You’re The One That I Want: Just Grease the Mr. B palms and you could be enjoying this family 4-pack to the Sept. 1 opening-night performance of the Tony Award-nominated musical, which Casa Manana is presenting at Bass Performance Hall. And if you’re having Paula Abdul exit pangs, American Idol winner Taylor Hicks has a starring role.
No-hit bits: “Ruth, honey, I think I’ll go downstairs for a little lunch.” It’s that simple for Nolan Ryan, now pitching from the Omni Hotel penthouse that is his. This Friday, Nolan, the Texas Rangers president, will elevate downward to throw his Hall-of-Fame high hard ones as the featured speaker at the "Lunch with a Lone Star Legend" fundraising event, benefiting the Ronald McDonald House of Fort Worth. Two winners will win a seat to hear the lore of the legend.
A “chilly” reception: As a young cub, Mr. B was a sportster with The Miami Herald and his mentor was Dick Evans, a copy editor and bowling writer. Yes, newspapers used to write about bowling. Moving to Texas and finding out Dick Evanss was CEO of Cullen/Frost Bank was a real Willie Sutton moment. Texas was Bowling for (Real) Dollars. Turns out, a Google search says it’s two different Dick Evans's and you can bank on it that the TCU Executive Speaker Series features the banker, not the bowler. If you’d like to hear Dick Evans and have breakfast Sept. 4 at the Neeley School of Business event without breaking your piggy bank, then teller us more.
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Graphic artists and printers need each other. That’s why it was serendipitous when Denise Brookman of Softext Plus met Roby McEuen of Robeegrafix Advertising Design during the recent Chamber Business After Hours at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth. See more Chamber members networking and having fun here.
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We’re jazzed by this: They started out in gospel and secular music, but last year ventured into jazz with Down in New Orleans. Just in time, too, because The Blind Boys of Alabama will headline Camp Bowie District Inc.’s Jazz by the Boulevard, Sunday, Sept. 13 at 6:45 p.m. CB-meister Brandy O’Quinn got us two reserved tickets for a fantastic evening of jazz from the 4-time Grammy Award winners. And you don’t have to worry about a conflict; the Dallas Cowboys play at noon.
Inhuman resources: Bart Castle of the Sapio Group is thinking he should become “the contrarian consultant.” He says he’s the human resources guy with the “other answers.”
Touchdown drives: Corporate cutbacks haven’t helped the limo industry, but Gary Olson of Silver West Limousines says Cowboys Stadium concert events –Travis and McCartney -- have provided a big boost.
Steeerrrrike! Splitsville Lanes has been open six months in south Arlington and Cyndi Wilson says it has been a turkey, which is good if you know your bowling slang. Bowling is driving the success, with food and drinks trailing slightly. (What’s up with all the bowling stuff this week?)
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Six Degrees of Famous: A while back, Mr. B told you about attorney/trick roper Kent Durham and family. Betty Dillard at The Business Press picked it up and wrote about the Durhams. Now the state bar association magazine is doing a feature.
Boffo buffet: Beginning Friday, Zorro’s buffet will frequently be serving sushi.
Soooeyz: Suez Energy, sponsor of the Chamber’s annual golf tourney Sept. 21 at Ridglea Country Club, is officially GDF SUEZ, which is formerly Tractebel, which was the company that built the Suez Canal, which is a run-on sentence. Suez has been in business since 1882, but super sales rep Eakita Minor swears she hasn’t been there that long.
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Mulligans: If you’re thinking about signing up a team for the Chamber’s golf tourney, you might consider “recruiting” Colonial Savings’ J.R. Holland, an ex-pro and scratch golfer. Or, son NoBGood, who only works part-time so he can golf full-time. Coincidentally, he’s off on Mondays.
Wish I had a Prius: Stuck in that traffic on I-30 west of downtown? It'll be another few weeks as they re-do signs and sign bridges. A little delay, too, because crews struck an "unidentified storm sewer pipe."
Free T, too: Fort Worth Transportation Authority (The T) is holding a Clean Air Bike Rally September 26 in Trinity Park. The 8.5-mile rally starts at 9 a.m. and is free. Sign up in advance and you also get a free T t-shirt.
High times: Technology Team this month surpassed its total revenues for all of 2008. And that was before it picked up the job of moving 250 servers for a medical company from the D.R. Horton Tower to Memphis, Tenn.
The skinny: Most ad campaigns have been good, some great, but Mr. B loves the latest tagline Witherspoon has for a local derm doc—“Save face.”
Wedding Bell Blues Denim: Billy Poston of Jos. A. Bank will marry John Hines in his Cleburne backyard Oct. 3. John will be wearing a cowboy suit, which they don’t sell at Jos. A. Bank.
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Old and older: Received this anonymous email from an (ex-) friend — 40-year class reunions are when you need name tags to recognize everyone and 48-point type to be able to read them.
Lewis and hope: NBC 5, KXAS-TV, which has been involved with the Muscular Dystrophy Association telethon for 37 years and will be again this Sept. 7, has won a broadcast "Silver" award from the organization. Its entry “Joel Ginesta" was produced by meteorologist Steve MacLaughlin. Ginesta has Lou Gehrig's disease and is a board operator with The Ticket.
Name game: Mr. B searched the Internet, searched county documents, searched old yearbooks, searched milk cartons trying to find out what the initials G.K. in G.K. Maenius’ name stood for. Nada. So he asked the Tarrant County administrator. The response? “Good kid.”
Leads work! Paul McKinney Real Estate and Lupe Zamora Electric are part of the Tuesday Texas Tornadoes Leads Group that meets at Zorro’s. Paul was converting a former Steak and Ale on the west side and needed electrical work. Zamora Electric won the job and made its financial year.
On a more serious note: If you'd like to read "real" Chamber news, check out tomorrow's Star-Telegram for the Chamberletter. There's an article on transportation impact fees (hmmm), how Innovative Developers Inc. has benefited from its Small Business of the Year honor (pretty good), and a short Q&A with TCU head football coach Gary Patterson (now, that's interesting).
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