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Some Dallas Art Fair End Notes

I stopped by the tail end of the Dallas Art Fair Sunday evening. A few notes and observations:

• The Public Trust owner Brian Gibb was sporting a white apron in keeping with his gallery’s butcher shop theme for the fair. He said his big surprise of the weekend was when he served up a couple of Charley Harper prints to former first lady Laura Bush, who was browsing through his space with an entourage of secret service personnel.
• Close to closing, there was still what I thought was a pretty good crowd milling about in the isles and stales, but when I bumped into Billy Zinser of Marty Walker Gallery, he said the place was actually emptying out, and it had been even more crowded for most of the weekend. Two gallerists I spoke to said they expected Sunday’s crowds to taper off, but attendance seemed to stay very strong throughout the fair, and spirits were high. Now let’s just hope people bought stuff.
• Richard Patterson’s piece, which I mentioned earlier, did make it to the show – next to the Warhol and mounted in a Plexiglas case, which fit over the canvas. I imagine the case was there as a play on the idea of painting as object / canvas as sculpture, thus creating a kind of encased pedestal on the wall, but it also looked like those protective screens they put up around über-paintings like the Mona Lisa. Perhaps Patterson’s playing with both ideas – but who knows, maybe there was some practical explanation. I enjoyed the ambiguity. The actual canvas is dominated by a vibrant yellow and orange cat-man-character who is surrounded by a scattering of various colors, tones, images and textures. And that’s where I’ll stop talking about this thing. I’m taking the “I need more time with the work before I say anything about it” out.

Promoting A Female Goddess

St. Vincent pokes fun at the endless gushing over her indie-chick rock guitar-goddess status in her latest video for the song “Laughing With a Mouth Full of Blood.” Well, to be exact, St. Vincent just performs in the video. Saturday Night Live’s Fred Armisen and former Sleater-Kinney guitarist/vocalist Carrie Brownstein take care of the funny bit, playing two jealous employees at the fictional “Women and Women First” used bookstore. The video is after the jump, as well as a little Sleater-Kinney throwback to spice-up your Friday morning.

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How the Jerry Jones Family Rolls in South Florida

Our woman in Miami provides a shot of this bus, which was parked in the heart of South Beach this morning. The driver told her it’s for Jerry Jones and his clan, in Florida for Super Bowl XLIV on Sunday.

She also notes: “Lots of tanned men with bad shirts around here, among other things”

Brigitte Bardot And Mr. Stanley Lacked Chemistry

According to stories told Sunday by former Neiman’s marketing guru Tom Alexander, sex kitten Brigitte Bardot and the late Stanley “Merchant Prince” Marcus didn’t exactly make beautiful music during their one and only encounter.

Romo Dodges Underwood vs. Simpson Question

Before getting booed at the Pro Bowl in Miami yesterday, Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo was interviewed by a young ace reporter who dared to ask which of Romo’s former girlfriends is the better singer: Carrie Underwood or Jessica Simpson.

Dallas’ Favorite “Wine Guy” Darryl Beeson Dead at 54

Late yesterday afternoon, I learned that Darryl Beeson passed away. Darryl was involved in a car accident a few weeks ago and died from unspecified complications. Today on SideDish, his long-time friend and Savor Dallas co-founder Jim White remembers Darryl.

Welcome to Dallywood

It’s hard out there for a Dallas actor. So local actors Jeff Hoferer and Bryan Massey decided to cope by making a web sit-com about the struggles and petty annoyances of striking out as an actor in a place not called Los Angeles or New York. Their series is called “Dallywood,” and you can watch the six mini-episodes here. Hoferer calls it a “poor man’s Entourage with a Southern twist.” I just can’t decide whether I prefer episode five, in which Massey gets into a real/stage fight with his alter-self who claims he is the “number one actor in Texas” whose imdb “STARmeter” is “on fire,” or episode six, in which Hoferer finally lands a role as the cuckold boyfriend in an episode of “Cheated.” Funny stuff.

Actor Duvall Questions True Grit Remake And Brad Pitt’s Control Issue

During his Dallas appearance for the Nasher Salon Series last Thursday, 79-year old Robert Duvall (pictured) was greeted like a rock star. Regaling Booker T. Washington students and Salon patrons with tales of film greats past and present, SweetCharity reports it all including his concerns about the Cohen brothers’ remaking of True Grit and Brad Pitt’s “controlling” The Hatfields and McCoys “beautiful script.”

Bella Boyz, Ctd.

Have you seen this “man?”

The “Bella” in Bella Boyz refers to Bella Restaurant in Uptown. From what I pieced together late last night, Mordan/Stefanov/Manos was producing an Internet movie, Bella Boys, with the owners/boys of Bella Restaurant. I spoke with one of Bella’s owners, Tony Porcaro, a little before midnight. You can find Porcaro’s quotes and a detailed report of the hunt for Manos–including a link to a Facebook page urging victims to share stories–on SideDish. Methinks Bella Restaurant should share their story.

Mavs CEO: Two More Good Years For Dirk

While Dirk Nowitzki of the Mavericks may have rescued NBA basketball in Dallas, nothing lasts forever. “Don’t tell Mark [Cuban], but we have two years left before Dirk starts to slip a little,” Mavs president and CEO Terdema Ussery told a crowd this morning at The Fairmont Hotel. Ussery (pictured) made the remark about Nowitzki, who turns 32 in June, during a keynote speech for The Real Estate Council Foundation.

The Briefest Glimpse of Charley Pride

Two days before Martin Luther King Day, country-music icon Charley Pride turned up as the guest of honor at a charity event in Dallas. Pride, the son of a Mississippi sharecropper and one of the few black C&W stars, didn’t want to talk much Saturday night. (The Dallas resident talked a whole lot more back in 2008 with Zac Crain, who wrote a great profile of Pride for D.) When I asked the pioneering singer Saturday what he thought of today’s country music, he said, “It’s a little different from what we did. I’d say it’s about 70 rock, 30 country.” He’s 71 now, and still performing more than 30 dates a year. And his attitude toward race still seems in keeping with the true spirit of Dr. King. “I don’t have no skin hang-ups,” Pride (pictured) once said. “I’m no color. I’m just Charley Pride, the man.” He can say that again.

In the Rough, Celtic Tiger Cuts Dallas Shows

Last week we mentioned Irish tenor Van Morrison’s personal troubles with local lady Gigi Lee, his former tour manager. Now we learn via Alan Peppard that Morrison has canceled his two North Texas shows, at the Meyerson and Bass Hall, as press continues to boil over his alleged mishandling of the love that loves to love the love that loves to love the love that loves.

Texas Football Legends Share Powerful Memories

That photo shows Mayor Tom getting this afternoon’s Century in the Making activities at Woodrow Wilson High School off to a start as the Observer’s Robert Wilonsky and his good pal Wick look on. (Wick bailed after about 20 minutes, and former D family member Evan Grant came over to keep “Fingers of Fury” company.)

In the hall right outside Woodrow’s nifty auditorium, the Heisman trophies won by Woodrow alumni Davey O’Brien and Tim Brown were on display, while at one end Michael Irvin was broadcasting his radio show on ESPN, 103.3.  Outside the school, cheer squads from Woodrow, TCU, SMU, and UNT, greeted those who had gathered for the momentous unveiling.

As Brad Sham, who served as the master of ceremonies for the event put it, “There’s nothing that drives us [ in North Texas] like the success of our football teams.” And there was lots to enjoy for football fanatics, especially once Dallas Cowboys legends Tony Dorsett, Troy Aikman, Roger Staubach, Daryl Johnston,  and Michael Irvin; University of Oklahoma standout Billy Sims; Craig James; “Mean” Joe Greene of the North Texas football program and the Steelers teams of the ’70s; Tim Brown; and the son of Davey O’Brien took the stage. But I have to say that the most unforgettable remarks of the program came from Abner Haynes of the AFL’s Dallas Texans and North Texas State (now UNT).

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OMG! Matt Nordgren Is Totally Dating Audrina Patridge!, Ctd.

Kyle Kearbey contacted Matt Nordgren, who is playing things close to the vest right now. But by way of confirmation, Kyle spotted this pic on Nordgren’s Facebook page, available for viewing only to his friends (and FrontBurnervians). So to Mr. Nordgren we say: congratulations, sir. Well done.

Leading Off (1/11/10)

1. Sometimes losing your pants is harmless fun, like on a cold Sunday afternoon on a DART train because, well, there wasn’t “anything better to do.”

2. It get’s trickier when you allegedly lose your pants. That’s the situation Van Morrison is in, and because he may have lost his pants in Dallas, the local gossip-teers are bristling with excitement as the legend makes his way to North Texas later this month.

3. But whatever you do, don’t talk about pants-less things. That’s what Tom Hicks Jr. did in an email to a Liverpool supporter. Hicks Sr. and Jr. were probably already the most hated people in Liverpool. Now, after Hicks Jr.’s rant, Liverpool supporters are all calling for resignations. (Good thing that boy from Nacogdoches is over there making Americans look good despite the ongoing Hicks soap opera.)

Another Home With Bush Connections on the Darias?

We now know the former president and first lady have joined the tear-down club, but could they be connected to yet a third place on Daria Place?

How Long Before the Other Shoe Drops on Clark Hunt?

This matter is complicated. If you haven’t been following along at home, then you’ve got a lot of catching up to do. First read about Barrett Wissman, Clark Hunt’s business partner who got very sideways with the feds. The matter involves essentially bribing people to get state pension funds to invest with a hedge fund controlled by Wissman and Hunt — except Hunt says he didn’t know what was going down. His hands are clean.

Okay, fast forward. In August, a businesswoman named Hilary Kramer filed suit in New York County claiming that Wissman and Hunt destroyed her Greentech, “the only woman-owned alternative energy hedge fund in America.” Do the two cases seem unrelated? Well, not so much. Because Kramer and her lawyer, on Christmas eve eve, filed a motion for default judgment. You can read it for yourself. But here are two interesting parts, if you’re looking for a quick fix. Apparently Hunt has been dodging process servers with some help:

Upon information and belief, the sources of which are publicly available information about defendant Hunt and the Hunt family, the NFL lineman-sized man who answered the door at Hunt’s residence lied to the process server when he stated that he was Clark Hunt. In fact, the real Clark Hunt is of diminutive stature.

And about that whole deal with Wissman, who has admitted to felony securities fraud? In her filing, Kramer says this:

I have personal knowledge that defendant Clark Hunt was actively involved with his life-long friend, defendant Barrett Wissman, in conducting the business of HFV [the hedge fund], and that Clark Hunt directly participated in the pay to play corruption scandal and had direct dealings with the so-called “intermediaries” who paid the bribes to public officials in charge of public employee pension plans. For example, I personally observed Clark Hunt meeting in Dallas with Alfred Villalobos and heard them discuss how Clark Hunt was providing Villalobos with private jet flights, private helicopter flights, and other expenses in connection with HFV’s effort to obtain business from CALPERS and other public employee pension plans.

Now then. This is only one side of the story. It’s just another dot. But all these dots seem to draw a line that leads to Hunt. I wonder if the feds have spoken with Kramer yet. I wonder if Wissman is happy playing the role of the fall guy. I wonder which former Chiefs player answers Clark Hunt’s door.

Woodrow High School to Host Football Greats

As part of the run-up to Super Bowl XLV — to be played in Arlington on Feb. 6, 2011 — the North Texas Host Committee has put together a list of the greatest 250 moments in the region’s football history. That history begins, according to them, with the 1912 game between Oklahoma and Texas in Fair Park (OU won, 21-6).

Fans will be able to vote on what they think are the greatest of those 250 nominated moments, and the top 100 will be revealed in the fall. The nomination list will be revealed at an event next Tuesday at Woodrow Wilson High School in Dallas. On hand will be Roger Staubach, Troy Aikman, Michael Irvin, Tony Dorsett, Daryl Johnston, and Craig James, among others.  Why is the event at Woodrow? Because it’s the only public high school in the country to produce two Heisman Trophy winners (Davey O’Brien and Tim Brown).

Dave Levinthal Rocks NewsHour

The Morning News lost a great reporter when Dave Levinthal left for the Washington D.C. -based Center for Responsive Politics. Dave Levinthal gained a whole lot of profile, judging from his appearance last night on the NewsHour. In terms of local pride, it’s almost like watching St. Vincent rock the socks off Letterman (I could watch Annie’s little hint of a smile after the horns kick in a hundred times).

Mark Cuban Offers Advice to College Kid

Mark Cuban last night posted an e-mail he received from a local college student. Something about what the kid writes rings false. Isn’t sending a message like this to Cuban the equivalent of saying “My biggest weakness is that I’m too much of a perfectionist” during a job interview?

I don’t know if you’ve ever experienced addictive behavior before, but I’m sure you’ve got an idea of what it would be like.  Now I want to specify that I’m not addicted to drugs or alcohol or any of that junk.  I’m addicted to adventure.  Of pushing physical boundaries and experiencing new things.

But man, it’s killing me right now.  I can’t focus on anything that I need to do.  I’m a full-time undergrad and real estate agent (among other things), and this desperate search for adventure is not driving me toward my goals; it is crippling me.  Before you had the freedom to do whatever you want, whenever you want, how did you maintain focus on the things you needed to do?

Thing is, Cuban isn’t necessarily the same kind of thrill-seeker, “pushing physical boundaries,” that this student seems to think he is. The one time I watched Cuban’s failed reality show, The Benefactor, I remember him refusing to do some sort of bungee-jump-type thing over at the Speedzone when the contestants took him there.

(H/T: Pegasus)

Cupcake Car Demolishes David Letterman’s Set

During a segment on Christmas toys, David Letterman tore a path of destruction through the set of the Late Show tonight with one of Neiman Marcus’ $25,000 cupcake cars.

ShopTalk Has a New Format: Sales and Deals

Perhaps you’ve noticed that in the last few weeks, our shopping blog has come into focus. It’s now the daily destination for the Dallas deal seeker—which is especially handy for holiday shopping in these troubled times. In addition to sales, we’ve got solid info about affordable presents, so take a look. Speaking of gifts, you might want to browse our exclusive holiday gift guide for ideas for everyone on your list. Know a foodie? Then check out Todd Johnson’s piece in the current issue of D Home. If you’re looking for a dose of humor with your shopping inspiration, look no further than Laura Kostelny’s gift guide for her famous Dallas friends.

Super Bowl XLV Has 12 Million-Dollar Sponsors

That’s the latest count from the Super Bowl XLV Host Committee, which has had a goal of securing 15 of these $1 million contributors. (Some are providing services or resources in kind rather than just cash.) Among the latest to join are Gene and Jerry Jones, who have pledged $1 million to fund the host committee’s portion of the NFL’s Youth Education Town.

There are two other big corporate sponsors that have not yet been announced officially. Should be made public early next year, and they are big names.

The Observer’s love letter to Roger Staubach this week says the Texas Rangers are a million-dollar sponsor. I’m told by the committee that the original intention was for the Rangers to be the name behind the money. But because of the limbo in which they exist pending their sale, it looks like it’s officially owner Tom Hicks’ contribution.

As for the economic impact figure for Super Bowl XLV that’s touted — $500 million — I was surprised to see that presented as a fact, and not coated with the Observer’s usual skepticism and desire to poke a stick into the eye of the man. (more…)

Candice Crawford Not Engaged to Tony Romo

  The crew at the 33 News decided to ask their co-worker, Candice Crawford (pictured), about the rumors that she’s engaged to Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo. The answer: No.

Then they decided to have some fun with a little game, but they made the solution too obvious.

Did Tiger Woods [Insert Golf Pun] Jessica Simpson?

Are we above linking to this Star Magazine story that says Jessica Simpson turns out to be one of Tiger’s ladies? No. We are not above it.