Dino-mite: The Prospective Ms. B's nephews are planning a visit and Mr. B is asking why we have to go to the Fort Worth Zoo when we will have our own zoo right here in the B Mansion. The PMB said, “giraffes and elephants and fish and birds and, if we hurry, DINOSAURS!” Snakes alive, B gets it now. Dinosaurs Unleashed, the Zoo's temporary exhibit, closes this Sunday, so if you get on the T-Rex bus over there, you'll have your own Flinstones adventure. We've got four passes for this weekend. Book 'em Dano: Mr. B bought his first wedding present for daughter MisBehavin'. (Have you bought yours?) Why not the 5,714-page Nolan Ryan career strikeouts book by Robin Ventura. Each page captures the excitement of one of the Texas Rangers great's career strikeouts. The book also can be used as a step stool, but is too heavy for the coffee table. On the other pitching hand, the Chamber is happy to throw high heat with five of its Fort Worth: Where the Best Begins coffee-table books, including gorgeous photography and 51 business profiles, which seems an odd number beyond being an odd number. Time to Cats-up: Mr. B's all-time, not-even-close, favorite mascots are The Chicken, who is world famous, and Dodger, who is Fort Worth Cats famous. Dodger has lots of Fort Worth family, feline or otherwise, but none closer than Mark Presswood, founder of Panther Real Estate Solutions. How close? Like front-row close. Baseball historian Mark has a long history with the Cats and he wasn't catting around when he offered up his four front-row seats to a game at LaGrave Field.

Picture of the Week     Ready, set, action! In June, the Women Influencing Business group was found at a marketing workshop at Studios 121-"Video Presence: A Casting Call" with presenters (left to right): Janee' Harrell, television producer/host, author and motivational speaker; Amy Goodnight, Producer/Writer, Studios 121; and Patty Marshall, Vice President, Glint Advertising and Design. See our ladies in action in this video and these photos from the event. For women only: We invite you to participate in this survey and let your opinions be heard.   Sponsored by

What kind of Chamber is this? The Mimir Chamber Music Festival at TCU is named after a Norse god known for his prophetic wisdom. (FYI, the Norse god known for shopping was Nordstrom.) Mr. B is feeling prophetic, if not wise, and says that some of the world's most outstanding artists from leading orchestras and music schools will display their chamber music skills at TCU six more evenings through July 15. Looking into his crystal violin, Mr. B also sees vouchers for five pairs of tickets good any night except July 9.

Help is on the way: Mr. B would like to be admired, but he mostly is mired. If he isn't slowed by a molasses meeting, Mr. B will wade through the morass to attend the Impact Your Business lunch July 12 at Joe T's to hear Tom Sheives, the president and chief unstuck officer of the Unstuck Company. Tom's mission is to get projects, processes and people unstuck.

Cutting for dollars: Two of the guys that interviewed Jeff Hooper for the executive director's job of the National Cutting Horse Association way back when were named Chubby and Punk. The NCHA has come a long way, baby, including a total of $10 million in prize money for its Triple Crown events in Fort Worth. That other Triple Crown for horses totals $4 million in prize money. The NCHA's Summer Spectacular begins July 12.

Hot dang! Brienn Richter in a note to husband Jake, an EdwardJones rep: “Oh, and I realized the headache is from not eating lunch, because a bird stole our hotdog.” Huh? Seems while juggling a hot dog and wrangling their kiddo toward a Hill Country Hyatt pool, a bird swooped in and grabbed the dog from Brienn.

Sizzling: Newz-E-Letter's latest Vidalia's cooking school was outdoors, on the scenic Worthington Renaissance Fort Worth Hotel terrace. Marvelous margaritas kept the complaints to a minimum while grilling romaine lettuce, New York strip steaks, red potatoes and pineapple in 102-degree heat, thank you very much chefs James Morris and Tony Cope. A few of their tips:

Just wondering: Is Trey Presswood, Panther Real Estate Solutions, the only person 25-and-under not on Facebook?

Running With Scissors: There are no subs for our wonderful Chamber Am-Bass-Adorables, unless they are Jersey Mike's subs, which will be devoured during a ribbon cutting next Wednesday. Nearby, TCBY gets a visit, too. Photos from most Chamber events can be viewed here.

Pretty in...white? Terri Wood, the Mary Kay cosmetics consultant, has reached level one of makeup immortality and will get to drive a white Chevy Malibu for free for two years (insurance is paid at 85 percent, too). This is a woman who once drove a Harley Davidson Fatboy and sold it to drive a clunker, which has been her motivation toward the level three pink Cadillac.

3M goes; he stays: Jason Lamers, the media spokesperson for the City of Fort Worth, but mostly for Mayor Mike Moncrief, says thanks for your concern, but he's not out of a job when 3M departs next week. “I work for the entire council and city management,” he said “So fortunately, I'm not a political appointee. I'm looking forward to working with the new mayor and council!”

Me and my shadow: The young pros in VisionFW have an outstanding mentor-mentee program. One interesting and diverse pairing is mentor Brad Barnes of old west Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo with mentee Lane Levell of high tech Bell Helicopter. If your company has a C-Level exec that's interested in mentoring, contact the double B...Brianna Broussard.

Vision (of) Fort Worth: Matt Dinsdale, veep at Pinnacle Bank, says banks might consider converting one lane of their drive thrus to natural gas filling stations. He is serious.

Heartwarming: Plaza Medical Center recently qualified for the American Heart Association's Mission: Lifeline Gold Performance Achievement Award, which rewards commitment and success in implementing a higher standard of care for heart attack patients. It was presented by Fred and Elizabeth Sanford.

Life's ups & downs: Just as the price of gas is declining, the IRS last Friday raised the standard mileage rate from 51 cents to 55.5 cents per mile for business travel.

Just sayin': It might be too late, but you might check now to see if there still is a seat available for the July 21 Coach Gary Patterson luncheon at TCU. Patterson promises special secrets revealed.

Lane changes: Chamber page designer and social bon vivant Kendale Rice often rides her bike to work. Last week, the City of Fort Worth completed the first of 11 miles of re-striping downtown area lanes for cyclists. Words of warning to Kendale and other peddlers: Watch out for opening car doors and beware the city's Parking Czar. He probably is figuring a way to have you metered up in months.

Nutty concentration: Gary Chenoweth of Professional Energy Management on keys to successful work habits. “Being an A-D-D- guy myself - Squirrel!! -- I've really got to work on...”

Opinionated: Defense dynamo DynCorp lists its industry as “government consultants.” Mr. B thought that's what all those commentators on Facebook, Twitter and blogs were. Mr. Fancy Pants: The Chamber couldn't announce its 25th Annual Golf Classic without first verifying that Jake Richter of EdwardJones was poised to present a pair of paisley or polka-dot pants. He says he has ordered online, so we are cleared to announce the Classic will be Monday Sept. 19. More than 250 golfers will play and it's a great opportunity for your company to sponsor, play or volunteer. It's a great opportunity for Mr. B to get a free lunch and golf goody bag. If you're interested, go here.