From My Inbox To You

From time-to-deadline time I pull random press releases from my inbox and share them with you. Here is one I just received. Perhaps I should consider this a serious issue:

Dear Nancy,
I wanted to ask if you’ve covered socially disruptive snoring and how it can ruin traveling the vacation experience itself:
*The person next to you on the long haul flight
*The one in the tent next to you in the otherwise silent outdoors
*The person behind you in the theatre after you’ve just spent hundreds of dollars for a Broadway show
*The person you have to share a hotel room or yacht cabin with due to space/cost issues in group or pre-arranged travel
What can you do about it? What should a person who knows they fall into this category do prior to going out on a trip/experience? I can provide everyday people who were socially disruptive snorers who can share their stories and medical professionals who will offer advice on how best to handle the situation before and during whether you are the snorer or the one affected by the noise.

Is this a big problem? What does “traveling the vacationing experience” mean? Are Broadway shows that bad? Doesn’t everyone have an iPod? Or a big pillow and a massive rubber band? Jeez.

Woman Attacked in Preston Hollow

Candy Evans has the scoop on Dallas Dirt. Let’s be careful out there.

Hambrick Sentenced

A well-rested (for now) FrontBurnervian sends along this news item: Former Dallas Cowboy Troy Hambrick has been sentenced to five years in prison for selling crack cocaine to confidential informants near his Tampa-area home. I imagine it to be like an episode of Weeds, with Hambrick playing U-Turn.

[Sigh] Sweet Mary Louise Parker. [sigh]

Re: Whither Trey Garrison

Wes Mantooth wrote in the comments:

I know [that previous post] is a Trey Garrison sock puppet. Unless and until I see a confirmed photo of Trey Garrison holding today’s DMN in classic hostage-movie format (think about Jonathan “The Duke” Mardukas in Midnight Run), I won’t believe a word of this.

Here you go, Wes:

Mike Levy Calls It Quits

The Statesman has the story about the “mercurial” publisher of Texas Monthly retiring after 424 issues. I’m still trying to confirm the rumor that he’s stepping down so he can spend more time fishing with Wick.

Whither Trey Garrison

Several sweet FrontBurnervians have noted in our comments section the absence of Trey. Wes Mantooth this morning wrote:

My … pet theory is that Celeste and Rogers killed him, stripped the flesh from his bones, and turned it into Trey Jerky and are busy consuming the evidence of their crime. The crime itself might have been punishment for changing the “D” painting to “H.” Or maybe it was Trey’s stubborn refusal to hew to the party line. Or just idle hands making the work of the devil. Who knows.

No, no, no. Nothing like that, kids. Trey is now freelancing. But he’s still a contributing editor to D Magazine. You’ll see his next story in the July issue of the “print product.” [picking at teeth]

Re: Avery’s Abode For Sale

Here’s the official Ebby listing, with pics. You know what? Ugly pad. (Link props to DallasBasketball.com.)

My Eye Itches. Hand Me That Can of Pepper Spray.

Or, you know what, I’ve got a better idea. Why don’t I take care of my back itch with this handgun. Oh, that’s why.

Say It Ain’t So, Tony Romo!

The Superficial is rumoring that the Cowboy quarterbacking lothario broke up with Sweet Jess this weekend, while he was hammered and carousing in Chicago. It also says he did so while she was on speakerphone, as he mocked her bedroom style to his boys. This can’t be true, right? Unless she needs a 40-year-old bald shoulder to cry on. Then, let’s hope it is.

Dallas Restaurants Are Struggling To Stay Alive, Day Two

Yesterday, on SideDish, I ran a post about how many Dallas restaurants are struggling with the high cost of food. The comments were few but insightful. I also received one phone call and two e-mails from local operators who choose to remain off the record. Why? Because they are confused, even embarrassed by the current state of affairs and none of them are clear on how to adjust to the current economy. One mid-level price point chef was upset by the reader who complained about wine-by-the-glass markup. “People don’t bitch when clothing retailers mark their products up more than 50%,” he/she said. “If I marked up the cost of some of my food items by 50%, I wouldn’t sell a thing. I have to make it [profit] up somewhere.”

Another was scared of lowering prices for fear that customers would equate lower prices with lower quality of food. I understand that fear but, on the other hand, I see a chance to turn this scenario into a win-win situation. Like I said yesterday, you don’t HAVE to import pomegranates from Paraguay or nun-picked basil from Basil; there are more than enough less-expensive but fine local and regional products to choose from. Just cook them and cook them well. A restaurant is, or should be, a business first. If you are too concerned about “saving face” in this dismal economy by sticking to expensive ingredients, you will end up, if you are lucky, selling shoes at Neiman’s, which I’m sure are marked up more than 50%. Sure, many of the high-end restaurants with healthy backing–Fearing’s, Abacus, Craft–can “afford” to take more of a hit than our smaller chef-owned spots, but I don’t see any shame in these restaurants changing menus and lowering prices. Let the expense account diners keep the big boys in business and give us little people places to have a finer dining experience and less-than-finest dining prices.

EDS’ Rittenmeyer On The Hewlett-Packard Deal

A PR-practicing FrontBurnervian kindly provides Ron Rittenmeyer’s e-mail to EDS employees today regarding the HP deal, wherein Rittenmeyer promises “major changes” to come. Jump for it.

(more…)

Erykah Badu = Not Bad

The songstress impressed the heck out of the New Yorker’s Sasha Frere-Jones. Sez Sasha of her concert at Radio City Music Hall on Friday night:

Instead of saying that Badu’s performance will not be bettered any time soon (though it won’t), I’ll say that her show gave everyone in the house serious bragging rights. Dylan in 1965, Metallica in 1985, Bad Brains in 1981—it was one of those points on the arc. If you want to know who is at her peak, who is both of her moment and channelling so many forces that her work spills out over the edges of history and stops time, that’s Erykah Badu in 2008.

Blockbuster Museum

The Onion takes a video tour of a “living museum,” aka a Blockbuster store in Auburn Hills, Mi. Good stuff.

Avery’s Abode For Sale

The listing price for Avery Johnson’s condo at the Ritz is $4,475,000. Candy Evans has the scoop. (Shocking, I know.) With the right price, you get everything. Her source says, “Guess someone doesn’t want any reminders of the past…and all the stuff is only a couple of months old.”

Leading Off

1. I’m really confused by the big stories in the paper today. One suggests that cops are adding false violations to tickets, but it says no one knows how widespread the practice is — yet points out that one person documented ONE DOZEN such cases in an 18-month period. (Ooookay.) Another story suggests gas pumps are short-changing customers, which some are, occasionally, sure. But if you do the math, the agency that tracks such things got about four complaints a day from the entire state in a one-year period. (Mmmmkay.)

2. KeKe the elephant died at the Dallas Zoo yesterday. She was 39. She leaves behind a cellmate, Jenny, 31.

3. Richardson approved a smoking ban in most businesses, adding to the list of cities that Zac Crain will rail against from his front porch on Crazy Old Man Boulevard.