Back Talk Lake Highlands

Your Friday productivity killer

Today I bring you Mr. Picassohead (and thanks to Keri Mitchell for recommending it). It's one of those sites where you build your own face. You can see I tried to do it at left, but I don't think I look nearly so, err, scary in real life (though some of my coworkers might disagree). 

There's another fun site where you can South Park yourself. I once South Parked everyone here at work, built a poster and made them all guess who was who, with prizes for the most correct guesses. I highly recommend doing this — it's great for morale. (Again, some of my coworkers might disagree.)

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? 

Student filmmaker contest tonight

Tonight (Thursday), Lake Highlands High School will host the community to see films written and created by Richardson ISD students. The show begins at 7 pm in the LHHS auditorium, and there is a $5 viewing fee at the door. Each film is less than 5 minutes long, and students had to incorporate a scary Halloween costume into the film. In American Idol fashion the audience will vote, so LHHS kids have more chance of winning the $100 cash grand prize if you show up. See you there!

Volleyball girls host Plano West for Halloween

 Now that Lake Highlands is in a new district, the football team is winning again. Fun. But the stellar volleyball team is hurting. Oh, they're winning alright, but with virtually no challenge. They're so good, it's like they're playing a junior varsity. (Check out this killer photo of junior Caroline Henton from Wednesday's Dallas Morning News).

This Friday, for a Halloween treat, come see the varsity Cats play undefeated powerhouse Plano West for a friendly scrimmage. It's "black out night," so wear black to dress the part. With the match beginning at 5:30 pm, you won't even miss Jason Dann's kickoff for the home football game against Carrollton Creekview at 7:30.

Online auction benefits RISD students

The RISD Excellence in Education Foundation is hosting an online auction, with proceeds set to benefit students and programs all over the district. ("Wild for Cats" is the Lake Highlands version of the foundation, with all money raised in LH staying in LH.) My favorite items in the auction bid book: (1)an "LH Football Package" - featuring tickets to this Friday night's Halloween game against Carrollton Creekview, including sideline passes and dinner in the pressbox, (2) a hot air balloon ride, (3) tickets to the Richardson Symphony Orchestra's "An Olde English Christmas," and (4) a tropical escape to Cancun.

Lake Highlands Town Center talk

A little more than a week ago, Keri Mitchell and I sat down with some members of the Prescott Realty Group team to get the nitty gritty on Lake Highlands Town Center goings on of late. Spoiler Alert: We didn’t unearth any mind-blowing news, but they did address concerns and offer up a few morsels about what we can expect in future months, days and years.

 The day of our interview, a Thursday morning earlier this month, was a day plagued by bad national news about the economy, so naturally, that was the first order of discussion. How are these troubled pecuniary times affecting Prescott’s pursuit of desirable Town Center tenants?

The response:
First of all, despite rising construction costs and an overall dim economic situation, the Lake Highlands Town Center project ( Download next_phases_8108.pdf) is still on schedule. That means they are now in the phase that includes grading, utility installation, street paving and additional important infrastructure work.  Horizontal construction, as announced in a recent press release (above download), also began on schedule in August, says Stephanie Colovas, Senior Managing Director Acquisitions/Development.

Meanwhile, Mark Henderson, a Lake Highlands resident and Prescott’s Retail Group director is confidently working to secure those tenants. He says Prescott has garnered several letters of intent from potential lessees and is in lease negotiations with an anchor tenant — obviously, they are not prepared to make any announcements yet. He and Colovas grant it could take longer than originally expected to seal deals because companies these days are putting more extended thought into new-store locations.That started before the country's fiscal breakdown was national news, by the way.

But, Prescott team members say, Lake Highlands Town Center has all the so-called bells and whistles that attract great tenants — DART transit; areas to 'live, work, play'; parks, trails, neighborhood-y surroundings and an intriguing "story" to boot.

“Folks are interested. They are listening. They are calling back,” says Henderson.  He also explains that the selling process is a process of educating people and businesses about Lake Highlands. 

When pressed for hints about potential anchor tenants, Henderson says, think specialty store, bookstore, dinner theater … I’d heard specialty grocer and bookstore before, but not the dinner theater thing. They hope to secure at least two anchors soon.(And we hope to bring you the announcement soon!)

Look for more about our Town Center interview in days to come right here on Back Talk.

Chik-Fil-A Dette Day Wednesday

What a wonderful conundrum - whether to indulge yourself at Eat The World today, or enjoy Chik-Fil-A. (I plan to splurge and visit both!) Lake Highlands High School Highlandettes will receive a percentage of sales all day today (Wednesday), from breakfast biscuits at 6 am to night-time snacks at 10 pm. Be sure to place your receipt in the box marked "Dettes" when you visit the LH store, located on Abrams at LBJ.

DRC Half Marathon registration hits capacity

The Dallas Running Club has closed registration for the DRC Half Marathon this Sunday, Nov. 2. That means 4,000 runners will be stampeding through your neighborhood early Sunday. (Good thing you'll get that extra Daylight Savings Time hour of sleep.) Did I say 4,000? Make that 5,000. I forgot to add the 5K race that caps at 1,000 runners, which by the way, you can still sign up for at Run On!, Mockingbird.

If you're registered to run The Half or the 5K, you can start picking up packets tomorrow at Run On!, and organizers say get 'em as soon as you can or they are liable to run out of the goodies that get dropped in said packets ("we could not have anticipated such a large amount to register so vendors only provided enough samples and flyers for 4,000 packets", according to a DRC newsletter).

I'm sure all the folks at the DRC are pretty happy about the race's impending turnout, but the success might cause stress for some neighbors — especially churchgoes or anyone with a Sunday-morning commute. Yes, if you live anywhere near the race route, be prepared for crowds, noise and traffic issues — I can imagine this would be terribly annoying for those who aren't into this sort-a thing. But, be a good sport! Grab your morning coffee, wander over to the lake, and cheer on all those crazy runners (and be glad you aren't out there busting your hump on a perfectly sleepy Sunday morn). I'll be the one wearing an Advocate cap.

Pop culture: zombies invade Dallas

 For reasons I may never fully understand, there is an entire subculture dedicated to zombies. True connoisseurs of the horror niche are well versed in the cultural significance of George Romero’s work, and you’re likely to find something by Max Brooks or Brian Keene on their nightstand.

It seems to me then, that Halloween for a hardcore zombie fan must be something like Christmas for those people who collect Santa Claus figurines. Case in point, this past weekend Dallas zombie enthusiasts united for the city’s first official zombie crawl. And this Thursday night at 9 the Angelika is showing Italian flick Zombi 2--and the same night at 10 the Studio Movie Grill is hosting a free zombie movie festival. That’s right, three classic back-to-back zombie flicks crammed into one big fright night. But if you really wan to get your ghoul on, perhaps the best option this week is Zombie Manor. This new haunted house is—yup, you guessed it, a simulated zombie invasion.

Your Friday productivity killer

If you grew up in a certain era, Saturday mornings meant sitting in front of the TV watching cartoons. And in my opinion, when it comes to cartoons, nothing beats Looney Tunes, still. (Though Pixar comes pretty close.) As an adult, and thanks to YouTube, I've discovered them all over again.

Below is one of my favorites. It has a genius to it that I didn't get as a kid. This will only kill about 7 minutes of your afternoon, so make sure you click on it. From where it's hosted on YouTube, you can watch a ton more.