Ali Baba coming to the old Lakewood Carraba space?

My friend Joe who frequents the Ali Baba Mediterranean Grill in Las Colinas says they have finalized a deal to go into the Carraba’s space in Lakewood and should be open in about 6 weeks. This is the same restaurant company that operates Ali Babas on lower Greenville.

I’ve heard really good things about Ali Baba but have not eaten there.  This could be a great fit; a locally owned restaurant company with only 3 locations and featuring a cuisine different from other area offerings.

Exposition Park Cafe fundraiser tonight

The folks at Exposition Park Cafe are donating 15% of all food and drink sales after 4 p.m. today to the NTAF South-Central Stem Cell Transplant Fund. The nonprofit provides support to uninsured patients who have undergone stem cell transplants or suffered serious injury. Tonight’s profits will go to local patient Anita Mester to help her cover medical expenses from a recent stem cell transplant. Tonight’s happy hour specials are $3 domestics and $4 you-call-its. If you’d like to help the Mester family, you can come sip some happy hour drinks…seriously now, how’s that for philanthropy? Just think of it as goodwill by the glassful.

Want to know which neighbors had their house forclosed upon?

The Morning News has a great package today, both in print and online, that shows foreclosures through the entire Dallas-Fort Worth area. But the most interesting thing about the package is an interactive map that allows us to type in a zip code and then watch in awe as all of the foreclosures in the immediate area pop up on a map. And then, if you click on each dot on the map, a specific address pops up identifying the foreclosed property. It’s a great way to see how your neighborborhood is faring in the "mortgage crisis" we keep hearing so much about, and it’s also a great way to start sleuthing for a new home at a potentially reduced price, if you’re into that kind of thing.

40,000 Guiness-guzzling revelers, Hillary Clinton on fair grounds this weekend

Top o’ the mornin’ to ya East Dallasites!
Yes, I am aware from some of my Ireland-frequenting friends that people in Ireland don’t actually say that. (They should though—it’s so cheery.) But I digress. I’m trying to tell you that the North Texas Irish Festival—a weekend-long party that gets bigger and better with each passing year—starts today at Fair Park.

And the winner is…

Texans have voted and a new state license plate has been deemed the winner. There were five candidates in the running, but ultimately the Lone Star Texas design took the cake with more than 455,000 online votes.

These new plates also have a six digit combination on them. That’s because our population is growing so rapidly that by the end of this year, the department will be out of the alpha-numeric combos we currently use. This week members of the Texas Transportation Commission will approve the design, but you won’t start spotting these new plates on the roadways until January 2009.

Southern fried Hillary

I stopped at the intersection of Lovers Lane and Greenville this afternoon, and immediately noticed people standing on each corner (and on a couple of the medians) holding Hillary Clinton signs. Another thing immediately apparent, especially because of the race and gender issues in this presidential election, was that each person holding a sign was black.

I rolled down the window to ask one of the men what group the sign-holders belonged to, and he told me Southern Fried Marketing. I asked if they supported Hillary Clinton for president, and he replied: "Paid for."

It struck me as interesting, and I wondered why the Clinton campaign had chosen that intersection as opposed to others I had driven through (though I guess there could have been Hillary signs all over Dallas today). I don’t know how long they were there because a couple of hours later when I drove through again, construction crews were tearing up the left turn lanes from Greenville onto Lovers, with no sign holders in sight. I’ll be glad when those new double left turn lanes and right-hand turn lanes are finished.

Anyone see my boxes?

I had some embroidered shirts that were couriered from Rockwall to Lakewood (Velasco). Last night, my client called me to let me know they were not delivered. After some research, I found out they were left on the wrong porch/house according to the courier/driver.  They left a note on that house and we just found out the owner did not see the boxes which leads me to believe the boxes of shirts were stolen. They have our name (Gizmo Group) on the boxes, but no one has called us to return them.

What possible use could one of our fine neighborhood criminals have with embroidered shirts for a church?
Anyone seen two lonely boxes of polos looking for their home?

Lakewood man in a world of trouble

Jeffrey C. Bruteyn was arrested yesterday morning at his Lakewood home for lying on a passport application. Bruteyn’s passport was confiscated by federal authorities investigating his company, Amerifirst (funding), for scamming elderly investors (among other things). Seems from this article, he fraudulently tried to get a new passport and was planning to flee the country before he could face the music.

Lakewood man in a world of trouble

Jeffrey C. Bruteyn was arrested yesterday morning at his Lakewood home for lying on a passport application. Bruteyn’s passport was confiscated by federal authorities investigating his company, Amerifirst (funding), for scamming elderly investors (among other things). Seems from this article, he fraudulently tried to get a new passport and was planning to flee the country before he could face the music.

Rare, elusive Smart car spotted in Lakewood

I’ve been waiting to see a Smart car on the road since PopSci magazine wrote a piece about the cars last summer. If you haven’t seen one or heard of them, here’s a synopsis: They make the Mini look like a Hummer (OK, a bit of an exaggeration, but you get the idea) and their fuel efficiency — at 33-45 mpg — is impressive.

So this morning on my commute in, I saw one driving south on Abrams between Mockingbird and Gaston. It was silver and a very nice looking lady was driving it. I know because I gawked at her and her car. It’s hard not to want to check out the Smart. It’s not quite nine feet long, five feet tall and five feet wide. I don’t know what the dimensions of, say, an Expedition are by comparison, but I bet you could fit at least a couple Smarts inside of one and still have room to spare.

I called the Dallas dealership, smartcenter Dallas, on Lemmon, and talked to Courtney, who let me know they made their first Dallas deliveries in January. Right now the only way to get the wee little car is to make a $99 reservation online. Then, according to the website FAQ, “smart offers future owners the unique experience of reserving and customizing your smart fortwo online. smart then ships your built-to-order vehicle directly to your dealership, ensuring that each smart fortwo is as unique as its owner.”

Anyway, I just think they’re fun, and I’m always somewhat fascinated by new auto technology (NOTE: the Smart isn’t all that new — more than 800,000 have been sold in 36 countries before hitting the States). I also think their presence on the American market is encouraging for obvious reasons. They may not be very practical, but I can’t say I find them any less so than a number of other cars on the market.