The Tablet Claw: coming to a meeting room near you?

​Those ideas, the ones you can't shake and would love to invent, the ones you imagine would make a cool million in an instant -- they're the ones Buddy DiFonzo and Mike Solow are looking for. Friends from their software sales jobs, they started a company called Idea Harvest, which matches idea people with designers and manufacturers, streamlining the inventing process and landing them a profit based on clients' success.

Their inaugural project is an idea of their own: the Tablet Claw. Less than a year ago, DiFonzo sat in the crowd at a company conference when the speaker fumbled and dropped the iPad he was using to deliver the presentation. "It flew out of his hand," DiFonzo says. That's when he realized that tablets are slippery as hell, and there's an uncornered market to making them graspable.

He texted Solow to discuss the idea over lunch. They were both in. DiFonzo researched currently available products that would make it easier to grip the device during a presentation. There was stuff out there, but it was "bulky," "nerdy," "not iPad cool." They imagine their product could be used by pharmaceutical salespeople, anyone delivering a presentation, or by casual users.

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Caleb Winter Massey and his table of rayguns at the Deep Ellum Outdoor Market Saturday afternoon

​We stopped by the Deep Ellum Outdoor Market Saturday and were pleasantly surprised by the breadth of vendors on hand. But we spent a good 30 minutes at the Red Ranger Ray Guns table, where the 7-year-old who lives in my house and other wee passers-by discovered the possibilities presented by discarded Nerf guns, Super Soakers, power washers and other household items brought back to the future. What you see above are but a few of the items rescued from the dustbin by Caleb Winter Massey, who hawks his wares via Etsy, where he writes of his obsession:

My first exposure to ray guns and their unparalleled awesomeness was on a fourth grade field trip. Some science dude was talking about something, but I honestly don't remember anything about that lecture. The ray gun he was holding had taken control of my mind. It was the Hubley Atomic Disintegrator with it's clean, classic look and wonderful red handle. I had the brief opportunity to hold this masterpiece and never wanted to let go.

​Some of the items you see above are just for show; Massey, it should be noted, fabricated the arsenal used in Theatre Three's 2010-2011 Main Stage season-opener Sherlock Holmes in the Crucifer of Blood. But two of the rifles made noise and lit up, while the so-called Neutralizers and Gophers you see here fire Nerf darts (and further than you'd think). They run $18 and come with quite the, ahem, backstory:

The Red Rangers were founded in 1885 as a Special-Ops branch of the Texas Rangers to combat the increasing tide of railroad pirates. They became pioneers in advanced weaponry, employing the use of the greatest scientific minds of their time. With their genius, the Red Rangers developed the most awe inspiring display of atomic and steam powered devices ever witnessed. These are those creations. They have been declassified and made available to civilians. For the health and safety of you and your family, all weapons have had their energy cores drained.

Better still, they're considered quite the green machines: Last month, Massey's creations made Recycling.com's list of Fifteen Custom-Built Recycled Nerf Guns.

Click to embiggen Kevin and Kerry's action figures. Use The Iron Claw, if you must.

​Long story short: Upon learning from Zac Crain this morning of the death of Jimmy Wehba -- that's Garland's own Skandor Akbar to you and my grandfather, who spent every Saturday night tuned to wrestling on Channel 11 so way back when -- I spent way too much time stumbling down Amnesia Lane. Which, long story shorter, led me to the website of Kevin Von Erich, who I cover-storied for the paper version of Unfair Park years ago. And it was there I learned that Mattel's coming out with Kevin and Kerry Von Erich action figures sooner than later.

Turns out, they were introduced at Comic-Con in San Diego a few weeks back. Mattel's introducing its first installment in the WWE® Legends Hall of Fame Series next weekend at Kmarts (none in Dallas, alas), but no word on when Kerry and Kevin surface. I've left word for Mattel's L.A. PR reps. For my kid, you see.

​My wife and the 7-year-old who lives in our house happened to be downtown close to 12 sharp and stopped by Thanksgiving Tower for Project Bandaloop's noontime show, which went off a little earlier than originally announced; hence they missed the whole thing, then opted not to stand in a looooong line for a taco and a Popsicle (besides, their meter was running out -- ahem). But several very-impressed Friends have submitted their thumbs-up recaps, and our Nick Rallo got there just in time for the wrap-up, which, truth told, doesn't look a heckuva lot different than yesterday's sneak preview. Which is why it's on the other side. Still, though -- impressive.More >>

SpyHunter007

Back in 1982, Ben Gold was the greatest Stargate player of all time, setting the world record in Richardson.

​Thanks to this brief heads-up on the NBC5 Web site, I just spent the last little while researching Ben Gold, the local man set to be inducted into the brand-spankin'-new International Video Game Hall of Fame in Ottumwa, Iowa, on August 7. Hard to believe I didn't know anything about Gold till now: He was a member of the very same U.S National Video Game Team in 1983 that featured Billy Mitchell, star of the Donkey Kong doc The King of Kong: Fistful of Quarters, which sits firmly among My Favorite 12 Movies of All Time (though Gold has some issues with it).

And, way back when, Gold was featured on That's Incredible, profiled in the Dallas Times Herald and written up in a massive Life magazine spread on the National Video Game Team. More recently he showed up in the doc Chasing Ghosts: Beyond the Arcade -- and, as Gold mentioned when we spoke moments ago, he was on Bob Sturm and Dan McDowell's Ticket show last Friday.

Gold says he's known since March or April that he was being inducted into the Hall of Fame, but it became official about a month ago. He's among an estimable debut class -- not only is he among such famous players as Mitchell and rival Steve Wiebe, but also console creator Ralph Baer and Atari creator Nolan Bushnell. And though he's longtime pals with the hall's organizers, Gold is honored to be included amongst the class.

"In 1983, when I was in Life magazine, for a six to 12-month period, I was 'famous,'" he says. "I got phone calls from time to time from the media, and when I went to video-game functions there was a lot of interest. And then when video games became less popular, there was almost nothing for 20 years. Then, in 2005, there was a rebirth. I guess it was when competitive video-gaming became a big deal ,and that's when Chasing Ghosts happened, in '05 they came to Dallas, And then in '07 it premiered at Sundance, and then King of King came out. Chasing Ghosts fizzled, and King of Kong made Billy Mitchell and Steve Wiebe household names. But now, all of the sudden, with the hall of fame, I started getting a lot of inquiries, which is weird."

Which is why Gold just posted several flashbacks to YouTube, including footage from his That's Incredible and PM Magazine appearances. Those are on the other side. I'll have more with Gold before his trip to Iowa. We're grabbing a beer in a couple of days. And we might just play some Stargate. Because the HR rep says he doesn't play much these days, but he's "still reasonably good at Millipede."More >>

​... I present to you the story of one Richard Jordan, a local man whose tale of traveling cross-country in a Lamborghini Gallardo has become a smash hit over on Jalopnik since it was posted yesterday. Friend of Unfair Park The Big Guy sent it my way late Thursday, along with this summation to explain its appeal here and, clearly, elsewhere: "From Dallas, sells his business, buys a house for girl, they break up, chucks it all, sells all his shit, buys a lambo, drives the lambo all over the place, gets 54 tickets, loses house, blows up car engine, returns to Dallas to build motorcycles." That, right there, that's poetry.

Famous Dog Walker by David Soams

​Yesterday, good Friend of Unfair Park IgnoreLander shot me a link to the Flickr photostream of one "davidfromdallas." He also included this note: "Not sure if Dave really is from Dallas, but I came across this guy during some random Web surfing. Might be someone to watch out for in the future, as his designs are pretty cool. Thought Unfair Park should be aware." I then spent the next way too long sifting through davefromdallas's work -- a sharp, clever rearranging of pop-culture totems.

But is he from here? Sure is. This sketch on Page 2 gave it away.

So I sent David an e-mail. He replied with his phone number. I called him. We had a brief chat. His name is David Soams. He's a Dallas native, a recent UT Texas Creative grad and in the advertising bidness. So happens, we discover, his parents live exactly one block away from me. He also makes brilliant T-shirts, some of which you can buy through Woot or Threadless. Like this one. Or this one. And he's moving to the West Coast within the month.

This piece, Good Guys in Bad Games, is his most recent. He posted it to his Flickr page earlier this week, and it made its way rather quickly to the gamer sites and Reddit. David says he's especially fond of his Frankenstein piece. And this piece, among the few to be sold separately:More >>

​Apparently, somebody -- make that quite a few somebodies -- wants VH1 talking head and master of the bizarre tweet, Paul F. Tompkins, to come to Dallas. So much so there's a Facebook group specifically for that purpose. Just today I've gotten three e-mails and two suggestions to join the group, started by Shannon Albert, and support the mass persuasion efforts to get Tompkins' comedic ass to Big D.

What gives? Why a Facebook page and not just traditional letters of longing, lust and begging? Well, the page reads: "Paul F. Tompkins has said if a city gets up to 300 people that he'll come to that city to perform. Let's find 300 North Texas fans and get PFT to Dallas!" That's pretty clear, I suppose. And based on a recent tweet, it appears that Tompkins is aware of the demand: "Dallas the American city! I would like to meet you."

So far, 110 members. Wait, make it 111. I couldn't help myself.

Oh, sweet baby Jesus. We just received the Best. Press. Release. Ever. Why come? Because it contains the following sentence: "Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert and Blockbuster CEO Jim Keyes will compete performing a Guitar Hero song to kick off 24-hours of jam sessions on May 16 at 2:30 p.m." Blah blah blah, fund-raiser, blah blah blah, something good for the kids, blah blah blah. Registration form and further info here.

But, really, I still can't get past, "Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert and Blockbuster CEO Jim Keyes will compete performing a Guitar Hero song to kick off 24-hours of jam sessions on May 16 at 2:30 p.m." Now you know where to find us Friday. Till then, we're trying to figure out which song off GH3 is best suited for Mayor Tom. "Bulls on Parade," maybe? Nah. Lil' help? --Robert Wilonsky

7 p.m. Sept. 24: Five hours before the most anticipated video game in history, Halo 3, will be released. Lines are forming. Droves of devoted fans all around the metroplex lined the streets waiting for the final installment of the epic sci-fi game served exclusively on Xbox 360.

Introduced as a relatively unknown first-person shooter for the original Xbox in 2001, Halo has exploded into a worldwide multimedia phenomena. Deemed “revolutionary” by fans and critics alike, Halo went on to spawn the No. 1-selling sequel of all time (Halo 2), multiple novels, comics, countless toys and accessories and a movie in development with Peter Jackson.

All of which pale in comparison to the release of the final installment, Halo 3. With a marketing budget of more than $10 million and more than 10,000 retail stores opening for the midnight release, Dallas was standing directly on the front line of the battle.

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