Articles for February 8th, 2013
Win a Bunch of Stuff From Our Desks By Entering This Pizza Hut Delivery Man Caption Contest
Best caption wins:
- an 8 oz. box of See’s cinnamon lollypops
- “From Mama’s Table to Mine” a culinary journey/cookbook written by Paula Deen’s son Bobby
- an unused (!) pair of men’s socks that include a variation of this “I Want to Believe” logo
All of these items were collected by walking around our office and bothering people for the unused/uneaten items that have been sent to them by various PR folks/companies. I’ll pick the winner at 5 p.m. You’ll have to pick up the items at our downtown office, at your convenience.
Bradley Cooper to Play Chris Kyle in Movie
Not to change the tenor of this Chris Kyle story, but different news came out yesterday, on Fresh Air. Via Entertainment Weekly:
After the tragic shooting death of ex-Navy SEAL Chris Kyle this past week, Bradley Cooper is moving forward with American Sniper, a movie based on the autobiography of Kyle. Cooper bought the rights to American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History last spring, he told NPR’s Fresh Air yesterday.
In the wide-ranging interview (which you can listen to in full), Cooper discussed how he wanted to fast-track the project, which has obviously generated more public interest with recent events. “I couldn’t believe it. Jason Hall, who’s writing the script, called me an hour after it happened…,” Cooper explained about how he heard about the death. “The first draft was coming in this week, and Thursday I was at Walter Reed hospital meeting with veterans who have post-traumatic stress disorder, among many other ailments; and then all of a sudden I hear this thing and I just can’t believe it. This man has two children, and he is an advocate for putting guns back in veterans’ hands, as a way of therapy.”
When asked whether the movie would still be made, Cooper said: “His story first of all really needs to be told, and it’s also relevant on two fronts: gun control and the need to address the many soldiers who are coming back with PTSD.”
Friday Fun: Chinese New Year Edition
In honor of Dallas’ burgeoning Chinese community – and our own Carol Shih – today’s Friday Fun is dedicated to the Chinese New Year, celebrated this weekend. Our game is “Red Dragon“:
From fireballs to spitballs and green gobs of goo, this aerial battle is fierce. Take control of this red dragon against airships and enemy dragons alike.
Sold. For a soundtrack: Otis Redding and Carla Thomas, “New Year’s Resolution“; Beach House, “New Year“; Further Seems Forever, “New Year’s Project“; Clipse, “Chinese New Year.”
Megan Lucas, the Hofmann Hots Hottie, Ctd.
Photo by Kevin Marple
Earlier today, I put up a post concerning Megan Lucas, the woman at the center of a lawsuit filed by Phil Romano and others against their Hofmann Hots business partner Frank Zaccanelli. The suit alleges that Lucas is Zaccanelli’s girlfriend and that he improperly funneled company funds to her. I spent some time with Lucas on the phone after she read that post. She tells a different story about the lawsuit.
First, though, about that mugshot: Lucas says she got a ticket in Highland Park for throwing a cigarette butt out a window. When she didn’t pay that ticket, she was arrested.
Now the lawsuit. In short, Lucas says it’s all bunk, that Romano et al. were trying to use Lucas to squeeze Zaccanelli out of the business. She says that she met Zacanelli while working as a server at Nick & Sam’s. She says she went through three interviews before Zaccanelli hired her as the director of social media and marketing, disciplines she studied at the Art Institute. Lucas says her relationship with Zaccanelli has always been a professional one.
Things to Do In Dallas This Weekend: Feb. 8-10
Love is in the Design District air.
Happy (almost) Chinese New Year, everyone. And welcome to the year of the snake.
Friday
If you attempt street parking around the Arts District this afternoon, you may have a bit of difficulty. The F.I.G. Finale sale has opened its doors to the rampaging, sale-starved public. Still worth a try, though. Sneak off during lunch to score designer brands for up to 75% off, or drop by after work. You’ll find selections from local shops, such as Elements, Forty Five Ten, and Melanie Gayle, plus all the brand names you know. There’s a nominal admission fee, but a portion of the proceeds benefit the Genesis Women’s Shelter.
If you missed last night’s Big Bang at Beauty Bar, you missed Waajeed, a Brooklyn resident and Detroit native heavily influenced by the late hip-hop producer J Dilla, who would have celebrated a birthday yesterday. Waajeed’s also making a special appearance at the big Dilla tribute going on tonight at Strangeways, one of my favorite haunts just about any night of the week. It’s called “Detroit’s In the House,” and also features locals JT Donaldson, DJ A1, DJ Sober, and quite a few more. The cover is $15, but again, the proceeds from this go to a good cause. This one is the J Dilla Foundation, a nonprofit that funds music programs and scholarships for inner-city kids.
Anti-Drilling Residents Want Mary Suhm to Go
That’s probably not going to happen, but the Dallas Area Residents For Responsible Drilling at least know how to make a pretty decent WANTED poster.
Here’s What American Sniper Chris Kyle Said About His Killing Two Men at a Gas Station in 2009
Photo from NBC’s “Stars Earn Stripes”
Chris Kyle was incredible. He was simply an incredible, real-life action hero. Before his death, he was already known as the deadliest sniper in American history and as a best-selling author. Since his death, a few reporters have heard trickles of other stories. Around Midlothian, one story in particular has been raising eyebrows. It goes something like this: when he was first back from Iraq, in 2009, Chris Kyle killed two armed men who were attempting to carjack him at a gas station.
I first heard this story more than a year ago. It hasn’t made the news much. There was a brief mention in Marcus Luttrell’s second book. And now the Star-Telegram has a blog item mentioning the story and how difficult it is to confirm. Well, as it turns out, I’ve been working on a story about Chris Kyle for about nine months. We talked regularly, mostly about the challenges and triumphs of his transition home. I first asked him about the story last summer, during an interview in his Dallas office. I said: “Now, I have to ask you about an incident that I’ve heard about. I heard it happened at a gas station.”
He said: “You mean the time I shot two guys trying to steal my truck?” (more…)
Survival of the Cutest: While Nemo and Cooper Battle for the Crown, 30 Other Dog Owners Are Disappointed. Some of Them Extremely So.
It’s the final day of our Survival of the Cutest tournament. The contest between finalists Nemo “Don’t Blame Me For the Winter Storm of the Same Name Headed For New York” the Beagle and Cooper “I Resemble a Black-and-White Cookie” the Border Collie is shaping up to be a clash for the ages. There have been several lead changes in the vote totals already, and there will likely be several more before our competition turns into a pumpkin tonight at midnight.
Of course, we began this search for the cutest dog in Dallas a few weeks ago with 32 competitors. With 30 disappointed dogs no longer in the running comes 30 disappointed owners. Some of these owners have taken the news more in stride than have others.
One person sent me this email after hearing about his pet’s elimination. It translates as “Thanks for nothing”:
It would be nice if we could have seen the votes that came in for us… to know how much we were ahead.
Thanks anyways for the short lived hype and experience.
Another fellow took issue with the way one of our editors campaigned for a dog his pet competed against directly .
Well, it’s good to know we lost to a dog an editor at D Magazine endorsed (in an not so subtle way).
Not that the endorsement did anything; people seem to think those slobbering, flesh-fold piles of pig vomit are cute. Baffles me, but whatever.
Megan Lucas, the Hofmann Hots Hottie Who Got Frank Zaccanelli Sued by Phil Romano
Perhaps you’ve heard about l’affaire Hofmann Hots. Frank Zaccanelli is a former co-owner of the Dallas Mavericks. Until recently, he was a business partner of Phil Romano’s. The two men, along with other investors, were behind the new Trinity Groves restaurant called Hofmann Hots. But Romano and the other partners allege in a lawsuit that Zaccanelli was using the restaurant as a slush fund to keep his girlfriend happy. Her name is Megan Lucas, and she was once a hostess at Nick & Sam’s Steakhouse. According to the Morning News, the suit alleges:
… the misappropriation of company funds and misuse of the corporate credit card to the tune of $34,000 “for expenses that were clearly personal in nature or unrelated to the legitimate conduct of business for Hofmann,” according to the suit. The complaint also alleges that Zaccanelli directed the company “to pay $3,000 per month to [Megan] Lucas for a lease for housing in Dallas, Texas, despite the fact that Lucas already lived in Dallas before Zaccanelli directed Hofmann to retain her services.” The suit says her rent was listed in company records as “facility payment.”
Unless I’m mistaken, Ms. Lucas was arrested on January 25. One of the better mugshots you’ll see.
Update (12:06): I’ve spoken with Lucas. She says she’s not Zaccanelli’s “mistress” and that the lawsuit was a power move to force Zaccanelli out of the company.
For One Very Specific Katy Trail Tagger, It’s Clear: Antz >A Bug’s Life
Source: Park Cities People
I was always thought it was the other way around, but clearly this tagger enjoys Woody Allen’s neurosis in animated form.
(Via Park Cities People)
For One Very Specific Katy Trail Tagger, It’s Clear: Antz >A Bug’s Life
Source: Park Cities People
I was always thought it was the other way around, but clearly this tagger enjoys Woody Allen’s neurosis in animated form.
(Via Park Cities People)
Bush Family Emails Hacked
A hacker using the handle Guccifer has hacked George W. and George H.W. Bush’s emails. According to The Smoking Gun:
Included in the hacked material is a confidential October 2012 list of home addresses, cell phone numbers, and e-mails for dozens of Bush family members, including both former presidents, their siblings, and their children. The posted photos and e-mails contain a watermark with the hacker’s online alias, “Guccifer.”
Correspondence obtained by the hacker indicates that at least six separate e-mail accounts have been compromised, including the AOL account of Dorothy Bush Koch, daughter of George H.W. Bush and sister of George W. Bush. Other breached accounts belong to Willard Heminway, 79, an old friend of the 41st president who lives in Greenwich, Connecticut; CBS sportscaster Jim Nantz, a longtime Bush family friend; former first lady Barbara Bush’s brother; and George H.W. Bush’s sister-in-law.
To which I say: AOL account? And also: one of the hacked emails contained a picture of a self-portrait that George W. made of himself in the bathtub? It’s too much for me to wrap my head around.
Man Who Lost Finger Plans to Sue Perot Museum
The intro to the WFAA story last night:
Only on News 8 tonight, there’s something missing from this picture: a ring finger.
The man, an engineer from Mexico, has been unable to return home since the Dec. 30 incident, and has racked up $40,000 in medical bills. He’s criticized the Perot Museum’s response, much like we have.
The Plan For Pacific Plaza Is Perfect, So Don’t Screw It Up, Dallas
Yesterday, Dallas’ Park Board approved the city’s new and improved parks master plan, the one with the capes and the superpowers and all that. You can read the whole thing here (thanks DMN, for uploading it). In the report, four parks are labelled as “priority parks”: Carpenter Plaza, Harwood Park, Pacific Plaza, and West End Plaza. If the city’s smart, they’ll fund all of these spaces, whether that’s through private donations or whatever.
The one that’s the best for the city, however, is Pacific Plaza. It balances the needs and wishes of old – read: car-dependent, 20th-century – Dallas with new Dallas, in a way that doesn’t sacrifice the mission of downtown parks. The city already owns much of the land it needs for the park, which would sit between Harwood and St. Paul, north of Live Oak. (Live Oak will be closed in this new plan, though, newly minted parks director Willis Winters said yesterday. Anyway, point of reference.) On it right now is a surface parking lot, one that sucks the life out of any walk from the Arts District to downtown.
The problem, Winters said, is that the neighboring buildings don’t want to lose the parking. Understandable, Winters said, so here’s a plan: buy the land from us, build an underground parking garage, and, as a stipulation, throw a park on top. The master plan mentions this in passing – “Underground parking for 840 cars with ingress/egress of Harwood Street” – but if the city pulls this off it could, in theory, satisfy both sides of the downtown base.
Leading Off (2/8/12)
Vote on Trinity East Energy Plan Delayed Again: Three times in three months, and, again, people yelled. The fact that this was delayed on the same day Schutze broke the news that city manager Mary Suhm struck a side deal with Trinity East back in 2008 is very surprising. Very, very surprising. Read: not surprising at all.
Colleyville Mother Indicted For Toilet Paper Vandalism: “Her attorney said she was not there when the teenagers used permanent marker to write on the neighbor’s exterior walls, left raw chicken parts in the mailbox and wrote profane messages on the sidewalks.” But she didn’t buy the chicken, guys, just massive quantities of toilet paper! Shouldn’t she get credit for not buying a similarly massive amount of chicken?
Dallas Promotions Company Sues Lance Armstrong:Â SCA Promotions sued Armstrong Thursday, saying it bilked the company out of $12 million. SCA settled a similar suit with Armstrong in 2006, his attorneys contend, so this one should be DOA. Quick thought. If I, say, signed Mark McGwire or Sammy Sosa or Armstrong, rode the lightning for five years and cleaned up before the shoe dropped, I’d probably just let all this rest.
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