On Assignment w/ CT

I let out the loudest yell in the newsroom when Fort Worth's Joshua Allen won So You Think You Can Dance!  Wooooooo Whoooooooo. The 19 year old is an amazing Artist.  Almost 60 million votes were cast.  Joshua's the first street dancer to win the top title on the FOX show. He & Twitch were the two finalists & both are fantastic untrained dancers; but Joshua's in a class by himself and has been my pick all along.  FOX 4 reporter Brandon Todd was at the watch party in Forest Hill for the SYTYCD winner...that was a joyous par-taay!   Looking forward to more greatness from Joshua Allen!

BRAVO JOSHUA! 

I LUV dance. To use the human body to express and create art is extraordinary.  SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE is brilliant. Who's your pick to win on the FOX show? I really like Mark, Chelsie, Katee, Twitch & Courtney.

The talent of the dancers and choreographers is breathtaking. My fav is 19 y.o. Tarrant County resident JOSHUA ALLEN. He attended Crowley High School.  Joshua is incredible, what a superb gift he has. He's not classically trained but in my humble opinion he can do it all. One judge said "you make me believe in the impossible". Nigel Lythgow said "i think you're gonna steal this show."

Dance, Joshua, Dance!      

Did you go to the George Michael concert?  It was off the hook.  All of us in the AAC danced for close to 2 hours (there was a 20 minute intermisson). George's adopted hometown loved him & he loved us back.  The ticket said the concert would have a prompt 8pm start time...not.  GM took the stage at about 8:45 but the crowd was cool...we even amused ourselves sending "the wave" around & around & around  AAC.

The band was tight & they were elevated & built into the stage 2 & three levels high. The background singers were in a circle with GM for Father Figure, or linign the rear of the stage or tucked in wtih the band on the first level. Computer graphics,vivid colors , images & videos were projected behing GM on three seperate screens.

Luv, luv his music but my favs are Amazing, Father Figure, Star People, Flawless, Freedom,(he closed the 2nd encore with Freedom)....and MY song...Careless Whisper. At one point during CW he stopped singing and said "COME ON DALLAS YOU KNOW YOU WANT TO "...and did we ever.  We took over Careless Whisper & rocked it...& then we gave it back to GM.   

It was so cool that when the concert ended I was like...what? it's over? Noooooooo!         

Last week my family and I went to New York City and one of the sights that rocked was the  Empire State Building. The Chrysler Building is actually my favorite but the ESB was decked out. The top 1/3 was lit up in red, white & blue.  It looked fantastic.

I hope you have a safe, happy and memorable July 4th.

I'll be with my family for a great 4th & then we'll go to Star Spangled Fourth in Garland. FOX 4 is a proud sponsor and I get a Holiday treat. I'll be on the stage to introduce Kool & The Gang after the fireworks!   Woooooooooooooooo  Whoooooooooooooooooooooo!!   

Oscar-winning Director, Sydney Pollack who died at the age of 73 has a Dallas connection. In 1996 the USAFilm Festival honored Mr. Pollack with its Great Director Tribute.  This photo is of Sydney Pollack, Terri Garr( whose movie credits include TOOTSIE) and me at a USAFF after-party.

USAFF Managing Director Ann Alexander says she had a first-class ticket and a stay at The Mansion on Turtle Creek ready for him.  But he was a pilot and told her that he would fly his private jet into Dallas. She was suprised when he told her that he'd stay at The Mansion but he'd do that on his own dime...he didn't want the non-profit to have to spend money honoring him. Ann Alexander says Sydney was a "class act, a gifted artist and a precious, precious man".

My husband is a board member of the USAFF and we got to sit on either side of Sydney Pollack during the USAFF screening of TOOTSIE.  He got an Oscar nomination for TOOTSIE. During the movie Pollack would lean over and share a tidbit about this scene or that...or a funny behind-the-scenes moment during the making of the movie. Sydney Pollack was fun and gracious and a great story-teller; that was a thrill Stephen and I will always remember.    

Sydney Pollack's brother, Bernie is a noted costume designer. In fact he's the one who designed the costumes for the Mega-Hit INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL.  Their late sister, Sharon Pollack Griffith, lived in Dallas and she was a film producer. In 1997 she debuted REGGIE AND THE ROUST-ABOUTS at the USAFF's KIDFILM.        

Sydney Pollack won the Best Director Oscar and Best Producer Oscar for OUT OF AFRICA.  He leaves a prolific body of work as a director, producer and actor.  Godspeed!      

nities 25 students who attend the Humanities and Communications Magnet at Lincoln High School in South Dallas have achieved an impressive goal.  They've been inducted into the prestigious Quill & Scroll International Honorary Society. Quill & Scrol has been around since 1926 and it's made up of high school journalists. There are more than one million alumni all over the world and many of them are journalists. The Lincoln chapter of Quill & Scroll is named in honor of Norma Wade Adamas;  who in 1974 was the first African-American full-time news reporter at the Dallas Morning News.  She attended the ceremony and it was a treat to have her there.   

I was asked to be the guest speaker for the induction ceremony.  It was a beautiful event and I'm so proud of all of these students!  It was especially meaningful to have the families of the students in the auditorium. Parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins were BEAMING with pride  The reception after the ceremony was lovely.  

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY TO YOUR MOM!      What are you doing for Mother's Day? 

I'm looking forward to speNding quality time w/ my son. He's taking me out to brunch. When we're done we'll hook-up with my Mother-in-Law  and Stephen's sister and brothers and celebrate my Dallas Mom.  We got her a coolio gift but I can't tell ya in case she reads this blog ..lol.

I call my Mother everynight and Sunday we'll have our usual great conversation. I'm so thankful to have her...she's healthy, active and happy. My Mom is my ROCK. Stephen gave my Mother the ultimate compliment before. He said "Clarice, if you become half the woman your Mother is; then I'll be happy." I love him for saying that and I still aspire to reach her level. 

My sister's in New York and she and I'll work the phone as well. 

I'm also blessed to have women in my life who are mentors, beloved friends abd great pals.  I'm thankful for them and celebrate them on Sunday as well.

What is my favorite thing at Mayfest? Well, I have two. The first is the Mayfest Confetti Egg. I luv them. Empty, brightly colored eggshells that are filled with confetti. You can smash them against a table or on top of the head of your friend...I did that to Dan Live at 6pm and he returned the favor and we loved it! Confetti flies everywhere and it just makes ya feel happy & good. 

My other fav that I look forward to everyyear is the PaperCup Art. Tall, tall screens have dozens of brightly colored paper cups squeezed between the wire spaces and when you stand back the colors of the cups create cool, beautiful images.  

Dan Henry and I were Live at Mayfest and had a fabulous time. The weather's going to be GREAT this weekend. This is the 36th year for Mayfest. It's on the banks of the Trinity River.  The 33-acre Trinity Park and the grounds look spectacular.

In my first live shot I featured the Disconnected K9's...dogs that do amazing tricks with frisbees.  Lawrence Frederick is the one who  works with them and it's such a special story.  All of the dogs are rescue dogs; some were abandoned by their owners and others were abused. The dogs are inspirational and the crowds love them This is one of the many free shows at Mayfest.

My next live report featured the great gear you can see and if you choose buy at Mayfest. My final live report showed some of the food; I was told there are no calories for food consumed on Mayfest grounds...lol. 

Fox 4 is a proud Mayfest sponsor. Be sure to stop by our booth to see our personalities, get cool, free gear and the chance to win a FOX Prize Box and the American Idol Prize Pack.                  

That's how long Stephen and I have been married; 252 months. That doesn't seem like a very  long time does it? Looking at it another way...we've been married 21 years. Our anniversary is April 18th. Our wedding day was perfect.   For our 21st we celebrated with a trip to Napa Valley with our friends Susan and Eric.  The night before we left town Stephen and I took a trip down memory lane; looking at our wedding album.  A joyous day and it was also touching to see happy pictures of  family and friends  who have died in the last 21 years. We miss them and always hold them in our hearts and memory. 

It's amazing how quickly 21 years of marriage can pass by.   We've had good times and bad. We've grown as individuals and as a couple.  We both feel that marriage is a work in progress and we value love, respect, communication and friendship within that framework.  Every Friday night after the 10pm news is Date Night. I can't imagine my life without him. Stephen and I like to have fun & this pic shows us goofin' off in a vineyard in Napa.  The only dissapointment was the cancellation of our hot air balloon ride.  The morning we were scheduled to go up it was waaaaay windy and the company said we were a no go.  Have you done a hot air balloon ride?  We're gonna plan another one.     

I had such a FUN lunch at Momma's Daughters' Diner on Irving Blvd. in the shadow of the Dallas Design District. My FOX4 Friends Mary Knight & Cathy Landin and I laughed and loved the down home cookin'...my vegetable plate was yum-o-licious!

Barbara Woodley was our waitress. She and her sister, Natalie, are LOCAL LEGENDS on the restaurant and party scene. Barbara's got tons of style and she's not afraid to work it. She's a DELIGHT! We sat in her section and had a great time gabbing with her. We were inspired to snap this coolio pic. Have you been to Momma's Daughters'?

The title of my blog is the motto of Girls , Incorporated .  The Dallas agency held it's 20th Annual She Knows Where She's Going Awards Luncheon and I was honored to once again serve as the M.C. The theme of this year's event at the Hilton Anatole Hotel was was "Journey to the Stars".

Girls, Inc. operates 4 centers in Dallas in parts of town where girls may feel they don't have a lot to look forward to. The organization offers mentoring, a safe after school environment and gives the girls skills on which they can build a great future.

The girls performed an ethereal dance number to the song "This Place".  It was a Moment.

Each year amazing women are awarded the She Knows Where She's Going Award. The 2008 honorees are: Carmen Garcia, Director of Community Affairs for the State Fair of Texas; Anne Motsenbocker, Dallas Region President JPMorgan Chase; Jennifer Bong Nguyen, President of the DFW Asian American Citizens Council; Mary Lois Hudson Sweatt, Dance Consultant/ Founder Mary Lois Hudson Sweatt School of Dance, Dr. Mary Ellen Weber, Vice President of Governmental Affairs UT Southwestern Medical Center. The 2008 Girls Champion Award Recipient is The Real Estate Council & TREC Foundation.     

I'm one of the 1995 She Knows Where She's Going Award Recipients. Thank you Girls, Inc.  And Congratulations on your 40th Anniversary of inspiring girls to be Strong, Smart & Bold.  

Attended FASHION IN THE PARK  Saturday night at NorthPark...tres cool.  NAEEM KHAN was the designer and the runway show of his clothes were STUNNING.  Fluid, beautiful fabrics; fabulous colors...short dresses and gowns.  The Mansion's Chef JOHN  TEZAR prepared the dinner under the tent after the show and the meal was divine.

Fort Worth's BILL PAXTON was seated at the table next to ours...Stephen and I were the guests of our friend BARBARA BUZZELL.  It was a treat to have a MOMENT with Bill; I told him how much I loved his performance in A SIMPLE PLAN. He's working on a new project with TOM HANKS which may have Fort Worth's Own working at home for a while.

MISHA BARTON, formerly of FOX"S The OC was also part of the evening which was a tribute to AFI.  PHAT STRAD performed after dinner.  They're the 4 women who play the classics on amplified violin, viola & cello; wearing  short black dresses and killer shoes.  The audience loved them and so did the shoppers at NorthPark. We walked out of the tent with PHAT STRAD & shoppers & diners just across the valet area came over to tell the ladies how much they enjoyed hearing their music. They were flattered and it was a cool moment to share.      

29 February 2008...who has a birthday on Leap Day?  Do You?  Know anyone who does?

I knew a girl in middle school and she would alternate celebrating her natal day on the 28th of Feb. or the 1st of March..that is until her TRUE birthday came around.

I was chatting w/ my Newsroom Neighbor Steve Noviello about Leap Day. The UBER FRIEND that he is..he looked up some celeb Leap Day birthdays:

JaRule...Antonio Sabato, Jr.,...Dennis Farina & Dinah Shore   

If this is your Leap Day Birthday...have a Happy B'Day!

Stephen and I saw ELLA at the Dallas Theatre Center. BRILLIANT production & performances.  We also saw Miss Fitzgerald in Dallas and I'll share that in a sec.

Ella, the play has been held over for an extra week (2.18.08)  because the demand to see it has been OVERWHELMING.  The production is set in Nice, France in 1966 and Ella's in rehearsal but she's conflicted about performing because she's just attended the funeral of a loved one ( I won't be a spoiler cuz I hope you see it). She reviews her life and shares that with the audience in 2 Acts through voice and song.  

 E.  Faye Butler protrays the legendary Ella Fitzgerald and she is AMAZING. Her singing is extraordinary and her acting is soul-touching. The musicians also act and they're OUTTASITE!  Her on stage manager is also very strong.  Our audience gave the cast 2 STANDING O'S.

So, Stephen and I saw Miss Fitzgerald in Dallas when she performed at the Venetian Room in the Fairmont Hotel. That night still gives me a thrill. She was in basic black, there was just a chair, a mic,  a spotlight and that's all The Lady needed. WOW.  She scatted & jammed & rocked with her perfect pitch & 3 octave range crystal-shattering range.  We wouldn't let her end the set...wouldn't let her leave the stage.  

The Extraordinary Ella Fitzgerald died in 1996...the world has her songbooks and dvd's. Imagine the jam sessions in Heaven with all the other The Musical Greats!!!!!!!!!