OK, the headline is a bit over the top, but former gubernatorial candidate Kinky Friedman was in Dallas recently promoting TopGolf just north of the Skillman/Abrams intersection in Lake Highlands. Kinky didn’t have his golf shoes on, but he was making the rounds and chatting up the guests, even handing out a few of his trademark cigars to the guys he really wanted to charm. One of our sales reps, neighborhood resident Susie Denardo, is a big Kinky fan, so we asked to take her picture with him. Kinky was ultra-cooperative. Just on a lark, figuring that the beating he took during the last election would have been enough, I asked Kinky if he was planning another try at the governor’s office. Surprising me, he said he would run again, but only if he "and the Democrats can get together" and figure out a way for him to get the Democratic nomination. So there you have it: The first salvo in the next campaign for governor, fired right here in the neighborhood!
Speaking of TopGolf, neighborhood resident Susan Falvo is the marketing director, and it’s really a pretty fun place to hit some golf balls. There’s automatic scoring, electronic updating of how far you hit each ball (assuming you’re lucky or good enough for the ball to fall in one of the scoring chambers), food and drink service to your tee, a bunch of big-screen TVs in the bar/restaurant showing sports, and, most impressive, some type of fake grass on each hitting pad that really feels realistic. There’s a coupon in the upcoming October Advocate that gives you a couple of free games, so cut it out when the magazine begins delivery on Friday and head over there with a buddy or two (or a couple of kids, in my case); it’s a good time.