DMN’s Tom Maurstad is Pretty Much the Only Film Critic in America That Loves Speed Racer

I’m not saying Tom is wrong in giving the Wachowski brothers’ take on the super-overrated cartoon an A. Just noting that he–and by extension, the Dallas Morning News–is completely out of step with just about every other film critic in America. Like, way out of step.

Soccer Mom in the Making

Sarah’s car is in the shop. Usually she tools around town in a sporty Audi. But today when she dropped her car off at the dealership, the only rental they said they had available was a maroon minivan. I’m sure minivans are practical and great for kids, etc. A minivan is not practical, however, for a single girl-about-town. On the plus side, guess who’s driving us all to Kanye tonight?

David Byrne Digs the High Five

The former Talking Heads frontman was recently in town to collaborate with a certain robot builder. You can read about it on Byrne’s blog (link props to KERA’s Arts + Culture). But I liked what Byrne had to say about the High Five, which he encountered on his drive in from the airport:

After about twenty miles, I turned north on Highway 75 on what might be the mightiest and most awe-inspiring interchange I’ve ever seen. At least five levels of roads are stacked up, all swooping over, under and around each other as if in some mighty concrete mating dance. It’s a truly incredible work, graceful, and of a scale so large that it is impossible to see the whole thing from any one vantage point.

H.O.V Is Pain In Neck

I have, of course, driven on Central Expressway as it nears the High Five many, many times since the H.O.V. lanes have been there, but not until yesterday, when Tim, Zac, and I went on a mini-field trip, have I actually used the H.O.V. lanes in question. For months and months, my dad has complained about a) the lanes, and b) the fact that I have not called attention to them in print or online. I can now see why he’s so upset.

The H.O.V. lanes seem like a nuisance and an afterthought. I won’t get into their efficacy in general, as I’m sure people have plenty of opinions and Google searches to back them up. But specifically on north- and southbound Central, they seem silly. You have to know about them far in advance to be in the right lane to find them. And then, once you’re in the H.O.V. lane, it takes you off of Central Expressway. You have to drive on the frontage road and then re-merge. It’s like you’re being punished for riding in the carpool lane. And really, riding as a passenger with Tim at the wheel, in control of the radio and pseudo control of the car (iPhone texting plays a big role in his driving), is punishment enough.

Dallas Puts Its Citizens’ Lives at Risk for Red Light Ticket Revenue

An alert FBvian points us to news that Dallas has been shortening yellow lights at intersections monitored by cameras.

There is really nothing else to say: this must stop.

Update: Another FBvian reminds me that we’ve known this for a while.

TSA’s New Nipple Ring Policy

In light of the Dallas woman whose nipple rings were removed with pliers prior to boarding a Lubbock-Dallas flight, the TSA has changed their policy. Here’s an excerpt of the agency’s statement on “the alleged improper screening”:

TSA has reviewed the procedures themselves and agrees that they need to be changed. In the future TSA will inform passengers that they have the option to resolve the alarm through a visual inspection of the article in lieu of removing the item in question.

A “visual inspection”? Something tells me job applications at TSA just went up about 250 percent.

Leading Off: Nipple Rings

Let’s pass on the easy jokes for a second. Instead, let’s consider how emblematic this incident is of a national security apparatus run amok. Nipple rings that have to be removed with a pair of pliers are a threat to an airplane — really? It is laughable until one realizes that this sort of bureaucratic enforcement of the national security “rules” happens every day. Unless we get sensible about how a free society deals with the threat of terrorism (which, to my mind, means realizing the existence of a certain level of danger and learning to live with it), we are slowly acquiescing to our own destruction as a free society. A good step in the opposite direction would be to fire the Lubbock TSA supervisor. (Meanwhile, Mandi Hamlin, you are my new civil liberties heroine.)

What’s Up These Days?

Apologies for my belated blogging on this matter, but seems to me there’s been some increased and unusual air traffic of late. On Saturday around noon, wife and I noticed the MetLife blimp hovering over the Fair Park area. I couldn’t think of any major event it’d be in town for — no football game at the Cotton Bowl or golf tourney somewheres south. That mystery is now solved. But the other one lingers: Why were there old-looking, loud-flying military planes heading westward late last week and over the weekend? I assume there was some air show, but I couldn’t find an online reference for it. (Granted, I didn’t look very far.) Anyone know anything?

Five Hundred Horsepower Comes To Blum

The execs at Aston Martin acknowledge that, what with the slumping economy, showing up at work these days in a $265,000 sports car might not be the savviest PR move, especially if you’re the company CEO. But that didn’t keep a bunch of journalists from all over the country–including the Chicago Sun-Times‘ Dan Jedlicka (left), who’s literally written more newspaper auto reviews than anyone–from turning out in Dallas this weekend to test-drive the beautiful new Aston Martin DBS (a.k.a. the “James Bond car”) all over North and Central Texas. Jump for the details. (more…)

Car Design “Rock Star” Looking For Another Hit

The guy known as the “rock star of U.S. car designers” blew into town today to show the 2009 Dodge Ram pickup to journalists at, appropriately enough, the Dallas Center for Contemporary Art. Haitian-American Ralph Gilles, whose main claim to fame is designing the smash-hit Chrysler 300 sedan, oversaw a complete overhaul/upscaling of the new Ram, making it a formidable rival to Ford’s F-Series trucks. North Texas is the Ram’s No. 1 nationwide market, and local dealerships will get the new pickup starting this fall. The busy and gifted Gilles said he’s off Friday to Southern California, where 1,000 300 owners will gather in Irvine to celebrate what’s been called the “Everyman’s Bentley.”

Big, Mysterious Announcement out of DFW Airport Turns out to Be Nothing

I feel so used, so cheap. Yesterday, I put up a post about a supposed big deal out at the airport this morning. You know what the big announcement was? The Texas Ballet Theater will visit China this fall. I guess technically that’s an “international announcement.” But come on, guys.

Road Warrior

Nightlife Maven Kyle has had a rough start to her morning. (No, she’s not hungover … I don’t think.) She woke up to find a flat tire. Seems the pothole on Lemmon at Cole finally did her in. As Kyle describes it, the pothole is more of a torn-up patch of road that she’s hit three or four times in the past two weeks it’s been there. If you’re in the left lane, she says, it’s pretty much unavoidable.

She’s tracking down the phone number to report it to the city. But can’t she pass the bill for the new tire along to the city, too? Am I imagining that? If not, can she sue? Lawyers, speak out.

Andrew Litton’s Ride For Sale?

A plugged-in FrontBurnervian sends along this listing of a Porsche for sale and writes:

Finely tuned suspension. A crescendo of horsepower. Sweet red leather interior. I hear through the automotive grapevine that this Porsche for sale at University Park Audi once belonged to Andrew Litton. If you’re into that kind of thing.

Reminds me of the Rob & Big episode when Rob got dissed by the WSJ for his C-listness when it came to selling his suburban and ended up giving it away. That was a great episode, but then, every episode of that show is a great episode.

Update: A helpful FrontBurnervian writes:

A reliable source tells me that the car for sale mentioned in your post (before the blog crashed) is not Andrew Litton’s former vehicle. This has four-wheel drive (hence, Carrera 4); his did not (Carrera 2). Very similar otherwise, though.

Still, I think we can all agree Rob & Big is an awesome show.

This Cat’s Out of the Bag — ZING!

I can tell you there is very little chance I wouldn’t notice having a cat in my luggage. Especially if it was my cat, who poked a hole in my Adam’s apple last time I tried to get her into a pet carrier. Also, kudos to the airlineTSA. Really a lot of hustle, gang.

Road Construction: I’m Not Alone

Seems I’m not the only one who’s noticed. One FrontBurnervian reminds me that every street downtown (St. Paul, Akard, Ross, Commerce) is dotted with road crews. And another FrontBurnervian has an interesting theory:

Remember how Dist. 14 had some nice road repairs under the reign of Lord Mayor Kirk. Now see Dist. 13.

A Minor Observation Made Two Weeks Ago But Confirmed Every Day Since Then

Is every major thoroughfare in Dallas under some sort of construction? Or is it just the ones I’ve been driving on (i.e., Mockingbird, Preston, Hillcrest, Northwest Highway, etc.)? Discuss.

Traffic Update: Old Town Is Gridlocked

If you were thinking of popping on over to Old Town for a little Christmas shopping this afternoon, I suggest you wait a while. Like, maybe until February. The traffic light at Greenville Ave. and Lovers Ln. is out as a road crew does construction. Even when the light is fully functioning, that intersection is a bit of a mess. Today, it’s extra yucky. Consider yourself advised.

SMU’s Daily Campus Gives Us Props

An astute FrontBurnervian notes that SMU’s Daily Campus gave credit where credit was due: to us. This story notes that FrontBurner tracked the location of Gerald Ford’s private plane as it was headed northeast to gather Navy head coach Paul Johnson. Yay, us. And Thanks, Daily Campus. Johnson has not signed on as SMU’s new coach … yet.

FreedomPark Free to Continue Parking at D/FW

As a follow-up to yesterday’s post about D/FW’s valet parking restrictions, I pass along the following email from FreedomPark president Ken Kundmueller. In it, he says D/FW has retracted the decision to limit the company’s access to the one-hour parking area. So, um, congrats to those who made a stink about it.

(more…)

FreedomPark Not a Fan of D/FW Airport, and Vice Versa

A commuting friend of mine sent me a rather long email he received from Ken Kundmueller, president of FreedomPark, the valet parking service at D/FW Airport. Kundmueller says D/FW has restricted his company’s access to the one-hour parking area, which isn’t so good for business, because there have been four complaints about congestion. That alone wouldn’t be email-passing-along-worthy, not to mention blog-worthy. But Kundmueller adds that D/FW is going to allow a different company to do what FreedomPark did. The email reads in part,

In other words, FreedomPark is being moved out, after having successfully served D/FW for almost 7 years, and the airport’s California operator is moving in, under the pretext that there is too much congestion.

To read it in full, check out after the jump.

Update: The situation has been resolved.
(more…)

Travel Tidbits

Personally, I think I’ve got the whole “traveling during the holidays” thing down. I arrive at the airport extra early; I don’t pack anything that’s not clothes; and I prepare myself for no fewer than 17 moments of absolute frustration with humanity and/or the travel industry. But if you still have some questions, a couple of local outfits are here to help. D/FW Airport has Ask Jeff, with the airport’s CEO Jeff Fegan. That one starts … now. If you miss that, there’s The Window Seat blog at Travelocity, with updates from various high-trafficked airports and other stuff. Safe travels.

Phantom Tollbooth

Do not ask by whom the toll is paid. It is paid for by Maxwell House. At least, that’s what one Plano-living FrontBurnervian reports. He said the George Bush Tollway had one of those electrical construction signs, the kind that inform drivers of lane closings and the like. Yesterday he noted that the sign read, “Free tolls, 7am - 9am, brought to you by Maxwell House.” Smart.

Saucy Southwest Passenger Goes Playboy

Wow. I did not see this one coming. (That italic was for extra sarcasm.) Kyla Ebbert, the Hooters waitress whose outfit made a Southwest Airlines flight attendant blush and turned into a national story, has posed for Playboy online. (I bet the curious among you want a link to the pictures. But I’m also betting the curious among you are smart enough to figure out where to find ‘em.)

A Response to the Highland Park Cell Phone Ban

FrontBurner’s favorite new bon vivant/American hero has some dandy advice for the Highland Park town council. Kudos, good sir!

I Change Planes In Hell So That You Don’t Have To

I quarterback two sections of D Magazine: dining and travel. Most of my travel reports appear in the print version of FrontBurner because, by nature, they are not local stories, and FB real estate is dedicated to local snark attacks. The places I write about for travel are places I think you might like to go when you are sick of reading about or living and working in Dallas. Great job. I’m not complaining. About my job that is. However, there are three words I never want to hear again: Miami International Airport. Last night I “did it” for the last time. And last night wasn’t even close to my worst experience at the appropriately coded for its baggage handling capabilities, MIA. However, a huge chunk of my fortitude was sliced from my soul as I made my way through international customs and immigration. It would take a lot to get me to ever fly through or to MIA. In fact, it would take more than a miracle. Jump for it.

(more…)

Drunk Airline Passenger, Dressing on the Side

Star-Telegram reporter Melissa Vargas knows that less is more. For instance, one might be tempted to write 2,000 words about the American Eagle passenger who was arrested before boarding a flight at D/FW on suspicion of public intoxication. For instance, I’d probably go on and on for 500 words at least regarding the man’s missing shoe — and the fact that he didn’t know it was missing. Similarly, I think much could be made of the police report’s description of his speech being of “a thick-tongued manner.” And, of course, the fact that he was covered in salad dressing is gold. Vargas, on the other hand, restrains herself admirably. Check it out.

An Open Letter to the Painting or Construction Crew Who Came Up One Drum of Plaster Short on Friday’s Job

I think I know where you lost it. As my wife and I headed to Austin on Friday afternoon, we hit a traffic jam just south of downtown, on the onramp for 35. People were swerving to avoid an empty canister of plaster. I know it was empty because there was a puddle of the stuff spread across both lanes. If you need the plaster back, you can find a whole mess of it on the side of my car. Might be a little tough to scrape off, though. Sorry.

Downtown Dallas Bomb Threat

A downtown-working FrontBurnervian sends along an alert she received that a man made a bomb threat on a DART bus. Police have arrested the man. Here’s the latest email alert from the authorities:

Dallas Police Department has closed Elm Street between Ervay and Field, and Akard between Federal and Main Street due to the critical incident at 1500 Elm Street. DPD Bomb Squad is currently on the scene assessing the situation and inspecting the possible explosive device. The device is too small to cause any significant structural damage to nearby buildings. All pedestrians and vehicles should avoid this area. All tenants and residents need to move away from any windows facing Elm Street between Field and Ervay.

The FrontBurnervian also says she can see smoke coming from the Trinity River — “On the levee. Near…Fuel City it seems. Not huge. But still a ton of smoke. Helicopters everywhere all over downtown.”

Inside the Stars/Rangers Plane

If you were wondering which team’s PR department would win the race of “Let’s Get Pictures to Adam,” it was the Dallas Stars. (Then again, if you picked Texas Rangers, a team officially on vacation, you don’t have your thinking cap on tightly.) An editor at the DMN says there’ll be a fancy Flash peek at the innards of the 757. Until then, check out the pics after the jump.

(more…)

Tom Hicks and Wife Pimp Out Stars/Rangers Ride

The teams got a travel upgrade today, with a Boeing 757 designed by Tom Hicks and his wife. That’s what it says here. But I’m going to assume that the Hickseses designed the interior. The structural and engineering design of a 757 seems pretty entrenched. It’d be odd if someone said, “Can’t we just put one wing … here … in the middle? It looks better that way.” If a Stars or Rangers PR person is out there, I’d love a picture or two of the thing, as that’s as close as I’ll ever come to seeing it. Hint, hint.

Big D is Big Indeed

Last night I dorked out civics style at the first night of “Metromorphosis,” a three-part symposium hosted by the Greater Dallas Planning Council. After a gratis glass of wine and a long-fingered handshake from Mayor Leppert, here are some things I learned about our fair city …

(more…)

Play With Water, Get Wet

For a couple of months now, the driver’s side window on my car has been broken. Not smashed. Broken as in a couple of months ago, my wife borrowed my car and upon return noted that she had rolled the window down and it wouldn’t roll all the way back up again. It sounds like I’m blaming my wife. I’m not (anymore). I’m blaming Volkswagen, as this is the … let’s see … right … sixth time this has happened. It’s open about three or four inches, which isn’t that big of a deal, so I’ve been waiting to get the window fixed again. Is it because I’m lazy or cheap? Yes.

Anyway, my lack of attention caught up with me big time this morning, around 5:45, when I had to run outside to drape trash bags over the window. Classy. It blew back on me even more on the drive in — quite literally. So … to anyone I might have cut off on the way to work, I’ll just say this: I’m sorry. But you try driving with a beach towel covering your window. All this is the long way of saying: I’m glad the drought is over. But stop it already.

Re: Curious Convoys

A couple of industrious FrontBurnervians suggest a support Glenn’s darn good theory:

Those are probably blades for wind turbines, huge farms of which are sprouting up across the Panhandle. I’ve seen similar convoys in the Hill Country.

He sends along helpful pictures, too.

Curious Convoy

A road-trippin’ FrontBurnervian has a question and wants an answer:

I’ve been lucky enough to drive to Houston 4 times over the last 6 weeks. On all 4 trips, I’ve passed flat-bed trucks heading north on 45 carrying long, white, metal objects that I can best describe as looking like airplane wings. Does anyone know what I’m seeing?

Anyone have any ideas?

Field Report: Traffic Lights Are Important

Just a heads-up to anyone who is uncertain or unaware: The intersection of Central Expressway’s frontage roads and Mockingbird Lane is just a wee bit busy. Always. Which makes the traffic lights there all the more important, what with their magical traffic management capabilities. But I just sat in traffic for much longer than anticipated at that very spot. For the second time in the past month, the lights are out — blinking red, making them no better than stop signs and causing huge delays. Who knows why. Maybe it’s the construction of the Mockingbird Station expansion. Maybe it’s a conspiracy to get people to use DART. Can’t TxDot install new lights that are more reliable? Oh. Maybe not.

Mark Cuban Has What the Kids Call “Mad Hops”

(Again, thanks to The Sports Hernia.)

FrontBurner Pwns TxDOT

A car-drivin’ FrontBurnervian gives us credit where credit is certainly due:

In July, you posted about TxDOT’s frustrating Central/Live Oak lane closure. You pointed out the closure was scheduled to last until June 2009. Your hard-hitting post shamed TxDOT into relenting and re-striping the highway Sunday night. (Sneaky highway guys. Cover of darkness and all that.) TxDOT’s big stand on “its the law and its for safety and we couldn’t fix it even if we wanted to” melted into “never mind” in the glare of FB’s spotlight. Well done!

SWA’s Policy Has Me Confused

A traveling FrontBurnervian takes me to task:

Adam… what on EARTH are you talking about?

First of all, everybody who checks in online now gets a number on their boarding pass along with their A, B or C. It’s in the bottom left corner, under the letter. It’s just not used to segregate you within a letter group. Now it will be.

Secondly, why will everyone check in online now when they did not before? They won’t. Thirdly, you stand in groups of 5 within your assigned letter — no screens. If you have an A, and don’t want to stand, then don’t. All they are doing is putting up “poles” so you know which A-B-C subgroup to stand in. If you want to stand. Since I always get A, I shall still sit till the end of A — I still get a choice of 2/3 of the plane. And now, B and C don’t have to stand in line for an hour either just to get up front.

Never mind, then. Makes perfect sense. Forget I brought it up.

About That Newfangled Boarding Policy

A commuting FrontBurnervian provides a first-hand account of what it was like to experience (and endure) Southwest Airlines’ new boarding procedure:

I dealt with this new “easier” system in San Antonio a couple of weekends ago and it was pandemonium. Everyone was trying to figure out where their 5 number group was supposed to stand in each section — everyone was wide-eyed and dazed and the woman in front of me was extremely cranky that I kept trying to “cut in line” even though my number was supposed to be a group ahead of hers. I think they are trying to mask the “cattle call” aspect of your average SWA flight by putting us all through a Chinese fire drill for the last 15-20 minutes before the flight… IJS.

SWA to Travelers: Wait Your Turn

Southwest Airlines has a new way to get on their planes. According to this tutorial, the airline is rolling the plan out in San Antonio first, other airports to follow. As near as I can tell, the new system just makes the secret of the old system less secret. That is, if you’re accustomed to getting a jump on the traffic by checking in online the night before a flight, consider your jump null and void. Now, everyone checks in online, gets their assigned group and number, then hangs out at the airport until the corresponding group and number shows up on TV screens at the gate.

Re: Mass Transit and DART

Rod might have left us for the Southern Poverty Law Center, but he’s still reading the blog. He saw my post about his 1991 DART story and returns fire:

D hardly got the DART story “wrong,” as you snark in your post, back in 1991. Perhaps my attack on DART’s light rail plans as a bureaucracy-driven boondoggle that ill-served the majority of the city and the suburbs, and that shifted resources from a far more sensible and flexible expansion of bus routes, is not how you, in your wisdom, see the issue. But “wrong” is just not right, as it implies accuracy rather than evaluation.

I would suggest that FBvians read the linked piece and decide for themselves. Some of the numbers have changed over the years but DART light rail still loses far more money than it ever contributes to the social good (beware DART’s own PR). Meanwhile DART’s bus system, the one true (though less sexy) possibility for making mass transit mesh with the actual, not theoretical, geography of expansion, remains underfunded and underutilized. No accident there.

As I said in the piece, everyone is “for” mass transit. The questions are how best to make it serve the needs of the people, not highly paid executives, developers, and heavy equipment salespeople.

Good lord, I sound like Schutze. Now that is “wrong.”

You still have to admit, Rod: that headline was horrible.

Re: Mass Transit and DART

Trey, I have to side with Adam on this. Public transit is supposed to be subsidized. The ROI from our tax money comes in the form of cleaner air, a more livable city, and economic development (see Mockingbird Station). And DART is doing very well, thank you. If you haven’t, read Joe Bob Briggs’ story “Get on the Bus” (August 2006). (But don’t read Rod’s 1991 story “DART Doesn’t Rule, OK?!” We got it wrong back then. And it might be the worst headline we’ve ever run, too.) One more thing: DART recently got a boatload of cash from the federal government for its project to connect to Love Field. My understanding is that you don’t win those grants unless and until Uncle Sam has taken a very hard look at your bottom line and figured out just what sort of operation you’re running.

Bottom line, Trey? DART works. Thanks for asking.

For-Profit Mass Transportation Is Called “Cabs”

I don’t think the environment is a part of this one, Trey. Seems the lack of enthusiasm for mass transit in Arlington, at least according to that story, is class-based. And as for mass transit not being a charitable endeavor, if Warren Norred — “the president of Norred Sales and Engineering in Arlington, who helped spearhead the campaign that defeated the most recent bus system at the polls in 2002″ — said it, it must be true.

NTTA: I Look Forward to Contesting Your Ticket

Okay, I know I should get a Toll Tag. I will soon. Promise. But until then, I prefer to pay tolls the old-fashioned way. It helps me get rid of loose change. But so anyway, I was driving southbound on the Dallas North Parkway, exiting at Mockingbird Ln., having picked Tim up from dropping his car off for maintenance. Coincidentally, as I was exiting and finding 60 cents, Tim was explaining the virtues of a Toll Tag to me, as if I didn’t know. But as I pulled up to half-hook my quarters and dime into the basket, I saw the light was green. “Thank you,” it read. So I proceeded without paying. “Maybe it’s free today,” I told Tim. “Or maybe the person in front paid for you,” he suggested. As I pulled away, I spied in my rear-view mirror an NTTA employee looking at my license plate and entering something into an electronic doodad. I can only assume she was logging my info for purposes of collecting my 60 cents or, worse, a larger fine.

Really? Is that how NTTA works? You bait drivers into thinking they don’t need to pay a toll, then nab ‘em, 60 cents (or more) at a time? Isn’t that entrapment? I don’t know for sure, but Tim and I decided it definitely isn’t cricket.

DFW Shares Love, Surplus With Airlines

Dallas-Fort Worth International is giving airlines $23 million, thanks to a budget surplus. Well done. The airport is also giving its workers’ pensions and benefits programs $13 million. (Not per worker, mind you.) Nice. Now can we go back to free parking if you’re at the airport between 8 and 30 minutes?

Did Anyone Else Feel A Raindrop?

If you haven’t started your commute yet, you may want to plan on taking, oh, an extra hour to get to where you’re going. I can’t speak for the rest of Dallas, but the east side had minor flooding at just about every intersection. I’d like to give a personal shout out to the eastbound traffic on Mockingbird near Williams: Thank you for letting us westbounders borrow one of your lanes. We know we were going to wrong way, but it was all we could do.

Provocative Passenger Got Blurry

Another Today-show-watching FrontBurnervian confirms reports of Kyla Ebbert’s blurred-out nether regions. I wouldn’t make such a deal of it, except it is kind of the whole point of the story.

I was watching this morning on the Today Show—and they did blur it out on the broadcast that we saw locally. Maybe KXAS did it? I thought it was a hilarious that just as they were trying to make the point that it wasn’t too provocative to fly, that the censors (that’s who I assume made the decision) had it blurred. Southwest should definitely use it for what I’m sure will be a lawsuit against them for character defamation. And as for her claim that the complaint couldn’t have been that someone got a eyeful up her skirt because she “kept her legs crossed”…well she must be extremely short, because at 5’2” I’ve never been able to easily cross my legs while on a Southwest plane…I feel lucky that my legs fit in the row. I kept waiting for Matt to ask what she was wearing underneath that skirt at the time, but he didn’t. Chicken.

Provocative Passenger Revealed

Kyla Ebbert was on the Today show this morning to talk about her skimpy-outfit experience on Southwest Airlines. An eagle-eyed FrontBurnervian writes:

Did you see Kyla Ebbert on the Today show this morning? She was wearing the same outfit that she wore on the plane. Matt built up to the big reveal of her outfit as the camera panned out when she stood up. The response was along the lines of “yeah, it’s sexy but it’s no big deal.” Then they had to blur out her crotch as she sat down. Point proven?

Hmm. Maybe not so eagle-eyed. I’ve watched the video of the segment, and I didn’t see any blur. See?

About SWA’s Provocative Passenger

As many dear FrontBurnervians pointed out, the irony of Southwest Airlines finger-wagging at the attire of a passenger is rich indeed. This airline, after all, got off the ground thanks to hot pants (among other things). Remember? Herb would be rolling in his grave, were he not still alive. Also, an admonishing FrontBurnervian took me to task for not posting the MySpace pictures of Kyla Ebbert, the damsel in question. Very well then: here’s one and here’s another.

Southwest Airlines Takes the Fun Out of Flying

Kyla Ebbert, a 23-year-old student and Hooters waitress in Arizona, was on a Southwest Airlines flight to Tuscon. But then she was asked to go home and change her outfit. Ebbert refused and was eventually allowed to fly, but not before being humiliated, she says. And now SWA has sent a letter to her mom explaining their dress code. The story about the incident includes a picture of Ebbert. She looks fine to me.