Articles about Awesome Things
Denton County Teen Bench-presses 700 Pounds, Breaks Own State Record
From the Abilene Reporter-News:
What drove [Matt] Poursoltani to such greatness?
“When I tore my ACL, I didn’t have anything else to do, so I benched every day. I had to do something. It’s all I had,” he said, quietly and without a hint of braggadocio.
Poursoltani played defensive tackle on the Pilot Point Bearcats football team.
“No one moved him,” Coach Jody Allen said.
A gigantic boy among other boys.
New Hostess Owner Hopes to Lure Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis For Commercials
Wonder Bread: close enough to Hostess. Photo: Nextel Cup Series
The sale of Irving-based Hostess was approved in bankruptcy court yesterday, and its new owner had some fantastic news. From the AP:
Hostess Brands Inc. is selling Twinkies, Ding Dongs, Ho Hos and other brands to Apollo Global Management and Metropoulos & Co. for $410 million. Evan Metropoulos, a principal of the latter firm, said in an interview that he wants to have the snack cakes back on shelves by June and that the brands could benefit from new flavors and other product extensions.
“There’s no mistake, we’ve got to move smartly, we’ve got to move quickly,” Metropoulos said.
He also said that comedians Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis are at the top of his “wish list” for potential pitchmen. But he doesn’t plan on formally approaching anyone about marketing deals until after the sale closes in coming weeks.
Metropoulos, which owns Pabst beer, has already used Ferrell in its ads. Apollo’s investments include the fast-food chains Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr., which is known for indulgent burgers and splashy ads starring scantily clad women.
Zac Crain’s Street Style Photos: Exhibits A and B
My man Zac has become quite the surreptitious snapper of eye-catching perambulators. If you’re out and about and throwing down a look, keep your head on a swivel.
Houston Dynamo Responds to FC Dallas, Claims Orange Obliteration System Is ‘Highly Inferior’
I’m going to pitch an idea to Tim and Jason where we create similar videos and send them to the Morning News and the Observer. That was a joke, but the more that I think about it the more I like it.
Here’s Each Big XII School Stereotype, as a Character From The Simpsons
Source: Reddit
I have no clue on the origins of this piece of Internet magic, but it’s fantastic. The Dallas-based Big 12 should be proud, but probably is very upset. That’s what we in the Internet World call a win.
(h/t Planned Sick Days)
Troy Aikman Joins Mayor Mike Rawlings’ Campaign Against Abuse
Or, rather, shoots a PSA for it. Brandon Carr also pitched in. Reminder: Rawlings’ Rally Against Domestic Violence is March 23.
Remind Me Again: Why Are We Putting an Ice Rink in Klyde Warren Park?
Where the ice rink would go, drowning all those poor visitors.
At 1:30 p.m., on an admittedly Spring Break-skewed day:
- lines of 20+ customers at every food truck
- children literally hanging from trees
- not a single table available
- trolleys full of vistors
But by all means let’s abandon this natural, organic explosion of community and replace it with a skating rink that will take up much of the space.
New Big Tex to Be Unveiled September 27
Old Big Tex burned down on 10-19-2012. New and better Tex to be unveiled on 2013 State Fair of Texas opening day, September 27. @nbcdfw
— Ken Kalthoff (@KenKalthoffNBC5) March 13, 2013
Mark your calendars. Tex will have a larger, higher base, which will be covered with Big Tex history. I’ll be interested to see how they cover the events of Oct. 19, 2012, aka “The Day That Will Live In Regional Renown.”
The new Big Tex design hasn’t been unveiled yet (other than his hands) but I expect it to look something like this.
Cyclists Now Have a Safe Way to Enter Downtown
One of the few (only?) positive side effects of the Houston Street viaduct closure is the installation of segregated, bike-specific lanes for cyclists heading to and from downtown from Oak Cliff. Jonathan Braddick of Bike Friendly Oak Cliff took the new lanes for a spin Monday. He hits them at about the 1:35 mark, if you’re impatient.
Hostess Cakes Sold; The Twinkie Lives!
Party time.
Not that it was every truly in danger of going permanently extinct, but the Twinkie is back. The New York Post broke the news last night about the Irving-based cakery:
[Billionaire private equity mogul Leon] Black’s Apollo Global Management was the only entity to make a bid for the snacks business of bankrupt Hostess Brands – grabbing ownership of the stable of well known brands for $410 million, The Post has learned.
The private equity firm — known for making money off distressed assets — teamed with veteran food exec Dean Metropoulos on the bid for the business, which also includes Ho-Hos, Donettes and Dolly Madison in addition to Twinkies. The deadline for bids was Monday at 5 p.m.
Hostess creditor Silver Point Capital and Hurst Capital in recent days had submitted letters indicating an intention to bid – but in the end neither stepped up to the plate with a firm proposal.
As we all know, Metropoulos also owns Pabst Blue Ribbon. I would never, ever make the assertion that these two treats are a match made in trashy heaven. Reuters caught up with Metropoulos’ son Daren, who said the snack cakes could be back on shelves by the summer.
Dallas Trails Get Top Priority in NCTCOG Funding Recommendations, May Pull in $5 Million
Deborah Carpenter walks Jenny, Buster, and Lily past a sign for the second annual East Kessler Pet Parade along North Oak Cliff’s Coombs Creek Trail in April 2010. Photo: Christina Barany, for Oak Cliff People
Dallas’ Coombs Creek and SoPac trails may soon get a welcome boost to their coffers, provided the North Central Texas Council of Governments takes its own advice. The two trails are the highest-ranked Dallas-area projects that applied for funding from the council last fall, outshining similar projects in Frisco, Lancaster, Terrell, and other area cities.
Back in September, the Texas Department of Transportation issued a $70 million call for projects, utilizing remaining Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient, Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users funds; the Dallas-Fort Worth region was awarded about $13 million to divvy out. Applications were due to TxDOT in November, and staff members have been running the projects through their evaluation and scoring methodologies since. Additional funding for seven Dallas-area projects (and six Fort Worth-area projects) has been recommended; NCTCOG received 37 applications totaling $47 million in requested funding. In order of their NCTCOG rankings:
(more…)
Watch FC Dallas’ Fantastic Infomercial
According to the video (hosted by “professional soccer ball-kicker Stephen Keel”), the FCD 442 Orange Obliteration System is the cure for:
- humidity
- orange
- traffic
- mosquitos
- smog
- Houstank
- no hit TV show
Buy now!
George W. Bush Is ‘Going to Go Down in the History Books As a Great Artist’
I’m not sure how this slipped past everyone’s radar, but Fox 5 in Atlanta had a story Tuesday about George W. Bush’s art teacher, Bonnie Flood. Apparently Bush has painted more than 50 dogs, and is “going to go down in the history books as a great artist.” I’m sure he hopes that will supplant the “After his re-election, Bush received increasingly heated criticism from across the political spectrum” line from his Wikipedia entry. “Has painted more than 50 dogs” does have a nice ring.
Giant Chair Appears in The Colony
Photo: Mary Duggan
- It’s at State Highway 121 and Plano Parkway
- It’s for Nebraska Furniture Mart’s 560,000-square-foot retail showroom and 1.3 million-square-foot distribution center
- Nebraska Furniture Mart will anchor Grandscape, a 3.9 million-square-foot monolith that will probably have the capability to detach from Earth and self-sustain, should the need arise
Last point: the first person to snag a picture of themselves in the chair will win a free year’s subscription to D Magazine. I will pay for it myself, since I can’t imagine our marketing team is too keen on the idea of a contest where I tell folks to trespass. And I don’t mean next to the chair, or one of those photos where your fingers look like they’re smushing the chair. IN IT.
Get to snappin, and send the photo to bradford.pearson@dmagazine.com.
UPDATE: I assumed an email like this would land in my inbox today. From Jeff Lind, chief strategy and development officer for Nebraska Furniture Mart:
“I’m contacting you because safety is a huge priority for Nebraska Furniture Mart and I believe this could put someone at needless risk of injury. I’m sure it was for fun but I can’t bury my head in the sand when safety is involved. Any action you could take to cancel the ‘contest’ could potentially help avoid an injury. I hope you will consider this course of action and I encourage you to do so. Thank you very much.”
So, contest off. It was fun (?) while it lasted.
Fort Worth Couple Raffling Off Their Unborn Daughter’s Middle Name
This baby’s middle name could be all yours.
Fort Worth real estate agent Drew Myers and his wife already have the first name of their daughter picked out. Ily will come into the world in August, with an abbreviation for a name: Ily = I Love You. Problem is, they don’t have a middle name for their daughter. That’s where you come in.
The couple’s had difficulties conceiving in the past, unsure if they’d be able to have another baby to team up with their son Crash. Then Tanya got the good news — pregnant — and they started counting their blessings:
TK and I are thrilled that God blessed us with another child, but we’re also excited that we get an opportunity to use this name, which carries so much significance for us.
So…with our daughter’s first name taken care of – we’ve shifted gears to the middle name.
Go on.
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