Posted on September 2, 2008 at 10:32 a.m.

Bacon always wins.

On UPDATED: State Fair of Texas announces 2008 list of weird fried foods

Posted on August 27, 2008 at 2:56 p.m.

I thought that was a slug creeping across the foreground.

On New product Wednesday, at Dallas-area stores: Crest Nature's Expressions mint + green tea extract toothpaste

Posted on August 25, 2008 at 1:21 p.m.

Hmmm. When 4 out of 5 pools you do look at fail the inspection, maybe you should look at more than 190 of the 1,300 pools that are eligible for inspection. If you care about stopping a parasite epidemic among kids, that is.

On Cryptosporidiosis outbreaks in Dallas-area pools makes everyone fidgety about inspection situation

Posted on August 22, 2008 at 5:46 p.m.

I don't anthropomorphize elephants, jtmbls. And I don't consider individual elephants to be of particular importance compared to the species. Even if zoo life were bad for an individual elephant, that's a small price to pay for the conservation goals that zoos advance (both directly and indirectly).

On Jenny the elephant will remain a Dallasite

Posted on August 22, 2008 at 4:22 p.m.

I agree that, in general, we shouldn't keep animals if we can't meet their needs. But I imagine we'd disagree on what constitute the "needs" of an elephant. If the elephant is alive and reasonably healthy, its needs are being met sufficiently, in my book.

On Jenny the elephant will remain a Dallasite

Posted on August 21, 2008 at 9:33 a.m.

So then, djphillips, once Jenny is shipped off to Tennessee, you would have no objection with replacing her with a couple of new African elephants, once construction is complete? Or is your preference that the Dallas Zoo not have elephants at all?

On Jenny the elephant will remain a Dallasite

Posted on August 13, 2008 at 9 a.m.

The candy coating on M&M's is vestigial from the days when they used actual chocolate for the center. Remember the slogan: "The milk chocolate melts in your mouth, not in your hand"?

After the move away from chocolate to "chocolate" (due to ingredient costs and in an effort to reduce heat damage in transit and storage), the shell became superfluous. The new centers wouldn't melt on mid-July Texas blacktop. They might not even melt on a hot skillet. (Get out the Pegasus News cameras, and let's see.)

Remember how, years ago, you'd occasionally get a bag of M&M's with scattered pieces that were "squished"--kind of flattened with the candy shell shattered all around, but still adhering? That doesn't happen anymore, because it was a consequence of melted centers and rough handling. Now that the centers don't melt, the damaged pieces are just cleanly broken puzzle-pieces of M&M's.

All the candy coatings add now are color and an extra dose of sugar (as if that were needed). $10 a pound for "premium" M&M's is crazy. That's as much as Valrhona fèves.

On New product Wednesday, in Dallas-area stores: M&M's Premiums

Posted on August 6, 2008 at 7:37 p.m.

The size change I can kind of understand. But making the leap from ice cream to "frozen dairy dessert" at the same time? Lame. Can't wait for follow-up stories on this.

On New product Wednesday, at Dallas-area stores: Dreyer's Limited Edition Coconut Pineapple

Posted on August 1, 2008 at 2:19 p.m.

Marijuana? On Snoop's bus? Sounds like a set-up to me.

On Snoop Dogg's tour bus gets pulled over in Corsicana, Texas

Posted on July 30, 2008 at 12:37 p.m.

Can I get a black velvet apricot painting of the Vegas-era Elvis?

On New product Wednesday, at Dallas-area stores: Black Velvet apricots