Movie Star Interviewed By Robert Wilonsky Dies

Heath Ledger dead. Shocking. Best piece I ever read on him was penned by Big Bob.

An Apology, Shout-Out, and Thank You to Stuart Sikes

The Apology: I’m sorry I’ve known about your Elmwood Recording Studios since the early, early stages, yet never wrote about it or you in D Magazine proper (other than a brief mention in the brief profile of Jeff Ryan). I had every intention to, I swear. I think I even told you that the last time I saw you. Sorry.

The Shout-Out: Nice write-up on you in today’s DMN. Thor Christensen seemed to hit all the high notes.

The Thank You: You might expect me to thank you for producing some of my fave albums by some of my fave bands (Walkmen, Modest Mouse, Cat Power). But thank you even more for introducing me to Kronenbourg 1664. You’re right: It’s way better than Stella.

Perry Due In DFW To Give Out Money

Look for Gov. Rick Perry to be in Richardson tomorrow. Word is the guv will be there to present a “significant” Texas Enterprise Fund award to Rockwell Collins Inc. Rockwell, a diversified high-tech company, is said to be expanding its operations in Richardson.

We’re Less Racist Than Houston OR Austin!

The greatness that is Scott Henson at Grits for Breakfast breaks down how all Texas counties send blacks to jail for drug charges at a much higher rate than we send whites to jail on drug charges. In Dallas County, we only send blacks to jail at rate nine times higher than whites, much better than Harris County’s rate (19 times higher) or Travis County’s (31 times higher). He also takes down myths about why this might be so (the idea, for example, that the percentage of blacks who use drugs is higher than that of whites).

Sign, Sign, Everywhere a Sign

The refurbished Stoneleigh sign was placed atop the hotel and spa on January 12th. It first graced our skies in 1938 and was declared a historic landmark in 1983. Now it’s a milestone in the hotel’s renovation, which is scheduled to be finished early this year. More important, you can hear the new song stuck in my head here. (Photo credit: Jake Dean)

RE: Whole Foods

Sly? JJ? Hello!

Whole Foods Gives Plastic the Sack

Sweet Jessica Jones alerts me to this story about my beloved Whole Foods 86ing disposable plastic bags at its checkouts. Coincidentally, when I was at WhoFo on Lemmon yesterday getting my daily loot of big spring water and ginger cookie, the cashier gave me a 3-cent refund for declining a bag. According to this, I should have pressed for 7 cents more. I love green.

Another Landmark Demolished. Good.

What exactly is with the drive to designate every old, useless and run-down property a historical landmark? What good is such a landmark if all it does is collect dust? Why should a third party’s aesthetics get to dictate to a property owner what she can and can’t do? How much is too much Dayquil?

Paris Hilton In Town for Movie Premiere

Word is the lovely and talented Paris Hilton will be approximately one mile away from us tonight at a movie premiere for her new flick, “The Hottie and the Nottie,” being held at the Regent Highland Park Village Cinema. Friends, this looks like quite a film. Apparently the movie’s plot centers on a boy (played by Joel Moore) who is in love with Paris’s character (ahem, the hottie), which is complicated by her oh-so-unattractive best friend June, the nottie. We’re expecting hilarity, love, and fate to all twist together to churn out some sort of surprise ending, which will inevitably leave us with an lesson on inner beauty triumphing once again over blond hair extensions and giggles.

June is played by Dallas girl Christine Lakin, so hopefully this will be her star turn. Pretty sure this is a closed event, but if you’re really desperate you can show up around 6pm with camera phones and try to catch a glimpse.

Later (and I think we all could have predicted this one), Paris will be partying at the Ghostbar. She will walk the red carpet around 9pm, but us plebs aren’t allowed in until 11. No cover at the door. Go if you must, and let us know what happens.

Rainy Day Blues

This cold, soggy weather has me in a funk. On top of that, yesterday was Blue Monday, the most depressing day of the year, and now Eric’s over at his cube yapping about the recession. Blah. But a teeny, tiny, little ray of sunshine comes in the news that 10 Frisco RoughRiders games will be broadcast on TXA 21 this season. (Keep your eye on Taylor Teagarden, a high school classmate of mine.) Reminds me of warmer, baseball-y times to come. Better still—pitchers and catchers report in 24 days. Tra la.

Tall Paul Says Hi

Just got an e-mail from our old buddy Tall Paul. He’s cold but happy and just published this. Now he’s working on “a story about the corrupt FBI agent who was the mob’s handler in the real life case that The Departed [book and movie] is based on.” Leave him a message, he misses FrontBurner.

Local Critic In Line With My Wife’s Good Taste

The greatness that is Cary Darling, the Star-T pop culture critic, says Torchwood is the best show on TV you’re not watching. The lovely Mrs. Celeste agrees. I have only watched a few scenes involving a female alien investigator and a female alien mugging down — and only because my wife yelled “you’re missing it!” — but that’s two impressive local votes for this BBC sci-fi show you should consider when planning your weekly TiVo schedule.

Open Letter to Ray French

Dear Ray,

I read with interest the current cover story in Fortune magazine about your sister, Melinda, who married Bill Gates. Is she really worth $100 billion? Wow! That’s some serious scratch. Even with the market tanking today, I bet she doesn’t have to worry about paying for her next pair of shoes.

Anyway, reading the article made me hearken back to our school days together at Cistercian Prep (go, Hawks!). Remember how we all used to tease you about your super-serious, newscaster demeanor and your preternaturally square jaw? Remember how we’d do our fake Ray French voices with you right in the room, making fun of your “beard of steel” and so forth? Remember how you eventually transferred to ESD, and even when our two schools played soccer against each other, we’d still tease you?

I just wanted to say I, for one, am sorry. The only reason I teased you was because the other guys made me do it. I was afraid that if I didn’t go along, they’d make fun of me. I always thought you were pretty cool.

Let’s go grab a beer soon! Don’t be a stranger.

Best,

Tim

P.S. Great photo of you in Fortune, the black and white one, where you’re standing to Melinda’s left. I’ve included it, below, just in case you haven’t gotten your copy yet. Your hair looks great.

A Very Helpful Review of the Great Wolf Lodge

You know David Hopkins. He’s the writer who does a semi-regular cartoon for us (with illustrator Paul Milligan) called Souvenir of Dallas. Well, the two spent some time out at the Great Wolf Lodge for a cartoon that will run in the April issue of our “print product.” Meantime, here’s David’s report:

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Emmitt Smith Is a Triple Threat

He plays football, he dances, and he helps men get the gray out of their sideburns, beards, and mustaches. An alert FrontBurnervian passes along word of no. 22’s latest endorsement gig.

Oscar Nominations Announced

Search the list after the jump for local connections so Wick won’t make me take the post down.

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Leading Off (The Deleted Version)

So, I write Leading Off. Then I go back to write another post. Somehow, I replace Leading Off with the alarm post below. So, you know what, there were some good comments and jokes you’re just not going to read unless you were paying close attention from about 7:40 to 7:47 this morning. Here were the stories:

1. Internet porn library City Council worry.

2. Dallas church evicts people, Lord angry.

3. Farmers Branch dumb, possibly evil yes now.

Update: For what it’s worth, the original showed up in my RSS feed. It’s after the jump, just to prove I’m not shirking my LO duties.

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Beyonce Not Only One Who Can Ring the Alarm

Apparently, so can Love Field, where, according to a loyal FBvian, the airport alarm rang loud and clear early this morning. He writes:

The security alarms have been going off at Love Field since 4 am. They say it is malfunctioning. Everyone is still allowed to go through security having to listen to the alarm in the background. All of the security people are wearing earplugs. By the way, don’t post this until after my 7am flight. Need to make a meeting. Don’t want them to shut the airport for some reason.

So noted, so done. (And for those who now, like me, have the song in your head.)