Back Talk Far North Dallas

Big Shucks reopens this week

If you've driven down Coit anytime in the past few months, you've probably noticed that the Big Shucks Oyster Bar off Belt Line is all boarded up.
The place caught fire back in December and it's been shut down during repairs. The seafood joint is about to be back open for business. This week, its doors will officially reopen.
Of course, you already know all of this if you read this month's Far North Dallas Advocate. We featured Big Shucks in our May Delicious segment.
If you didn't get your hands on a copy, an online version should be up on our website any day now--or you can swing by nearby Fretz Park Library and get as many free copies as your heart desires.
What you won't find in the magazine, however, is details about the reopening celebration this Friday, May 2, and the Cinco de Mayo celebration this Monday, May 5. Both celebrations were planned after we went to press, so now I'm bringing you the details now via blog:
This Friday, there will be happy hour specials and half-priced blackened Mahi Mahi all day, plus the first 50 customers get free Big Shucks t-shirts.
And on Monday, there will be $1.50 beers, $2 margaritas, and $4 pounds of crawfish all day.
If you're in the neighborhood, swing by and take advantage of the specials. Oh, and make sure you try the key lime pie. Trust me.

Richardson High School 5K breaks fundraising record

All the dollars have been tallied, and it turns out neighbors gave more than they've ever given for this year's Richardson High School 5K. The race raised more than $35,000 for the school. All that money will go to the Excellence in Education fund, which pays for all sorts of school programs.
This year's race also had the highest turnout ever with more than 600 runners. You can see all the race results online. And in case you didn't make it out to the race, we've got you covered: You can see some great photos from the Richardson High School 5K in the Snaps section of the Far North Dallas Advocate.

Why Industrial Boulevard needs to be renamed The Dallas Morning News Highway

And the toll road itself, of course, should be called Belo Parkway (thanks, Norm Alston) after the company and the family that runs the paper.

Wamre sets out the city's plan below; you can find the finalists here. But each suggested name, no matter how spiffy, misses the point.

Meletio's Preston Forest Square store closes after 46 years

After a 46-year run, Meletio Lighting's Preston Forest store will close May 2, with the store combining with the company's Harry Hines and Frisco locations, says Meletio owner Ken Reiser. The store has been located in the Preston Forest Square Shopping Center since October 1962; before the doors close for the last time, Reiser says a moving sale is scheduled May 15-17.

Just 10 nominees left in the City's "Name Industrial Boulevard" challenge

Clearly, one of the big issues on Dallasites' minds these days has to be the renaming of Industrial Boulevard. According to the DMN, the city's Trinity River committee has been busily working to solicit names from Dallas residents, sorting through more than 500 suggestions to whittle the list down to 10 names. The committee intends to select three "finalists" on Tuesday and then solicit online, mail or phone votes from citizens to select the winner.

Ice cream on (about) three dimes at Baskin Robbins

One of our office ice cream aficionados excitedly approached the editorial office with a hot (or should I say, cold) tip a couple days ago: Tomorrow night, April 30, Baskin Robbins is offering 31-cent scoops. Yes, you heard it here (probably not exactly a scoop ... but good info nonetheless). The offer is good between 5 p.m. and 10 p.m. Baskin Robbins’ promo calls it “a thank you to our customers and the firefighters who protect them … Baskin Robbins is donating $100,000 to the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation.

Here are a few nearby locations (below) see you there!

Free dinner at Stratos Greek Taverna

This month's Advocate cover story featured all sorts of fun free stuff in our neighborhood. Hopefully you got the magazine on your doorstep and have already read it cover to cover. (OK, maybe a little bit of wishful thinking on my part there).
If you missed the story, we should have online versions on our website this week--and if you can't wait that long, you can contact me and I'll tell you where to pick up your free copy.
The story is jam-packed with all sorts of freebies, but there was one last minute deal I discovered after deadline and it didn't make it into our print version, so I'm bringing it to you via blog:
If you go to the Stratos Greek Taverna's Web site and subscribe to the newsletter, you get a coupon for a buy-one-get-one free meal.
And unlike a lot of these freebie offers, this coupon can be redeemed anytime, and it never expires. I also subscribed to the newsletter about a week ago and so far, my inbox has not been flooded with any spam mail.
I haven't made a trip out to Stratos yet--but as a self-proclaimed freeloader (and lover of Greek food), you can rest assured that I'll be swinging by to cash in my free dinner any day now. Keep an eye out for my followup restaurant review.

UTD professors one step closer to making artificial muscles

Hey, eat your heart out MIT. We’ve got our own smarty-pants scientist right here in our neighborhood.
A team of nanotechnologists at UTD worked with Brazilian researchers and discovered that when you stretch sheets of carbon nanotubes, it can trigger some bizarre mechanical properties.
Umm, right. So what’s that mean?
Well, if you really want the full explanation (scientific jargon and all) you can read more about it on the Pegasus News blog—or you can read the team’s detailed findings in the Journal of Science.
Or if you’re right-brained like me, you just want to know why these findings matter. This could help scientists make artificial muscles. Muscles that contract and move just like real muscles—but are about a hundred times stronger.
Just think, some of your neighbors might have a hand in creating a generation of Terminator-esque super buff cyborgs. And who says science isn’t cool?

Josh Howard and the Mavs get smoked

Happy birthday, Josh Howard. Congratulations. You’re 28 today. You have the world at your fingertips, living a life most people can only dream of. You beat the odds as a kid and emerged as one of the NBA’s most promising players.

So why let all that go up in smoke? (Sorry I'll stop.) For those of you who were out of the country or maybe doing a little too much partying yourself, Josh Howard, Dallas Mavericks’ small forward admitted on Michael Irvin’s radio show Friday that he’s a pot smoker, “no big deal”. In fact he indicted the whole NBA saying, "everybody in the media world and in the sports world knows that NBA players do smoke marijuana". No, this isn’t the first time he’s publicly admitted to this but it reeks a little bit more this time, especially when we are forced to watch his painful decline as a player. He said he smoked in the off-season but he sure looked high last night — or maybe he’s just real anxious to get the Mavs into the off-season.

Forgetting Sarah Marshall at Studio Movie Grill

Every time I go to Studio Movie Grill, the theater is packed. Granted, it¹s usually a Friday or Saturday night, but even films that have been out for a while seem to draw crowds. I guess everybody just loves the idea of dinner and a movie in one-stop-shopping form.

The food isn¹t stellar, but I would consider it pretty good for a movie theater kitchen. This weekend I tried one of the specials  -- a toaster burger with cheddar, grilled onions and bacon (yum). We typically like the coconut chicken tenders, too. It¹s also tempting to go on Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday nights for $8.99 all you can eat pizza.

Every time I go to Studio Movie Grill, the theater is packed. Granted, it¹s usually a Friday or Saturday night, but even films that have been out for a while seem to draw crowds. I guess everybody just loves the idea of dinner and a movie in one-stop-shopping form.

The food isn¹t stellar, but I would consider it pretty good for a movie theater kitchen. This weekend I tried one of the specials  -- a toaster burger with cheddar, grilled onions and bacon (yum). We typically like the coconut chicken tenders, too. It¹s also tempting to go on Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday nights for $8.99 all you can eat pizza.