STEVE BROWN The Dallas Morning News
Real Estate Editor
stevebrown@dallasnews.com
Published: 25 January 2012 02:25 PM
http://www.dallasnews.com/business/c...-scheduled.ece
Dallas' Valley View Center mall is set for a foreclosure sale.

Nocturnal Wonderland, formerly known as Nocturnal Festival, is a massive electronic music festival that has been steadily growing and brings the biggest names in music and dance to an audience of up to 50,000 musical enthusiasts.

The first Nocturnal Wonderland was held in 1995. In its early years, Insomniac (the production crew responsible for Nocturnal Festival), did not have a steady revenue for this event and the location for the party/event had to change each year. One of its most famous location was in the Coachella Valley Indio Polo grounds. This is the same location where the now famous Coachella Music Festival is held. In 2003 (after one year of Nocturnal Wonderland could not be held because not enough revenue for the event could be generated to secure the event), Nocturnal Wonderland returned to the National Orange Show in San Bernardino after having first taken place at that location in 1998. The Orange Show has been the location of Nocturnal from 2003 to the present except for 2007. During 2007, the event was held in Downtown Los Angeles.

On Labor Day Weekend 2010, Insomniac surprised many fans by introducing Nocturnal Festival Texas held at Apache Pass Fairgrounds in Rockdale, Texas, just outside of Austin. This event became not only the first Nocturnal Festival outside of California, but also the first multi-day Nocturnal being held on September 4th through the 5th.  

wikipedia

One of the most recent initiatives to sprout out of Deep Ellum a group of volunteers who created DUG, Deep Ellum Urban Gardens  which is part of the Deep Elum Community Association. The vision of the project is to develop a space for local residents and restaurants to grow produce, while also creating some neighborly time together.

We need more of this in Dallas!

Read more at the link

How how hot has it been this year? It's been so hot that the Devil knocked on my door and asked for a drink of water. Luckily I didn't give him any...

In the Dallas-Fort Worth  metroplex we just missed two all-time records for 100-degree days.

The first record was back in 1980 for the number of days at 100 degrees or more in the summer. That record is 69 days. So far we've had 68 days at 100 degrees or more for 2011.

The second record was also from 1980 which is the number of consecutive days at or above 100 degrees. That record was 42 days. From July 2 to August 10, we had 40 consecutive days above the 100 degree mark then one day a few rain clouds came in and spoiled it for us. Two days later we were back up to 107.

However, there is hope. It looks like we will creep up above 100 again this week for a couple more days. Honestly, I'm ready for cool weather and rain and not this dry desert that we've had this year.

Since we've made it this far, why not put one down for the record books!

I don't care if it is scaled down. Its time to do something about the traffic downtown! 

I’m happy to report that the food trucks have arrived in Dallas. I seem to remember that there were some city council members and possibly a former mayor who didn’t like the idea of lowlife food trucks riding around and selling grub in our fair city. I eventually gave up on the idea of being able to grab a high quality gourmet burrito late at night in Dallas, just as I could in Los Angeles. However, after seeing a food truck parked outside of Walgreens in Addison the other day, I became curious and did some internet research. 

Low and behold, I found an entire list of trucks!

Below is the list of the ones that I've found thus far.  

SSahm BBQ, serving gormet Korean tacos and fries, they primarly focus on variying parts of town including Uptown, Las Colinas and Addison. Follow them on Twitter to find their exact locations. 

Nammi Truck, a mobile Vietnamese kitchen that serves bahn mi sandwiches. Follow them on Twitter to find out their next stop.

Gandolfo’s Deli Sanwiches, serving up New York-style sandwiches such as pastrami, hot dogs, and vegetarian options. They’re currently taking location suggestions on their Facebook page. 

Jack’s Chowhound is a comfort food truck serving burgers and sandwiches. The are normally parked at the Inwood Tavern, but follow them on Twitter for exact hours.

Green House Truck, is a mobile kitchen in the city that serves healthy, gourmet food. Green House Truck chef Ben Hutchison previous experience includes Food Company, Star Canyon and Routh Street. Follow them on Twitter for more information on locations. 

City Street Grille is known for their burritos and tacos, however the chicken salad, grill chese and grilled steak seems to be popular as well. They primarly stay in the uptown, downtown area. You can check them out on Twitter to find the exact locations and times. 

http://www.ssahmbbq.com/

http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2011/06/01/new-food-trucks-rolling-into-dallas/

Have you longed to play Hungry Hungry Hippos with a cocktail resting at your side? Now you can with Play Date, a new night that launched Aug. 9 in Dallas. 

The event, which started in Atlanta more than a year ago, lets patrons play old-school board games in a comfortable bar atmosphere. Dallas games include Atari, Yahtzee, Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots and more.

Play Date Dallas is still going strong. Check them out when you are looking for Something New! 

www.playdatedallas.com

I loved the food in this place but for some reason it never took off. It never seemed very crowded when I went but the food was always good. The last time I ate there was about a year and a half ago with well known Dallas food critic, he loved the food and so did I but again, places come and go. 

Searching the internet it looks like the space will be taken over by Buzz Brews which is actually a good fit for the Deep Ellum vibe. I'm disappointed the Cowboy Chow is leaving but I also like the Buzz Brews concept.