Watch New Erykah Badu Video With Your Eyes, Listen With Yours Ears

Her “Honey” video, the first single from the upcoming album, came out today. Were we going to get there before Fingers of Fury? Not a chance. (VERY good stuff.)

Cowboys and Campo Together Again?

Valley Ranch is interviewing Dave Campo to be coach of the secondary. To echo what Uwe Blog writes, Nooooooo.

Devin Harris Turns the Corner … Then Falls and Gets Hurt

Devin Harris will be out of action for two-three weeks after suffering a bone bruise to his left leg in the Mavs’ win over the Denver Nuggets yesterday. (He might have fallen prey to the heretofore-unnamed Caplan/Sefko jinx.) Tough loss since, as Cubes pointed out, no one in the Western Conference can afford to drop any games.

Center for the Performing Arts Aims Higher

Maybe the Center for the Performing Arts is getting a refund check from the gubment, too. They’ve raised so much money already ($277 million) that they’re upping their goal (to $338 million) to expand the project. What slow economy?

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Lewisville Teen Has Clean Hands, Dirty Rep

A 14-year-old student in Lewisville will not face charges of huffing hand-sanitizer. He still had to go in for fingerprinting and a mugshot. But after fingerprinting, what do you bet the kid went after the hand-sanitizer again? Thus, the cycle of crime continues.

Dallas Teacher on American Gladiators Tonight

It’s as unlikely a matchup  as anything else you’ll see during the writer’s strike — a cougar-aged teacher from a conservative Jewish Dallas school takes on the ambisexual ‘roid poppers from American Gladiators. It’s on tonight. Semper fi, and oy vey.

Bling Bling at the Bang Bang Store

There are only five Beretta Gallery stores in the world, and one is here at Highland Park Village. The centuries-old company’s current patriarch, Ugi Gussali Beretta, turns 70 this year and as part of the celebration the store here will be displaying a unique, handcrafted desk showcasing two of the company’s highest end, engraved shotguns — two Beretta SO-10s. I’m thinking the shotguns alone push six figures. Each.

Also on display, a Beretta Model 92F handgun (functioning) with grips made of white gold and covered in diamonds — 1,193 of them to be exact, totaling 90 carats. Approximate value just for the pistol? $370,000. Sweet. Both on display through Valentine’s Day. (Disclosure: Not a big fan of Beretta, though I have a couple of their shotguns. I haven’t accepted any payola from the Beretta Gallery, although I am open to it.)

The Best Places to Work in Dallas are in … Coppell?

So says the new issue of Fortune, which lists its “100 Best Companies to Work For” in the mag I just received on my desk. My quick scan shows that DFW doesn’t beat out a few other Texas companies — Methodist Hospital System in Houston (#10) and Whole Foods in Austin (16) — but we have a few on the list: Container Store of Coppell (20, go Val!), Shared Technologies also of Coppell (25), TDIndustries of Dallas (35), and Texas Instruments (100). My fave, of course, is Tulsa’s own QuickTrip (28), which served as my after-school parent in 7th and 8th grade, providing me many solid hours of Galaga playing and vanilla soft-serve snacking.

Is Cosmo’s Still Open?

A friend-having FrontBurnervian just posed that question to me, and I don’t have an answer. I called over to the Lakewood area bar, which I haven’t been to in a few years, except to pick up dry cleaning next door. Got the machine — not a surprise, since it’s noon on a Monday. So, anyone got an answer? I don’t think this is a malicious prank like the Tribeca situation. But it might be a bad game of Telephone.

UPDATE: It looks like a false alarm. Carry on. And if I checked Quick’s Nightlife blog, I would have known that Friday.

Allen Murder-for-Hire Trial Delayed

So allegedly this guy tries to hire a hit man to kill his pregnant wife. For the grand total of $2,500, mind you. That’s less than two lattes a week for one year. What gets weird is that the target of this McMurder plot — the wife — told the judge she doesn’t think her hubby is a threat and that he should have his bail reduced. At first blush you might think “strong pimp hand.” But then you think, no, it’s gotta be a trap. Hubby may ought to stay in jail where it’s safe.

Update: Fox 4 posted the story early and jury selection is now under way. Here’s the link.

Michael Douglas Nixes SMU Talk

Bad news for anyone who bought tix to see actor Michael Douglas deliver the Tate Lecture next month at SMU. Word is Catherine Zeta-Jones’ hubby has canceled the Feb. 5 appearance because of “unforeseen professional obligations,” whatever that means. He’s being replaced by actor Martin Sheen, who will be interviewed by Belo8 film critic Gary Cogill.

Will Texas Decide The Nominations?

It’s nice when an observer as astute as Jeff Greenfield shares the same speculation as we do (although ours is, admittedly, a little more Texas-centric).

Adolf Hitler On The Cowboys

He is not pleased.

UPDATE: Thanks to Bud Kennedy for the spell check.

Some Notes From Last Night’s Rodeo

As the more aware among you no doubt know, we’re in the final week of the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo. You know that phrase, “This isn’t my first rodeo?” Well I went to the rodeo last night, and it was my first. Some notes after the jump. And y’all from Fort-Dub be nice now to this here city-slicker. I might go back again.

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Donate Rebate Checks To Troops; Let Them Stimulate The Economy

OK, 117 million of us are getting a check ($600 per individual, $1,200 for couples) as part of the federal stimulus package, right? And, while we all “support” our U.S. troops fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, it’s widely acknowledged that few of us civilians have sacrificed anything in the war effort, right? OK, so how about if we start a national campaign to turn over the free dough we’re about to get from the feds to the individual soldiers who’ve fought, or are fighting, on our behalf in the Middle East? Strictly voluntary, of course. Would any of our military-supporting local Congress members (Sessions? Johnson?) be willing to jump-start coordinating such a mammoth undertaking (probably through a private-sector fundraising administrator)? Your comments appreciated.

Leading Off

1. Dwayne Carraway and his anti-sagging campaign hit Dr. Phil today at 3 p.m. Programming note: I think a similarly titled but wholly different segment will be on The View this morning.

2. Mayor Leppert is going to Mexico. People will make a fuss, but I doubt the trip will have any impact on Dallas’ playoff run.

3. A car burglar hit the jackpot when he broke into a car belonging to a Greek Orthodox bishop in Arlington over the weekend. A gold-and-silver crown was among the items taken when Metropolitan Isaiah of Denver was … wait, his name is Metropolitan Isaiah?