July 2, 2009
Bursting The Bubble Will be Live From Goar Park on The 4th
If you have ever wanted to see Charles and Merrit — the voices behind Bursting The Bubble — live and in living color then head by the People Newspapers tent this 4th of July in Goar Park. They’ll be signing autographs and recording their weekly podcast. Who knows, you may even get to be a guest on the show.
El Niño is Coming
And by that I don’t mean a certain atmospheric phenomenon, or even the little boy in Spanish, but rather undefeated heavyweight boxer David “El Niño” Rodriguez, who has agreed to help with a live auction item Aug. 28 at the big KidneyTexas luncheon. Rodriguez is a friend of my old coworker Molly Nolan — she’s this year’s KidneyTexas co-chair — and I hear he’ll even hit the runway as part of the luncheon’s fashion show. Makes sense, seeing as this year’s boxing-inspired theme is Knockout: the fight to eradicate kidney disease.
Here’s a photo of Rodriguez — lifted from a montage — for scientific reference:
Anyway, the winning bidder will enjoy (with your celebrity guest, I gather) a three-course, wine-paired dinner for 10 at the Mansion’s wine cellar, two hours of event photography by Jeremy Brown, a complimentary suite and breakfast for two (probably not with your celebrity guest), and something billed as an exclusive “Louis XIII Moment” from Louis XIII Cognac, with a special glass for each person. Fun!
University Park’s Human Cube Runner
My son said the park at Lovers and Hillcrest across from the fountains looks like human Cube Runner.
Good point. From now on, let’s refer to it as Cube Runner Park. Anyone have a problem with that?
Our New Look
So, Park Cities People readers, do you notice anything different about the paper that hit your lawn this afternoon?
This Sunday, Denny’s Will Rock
I just relieved a press release that says members of five rock bands will be hanging out late Sunday night at Denny’s — specifically the one on Central between Knox and Fitzhugh — after they perform at Superpages.com Center as part of the Vans Warped Tour.
This press release makes me feel old for two reasons:
1. When I was in high school, my buddies and I use to cut class at that Denny’s all the time. But that was [shudder] 17 years ago.
2. I’ve never heard of any of these bands: A Skylit Drive, Hit The Lights, Dance Gavin Dance, InnerPartySystem, and Therefore I Am.
Kershaw Heating Up For Dodgers
Former Scot and current Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw is settling into a groove. The lefty had a brilliant outing again on Wednesday in the rubber game of a three-game series against the Colorado Rockies.
Kershaw got a no-decision, but he threw five innings of shutout ball and allowed just one hit to go along with five strikeouts and five walks. The bullpen also did its job, allowing no runs and just two more hits in a 1-0 victory for the Dodgers. Los Angeles, which owns the best record in baseball, is now 50-29.
Kershaw’s next scheduled start is on Wednesday against the Mets in New York City.
Highland Park’s Lone Star Cup Reign Ends
Highland Park finished third in the race for the Lone Star Cup this year, ending a streak of six straight first-place finishes. The University Interscholastic League released the Lone Star Cup results from the 2008-09 school year today.
HP has won the award, which recognizes five high schools (one in each of the five UIL classifications) based on their overall team achievement in a variety of sanctioned athletic and academic championships, nine times in the 12-year history of the award.
Friendswood won the 4A division with 92 points for its first Lone Star Cup, edging out Waco Midway by two points. Highland Park tallied 84 points. Rounding out the top 10 were: Boerne Champion (80 points), Austin Lake Travis and Canyon Randall (78 points), Brenham (68 points), Mesquite Poteet (62 points), Magnolia (60 points), and Dripping Springs and Richardson Pearce (58 points).
Found My New Sport
I like trying new things. But I somehow doubt I could actually compete in the first ever Women’s Championship Tournament Qualifier. However. Maybe I could go watch? It’s being held at the Prestonwood Polo and Country Club Oct. 3. It’s hosted by HP family Vaughn and Dena Miller.
The WCT Polo Gala and kick off is Oct. 1 at the Prestonwood Country Club, Preston and Arapaho, 7 p.m. Tickets are $75.
For more info, go to wctpolo.com or pr@prestonwoodpolo.com.
No Athletic Shorts or Cleavage Allowed At HPHS
A concerned Overheardian and HPHS parent forwarded this updated dress code sent out yesterday via e-mail that by his or her estimation is now exactly the same as the dress code at HPMS. Being a former high school male teen myself (Go Dragons!), I can definitely understand the need to “prevent disruptions” caused by tank tops, spaghetti straps, halter tops, bare midriffs, and garments that expose cleavage.
But to lump running/athletic shorts into that category is a bit extreme. I guess they are going to make exceptions for kids participating in athletics classes.
Jump for the full list of forbidden fashions at HPHS. Continue reading…
Did Someone Lose Their Heads?
As I turned right on Beverly from Preston yesterday, I really regretted the fact that my old-school cell phone does not have camera technology.
Stopped at the westbound light on Beverly was a pickup truck that had no less than three big-game animal heads in the bed. It’s one thing to see such trophies mounted on a wall. It’s another to see them piled up on each other in a pickup.
It was a sight both awe-inspiring and disturbing. I’ll be scanning the police reports for an explanation.
Fill in The Bubble (7/2/09)
Most women in the Park Cities do __________ for a living.
July 1, 2009
Highland Park Village Sad to See D. Porthault Go
You may have read the news here or here that D. Porthault would possibly be relocating within Highland Park Village or moving out altogether. Apparently, they decided on the latter. Here’s the official response from Highland Park Village on the matter:
Word of D. Porthault’s impending departure following its 5 years in residence at Highland Park Village evoked bittersweet emotions with new ownership of the center. “While we are disappointed at the decision made by D. Porthault not to renew their lease, we view it as an opportunity to further enhance our mix of high-end luxury retailers and are in discussions with a couple of prospects for the space,” says Stephen Summers, Partner and Director of Leasing for HP Village Partners, Ltd. Other upscale retailers in Highland Park Village continue to show increases over last year’s sales despite the challenging economy.
Parkie Dogs on Facebook. Are You Freaking Kidding?
Did I really just get a Facebook friend request from the DOG of a Park Cities resident? Yes. I. Did.
Lost in Lost. Nothing Else Matters Until I Can Make Sense of the Island.
I’m a late night reader. But last Friday I tossed chick lit and vampires out the window for a special stay-up-until-2:00-in-the-morning T.V. project. Everyone talks about the show Lost but I’d never watched a single episode, I didn’t even know what it was about. But the hype, the buzz- it was killing me. So I rented the first season disc 1 “just to get an idea” of what people were going on about.
I’m. So. Hooked. I’ve started season 2 and I’m thinking of digging a basement/hatch in my house just like the one on the island.
Help me. Help. Me. I live for 10:00 when I can get back to the underground discovery. Please. Tell me this will end and that I’ll grow tired of it.
HP Village to Get Greener
Highland Park Village spokeswoman Hillary Artzt sends words that the prestigious shopping center will be adding more trees over the next several weeks, in addition to new benches and tile artwork.
‘Running of The Bulls’ fiesta
So apparently Café Madrid owner Donica Jiminez has just returned from a trip to Spain, and is now gearing up for the restaurant’s “Running of the Bulls” party next Saturday (July 11). Now in its 20th year, the free event commemorates Pamplona’s annual tradition, and includes tapas local to the area, drink specials, live flamenco dancers and people dressed as bulls.
The Tree Trunk of Unknown Origin
An Overheardian wants to know if this Park Cities home had a tree go down in a storm or if they just have a radical landscaper.
Fill in The Bubble (7/1/09)
_________ was the greatest HPHS sports team in the history of the school.
June 30, 2009
Drink to This
Pretty cute. The Ritz-Carlton has a new gin drink called the “Trinity River Project” — really — and it’s available at the Rattlesnake Bar.
Anyone had one yet? I’m told it tastes fairly sweet.
Dallas Morning News Lags Behind
As part of DallasNews.com’s apparent intention to transform from a news source to a news aggregator (Motto: “If you can’t beat Google, join it!”), they recently began a host of community “blogs,” maintained sporadically by individual reporters.
Lori Stahl hammers away for Belo on the Park Cities beat. Setting aside my belief that a useful news blog should be updated more often than every few days, Lori sure knows how to repurpose content with the best of them. If you look back over her work, you’ll see that she’s turned to People Newspapers for news and information on many occasions.
But she also sometimes continues the longstanding DMN practice of ignoring the fact that they’ve been beaten by a community newspaper on a story and presenting it as breaking news of their own. Like today. You could have read about the end of class ranking at HPHS in our paper five days ago or on this blog a week ago.
The Gift That Keeps On Giving
I’d like to respond to the following comment concerning the podcast and Charles and his chick bag.
Chick-schmick! Who cares about the bag? I want to hear about that high-tech recording set up! Are you using a box of Harry & David pears as a sound baffle? And are those whiffle balls on the mikes?
Those are indeed Harry and David sound boards. We benefit from Geilich’s fruit of the month, a Christmas gift from his ex-husband. Whiffle balls? No. We’re way to tech-ish for that.
University Park Changes Fried Chicken Traffic Flow
You can’t turn west on Rosedale from Hillcrest anymore. You think this is all about the Bubba’s drive thru?
UPDATE: From ace Park Cities reporter Sarah Scott
When the Snider Plaza Master Plan was being discussed a couple of years ago, one of the ideas tossed around involved making certain streets one-way to lessen traffic jams. A consultant told the council that sets of one-way streets would work best in Snider Plaza, and after some debate, the city decided in March to make traffic one-way eastbound on Rosedale from Snider Plaza to Airline and one-way westbound from Snider Plaza to Dickens. The city’s going to re-evaluate the change after a six-month trial.
Kershaw Coming Off Fantastic Outing
Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher and Highland Park alum Clayton Kershaw had one of his biggest outings as a major leaguer on Sunday by helping the Dodgers take a 5-3 victory over the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.
Kershaw (5-5, 3.70 ERA) will try to build on the success of that outing when he takes the hill again against the Colorado Rockies on Wednesday afternoon at Dodger Stadium.
The Bizarro Highland Park
From time to time we have shared news from other Highland Parks across the country. Most recently we discussed the sale of the Ferris Bueller home.
But I had always assumed that the Highland Park ISD held that title exclusively within the state of Texas. So imagine my surprise when I received a press release today saying that the superintendent of Highland Park ISD was nominated to be named the Texas school superintendent of the year. Only the name of this Highland Park ISD superintendent is Bill Mayfield. Had Dawson Orr been unceremoniously thrown out of office?
Nope. There’s another Highland Park ISD in Texas. Just east of Amarillo. How can two districts have the same name? Would the state allow two cities to incorporate with the same name? I think this is a situation worth monitoring more carefully.
UPDATE: Oh my goodness. There’s also a bizarro Highland Park Village.
Charles is a Little Peeved
Why is Charles upset? Well, you’ll just have to listen to this week’s edition of Bursting The Bubble to find out.
Here are a few things to listen for as well:
- Who wants to live near a cemetery?
- Charles doesn’t believe in poltergeists or vampires.
- Merritt thinks Charles drives a chick car.
- People texting at stop signs is becoming a problem in the Park Cities.