Summer shout-outs

Allow me some nods of appreciation on this fine summer day.

To my pal Chris, a fellow prof and a darned nice fellow. He was one of only two professors in the division I worked in to speak to me following my "we're not inviting you back next semester" letter and the brouhaha-ha-ha that followed. For that, I tip my sun visor and offer him another round of nachos at Gloria's, one of Dallas' finest Tex-Mex tostadarias. And here's a link to his t-shirt company, which specializes in sports logos of teams from yesteryear.

To my writer-friend and all around great broad, Roberta DeBoer, who writes a smart, funny, of-the-moment column for the Toledo Blade.

To my dear bud Ed Martin, who writes a brilliant media column for the online media mag The Myers Report. Want to read the best take yet on the Tom Cruise silliness? Check this out.

To my former student Tiana, who was brave enough to be my confederate for a trip to the Scientology Celebrity Centre last week. See this week's upcoming Dallas Observer to read about what we found. (Link will follow when it's published.)

And to Bobby Brown and Whitney Houston, for letting cameras film their life for Being Bobby Brown on the Bravo cable channel (Thursday nights, with many reruns). This can hardly be called reality TV, as the Houston-Brown family seems unfamiliar with any aspect of reality. My new fave phrase comes from Whitney (via the show's subtitles): "Hell to the no!" As above-mentioned Ed says, this series is "the Liza and David show that never was." I'd call it a train wreck but that doesn't begin to describe the twisted wreckage we witness as these two fading stars hurtle toward oblivion.

To my comedian/filmmaker friend Linda Stogner, who actually survived being hit by a train. And built a stand-up routine around it.

To my writer/filmmaker friend Ed Stone, who begins production on his film Griffin & Phoenix in NYC this week. He wrote Happy, Texas (an under-appreciated comedy starring Jeremy Northam, William H. Macy and Steve Zahn) and was the rewrite man on a slew of animated comedies.

And to everyone who knows not to call me when ABC's Dancing with the Stars and Fox's Hell's Kitchen are on, I thank you. Miss these shows? Hell to the no!

Now put down that book and go outside and play. It's summer!