You should stop looking at the screen on which this post is being displayed and go spend time with your family and friends. Or go mix yourself another cocktail. Or do both. In any case, we at D Magazine won’t be at our keyboards again till Monday.
We give thanks for your attention and contribution to this blog. Have a good break.
As much as I quite like you guys, I don’t want do anything on Thursday and Friday except eat my weight in green beans with crunchy onions and maybe enjoy a salty dog at the Meridian Room. Well, enjoy isn’t quite the right word. Choke down out some weird sense of tradition? There we go.
Wednesday
I called a friend this morning to share my good mood, and instead of assuming my cheer was linked to the upcoming holiday, he asked me if it had anything to do with a TV show and if I’d stayed up all night watching Masterpiece Theatre. In fact, I did stay up all night watching spoilers for season two of my new favorite TV show, Downton Abbey. But it’s on Masterpiece Classic, thanks very much. His response? “You sure know how to party.” Indeed I do. And tonight’s party will either take us all to Fort Worth, for Spune Production’s pre-Turkey Day show featuring Telegraph Canyon, or to Trees, where Reverend Horton Heat will play and the ticket price benefits the North Texas Food Bank. You can bring canned goods instead of cash, so it’s a win-win sort of deal.
Early Sunday morning Steve Hartnett lost his battle with prostate cancer. He was 61. Hartnett is best known as a restaurateur. He was a dynamic force behind Fox and Hound, Bailey’s Pub and Grille, Cool River Cafe, Flip’s Patio Grille, Winewood, and Mi Dia. Hartnett also owns the Bob’s Steak and Chop House in Grapevine. At one point, Hartnett owned over 200 restaurants. However, Hartnett considered designing and operating restaurants as a hobby. His “real day jobs” were futures trader and real estate developer.
I met Steve in 2002 when he was part of a group of restaurateurs I joined to travel to Uzbekistan where we prepared a steak dinner for 2,000 soldiers at an airbase outside of Karshi. The mission, headed by Harvey Gough, also included Gene Street, Rhett Stein, Tony Booth, Rob Holmes, and Robert Ozarow. The complete wacky story is here.
After a 6-hour layover at Bagram Airbase, 27 miles north of Kabul, Afghanistan, we took off for for Karshi. Fifteen minutes later, Bagram was attacked. Once we arrived at “K-2,” we lived in cargo containers and hung out with the first troops and Special Forces units sent to battle. On the evening of our dinner, Steve stood up and gave a patriotic toast to the officers in a private dining area. After he finished, he went over to the next tent and worked and visited every table to thank the soldiers for their service.
Hartnett was a consummate professional. He was generous with his restaurant employees, investors, and business staff. He was one of the nicest men I’ve ever had the pleasure to work with. He was a perfectionist, a philosopher, and a true entrepreneur. Our condolences to his wife Sandy, son Taylor, and daughter Dionne. Services pending.
Gordon Keith calls this the Zapruder film of Jerry Jones’ hair. Up and to the left. Up and to the left.
Earlier this year, you voted from among 20 stellar semifinalists to select the 10 Most Beautiful Women in Dallas. Behold those you chose as the most breathtaking beauties, in this behind-the-scenes video from our photo shoot:
Find out (and see) much more about these alluring ladies in the December issue of D Magazine.
DISD Board Discusses Discussions. I attended my first school board meeting last week. It went from 7 to 10:30 p.m. A very large percentage of that time was given to speakers of nonagenda items. I didn’t count exactly how many people spoke, but it had to be above 20. It was enthralling. Yet, the speakers were there for three items, and often repeated themselves. DISD trustee Mike Morath would like to fix that. He wants to nix speakers at the board meeting and have them at a separate public comment meeting. Speakers would be given two, instead of three, minutes to talk. Trustees could respond to the speakers (something they can’t do now). The number of speakers would be limited, and it would be based on a first-come, first-serve basis. A former trustee says the plan is stupid. There are times for the board to be quiet. But I do agree there has to be a more efficient way to handle the speakers.
Reunion Tower To Change Colors. Growing up, I always hated that my mom would use only the yellow lights on the Christmas tree. Where was the green, red, and blue lights that blink and flash and evoke the true Christmas spirit? Every year, I’d harass her. But she never changed it. Now I get it. The yellow lights are classy and beautiful. I like the way they look. They say, “I’m here.” But they’re not screaming it. Anyway, Reunion Tower is changing its lights. We know how Patrick Kennedy will feel about this.
UNT Students Charged With Making Fake $20s and $1s. Allegedly, they were creating the counterfeit bills in their dorm rooms. What I really like about this story, though, is the girl’s mugshot. She’s got a slight smile. Right before the shot, it looks like she asked the photographer to wait a sec so she could put her hair over her shoulders and make sure her bangs were swooping just right. I think in this day and age of Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and blog profile pics, everybody knows how to take a good picture. I’m glad we’re finally starting to see this come across in mugshots.