A Stroll In Highland Park Village

Want to get out and enjoy the beautiful weather this weekend? Join us this Saturday for A Stroll in Highland Park Village, an all-day event celebrating fashion, beauty, home, bridal, cuisine, fabulous giveaways, and more.I will be speaking about spring fashion trends and the new look of Escada at 3 and 3:30, and the iconic shirts of Anne Fontaine at 5 and 5:30.

As Adam previously mentioned, the boys will be at Q Custom Clothier auctioning off shirts they each personally designed (don’t worry, I hear they had a little help). One lucky lady (or man) will win a pair of Jimmy Choo’s and Warron Barron will be holding a champagne toast where a bride-to-be will have a chance to get 10% off (trust me, every little bit counts) their wedding gown purchase. See you there.

A Whole New Way to Study for the SATs (See Also: Cheating)

If you’re going to pay $2,299 for an SAT-prep course, you’d expect it to be good, right? The College Board, a not-for-profit group that owns the PSAT and SAT exams, claims Dallas-based Karen Dillard’s College Prep was offering classes that were a little too helpful. And by helpful, they mean obtaining live tests and giving students the questions to study with. (Oopsies!) The College Board is also alleging in a lawsuit that the principal of Jasper High School in Plano provided KDCP with a copy of the PSAT test administered in October. As a result of the allegations, some faultless students’ test scores could be thrown out.

Dillard insists that the test in question was sent to the company unsolicited, and that she has never used “live” exams. She says she fully complied with the College Board’s request to investigate the matter four months ago, and that by doing so, she was promised to be spared a lawsuit. She also says she stopped distributing the suspect exam after the questions arose.

What conclusion can you draw from the story?

A. Karen Dillard is a hard-working entrepreneur being bullied by the big guys.

B. Karen Dillard should invest in a good lawyer.

C. There weren’t any of these prissy “test prep” classes when you were in school—and you had to walk 10 miles in the snow to get there.

D. None of the above.

Fox4 Good Day Stars In Rare Afternoon Appearance

I’m used to seeing Megan Henderson early in the morning, just after I wake up, and she always looks really, really good. (Uh, she’s got a good personality, too.) If, like me, you’re wondering what one of Dallas’ most eligible single women looks like a little later in the day, you’ll have a chance to find out this Saturday at 4 p.m. That’s when TV critic Ed Bark plans to interview Megan and her Fox4 Good Day anchor-partner, Tim Ryan, at Stratos Greek Taverna. Who knows, maybe she’ll even stick around for dinner.

Jason Kidd, Dallas Maverick: The Sequel

I’m sure some of you who watched the Mavs lose to New Orleans in Jason Kidd’s (re)debut are already thinking the trade is a bust. Not so fast, people. I have some thoughts, kindly hidden after the jump for those that disdain hardcore hoops talk.

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Online Journos And Respect to the Dallas Sheriff’s Department

(Warning: Inside baseball media stuff follows.) New York Police, who are in charge of credentialing, are trying to deny an online columnist press credentials. Seems pretty last century thinking, notwithstanding that it also looks retaliatory. Brought to mind how we gotta give props to the Dallas County Sheriff’s Office, which gives credentials here. Back as early as 2005, they started credentialing online-only media types — yours truly was the first locally so carded up back in my days at DallasBlog — without any sense of prejudice against the new media.

Update: Given the Rube Goldberg structure of that last sentence, I’m surprised anyone credentialed me.

Update x 2: Austin Kilgore, a brother in the empire with our sibling publication, gives me an update on how things have changed since 2005. After the jump.

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Have the Texas Dems Missed Their Shot at Riding the Obama Wave?

A politically-minded FrontBurnervian writes:

An issue that’s not getting much attention is the Texas Democratic U.S. Senate primary. With the potential for a huge turnout of Texas independents solely to vote for Obama, will these voters simply mark the first name on the Senate part of the ballot? If so, who is that? And why have the Texas Dems fielded the worst group of potential U.S. Senate candidates ever? Why is Ron Kirk not on that list?

Obama’s going to win Texas and this nomination. And his coattails are going to be huge in the general election. This will be the Democrats’ best chance to unseat Cornyn. The Texas Democrats have been caught sleeping.

I can tell you why Ron Kirk isn’t on the list: being a politician doesn’t pay as much as lobbying a politician.

A Question for Home Builders and/or People Who Like One-Walled Structures in Their Front Yard

Tim and I stoked each other’s curiosity as we drove by this house being built at the corner of Armstrong and Bryan. What’s up with the mini-house out front? It’s not even a mini-house, but barely more than a wall of a mini-house. I noticed that the wall’s progress reflects that of the larger project: When the house was just a wood frame, the wall was a wood frame. House gets a roof; wall gets a roof. Sheetrock; sheetrock.

Tim thought it might be a city-mandated structure. Something something about codes. I pointed out that other home projects did not have them. He now thinks it’s a really small mother-in-law suite. (LOL, right?) Me? I think it’s a home-builder flourish—a way for passersby (and future owners) to see the level of completion.

But certainly someone out there knows the answer(s). I’ll post this over on DallasDirt, too, to see if anyone over there knows.

Re: No Secret Ballot

Trey, you and Donald Huffines. I happened to drive by his house a few moments ago.

How to Avoid a Trip in the St. Patty’s Day Paddywagon

In news that will interest Tim, Dallas police announced this morning some changes they will be making to the annual Greenville St. Patrick’s Day parade post-parade street party. DPD Central Division will now be handling the event and will be dispatching more officers to the area to crack down on behavior that has led the Debbie Downer neighborhood associations to complain year after year—namely public intoxication (and the resulting destructive behavior), drunk driving, and illegal parking. Among the changes—which Pegasus News has kindly interpreted for us here—there will now be a motorcycle squad to assist with traffic control, a DWI squad, a sheriff’s office breathalyzer unit, etc. etc. Bottom line: Don’t drink and drive to the parade. Rent a wheelchair, and have Tim push you there.

Not So Secret Ballot

So I voted today, and it was the first primary election of my adult life I chose to participate in. Not so easy a decision as you might think. I gave serious thought to taking the Democrat ballot to cast a vote for Barack Obama. Not, mind you, for the reasons you might expect. I’ve not experienced an Obamagasm. He hasn’t healed my boils and gout. My thinking on that had several factors. First, it’s past time to drive a stake into the heart of Clinton Inc. Second, I wouldn’t vote for John Kerry McCain under threat of being stuck in a Vietnamese POW camp. Third, for everything really horrible on Obama’s platform — his tuition plan guaranteed to raise the cost of college tuition, his health care plan, his opposition to tax cuts — he has something good to offset it — getting out of Iraq ASAP, repealing the worst of the Patriot Act provisions, and so on. Of the three major candidates, he’s poised to do the least damage, and he actually pays lip service if not more to the realities of the marketplace. More, with any luck a good trouncing of the GOP by Obama may get the GOP to dump all that religious pandering and “compassionate conservative” nonsense that lead them to grow government spending by more than FDR in his wildest wheelchair dreams.

Still, so long as there was a candidate on the ballot whose positions most closely approach mine — pro-market, getting out of Iraq, abolishing the Department of Homeland Security, cutting spending, expanding deregulation, decriminalizing drugs, repealing gun control laws — no matter how impossible his chances, I had to raise that middle finger to the big government Republican establishment. And so I voted today for the only candidate my conscience would allow. Come November, I’m likely to choose not to vote. Or, should my primary candidate lose his House seat and run as the nominee of the party of principle, he’ll get my vote again.

Now I throw down the gauntlet to my fellow D Empire bloggers — whip it out. Who you voting for?

GQ Talks With Cubes

Mark Cuban continues to fascinate, and not just because of his beefy biceps. He talks to Deadspin’s editor about the Mavs, the contemptible “people” at the IRS, politics, Barry Bonds, those godawful Youtube debates, and more. Jump for a great excerpt.

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Leading Off

1. Best line from Barack Obama’s Reunion Arena rally: “A little, skinny kid with big ears and a name that rhymes with yo mama, you better believe he knows a thing or two about fighting.” The speaker? Ron Kirk.

2. To paraphrase Jay-Z, by way of Kanye West: “Huckabee, that’s if you’re still living, get on down.” “It ain’t over until Texas says it’s over,” the man running a distant second to John McCain said yesterday in Plano. “If we win Texas, it all changes.” Spoiler alert: it won’t.

3. Oh, and Chelsea Clinton was in the area, too. “I’m convinced my mom will be the stronger candidate,” she told a crowd at UTD. Well, jeez, if she’s convinced…