Articles for June, 2007
iKNOX
Just drove past the Apple store on Knox Street and saw the line stretched along the side of the building, waiting for the big unveiling for the iPhone. At 6 p.m. tonight, according to the sign on the store. The line didn’t look any longer than when I passed it at 8 a.m. this morning though. There’s a lot of people eager to spend $600 on those devices. Me, I haven’t been willing to pay $50 a month to get a regular old cell phone. So I can wait.
WORD FROM THE CHIEF
UP Police Chief, Gary Adams (I love the Chief) sent the following feedback on today’s Bulletin from the Bubble:
Read you article in the paper and wanted to respond to your concerns about sex offenders. Just so you will know, if a person has been convicted of an offense which places them in the category of be a sex offender, they a prohibited from going near the swimming pool, as it is a place where children gather. The University Park Police Department would remove them and contact their parole or probation officer, or file charges ourselves. This of course does cover child predators that haven’t been caught and convicted. I will talk with the Parks Director to see if we can tighten up on our security, as I agree that it is lacking.
Thanks for bringing this to my attention. As your police chief, I couldn’t even get in the pool when I first came here because I didn’t live in UP.
Though the offenders shouldn’t go get a pass and frolic at the pool, currently they can do it. Nothing is stopping them. I’m sure many agree that today’s system is flimsy at best.
GLOBAL BASKETBALL AT SMU
Young basketballers from China, Puerto Rico, Argentina, Senegal, and the USA will descend on Moody Coliseum beginning this Sunday at the week-long Global Games tournament.
The press release says that 6 foot, 11 inch Yi Jianlian of China is expected to play. But he was drafted last night by the Milwaukee Bucks as the No. 6 pick in the NBA draft. Won’t he be too busy rolling in a pile of money from his newfound fortune?
BULLETIN FROM THE BUBBLE CAUSES BUZZ
This weeks Bulletin from the Bubble discussing the crackdown on access to the UP pool is generating quite a bit of buzz.
Thank you for standing up for UP nannies. Our nanny has taken our kids to the pool many times this summer and, as far as I know, has yet to be “carded.” What are we trying to become, anyway? Farmers Branch?
Not all have been so supportive:
Your letter sounds very whiny to me.
Further, to deny someone the use of the restrooms seems heartless.“Little Missy” …… “It’s not a highway rest stop. “ Get a gripSuggesting the individual might be a sex offender sounds like someone grasping at straws, just because of your nanny problemOur elite pool. Really!!!
RE: SAY IT AIN’T SO
FrontBurner is reporting that it is, in fact, not so. What a relief.
RE: SAY IT AIN’T SO
I hope it’s not true. I work for a bank (Bank of Texas, formerly known as First National Bank of Park Cities) and one thing I know for sure is that we don’t need another bank in the Park Cities!
SAY IT AIN’T SO
Someone tell me this mean, vicious rumor isn’t true. I hope it’s a joke.
WHAT’S IN A NAME
OK all you parents of Madisons, Jacksons, Avas, Jadons, Reeces, Hannahs, Yales, Cashs, Mackinzies, etc., this article is for you.
“We live in a marketing-oriented society,” says Bruce Lansky, a former advertising executive and author of eight books on baby names, including “100,000 + Baby Names.” “People who understand branding know that when you pick the right name, you’re giving your child a head start.”
“Names have become a matter of fashion and taste,” says Harvard sociologist Stanley Lieberson.
MOVIE NIGHT!
If it stops raining, these should be really fun. Bring a blanket, snacks, kids, a date, whatev, & watch the movies on the big, big screen. Who you gonna call?
Victory Park Theater
Every Tuesday starting at 7:30pm
Event is complimentary.
July 3 Ghostbusters
July 10 Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
July 17 E.T.
July 24 Raiders of the Lost Ark
July 31 Wizard of Oz
MORE SEXUAL FRENZY
This time via our buttoned-up girls at D Home. A couple of them were flipping through an issue of a local mag (not the same local mag mentioned here, btw) and found that the editors of said pub are simply sex-crazed. So they’ve put together a little sex quiz for all you non-editor types out there. Can you match the XXX adjective to the benign subject the editors were describing? Go ahead, you know you want to. Descriptors seen in the mag left off this particular quiz: “revealing your inner dominatrix;” “FOOD PORN!” “Naked silence” (what does that sound like?); pull quote from a feature: “She’s the kind of woman guys want to sleep with no matter how old she is; “and “a his or her walk of shame kit: thong, lipstick, and tank top included” (since when are walks of shame promoted?)
RON HALL’S ORGANIC PEST REPELLANT
I ran into Ron Hall at the Dallas Arboretum yesterday and he told me his wife had come up with an organic pest repellant for your backyard, $15 a bag. Interested? Learn more here.
SMU’S DIGITAL ARCHIVES: A SHORT GUIDE TO IRAQ
Radar Online dug up this gem: A Short Guide To Iraq, a pamphlet issued to GI’s on Rat Patrol duty during World War II, helping the Brits protect oil fields and supply lines to the Russians. The White House might have learned some valuable lessons, like don’t touch the Iraqis, or look at their women. On the following pages, highlights from the War Department’s guidebook, discovered in Southern Methodist University’s digital archive.
RE: BANDITO’S PROS AND CONS
As for the restroom situation, an Overheardian who clearly under estimates me offers this:
I think I can explain the “unisex” v. “men” bathroom conundrum. As the comedian Rita Rudner once explained, men aren’t very “specific” when it comes to their bathroom practices. Thus, the invention of the urinal, which is really just a modification of the wall itself.
Sorry to be so graphic so early in the day, but I thought it needed to be said. So, don’t take it as a slight, take it in the spirit of consideration in which Banditos undoubtedly offered it.
Oh, no…I checked it out. I had to know. I went in there. It’s a regular toilet!
BANDITO’S PROS AND CONS
My husband and I took the whole fam out to Bandito’s last night for the official “soft opening.”
Pros:
RE: “SEXUAL FRENZY”
A legal-minded Overheardian writes:
Mm… maybe the “birds and the birds” and the “bees and the bees.” Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
“SEXUAL FRENZY” IN THE ART WORLD?
Just received a release about the Kenny Goss and George Michael “sexually charged $200 million art collection” — it’s said to be “extensive, sexually provocative” and should be open to the public in Dallas before you know it. There are five references to sex in the first two paragraphs of the press release. I’m thinking it will be pretty — uh — sexy.
Could be a good way to teach your kids about the birds and the bees, right Merritt?
HOMEOWNERS SPLIT THE DIFFERENCE
Here’s another note from this week’s HP Town Council meeting, reported by staff writer Cassie Clark:
Highland Park residents Thomas McCullough and Ray Washburne recently purchased the property at 3805 Gillon Ave., which is between their two residences. The council approved a request to amend a zoning ordinance to combine 3805 Gillon Avenue into their respective properties.
Is this common practice? I’d heard of folks buying the lot next door to double their space, but neighbors coming together to give each other a little more wiggle room?
THE BFSB SYNDROME
I knew that last week’s Bulletin from the Bubble, The BFSB Syndrome, would bring quite a bit of response but I am shocked by the number of readers that are also baffled by the hold back rate in HPSID. Here is a recent comment by an informed Overheardian:
In the article attached they point out that across the US, 9% of kindergarteners are held back. In my middle son’s Hyer class, over 50% of the boys were held back! My son is a winter birthday, and almost the youngest in his class. How can the parents explain their son was not ready for first grade, but should be eligible for TAG??? I think the principals and teachers need to take a stand. What an honor it would be to achieve greatness in academics and sports and be the right age for our grade….
Thanks for bringing the issue up front.
FOURTH FORTHCOMING
One week until the biggest community party of the year:
The Park Cities July 4 Parade and Picnic sponsored by the Rotary Club of Park Cities will start at 9 a.m. on Euclid Avenue. Parade line-up starts at 7:30 at Highland Park Town Hall. The parade will travel up Preston Road and on University Boulevard and will end at Goar Park in University Park. Booths featuring local businesses, food, and fun will we be at Goar Park. For more information, visit www.uptx.org and click on “Resident Center,” or call the Rotary Club July 4 hotline at 972-980-0898.
The Park Cities People staff will be out that day in full force. We’ve gotten ourselves a boat for the parade, and I have it on good authority that our tent for the picnic at Goar Park is the place to be that morning.
QUITE THE SCHEDULER
I got an e-mail from a Park Cities friend/ acquaintance. She was commenting on my column last week, we e-mailed back and forth and she said, let’s have coffee soon. I responded, “great, just say when.” I got this back:
Is the week of August 27th good for you?
Sorry, I’m booked that week.
NEARLY NUDES, HOT DUDES
I’m writing a story about Dining By Design — quite the extravaganza, let me tell you. I had a great time at the gala, but there are a few elements those of you who missed the event won’t find in the print version of Overheard.
Tanned, shirtless muscle boys in tight white unbuttoned jeans (more…)
CRIMINAL ACTS AT HILLCREST AND MILTON
This Overheardian is sick of the parking crimes that cause a headache for law abiding citizens:
As you know the intersection of Milton/Hillcrest can be challenging for those on foot. It is compounded if you are in a stroller, wheelchair or of “unsteady foot.”
We all know there is a parking issue in Snider Plaza, but I have to call attention (anonymously) to the folks that continue to abuse the law for their benefit and create potentially dangerous situations for others.
A gentleman with TX plates R26-FRY parked in the NO PARKING zone outside of Village Cleaners, blocking the pedestrian ramp and prohibiting southbound cars on Hillcrest from safely turning into Snider. The safety issues comes more into play when pedestrians are present as there is no where for them to safely move to.
Of course, I forgot to get the plate of the mom who left her poodle in her brand new Escalade while it was running and she went in for 5 minutes to get coffee at Starbucks. Never mind that there was an infant and a toddler in the back seat….
RE: ANIMATE OBJECTS ONLY
Does that include Barbie Jeeps? Thank goodness I live in UP. They’re much more tolerant.
ANIMATE OBJECTS ONLY
I’m told that the Highland Park Town Council moved last night to ban “inanimate objects” from blocking sidewalks. The proposal is apparently aimed at construction companies who leave their equipment sitting in the way. But it made me wonder about other consequences, like this complaint about Merritt’s car in UP.