Home from Dallas

Got home safe and sound yesterday.  Even though the flight attendants had to ask the pilot to stop the plane while we were backing from the gate.  A passenger refused to turn off their electronic device!  The flight attendant and the pilot made the announcement again and apparently the idiot finally turned the stupid thing off and we were able to proceed to the runway.

It was a busy week both work and socially.

Monday I caught up with the wonderful Aneela at the Hilton Anatole.  She then treated me to drinks and dinner at the hotel. Tuesday, Asha and I had dinner. She always has great stories.  Wednesay I had dinner with a friend that used to live in Minneapolis and now lives in Dallas.  Thursday I went to a very funny production of Horton Foote's "Dividing the Estate" at the Dallas Theatre Center.  My friend John Arnone designed the set which was beautiful.  The casting was spot-on.

When I got back to Minneapolis on Friday, I drove directly to The Bulldog from the airport for a going away gathering for Tom Smith.

It was a nice week all around.

Apparently Frankie and Uno had a good time, too.  There were papers everywhere and big clumps of each others' fur.  Party at 3112!!

Kay at the grassy knoll

My friend, Kay, is in Dallas for a convention.  I picked her up at her hotel and we went on a little sightseeing tour.  Of course, the first place we stopped was the sight of the JFK assassination.

That's us with the former Dallas School Book Repository building in the background.  The square window at the top of the picture is where Lee Harvey Oswald "allegedly" shot John F. Kennedy.

There were several tourists, including us, walking around the area with the many conspiracy theorist tour guides.

From here we drove through downtown, through the arts district, through uptown to Cosmic Cafe for dinner.  Cosmic Cafe is a vegetarian spot decorated in a sort of Indian theme.  I've been wanting to go for a long time but wanted a veggie expert.  Kay happens to be a vegetarian so it was perfect.

Saturday, Dallas tourist

I started my tour of Dallas by going to the Uptown neighborhood. I often come here for dinner. Dallas has a free trolley that goes fron Uptown to Downtown. I ended up walking the blocks and seeing the neighborhoods. My destination was the Nasher Sculpture Gardens.

The Nasher is similar to the Walker Art Center only smaller. It was Free First Saturday sponsored by Target. The museum was full but not crowded. The day was beautiful and it was nice to stroll through and sit in the sculpture garden.
The indoor exhibit was on eco-architecture. Many of the models were of buildings in London which I had seen in 2007.
There also was a full room dedicated to the new arts center being build across the street.
The big coincidence was that I ran into someone I knew from Minneapolis. He had just moved to Dallas 2 months ago.

From the Nasher I walked down to the Dallas World Aquarium. More than just an aquarium, this had all kinds of annimals in indoor areas some of which were open and others closely tucked into corners and crevices. It was pretty neat and there were lots of people. From the aquarium I walked back to catch the trolly. The trolly driver was fun and provided some local color.

Stormy Weather

It looked like a scene from the movie "Independence Day". Walked out of the offices at about 6pm and it was bright blue to the south with thes very onimous clouds over head. Even the birds were kind of freaked out. Dozens were just sitting on the edge of the roof watching the clouds.





I drove toward downtown where my hotel is. I wanted to get something to eat. It still wasn't raining much so I went to a takeout place.


When I came out of the take out place it was pouring buckets. I waited a while and it slowed down just a bit. I got to my car and drove a block away where it wasn't raining at all!

It was clear and bright at the hotel. Later when I walked over to the gym, the moon and stars were out but to the south you could see clouds being completely lit up by lightening traveling between the clouds. It was very cool to see.

The Black Monk

My Dallas social secretary, John Arnone, got me and the Executive on the project tickets to his scenic designed production of The Black Monk at the Undermain Theatre in Dallas.

The show is based on a Chekhov short story. The first act is quite funny. The direction and acting is great. John's set is perfectly stark and evocative. It is a difficult space to use to put it mildly. The theatre is named "Undermain" because it is actually under Main Street in downtown Dallas.

Undermain Theatre is in the Deep Ellum neighborhood of downtown Dallas. It is a kind of sketchy area...the kind of place where artists are making it grow.