I don’t really know Chris. I’ve met him once or twice. Seems like a nice guy. People who know him much better than I do confirm this. But at Mavs games, he is my kryptonite. I know from reading Glenn Arbery’s piece from a couple of years ago that game presentation is a complicated affair. But I think a little common sense is in order. Because here is what happens every game. The Mavericks go on a run. The fans go crazy. The opposing team — in last night’s case, the Houston Rockets — calls a timeout, specifically to calm themselves down and hopefully cool off the crowd, too. And then, without fail, Chris Arnold comes out and accomplishes that for them, by quieting everything down so a couple of fans can play some ridiculous game no one ever understands or really cares about. Momentum gone.

Look, there will come a time when it makes sense to trot out Chris. Maybe the Mavs have a big lead. Maybe the other team needs some cooling off. It’s not rocket science. You have to veer off the script on occasion. I don’t know why I have to keep bringing this up.

Twentieth Century Fox Television is in Dallas filming a new television series for the ABC Television network titled “The Deep End.” The production recently completed the shooting of episodes one and two and are currently filming episode three. The extras casting department for the show is actively searching Dallas for good looking, young, fit, upscale people to be cast as background for all the remaining episodes. If you fit this description and are between the ages of 20-35, then we are looking for you!

To be considered, please submit the following to: abcthedeepend@gmail.com

1- A clear picture of yourself

2-Your contact info

3-Your height and weight

4-Your schedule availability

We are also urgently needing handsome, fit men between the ages of 35 and 45.

Please make sure all information is on the opening page of the email. All roles are paying gigs. You MUST be a Texas resident! If you have previously submitted a picture, please do not resend.

The fundraising goal for the night was $50,000. Steve Martin joked that Central Dallas Ministries could claim to have raised more money this year than in any year in its history, had it not been for paying his appearance fee. Anyway, the show was peppered with nice bits of comedy between the songs, which were themselves great fun. Martin is a master entertainer, and he makes it look effortless. But anyone who’s read his memoir of his early days can attest to the fact that he’s a perfect example of Malcolm Gladwell’s 10,000-hour rule.

One bone to pick with WFAA’s Gary Cogill, who introduced Martin at the start of the show. In running down a portion of his filmography, you mention the execrable Three Amigos, but not what’s probably his best movie, Planes, Trains, and Automobiles?

Not only did the gentlemen apparently enjoy a rather interesting evening at Cattle Baron’s, but they also went to an SMU football practice, learned to line dance at Billy Bob’s, and visited a “fainting goat” farm in Bowie. I’m not sure these choices are the best representation of Dallas. I like picturing them at the Cattle Baron’s Ball, but I think a Cowboys game would have been exciting. I also wonder where they went for dinner. Their diet consists of beef, blood, and milk.

Check an upcoming issue of D for the picture of the man. He seems to be having a great time.

Several bigger, more significant American companies are going to envy the Dallas Opera its new home.

On Otello:

At times, especially in Act I, the performance of the orchestra and chorus was insecure and shaky. Jitters on this momentous opening might have been a factor. Also, the set that dominates this production, an intriguing, starkly modern staging by the British director Tim Albery that is filled with militaristic imagery, may have made it harder for the performers to follow the conductor and hear the orchestra.

One very minor note. I won’t see the new production until Saturday, but already I’m wondering: What is it with the Dallas Opera and 19th Century uniforms? They used the same motif in MacBeth, where it was even more outlandish. Did the costuming department get a discount from a  retro-clothing supplier? Maybe the same people who dress Civil War reenacters?

Glass’ music generally leaves me cold. In fact, I find if I listen to it too intently the repetition can get maddening. But to have it played live in accompaniment to the 1931 film Dracula, as it was last night at the Winspear Opera House, was tremendous fun. Together the music and the movie (which only a generous critic would call “good”) were more than the sum of their parts. Glass explained during a post-performance Q&A that it was the film’s star, Bela Lugosi–or more precisely the tragic arc of Lugosi’s life–that drew him to want to write a new score for it.

It was my first time inside the performance hall at the Winspear, and it lived up to the hype. My wife only had one small complaint. The air vents beneath our seats were pumping cold air out with such enthusiasm that her legs felt like icicles by the end of the show. She was looking to let the management know afterward, and I had to argue with her to convince her not to force some poor usher to touch her cold ankles.

“Now here comes the Oak Cliff in me,” Neal said. “It’s the bomb. It is a thing of beauty, and I just don’t know what angels and spirits were so kind to me that I get to be part of this first show in this wonderful new building.”

If you want tickets, go here. But be forewarned: at some point, fairies will be fighting with Nerf balls.

2. I’m under age 55, so I was not watching the Jay Leno Show last night. Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones was on via satellite from inside the belly of his giant robot space turtle. Judging from this clip of the appearance, the segment featured Leno’s standard brand of excruciating comedy. Jay asked about Cowboys players dating celebrities, like Tony Romo’s relationship with Jessica Simpson. “Spice is nice,” Jerry said. Other gustatory terms come to mind, but I’ve never particularly thought of Jessica Simpson as spicy.

3. I don’t even want to imagine the horror that Raul Garza has had to live through since April, when his wife was murdered. The man who killed her was sentenced to 15 years in prison yesterday. What I can imagine, and what I hope brought him some small sense of satisfaction, was standing across from the killer in court and flinging these words at him: “You’re not a man, but a shell of human being not worthy of love because you are incapable of showing that to others. You let evil rip out your spine and your guts.”