Back Talk Lakewood/East Dallas

Your Friday Productivity Killer

It's a busy Friday — early voting, last minute Halloween-costume shopping, etc. — so I wanted to bring you all something you could enjoy quickly. I chanced upon this site a few years ago, and have never been able to get it out of my head. It's Buenoa Aires resident Diego Goldberg's photographic chronicle of his family's growth over 32 years. Whenever I go back to it, I find myself inventing little stories to, say, explain why Nicolas had such a short haircut in 1987 (gum incident?) or why, despite the rest of his family's near-constant sober stares, Matias, the middle son, often can't seem to get the smile out of his eyes. The accompanying video by ABC News is short and cute.

It's fascinating, isn't it, to see a family evolve before your very eyes? 

Lakewood-area rape

Police have alerted neighbors to be vigilant, to "check their windows and make sure they are secure, and be sure to report any and all suspicious persons to 911" after a woman was raped and robbed inside her Penrose Avenue home. It happened about a week ago, but apparently police are still looking for the rapist. More from DMN's Steve Thompson here.

Losing our religion: Faith on Tap

Rev. Brent Barry received an e-mail from a friend recently. In the midst of the message, the friend referred to Barry’s latest ministry, Faith on Tap, which takes place monthly at neighborhood bar Bailey’s First & 10. The friend said: “I would think you would want to be above reproach.”

Barry sighs. “It was one of those days,” he says, explaining that he couldn’t help retorting: “As soon as Jesus gets out of the bar, I’ll leave, too.”

Rev. Brent Barry received an e-mail from a friend recently. In the midst of the message, the friend referred to Barry’s latest ministry, Faith on Tap, which takes place monthly at neighborhood bar Bailey’s First & 10. The friend said: “I would think you would want to be above reproach.”

Barry sighs. “It was one of those days,” he says, explaining that he couldn’t help retorting: “As soon as Jesus gets out of the bar, I’ll leave, too.”

Rev. Brent Barry received an e-mail from a friend recently. In the midst of the message, the friend referred to Barry’s latest ministry, Faith on Tap, which takes place monthly at neighborhood bar Bailey’s First & 10. The friend said: “I would think you would want to be above reproach.”

Barry sighs. “It was one of those days,” he says, explaining that he couldn’t help retorting: “As soon as Jesus gets out of the bar, I’ll leave, too.”

Lovers Lane retail project about to get underway

We've written about some of the new development at Lovers and Matilda before (click here and here), but the Dallas Business Journal says among the new tenants at one of the sites will be a Comerica Bank, Sport Clips, Avon Nail, Lakeside Cleaners, Potbelly Sandwich Works and Freshberry Yogurt Cafe. The $30 million development, which is replacing the Signature Pointe apartment complex, will contain 65,000 square foot retail development. Dirt work began on the project about 30 days ago.

Eastern Partners, the developer, says the property is now about 40 percent leased; construction is scheduled to start in March and be done by the end of 2009, according to the DBJ report.

"The design of it is similar to the Shops at Legacy (in Plano)," one of the developers told the DBJ. "It will have wide sidewalks, plenty of trees and be very commuter-friendly."

Also included in the project will be what the developer describes as 23 "luxury" townhomes priced "in the $300,000 to $400,000 range" and averaging about 2,000 square feet each. (My family debated the merits of that moniker while driving by the other day. What, we wondered, makes one townhome "luxury" while another is just a plain townhome?)

Around the web: Cute pets, college tuition, trapped in a toilet, ghost busters

A regular roundup of stuff that wouldn’t necessarily make it on the blog, but is worth noting:

• USA Today notes that some doctors won’t let pets visit their owners in the hospital. I wasn’t aware this was a problem. Nevertheless, says one doctor, "I receive phone calls virtually weekly" from veterinarians phoning on behalf of clients who are distressed because a physician has issued a no-pets advisory.

• College tuition costs are still going up, and it doesn’t look like the situation is going to get better any time soon. Though costs didn’t increase as much as inflation, financial aid is not keeping pace with the rise in tuition. Says one of the experts who worked on the study: “From a family's point of view, college doesn't become cheaper just because other prices went up.”

• At least he wasn’t on an airplane, right? A passenger on a French train had to be rescued by firemen after having his arm sucked down the on-board toilet. The 26-year-old victim was trapped when he tried to get his cell phone, which had fallen into the toilet bowl.

•  And, just in time for Halloween, a ghost busters story from the New York Times. May favorite part? The Realtor who discussed whether she has an obligation to tell prospective buyers that the house may be haunted: “Just last week I got a call from a past client who was calling for a friend who’d leased a place and wasn’t happy because it was haunted,” she said. “He wanted his deposit back. I told him the best thing his friend could do was plead his case.”

Technorati Tags: pets and hospitals,college tuition,toilets,Halloween,ghost busters

Restaurant review: Maggiano's Little Italy

I’ve always been confused by Maggiano’s, the Italian restaurant in North Park. Is it just a chain with a decent menu and good marketing? Or is there more to it than that?

I’m tending to the latter these days. The company has upgraded its menu, with a variety of new items that include baked ziti and sausage and beef braciole, a rolled roast that’s stuffed with ground beef, cheese, vegetables and bread crumbs and then cooked slowly on a red wine sauce. The former was so well received at the press lunch I attended that I barely got any of it, and the latter is just terrific -– beefy and earthy. In fact, they’re not just well-executed; they taste the way they’re supposed to taste.

Maggiano’s trademark is its family-style service, in which the food comes on platters and everyone shares (just like at home). Is this gimmicky? It all depends on your point of view. If you wanted more ziti and sausage, yes. But it does work, which always surprises me, especially since family-style is more expensive than single portion. It’s possible to spend less than $50 a person for dinner (including wine), but you have to work at it.

Interestingly, when I was there a couple of weeks ago at lunch, the restaurant was packed. This was despite some construction and the economy, which has hit the restaurant business pretty hard. Apparently, a lot of other people like family style.

Technorati Tags: restaurant reviews,Maggiano's,Italian food

DISD's Hinojosa could face a 'no confidence' vote by trustees Monday

DISD school board trustee Ron Price submitted a letter, co-signed by trustees Carla Ranger and Lew Blackburn, at last night's board meeting calling on the board to meet in emergency session Monday to consider a vote of "no confidence" in DISD Supt. Michael Hinojosa. The information was reported on WFAA-TV last night, along with video of people attending the school board meeting chanting "Jack Lowe must go" and yelling out all kinds of things after the board meeting ended.

A "no confidence" vote, as I understand it, doesn't have any legal status, but it would continue eroding the public's support of district leadership, as well as serve to keep the big budget scandal in the news, further eroding the public's support of district leadership. In fact, further evidence of the continuing drumbeat seeking to get rid of Hinojosa showed up on the DMN's education blog yesterday. The NEA-Dallas, a teacher's organization, attempted to survey its membership concerning Hinojosa and the school board; 428 teachers and DISD employees responded, according to the poll, which was sent to teachers and also linked on the DMN blog so other DISD employees could respond. (I'm just reading this in the introduction to the survey, which you can ready by clicking here: Download neadallas_confidence_survey.pdf)

Leppert says our votes count. Except for the convention center hotel?

Here's an interesting juxtaposition: Mayor Tom Leppert is circulating an email with the top headline saying "Convention Center Hotel Critical to Dallas' Future", while the second item is headlined "Vote! It's Your Voice!" (Click here to download tom_leppert_email.pdf and see the email.)

The irony: At least one Leppert spokespuppet on the council already has chortled out loud that even if Dallas residents vote in favor of a potential referendum scuttling the $550 million taxpayer-owned convention center hotel downtown, those votes won't stop the council from moving forward to build the hotel.

So whose voice is Leppert talking about?

This Weekend: what's on around East Dallas

Terribly terrorizing (and terrific) tales
Oct. 31 and Nov. 1, 7 p.m. All our neighborhood’s most glorious ghouls and ghosts are sure to make an appearance at this spook-studded event — The Bath House Cultural Center at White Rock Lake plays host to this annual reading of eerie holiday tales in honor of Halloween and Day of the Dead. This year the folks from the Dallas Storytelling Guild share their stories, which hail from many cultures and include traditional folktales, family and personal stories, cowboy poetry, tall tales, and outright lies so intriguing the Lady of the Lake might just emerge from her pond for a listen. Bath House is located at 521 E. Lawther.

BOO Who? Don’t cry! Halloween’s not over yet.
Oct. 31, 8 p.m.-1 a.m. Last week they had a party for the kids. Now it’s time for the all-adult Halloween Party at the East Dallas Fraternal Order of Eagles #3108. It’s just $10 at the door and proceeds benefit the Cancer Fund in support of the Lance Armstrong Cancer Foundation. FOE is located at 8500 Arturo. For more info, send the hosts an e-mail.

Shoes In
Nov. 1-end of month. It's always a good time to shoe shop, right? This time, pick up a pair for a child in need (you really should get yourself a pair while you're at it, in the name of convenience, of course). This month marks Chacon Auto's first annual shoe-drive benefiting Shoes for Orphan Souls. Help Chacon make a difference in the lives of at-risk and orphan children throughout the world by dropping off a pair of new shoes at any of their eight locations. In our neighborhood, there is a drop off point at 11800 E. Northwest Highway.

Nov. 2 The Dallas Running Club Half and 5K starts at 8 a.m. 

DON'T FORGET DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME: Fall back Sunday morning!

For more weekend events, or to post your own, check out our calendar.

Jason's Deli "excuses" High Fructose Corn Syrup

Really, what is so bad about High Fructose Corn Syrup? Weeks ago, I was seeing these advertisements about Popsicles and the goodness — or at least not-bad-ness— of High Fructose Corn Syrup. Then Time/CNN came out with this report, in which experts say, essentially, the sweetner gets an undeserved bad rap. No, it’s not great for you, but it’s no worse than, say, table sugar. One even calls the evils of High Fructose Corn Syrup an "urban myth". So why, then, is Jason’s Deli giving the sweet ingredient the boot completely, thereby contributing to the bad rap the High Fructose Corn Syrup industry was spending lots of advertising dollars trying to defy.

Last night I saw this sign in the Mockingbird Lane Jason’s Deli window: “We’ve excused High Fructose Corn Syrup from the Table,” it read. Huh? Then, sure enough, this morning I heard it on the news. Say the eateries’ owners, this removal of High Fructose Corn Syrup is a huge undertaking, and part of an all-new healthier menu.

Here’s what I don’t get — my studies (rudimentary at best I admit) about the so-called dangers of High Fructose Corn Syrup cite its relation to obesity. OK, so high calorie foods, whether “naturally” occurring or processed, in high doses, cause obesity. (Duh.) So could this mean the all-you-can eat salad bar (rich with calorie packed croutons, dressings and breads) and the FREE after-dinner ice creams go to, so as not to encourage overindulgence which contributes, more than anything else, to obesity?

Don’t get me wrong — I love Jason’s Deli, the free ice cream, and especially the salad bar. But this “Excuse High Fructose Corn Syrup” thing, I think, is a gimmick.

By the way, they haven't removed the evil syrup from drinks, but they are considering it. Cast your vote on the matter here on the Jason's Deli site.