Articles for June 24th, 2010

Meet The New Owner of 3500 Beverly

Museum Tower & No HPPC 024 And see what else he’s buying… to tear down… and what else he owns over on DallasDirt.

Museum Tower, Miles Austin’s neighbor’s home, been a hectic day in Dallas real estate!

iPhone 4 Freaks in Queue

Just drove by the Apple store on Knox. Swear it was on the way home. No way did I harbor thoughts of the line having magically abated and my popping in to buy one. Spotted on the scene: the nattily attired Ed Shaikh, owner of Hadleigh’s.

Russ Martin to Return to Dallas Airwaves

A CBS insider tells me that Russ Martin will return to the air on July 12, when “The Russ Martin Show” will re-debut on 97.1 The Eagle. Martin will take the morning spot, along with his entire crew from the old show, save for J.D.

When he was still working for CBS (I guess he still technically is, as his contract doesn’t expire till the end of this month), Martin said he’d never again do mornings. It’ll be interesting to hear how he handles the transition. It’s hard to get porn stars up at 7 a.m. It’ll also be interesting to see whether his rabid fans will follow him to a new Bat time and Bat channel.

Wells Fargo Left Hand, Meet Wells Fargo Right Hand

Or, as one FrontBurnervian put it, it looks like the bank is still getting the hang of this whole SEC thing.

We reported on June 14 that Wells Fargo had bought a huge 12.36 percent stake in A. H. Belo. We reported on June 21 that it had halved that holding. A seven-day turnover might seems strange, but hey, they are a huge bank so they know what they’re doing, right?

Not right. Today Wells Fargo submitted yet another SEC filing to say that, well-what-do-you-know, it actually owns 12.91 percent of A. H. Belo. Apparently a subdiary bought stock while the fourth-largest bank was selling it — maybe. Or it was nearly right the first time. Or someone there just doesn’t know how to add.

My confidence in our financial institutions just keeps growing. Meanwhile, A. H. Belo’s stock was one of the top ten performers on Wall Street at mid-day, up 3.2 percent.  Apparently, investors respond well to total confusion.

An Intern Reports From the Groundbreaking at Museum Tower

museumtowerAshley Slayton graduated from Prairie View A&M in 2008. She is spending some time with us this summer, trying to figure out how, exactly, we managed to put out a magazine every month. Today she drew the short straw and had to stand in the heat for the groundbreaking at Museum Tower. Her report follows the jump.

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Shame on the DMN

Today the Dallas Morning News ran a story about the Richardson ISD employees who dumped pollutants in Dixon Branch Creek, which feeds White Rock Lake. When you are following in the footsteps of another news organization two days later, it is appropriate to give credit where credit is due. The DMN, of course, did not give that credit.

Kudos to Lake Highlands Today.

10 Most Beautiful Beautiful Women in Dallas Update

StephenimageWe’ve reached our quota on pictures with poles. (Women posing with poles, women hugging poles, women on poles.) We’re still accepting photos with women on park benches, women smiling with their hair blowing in the breeze, and women with Chihuahuas in their purses. Click image to enter.

SideDish Is No. 1 News Source for Tennis News

Uncle Nancy just called from home, where she is procrastinating. She should be writing her lead dining review for the August issue. Instead, she was watching the longest tennis match in history, at Wimbledon. (We were watching it in the office, too.) Nancy asked me to google “Wimbledon tennis match” and look for the top news result. Sure enough: it’s SideDish. Makes total sense. An historic sporting moment. And the place you want to come read about it, your trusted news source, is a local blog about food and dining.

wimbledon

A Sincere Apology to the Fine Folks at the Kitchen Source

Last night, we threw a party in the Fairmont’s Venetian Room for the 2010 Best Real Estate Agents and Best Mortgage Brokers. It fell to me to congratulate the couple hundred people gathered and thank the sponsors who helped us throw the shindig. This is always a dodgy situation, because I have a tendency to ad lib in a way that sometimes produces bad results (I still feel bad about referring one time to a pregnant woman in the audience who, I later learned, was not pregnant). Our marketing department, which produces these affairs, is always on edge until I put down the mic. Last night I kept it straightforward and simple, and I thought I got off the stage without any goofs — until I shook hands with one of our sponsors, Bob Johns, president of the Kitchen Source, and he informed me that I’d not once but twice referred to his outfit as the Kitchen Store. I think Bob asked me, “So how did you like having worked at D Magazine?” Then he reached into his coat pocket, I thought perhaps to retrieve a well-made Grohe faucet with which to bludgeon me. Turns out he was just searching for a business card.

Today, I still have my job and access to this blog. While I do, I’d like to state for the record that when you go to the Kitchen Source, every remodel or new construction project becomes an exceptional experience. That’s what their website says, and I have no reason to disbelieve it.

What To Do in Dallas Tonight: June 24, 2010

caricatureTwilight fans have already started freaking out about the latest installment, Eclipse, which will be released June 30. I would like to make fun of this, but then I’m reminded about the time I held a starvation strike in order to make my mother pay for New Kids on the Block tickets. So. Anyway, parents of Edward and Bella lovers will want to know about this. The truck (yes, the truck) that Bella drove in the original movie will be at Watters Creek today at 4 pm. This means it has been touched by Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, and Taylor Lautner. Screeeeeeeeeam. You can get your photo taken with it for a mere $5 and you can probably touch it a lot too.

Wait. You don’t like that? Okay, Rihanna is in town too. It’s also the last Jazz Under the Stars at the DMA. More ideas can be found here.

Update: The Mysterious Disappearance of Jose “Pepe” Ayala of Javier’s in Dallas

Details on SideDish. Thomas Korvac’s story in the July issue of D Magazine on newsstands now.

Sophie’s Tale

After having bought a little Yorkie from a puppy mill, a couple named her Sophie and noticed the 11-week old pooch didn’t seem very healthy. Taking her to to the vet last week, they were  Sophie DSC02923_editednotified the puppy (pictured) had Parvo. (For non-dog people, Parvo is a nasty disease that is preventable with vaccination.) The couple asked how much it would cost to treat her versus “put her to sleep.” With home treatment, the vet said it would actually cost more to euthanize her. For whatever reason, they opted to put her down.

Through some mediation by the vet, the owners relinquished Sophie to an animal lover who wanted to give the little pooch a chance. It was agreed that Sophie needed to stay at the vet’s because the situation had taken a turn for the worse. Last Friday Sophie’s temperature spiked uncomfortably into the 102+ area and she was not eating at all. Things were looking grim, but the animal lover and the staff were committed to try. The decision was made to feed her via a tube as a last ditch effort to save her.

Called the clinic yesterday dreading to hear the results. (more…)

Leading Off (6/24/10)

1. The signatures for the wet/dry petition were confirmed. Election is in November.

2. To help him fund the fifth of July fireworks, someone sent Dwaine Carway some cocaine. But unfortunately, Caraway’s secretaries got to it before he did and opened the envelope. Now it can’t be sold. Now the fireworks won’t be quite as awesome.

3. Dallas may get rid of its dry areas; Caraway was sent cocaine; U.S. got a memorable World Cup win; Obama accepted the resignation of his general; the oil spill continues–these are all good topics to discuss around your dinner table. But what we all really care about today is that the iPhone 4 goes on sale. Congratulations to this guy, who as you all know has been camping out for a week. I hope he’s enjoying his phone right now, and not thinking about how much job searching he could have done in the days he camped out in the heat with not a single other person standing in line with him.