Articles for November 29th, 2012
The Cowboys Pro Shop Is Selling Tony Romo’s Jersey For Nearly Half-Off
For the “I’m not so sure I want a jersey for a player who’s average at best and might not be our quarterback for much longer” fan in all of us. Brought to you by a Living Social coupon, the surest sign of a a stable business.
Feeling Scroogey? Or Just Generous? Here Are Some Charitable Ideas For The Holidays
Here, you’ll find more information about the holiday events that have charitable connections and elements. This is by no means an exhaustive list of all the organizations doing and supporting good work during the Christmas season. Know of others? Send them my way: liz.johnstone@dmagazine.com. As always, before giving to a charity, it’s best to check its legitimacy. The Wise Giving Alliance has a national list of verified organizations.
Patent Office Selects Dallas For Regional Branch
The U.S. Patent & Trademark Office has selected the Terminal Annex Federal Building in Downtown Dallas for their satellite office.
— Mike Rawlings (@Mike_Rawlings) November 29, 2012
Thanks to Undersecretary Kappos and his USPTO team for their cooperation during the site selection process.
— Mike Rawlings (@Mike_Rawlings) November 29, 2012
From Rawlings’ Facebook page:
I’m excited by today’s announcement that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office will make Downtown Dallas the home of their new regional satellite office. This office will be a catalyst for innovation, economic growth & job creation throughout North Texas.
Downtown Dallas will immediately become a hub for entrepreneurs, inventors and small businesses.
I’d like to thank Undersecretary David Kappos and his team for their cooperation during the site selection process. We look forward to working with the U.S. Commerce Department for years to come.
Recent D Magazine subject Noah Jeppson wrote about the building – at 207 South Houston – for Unvisited Dallas earlier this year, calling it a “somewhat overlooked, [and] impressive Art Deco structure.” The Patent Office will occupy 45,000 square feet of the building.
Nacogdoches Vet ‘Traces Bigfoot’s DNA’
On the Saturday after Thanksgiving, a date always reserved for the release of earth-shattering scientific discoveries, Nacogdoches veterinarian Melba Ketchum announced that she and her team from DNA Diagnostics had “confirmed the existence of a novel hominin hybrid species, commonly called ‘Bigfoot’ or ‘Sasquatch.’”
“Sasquatch nuclear DNA is incredibly novel and not at all what we had expected,” Ketchum said, because Sasquatches are absolutely real and not the figment of a Nacogdoches veterinarian’s fever dreams. “While it has human nuclear DNA within its genome, there are also distinctly non-human, non-archaic hominin, and non-ape sequences. We describe it as a mosaic of human and novel non-human sequence. Further study is needed and is ongoing to better characterize and understand Sasquatch nuclear DNA.”
Things To Do In Dallas Tonight: Nov. 29
The ghost of a wreath from parties past.
I don’t know why everyone insisted on putting their lights up right after Thanksgiving. Everyone knows it’s not officially the start of the Christmas season until I put up my big list of holiday fun. Please, y’all, commence with the decorations.
And speaking of decor, I am super excited about one particular thing this year. The downtown Neiman Marcus, purveyor of beautiful things and responsible for those awesome window display crawl tubes, has decided to open up the fun to adults. This means I don’t have to dress in disguise–pigtails, the ratty pink Tweetie Bird high tops that I’ve had since 4th grade and can amazingly still wear–to get in this year. (Kidding. I’ve never sneaked in anywhere.) Your $20 donation goes entirely to the North Texas Food Bank. In return, you get to experience the magic of the crawl tubes during this special adults-only evening, plus a complimentary beverage from the Neiman Marcus espresso bar. Can’t make it tonight? Neimans and the NTFB will do it again every Thursday leading up to Christmas. After, stop in for a cup of cheer at The Chesterfield.
Also this evening, another favorite holiday event: DIFFA Dallas’ Holiday Wreath Collection. The theme this year’s fundrasier is “Deck the Doors,” and the big party is tonight at Timothy Oulton, the British designer’s flagship on Henderson. Check out the unique (and by unique, sometimes we mean crazy, and crazy amazing) holiday wreathes created by local and national designers, such as Ralph Lauren and Timothy Oulton himself. These masterpieces will be up for silent auction, and there will be cocktail and light bites. The money all benefits DIFFA, which provides HIV/AIDS funding, awareness and prevention education in the North Texas area. All that said, the party is always a great time. And the cause is a great one.
For more to do this tonight, go here.
Something Nice About Jim Schutze
Given the events of yesterday, it pains me a little to do this. But you should read Jim Schutze’s column in this week’s Observer. Yes, it’s a bit overblown. He’s got a good point, though. It looks like Dallas has set itself on a course to make the 50th anniversary of JFK’s assassination messier and more litigation-filled than it need be. I’m with him on this one.
Glenn Beck-Backed Goldline Accused of Defrauding Elderly Customers, Again
Source: Seth Anderson
Spend any time listening to conservative talk radio, and you’re likely to encounter Goldline, the metal company backed by Westlake resident/conservative kingpin Glenn Beck, Ol’ Blabbergums Sean Hannity, and other right-tumbling radio jocks.
It’s a company that thrives on convincing YOU, American consumer and intelligent being, that the government and FDIC-protected banks have no business with your money, and you should instead buy gold coins and bury them in your backyard along with your grains and guns. In February the company agreed to repay $4.5 million to customers due to “unfair sales practices,” after the Santa Monica, Calif. city attorney’s office hung 19 charges on the company, accusing them of bait and switch tactics. Customers believed they were buying gold bullion when in fact they were buying overpriced gold coins, maybe with chocolate inside. Criminal charges against executives were dropped when Goldline agreed to disclose the price mark-ups.
The latest piece of the Midas puzzle came this week, when former employees Carol Taylor Gabrelow and her husband, Joel Gabrelow, sued the company for unlawful termination. See, Mrs. Gabrelow informed company higher-ups that their telemarketing techniques violated state and federal law. The execs then fired her and her husband.
“Goldline specifically targets vulnerable consumers with sales tactics designed to pressure those consumers into buying products that would often result in the consumer losing over one-third of his or her investment the instant the purchase is made meaning that, even when the price of the precious metals increases, because these consumers were deceived into purchasing coins with mark-ups exceeding 50 percent, it could be years, if ever, before the consumer recoups, much less makes any profit on, the investment,” the complaint states.
Keep on being great, Glenn Beck.
Pete Delkus Did Not Win the Lottery
A social FrontBurnervian points us to a little joke that WFAA meteorologist Pete Delkus made yesterday on his Facebook page. He wrote:
Yes. The rumors are true. I’m leaving WFAA. Tonight at 10pm will be my last newscast and it will be a sight to see. Colleen Coyle has been appointed the new Chief Meteorologist effective tomorrow. I’m winning the lottery tonight and I’m not working anymore!!!
Look at the comments he got. Seems quite a few people didn’t get the joke. Shelly Slater played up the joke in the 6 o’clock newscast. After airing a story about the Powerball Lottery, she said, “Pete Delkus did call in tonight. He’s chillin’ at home. He says he’s not ever coming back. He says he plans on winning tonight, so Colleen’s going to be our new chief.” Pay attention, people. When someone says he’s going to win the lottery, even if that someone is a weatherman, he’s kidding.
Dallas Private Schools Tagged With ‘Obama 666’
Two Far North Dallas private schools were spray-painted with the phrase “Obama 666″ this week, the Morning News reports. The schools – Ann and Nate Levine Academy, and All Saints Catholic School – sit less than a mile apart from each other off Frankford Road. Police do not have any suspects at the time, but should probably be looking for a libertarian-leaning eighth-grader with the anarchy symbol dug into his Earth Science notebook.
Also, if you have a minute, Google “Obama 666,” hold your head in your hands, and weep for the future of our nation. Then laugh at that one person who Photoshopped a 666 on Jamie Foxx’s head because they can’t tell black people apart.
Larry Hagman, Comic Book Star
Source: ComicBook.com
As the remembrances of Larry Hagman continued to roll in, I fell into a deep wormhole. End of the internet kind of forums.
There, I found a Hagman world unknown to me: comic books. His first starring appearances were in two I Dream of Jeannie comics, printed by Dell Comics in the sixties. There were only two I Dream of Jeannie comics ever printed by Dell, so it’s fair to say Hagman’s mug didn’t sell too well.
That wasn’t enough to keep him out of his most interesting role: himself. According to Scott Johnson, at comicbook.com:
However, Larry Hagman’s most unusual comic book appearance came courtesy of Marvel Comics’ Iron Man. In Iron Man #222, Larry Hagman appeared at one of Tony Stark’s parties with a number of other eighties celebrities. Besides Larry Hagman, other party guests included Dr. Ruth and William “Refrigerator” Perry.
Just when I thought I’d reached the end of this particular peyote trip, I found this, a post about Hagman not starring in a comic, but serving as the model for a comic character.
Back in the Fifties, when Hagman was an up-and-coming actor seeking to make a living in New York City, he was hired by acclaimed cartoonist Leonard Starr as the model for a character in Starr’s hugely popular comic strip series, Mary Perkins On Stage. Hagman provided the likeness for Jed Potter, the hot-tempered son of a legendary movie actor.
The story of Jed Potter has been assembled in the second volume of the On Stage reprint series published by Classic Comics Press. In fact, a rendition of Hagman circa 1958 is featured on the cover of the book.
Jump for a page of Mary Perkins goodness.
Where To Celebrate Christmas In Dallas
The season is upon us, much like a fast-moving thing, and it’s time to get on Santa’s good side if you’re not there already. Raya has your go-to gift shops, I have your yuletide cheer. A separate post for events with a charitable bent and ways to give back will follow, but until then, jump for the best celebratory activities.
Leading Off (11/29/12)
Zac is out today, so I’m filling in. I wanted to try to channel him while presenting today’s items, like do that kind of really entertaining stream of consciousness thing he does so well, where he pulls in random tangents and references–maybe something about how I’m slightly misguided in my assessment of a giraffe’s stomping abilities–but that particular kind of verbosity doesn’t come easy. (One day Tim will let us have a write-like-Zac contest, and the winner will get something pretty special, like getting to hear Zac talk about the vague idea he and I came up with for a remake of Victory, which, I assure you, is amazing.)
Teen From Hurst Police Video Speaks: In a written statement distributed to reporters yesterday at the police station, Andrew Rodriguez, last seen in handcuffs taking a knee to the head and a whole lot of death threats courtesy of a tax-payer-paid peace officer, says he wasn’t resisting arrest. He also says the drug paraphernalia listed on his arrest report isn’t his.
Grapevine Man Convicted of Animal Cruelty: At first I wondered why a prosecutor would spend the time and resources bringing a felony trial against a man accused of beating his girlfriend’s dog to death. (Alexander Good, 27, says he was carrying the dog and fell on top of it.) But then I began to imagine what would happen if someone did this to my dog, and how cases like this may in fact prevent future felonies.
Mavericks To Sign Derek Fisher: Insert old point guard jokes.
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