Back Talk Far North Dallas

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.

Live music at Miso tonight

Local recording artist Aubree-Anna will sing tonight at Miso sushi bar in Addison. She's an eclectic performer who mixes jazz and pop, often singing in Spanish or Hindi. She'll take the stage at 8 tonight and sing until midnight. If you'd like check out her performance though, get there early because there isn't much seating in the small restaurant--or better yet, call and make reservations: 972.960.6476.

Jakes is opening in North Dallas

I just drove past the former California Pizza Kitchen off Belt Line (between Montfort and Preston) only to see a huge 'coming soon' sign for Jakes. I've personally never eaten at the burger joint, but I've heard good things about the menu. And to be honest, after seeing that building sit vacant for almost a decade now, I'm just happy something's finally going to fill that place--and besides, you can never have too many good burger joints. No word on the website for when this location will open, but I've placed a call in search of an exact date: I'll keep you posted on what I hear.

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

Top o’ the mornin’ to ya Far North 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.

Restaurant review: Del Frisco's

One of the perks -- or hazards, depending on your point of view -- of wine writing is getting to eat on the steakhouse circuit. This is the time of year when wine makers and winery reps come to town to push the new vintages, and they love to take wine writers to steak houses.

In the past month, I've eaten at Nick & Sam's, Pappas Bros., and Del Frisco's (each for the first time, by the way). That's a lot of beef -- as well as a lot of potatoes and a lot of really huge shrimp. It's also a lot green salads to try and keep my digestive system in some kind of balance.

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.

Wine review: Les Jamelles Sauvignon Blanc 2006

The French, who once supplied the world with quality cheap wine, have been mostly supplanted by the Australians and the Chileans over the past decade. This has caused not just consternation within the French wine industry, but serious financial difficulty.

Some producers, realizing the crisis, have made significant changes to their products. They use better quality grapes, have upgraded their production techniques, and have adjusted their pricing to compete with $7 bottles of Yellow Tail. They understand that consumers will not pay a 10 or 20 percent premium because the wine label has some French on it.

Case in point is the Les Jamelles, one of the finest $10 sauvignon blancs -- one of the finest sauvignon blancs at any price -- that I have tasted in a long while. This is French sauvignon blanc the way it used to be -- cheap, tasty and complete. There's hardly any citrus, because Les Jamelles understands that French wine is not supposed to taste like New Zealand wine. It does have some tropical flavor,  mostly pineapple, as well as the minerality that French sauvignon blancs are supposed to have. A tip of the hat to Glenn Verk at Central Market for telling me about this.

Drink this, chilled, on its own, or with seafood, salads or grilled chicken.

Who knew that $295,385 seems like less than $295,000 when it comes to home pricing?

Selling or buying a home in today's supposedly turbulent market? Check out this recent story in the Wall Street Journal, which offers a few interesting tips about pricing a home from a strategic standpoint. For example, which is a better price for your $300,000 home: $295,000 or $295,385? You might be surprised to know that $295,000, according to the story, conveys "quality" while $295,385 might indicate a "bargain," meaning that the higher number might actually be the more effective one in a competitive market. That's just one of the conclusions in the story, which contains some ideas that would work just as easily at Saturday's garage sale, too...

DISD trustees rally behind upcoming $1.3 billion bond package

Lacking a commitment from just one of the nine trustees, the DISD school board is expected at its Thursday meeting to approve placing a $1.3 billion school bond package before voters May 10. As late as a couple of weeks ago, a couple of trustees were wavering on approving the bond package until completion of a district-wide financial audit. The audit results haven't been released, and may not be available for a couple of months according to Wednesday's DMN story, but there was concern that likely negative conclusions regarding DISD's financial stewardship — if released during the run-up to the bond vote — might be embarrassing for DISD and, by extension, trustees pushing for the vote. But some behind-the-scenes discussion apparently assured trustees that no criminal activities are going to exposed in the audit; just indications that DISD should tighten its financial reporting procedures. Only trustee Carla Ranger is holding back on endorsing the bond package, according to the News, but Rangel said she expected to have her decision ready to Thursday. Former Mayor Ron Kirk is one of the campaign's chairmen; the package includes funds for 15 new or replacement schools, 12 additions to existing schools, and renovations to other campuses.

It's official: Cell-phone ban in school zones is approved by council

Perhaps not surprisingly, the city council today approved a ban on hand-held cell phone use in school zones and authorized spending $144,000 to erect 2,623 signs in the 651 city school zones, according to a DMN article. (The money is expected to be generated from $200 fines for violating the law; simple math says police probably will initially feel some city-induced pressure to write 720 tickets to make sure the policy is budget-neutral. That's about one violation per school zone.)

If you think about it, voting against this measure would have been like voting against mom and apple pie (I guess Chevrolet probably isn't appropriate here anymore). The News article says Mayor Tom Leppert acknowledged research that indicates cellphone bans don't really work and can even waste government resources; he said it's worth giving the policy a chance and that the council may review the policy later to see if it's working. (Too bad he didn't follow that thought process before gutting the city's Verified Alarm System policy a few months ago.)

Somehow, I don't see any council members — now or in the future — willing to fall on their swords and vote out the policy. This is a policy that will never go away, no matter how effective or ineffective it eventually becomes — it will be just too politically charged to disappear. Anyway, the ban doesn't include the wired-in Bluetooth phones or behind-the-ear models, just the hand-held ones.