peers and yours truly. Get to it and have fun.
NBA Draft ‘07: The Live Blog
Sorry. Starting late. And hungry. My wife decided to go to happy hour in North Dallas rather than bring me the sandwich she promised. Not that I’m bitter. On to the NBA draft! Follow the jump and refresh often.
IS THERE A BETTER WAY TO EXPRESS “RAIN-SOAKED”?
According to the Morning News‘ weather blog, we’re about to experience the wettest June on record.
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