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Sam MertenFour of the five co-defendants, from left to right: D'Angelo Lee, Sheila Hill, Darren Reagan and Don HillOK, now that the Dallas City Hall corruption trial has wrapped up and landed in the hands of the jury, it's time for everyone to weigh in. And, to make it interesting, Robert has generously ponied up a fabulous prize so this isn't just about fun and yuks. That's right, put your entry in the comments, dear Friends of Unfair Park, and the person who gets all six answers correct (or comes closest, anyway) receives a DVD boxed set of ... wait for it ... the entire series of HBO's The Wire! No reason. He had a tough time parting with it but ultimately decided it was just too fitting. Not sure if he'll deliver it in the parking lot of Friendship-West Baptist Church, but I'll see what I can do. So, get your No. 2 pencils ready and ... go! 1. When will the jury render its decision? A. September 24 through September 30 B. October 1 through October 7 C. October 8 through October 14 D. October 15 through October 21 E. October 22 through October 28 F. October 29 through eternity G. The trial's over?

Washington Post writer Hank Stuever begins a three-day sign-and-speak stint in North Texas tomorrow -- a sprint compared to the marathon of spending three years, on and off, living in Frisco in order to document how folks spend Christmas up thataways for his book Tinsel: A Search for America's Christmas Present. Tomorrow night he's got a signing at the Barnes & Noble in Stonebriar Centre; on Wednesday, he'll be at Legacy Books in Plano; the day after, at Barnes & Noble near the TCU campus. So happens I've got two spare, unread copies of the tome (one was Schutze's!), which'll go to the first two Friends of Unfair Park who can make a convincing case for living in Frisco want them.Update:  Both copies are gone. Thanks for playing -- and for all the e-mails that read like this one from a good Friend of Unfair Park who passed on a gratis copy: "Looks like an interesting book, but it's so contrary to anything I attach to Christmas."

Washington Post writer Hank Stuever begins a three-day sign-and-speak stint in North Texas tomorrow -- a sprint compared to the marathon of spending three years, on and off, living in Frisco in order to document how folks spend Christmas up thataways for his book Tinsel: A Search for America's Christmas Present. Tomorrow night he's got a signing at the Barnes & Noble in Stonebriar Centre; on Wednesday, he'll be at Legacy Books in Plano; the day after, at Barnes & Noble near the TCU campus. So happens I've got two spare, unread copies of the tome (one was Schutze's!), which'll go to the first two Friends of Unfair Park who can make a convincing case for living in Frisco want them.Update:  Both copies are gone. Thanks for playing -- and for all the e-mails that read like this one from a good Friend of Unfair Park who passed on a gratis copy: "Looks like an interesting book, but it's so contrary to anything I attach to Christmas."

​The folks at the AT&T Performing Arts Center picked quite the inaugural concert for the Wyly Theatre: The Flatlanders, otherwise known as Joe Ely, Jimmie Dale Gilmore and Butch Hancock. No doubt they'll break in the joint Tuesday night with the first song on their first album, recorded in 1971 and only available on eight-track till 1990: "Dallas," from which our musical sibling takes its name. Tickets are still available, but as it happens Unfair Park's got two pair to give away this morning. Here's how you win 'em: essay question.In the song, Gilmore sings that Dallas is both "a woman who will walk on you when you're down" and "a rich man who tends to believe in his own lies," which would make Dallas, yes, a hermaphrodite. But let's say you had to pick one. Which one? And why? Keep it short, if you like, and best two answers, to be judged by a panel of first-graders and myself, win a pair of tickets. You've got till the end of the day, 5 sharp. Now go.

​Forthcoming later today is this year's Unfair Park holiday-season auction benefiting North Texas Food Bank, which features not one by several one-of-a-kind, locally produced items. But while we wrap up this year's goodies, first this giveaway.Yesterday I posted the Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association's tops-of-2009 list. But what say you about the year's best movies? I ask only because I've got a stack of titles to dole out to the Friends of Unfair Park -- nine DVDs all told, including Star Trek, Bruno, Food, Inc., Valentino: The Last Emperor, the 70th anniversary Gone With the Wind double-disc set, the 50th anniversary North by Northwest special edition, Battlestar Galactica: The Plan, Robert Rodriguez's Shorts (the kid loves this) and Heroes Season 3. And I'm throwing in a Glee: The Music, Volume 1 disc -- the one featuring Lake Highlands boy Mark Salling's rendition of "Sweet Caroline" -- to round up the number to an even 10.I was going to give away the whole stack all at once, but I've decided to divvy it up one at a time -- to spread around the holiday cheer, dig? So, here's the rules. Post your year-end Top 10 favorite movies. Those who cook up the most creative, thoughtful and original lists, as chosen by yours truly, will win a free DVD, which you'll have to come down to Unfair Park HQ to pick up. (Do leave your real e-mail address when you post, thanks, along which title(s) you'd like -- but no guarantees). Competition closes at 5 p.m. today. And ... go.

​Fan of The Sopranos? Mad Men? Andy Richter Controls the Universe? Um ... Becker? Then you are already familiar with the name Matthew Weiner, good for you. But how you'd like to see the creator of Mad Men in person? Tomorrow night, no less, at the Casa Mañana Theater in some place called "Fort Worth"? For free? Thought so.Weiner will be speaking tomorrow night at an American Advertising Federation of Fort Worth shindig about "the development of Mad Men and its characters," and we've been given four second-row tickets to give away. So let's do this: We'll divvy up the foursome into two twosomes. No tricky contest. No Sopranos triva. No Mad Men minutiae. Just e-mail me directly. First two who get through win. And go.

​That's from last night's Variety. But that's not the only place. The news is spreading: Blockbuster, which banished the phrase from its lexicon six years ago after some legal tussling, is bringing back ... late fees. In fact, they're already back: The story broke in Home Media Magazine Monday that the Elm Street-based company reinstated late fees yesterday: New-release movies now rent for $4.99 per title for five days, not seven; add a dollar day every day you're tardy up to 10 days. "Previously, following the rental period, consumers were given a 10-day grace period and charged a $10 fee thereafter," notes HMM.This, on news of a dismal '09. And lowering investors service ratings. And stock worth one-third the daily late fee -- pardon, "additional daily rate." In December, Blockbuster CEO Jim Keyes told me some customers, past and way past, still bore a grudge against Blockbuster over these very fees: "Institutional memory -- how they stuck me with a late fee back in 1992. The bloggers, they're venting over that." And they still are, all over again.

​That's from last night's Variety. But that's not the only place. The news is spreading: Blockbuster, which banished the phrase from its lexicon six years ago after some legal tussling, is bringing back ... late fees. In fact, they're already back: The story broke in Home Media Magazine Monday that the Elm Street-based company reinstated late fees yesterday: New-release movies now rent for $4.99 per title for five days, not seven; add a dollar day every day you're tardy up to 10 days. "Previously, following the rental period, consumers were given a 10-day grace period and charged a $10 fee thereafter," notes HMM.This, on news of a dismal '09. And lowering investors service ratings. And stock worth one-third the daily late fee -- pardon, "additional daily rate." In December, Blockbuster CEO Jim Keyes told me some customers, past and way past, still bore a grudge against Blockbuster over these very fees: "Institutional memory -- how they stuck me with a late fee back in 1992. The bloggers, they're venting over that." And they still are, all over again.

​I'm going to use this opportunity to do two things: link to a New York Times story about the Dallas Museum of Art in order to give away 30 tickets to the Dallas Museum of Art. Good through June 30. Admits one; limit two per winner. Just post, oh, your favorite Ray Davies or Kinks song in the comments, and make sure you leave me and only me your name, so's I can leave 'em at the front. First come, first served.Here, from The Times, a tease:The Dallas Museum of Art has determined that visitors fall into one of four clusters, based on their preferred learning styles: observer, participant, independent or enthusiast. With information gathered from almost 3,000 visitors surveyed from 2003 to 2008, the director, Bonnie Pitman, and her staff keep these four groups at the heart of all exhibition design and programming.And in honor of Davies' performing tonight at the Palladium (see you there?), here's one of my favorite Kinks songs as performed by the Morning Benders, courtesy Rollo & Grady and Daytrotter. Tickets for tonight's show are available at the door.

​Good Lord. Was it only last week that Conan O'Brien announced he was coming to McFarlin Memorial Auditorium on May 13? Feels like four years ago. Anyway. Didn't take long for the 2,386-seat venue to sell out -- a few hours, tops. Which doesn't mean you can't catch Coco at SMU. (And, no, I'm not referring to the ducats for sale on eBay, though ...) No, I mean this: American Express is using Twitter to give away a pair of VIP tix in Dallas (and the four other sold-out cities on the "Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television" tour). Deadline to enter's Monday morning; winner's announced Tuesday.In semi-related news: I see Kenneth Cole's Tate Lecture at McFarlin isn't sold out. But Diane Keaton's is. Oh, and look there: On April 21, George and Laura Bush will be at McFarlin. Fingers crossed they perform their classic "Mother and Son" sketch.