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Meant to get to this yesterday, when Dallas iMedia Network sent word of its Slam Bang Theater 50th-anniversary celebration scheduled for September 24 (an in-studio taping for which you'll need to RSVP) and September 26, when, at the Scott Theatre in Fort Worth, Richard Kent will screen his doc Icky Twerp: The Electronic Babysitter about the genius beneath the hat and behind the specs, Bill Camfield. By way of a sneak peek at the past, which my dad remembers like it was the day before yesterday, that's the trailer at top.

Richardson's Shirin Askari on last night's Project Runway​I'm putting it all out there: I had to eat some cobbler and listen to the two-disc The Greatest Hits 1966-1992 by Neil Diamond (excluding "Heartlight," and repeating "You Don't Bring Me Flowers," naturally) to get this last episode of Project Runway out of my system. I'm not even exaggerating. But whatever. Basically, this episode just irritated me. The challenge to make a surfer chic outfit? OK, yeah, you're in L.A. We get it. Woo! Hoo! And it looked like those producers caught on that since they'd kicked off Alien Chick and Egg Boy a tad prematurely, they needed to kick up the drama between the remaining milquetoast personalities. Partner challenge! One person gets to be captain! At which point Mitchell Hall of the Bottom Twos picks Ra'mon-Lawrence Coleman and said, "I wanted to work with someone that could carry me on this challenge." Foreshadowing much?And things were too easy, so ... only 15 minutes in Mood! Eek! Which, by the way, was but the second time we got to see the dreaded, mono-monikered Epperson talk to Qristyl Frazier like she was the least intelligent, least favorite in-law he'd ever had to be in the same room with. Meanwhile, Mitchell was acting like the prissy spoiled brat -- yelling at Ra'mon to quit talking to other designers, pouting, acting like an ass. Thankfully, all that was interrupted by Tim Gunn. Heidi Klum and the judges threw down the (not-at-all) shocking "second look that's an avant-garde relative of the first look" challenge. One person got to go to Mood again, while the other labored away in the workroom. I'm not clear why Dallasite Louise Black didn't make that trip, over her partner Althea Harper, since Louise can obviously avant-garde anyone under the table, but I'm thinking Althea pulled the "I worked for Vivienne Westwood and I'm the team leader" card.

Mike Judge, creator of Beavis and Butt-head and writer-director of Office Space, stopped by Unfair Park HQ two weeks ago to talk about that 1999 film's more-or-less follow-up Extract, which opened yesterday. (Our review is here.) Before our chat in my office, Patrick Michels presented the former Anson Funderburgh bassist with a copy of this photo taken at the Office Space 10th anniversary shindig in Austin back in February. That's Judge's daughter just over Gary Cole's shoulder, which is but one reason why Judge kept the picture next to him during our wide-ranging chat.Mike Judge Talks 'Extract' with Unfair Park from Dallas Observer on Vimeo.

So, wait, none of these people are on the Today show anymore? Been a while, I guess.​Far as I knew, Tom Brokaw and Jane Pauley were still hosting the Today show -- apparently not. Nope, says this NBC press release, a couple of gentlemen named Matt Lauer (who I thought hosted HBO's entertainment news segment) and Al Roker will bring the show to Arlington next week, setting up shop at Jerry Jones's EnormoDome in advance of the Dallas Cowboys' home opener two days later on ... hey, lookie there, NBC! Oh, and doesn't this look promisingly awkward: "Lauer and Roker will get and exclusive behind-the-scenes tour of Cowboys Stadium given by Cowboy great Emmitt Smith." Jones will also be on hand, and he'd like a word with you, Emmitt.And, burying the lead, Jenna Bush makes her bow as a Today correspondant next week, which will make at least one local couple awful proud. First on her to-do list: a profile of Dallas Independent School District public-speaking whiz kid Dalton Sherman, a year after he spent time with Oprah and Ellen. No doubt, Bush will get Dalton's Cowboys season predictions in advance of the Giants game.

Because, sometimes, Shirin, it helps to pray to the dress. ​The Project Runway designers were worried: Heidi Klum was being all kinds of shady as she gave this week's challenge. With her spritely German accent she mumbled something about 13 women, waiting in the the workroom, knowing what they wanted. It was terrifying.Oh, but it was just the models! What relief! No one's worried now! Except Logan Neitzel, who was nervous about designing for Fan o' the-Fifties Kojii, and Epperson, whose model Matar wanted simple, interesting but not too much, romantic, flowing punk that's tight but not too exposing, short and tiger (huh?). And Richardson's Shirin Askari, whose model wanted a royal blue and gold satin jumpsuit. Oh, and all of them, really, because it was a one-day challenge. WTF, Tim Gunn! But Johnny Sakalis was feeling free and clean and totally vibing with his model: "It's like designing something for myself if I was a black girl."

Patrick MichelsAnthony Daniels and his little friend during our interview yesterday at Hotel ZaZa​Anthony Daniels was in Dallas yesterday to promote the Star Wars: In Concert megavent scheduled for October 23 at Cowboys Stadium, where two hours' worth of Star Wars clips will get a screening on Jerry Jones's high-def wall of voodoo. Patrick Michels recorded my lengthy chitchat with C-3PO's alter ego at Hotel ZaZa, which we'll run closer to the show (Daniels will narrate in person, accompanied by an 85-piece orchestra). But I will share this anecdote: Toward the end of our talk Tuesday morning, I casually mentioned that some folks 'round these parts refer to Cowboys Stadium as "the Death Star.""They do?" he asked. Daniels seemed rather amused by this. "Of course, I've been in the Death Star many times before. I'm sure I'll escape alive like I did the last time." The man's adorable.

​When last we discussed the Best Movies Ever Made in Dallas, this one somehow missed the list: 1978's Seniors, a college sex romp filmed on the SMU campus starring Dennis Quaid and a topless Priscilla Barnes. It was on DVD for a while, but seems to be out of print at the moment -- damn it. Blessedly, it gets a screening October 15 at the Dallas Producers Association's fifth "It Came from Dallas" celebration, where lights high and low are screened for, more often than not, nostalgic giggles.This time 'round, the DPA fund-raiser -- which will take place October 15 at the Studio Movie Grill at N. Central Expressway and Royal Lane -- is a bit more high-minded in nature, as Bonnie and Clyde also gets the once-over. And Hillcrest High School's own Glenn Morshower will also attend to discuss his role, at the age of 16, in the locally made Drive-In (whose director, Rodney Amateau, also made Seniors two years later). But my dad's especially tickled by this year's roster, as they're also planning on screening the three episodes of Route 66 done in Dallas in 1962 -- one of which was shot at my grandfather's built-in-'47 brickyard, currently the site of the Mesquite Rodeo.

Courtesy Jon Dahlander/DISDDalton Sherman and Jenna Bush Hager, who interviewed the DISD phenom for a Today segment scheduled to air tomorrow.​There's an awful nice Associated Press piece floating around about 11-year-old Dallas Environmental Science Academy sixth-grader Dalton Sherman, who, as you no doubt recall, became the Dallas Independent School District most famous motivational speaker after his back-to-school keynote in '08. There's a good reason for the follow-up a year later: As we noted last week, Sherman -- along with Jerry Jones's EnormoDome -- will be featured on tomorrow's Today, which brings Matt Lauer and Al Roker to Arlington and Jenna Bush Hager to teevee as an NBC correspondent.In the AP piece, DISD spokesman Jon Dahlander says of the Sherman phenomenon: "It just keeps going and growing. The power of YouTube strikes again for Dalton Sherman. It couldn't happen to a nicer family or a greater kid." Which is why Dahlander sent to local media types this pic of the former First Twin and Sherman taken during a break in taping. He also sends this note: "This past summer, Kids Who Care Inc. of Fort Worth created a musical that was inspired by his speech called District XI: Believe in Me. Dalton and his brother Demosthenes are now members of the production's cast. The next performance is scheduled for Friday, Oct. 2, at the Scott Theatre in Fort Worth." When I was a DISD student, I appeared in The Pajama Game.

Courtesy Jon Dahlander/DISDDalton Sherman and Jenna Bush Hager, who interviewed the DISD phenom for a Today segment scheduled to air tomorrow.​There's an awful nice Associated Press piece floating around about 11-year-old Dallas Environmental Science Academy sixth-grader Dalton Sherman, who, as you no doubt recall, became the Dallas Independent School District most famous motivational speaker after his back-to-school keynote in '08. There's a good reason for the follow-up a year later: As we noted last week, Sherman -- along with Jerry Jones's EnormoDome -- will be featured on tomorrow's Today, which brings Matt Lauer and Al Roker to Arlington and Jenna Bush Hager to teevee as an NBC correspondent.In the AP piece, DISD spokesman Jon Dahlander says of the Sherman phenomenon: "It just keeps going and growing. The power of YouTube strikes again for Dalton Sherman. It couldn't happen to a nicer family or a greater kid." Which is why Dahlander sent to local media types this pic of the former First Twin and Sherman taken during a break in taping. He also sends this note: "This past summer, Kids Who Care Inc. of Fort Worth created a musical that was inspired by his speech called District XI: Believe in Me. Dalton and his brother Demosthenes are now members of the production's cast. The next performance is scheduled for Friday, Oct. 2, at the Scott Theatre in Fort Worth." When I was a DISD student, I appeared in The Pajama Game.

All photos by Rachel Parker​Drew Barrymore was an hour late for our interview this morning to talk Whip It, and couldn't have been more apologetic; she got waylaid by "studio business," hence our stunningly in-depth 10-minute chat, ah well. But judging by a comment posted to our heads-up about Barrymore's appearance at Urban Outfitters last night, things didn't go too terribly well there either: "I have such a bad taste in my mouth after today that I don't even care about the movie anymore...and get this...I am a DERBY GIRL!"Our Rachel Parker was there with her camera, and reports that, yeah, it was a bit of a cluster: "The security people wouldn't let us shoot Drew signing autographs, and I had to get my claws out to get them to even let me shoot Drew with the derby girls." But she got enough photos, including one of Barrymore with the Dallas Derby Devils (and one with Gordon Keith, be still my beating heart!), to merit a jump, so why don't you?