Scene and Heard

When I say John Mayer, you say what? Musician? Jessica Simpson's ex-boyfriend Jen Aniston's? Racist? Shock jock? Misunderstood? I'll be the first to admit, in my mind all of those labels apply.

I can remember going to see John Mayer when he was touring his Room For Squares album at the Smirnoff Center (now Superpages.com Center) in 2003. I'm a sucker for heartbreak music, and his witty lyrics always resonated with me, so I've been a fan from the beginning. However, he's made it harder and harder to like him over the years. At some point, the musician decided that selling out shows wasn't good enough. He didn't want groupies, he wanted Hollywood's hottest. He didn't want to be just a singer/songwriter, he wanted to be a rock star. He wanted to be edgy and controversial. He needed to be talked about, to be part of the national conversation. Simply put: He wanted to be a celebrity.

But, Mayer's rise in fame has shown a side of him that isn't pretty. In fact, he's developed a terrible public persona (especially via the pages of Us Weekly, where our highly-connected sources have given insight into Mayer's mind that quite frankly, I wish I didn't have). Which put me in an awkward position when he released his newest album, Battle Studies. 'Cause I love it. I can listen to it on repeat for days, and I never do that. And, amazingly his lyrics in songs like 'Friends, Lovers or Nothing,' 'Who Says' and 'Half of My Heart' made me like him again.

So, when he announced his tour dates, I queued up and bought my ticket. Sadly, that was before his latest interview" came out.Mayer, once again, came off as a jerk and caused a scandal. He said racist things and crude things. So, with my admiration at an all-time low, I braved a blizzard to attend his sold out Madison Square Garden show (hey! I paid for the tickets). And it was awesome. He played oldies and all the new good stuff, and yet again proved his musical merit.

But, in between songs, Mayer had to take time out to apologize to the crowd (something he's had to do more than once). "I have never in my life intended to come off like" a horrible guy, he said (using much strong vocabulary), and thanked his fans for giving him another chance. He also admitted that loads of horrible people have come before him saying the same things, implying that he intended to prove himself as new and improved.

I don't buy it. Sure, I hope he'll keep his promises to stop courting the lime light ... but, if fame is a drug -- and this is a guy who sings an entire song about getting stoned -- I'd say he's hooked. What do you think? Is he truly a changed man? Mayer plays American Airlines Center March 9. Will you be there? Or did his insensitive and ugly words overshadow the music? Can he make people forget? Which other celebs have gone too far?

You may be a fan of America's Next Top Model, Project Runway, or both, but if you want the best of both worlds, you should be watching RuPaul's Drag Race.

As my coworker Jason Sheeler put it, RuPaul plays the Tim Gunn-like mentor to the competitors as they make outfits for the week's challenge, then plays the part of Tyra Banks as the drag queens show their stuff and "lipsync for their life."

One of the second season's contestants actually hails from Dallas. Well, Antoine Ashley's from Maryland, but he birthed his drag persona, Sahara Davenport, here while studying dance at Southern Methodist University.

Davenport doesn't like to advertise her still-youthful age, but she last performed at the Rose Room back when Station 4 was called Village Station. She's returning for shows all weekend, and talked to me over the phone beforehand.

When we see you sewing on the show, making the outfits, how much of the outfits is all you guys?
it's all us ... thank God for glue guns!

I saw your story in the New York Times - you're from the D.C. area but say you're from Dallas?
I started doing drag in Dallas, so I call it my home.

When Jay-Z hit town for the NBA All-Star Game and stayed at the Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek, he was flying solo without his superstar wife, Beyonce. But this week, his Houston-born spouse joined him when he came to Dallas for a Tuesday show at American Airlines Center.
Wednesday evening, the hip-hop/R&B couple was back at the AAC for a night out that included front-row seats to see the Mavs take down the L.A. Lakers. Jay-Z was low-key in his dark denim, but Beyonce was fetching in her tight camo pants and high heels.
Afterward, they headed to Cafe Pacific in Highland Park Village where Jay-Z had hosted a lunch during All-Star weekend. The couple joined friends for a late meal.
And just so you know, last month, Beyonce and Jay-Z once again topped Forbes magazine's list of top-earning couples. During the last year, Jay-Z raked in an impressive $35 million, but Beyonce blew him away with a reported income of $87 million.

If homegrown gymnast Nastia Liukin sees her reported beau, skater Evan Lyscek, Monday evening on Entertainment Tonight, she might experience a pain familiar to other 20-year-olds, and ask, "What did he just say?"
While People magazine is busy breaking the news of a romance between the two gold medalists (complete with quotes from Nastia), Entertainment Tonight is saying that Evan is saying he's not committed.
"I'm single," he tells ET. "I haven't had any time for dating while I'm training. I'm lonely."
If you follow Nastia's Twitter feed, it doesn't look like he's been that lonely.
On Sunday, she posted a picture from Vancouver of Evan holding his gold medal in his right hand and Nastia in his left.
Of the reported romance, Evan told ET, "We are very close friends and she's been such an inspiration. I ask her advice. I'm honored to have her here."
Nastia is an on-again, off-again SMU student. People reports that she has been traveling from Dallas to L.A. to visit him and last summer, he came to Dallas to watch her compete in the U.S. Nationals.
"We hang out, go to dinner and movies, and lay low," Nastia tells People about her L.A. visits. "We have similar personalities - we're both laid back."
The two gold medalists met in October 2008 while appearing on NBC's Skating & Gymnastics Spectacular.

Oprah Winfrey's friend-in-chief Gayle King (editor at large for O magazine) escaped the All-Star madness with a clothes shopping trip to Forty Five Ten on McKinney Avenue with her Stanford grad daughter, Kirby.

Mary J. Blige was a quiet guest at the Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek, staying in and ordering room service. When she did come down to dine in the Mansion bar, she brought her own food.

One lunch regular at Charlie Palmer in the Joule found that the valet parkers could not leave his car in its traditional spot in front of the restaurant on Saturday.
A truck hauling an enormous dumpster was parked on Main Street in front of the Joule to haul away all the trash from Michael Jordan's All-Star party held the night before in a heated tent adjacent to the hotel.
Folks like Spike Lee and Charles Barkley gnoshed on lobster corn dogs (see what remains to the right) from Charlie Palmer chef Scott Romano.

Jay-Z can always depend on a warm welcome at the Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek. The hip-hop mogul (estimated net worth: more than $500 million) stayed at the Mansion for the All-Star festivities. His wife, Beyonce, was not with him. (She's probably too busy counting her net worth. Forbes just reported that she out-earned her husband last year, $87 million to his $35 million.)
Jay-Z will be back in town next week for a show at American Airlines Center and he left several pairs of tickets for Mansion employees.

We're less than an hour away from Monday morning and here is Alicia Keys winding down her NBA All-Star weekend with a late meal at Al Biernat's.
Alicia, you missed running into Mario Lopez by 48 hours. He was at Biernat's dining in the dark when the power went out on Friday night. It could have been the start of something small.

Mark Cuban and Jerry Jone just announced the record-setting attendance for tonight's game: 108,713

Finally, the inevitable courtside celeb onscreen moment: Spike Lee and his NY Yankees ballcap. An appropriate swell of boo's filled the stadium. Then it was Ludacris' turn for an onscreen moment. he was Mr. Sunglasses.

A flurry of onscreen celebs: a bejeweled Floyd Mayweather, Gov ar old Schwarzenegger sporting a pair of flashy cowboy boots and Shaquille O'Neal.

P Diddy is the second celeb to get screen time. Not quite as robust a round o applause as for Magic.

Earvin "Magic" Johnson is the first celebrity attendee of the night to fill the giant screen.

Michael ("but call me Mike") Stevens, 42, stood at the railing of one the stadium's food court plazas, staring up at the giant high-def screen.

"My wife and are in from Phoenix," he says. "She's the basketball fan. I don't really care. But I am a giant TV fan, so when we heard the game was going to be here, I told her 'you don't even have to ask, we're going.

"I just had to see it."

He doesn't have to e plain what "it" is; while he's been talking his eyes have never left the giant video screen that hangs over and dwarfs the basketball court that has been set up at what is usually mid-field.

"I don't even know where our seats are. -- who cares? I told
my (Beth, he mentions almost incidentally) to meet me here after the game."

Given a quick rundown of the fantastic figures that make up the "video board" -- 300 million light bulbs, weighing 600 tons, measuring 160 x 72 feet -- he just shakes his head and sighs. "I guess it'll never fit in my living room."

Jay-Z had a secret plan to avoid a crush of fans in Dallas: Dine at off hours. On Saturday, midway between the lunch and dinner hours, the hip-hop mogul took over the clubby Café Pacific in Highland Park Village for an afternoon meal with 10 friends.

Jamie Foxx can do pretty much anything: Comic, actor, singer (you're welcome, Kanye) and bartender.
In a festive mood Friday night, the Academy Award winner jumped behind the bar at AMPM Restaurant and Lounge and started making drinks for guests.

The governor of Khal-if-for-ni-ya was in a gregarious mood when he shopped in the men's department at the Neiman Marcus Northpark at about 4:30 p.m. on Sunday.
Arnold Schwarzenegger posed for pictures with a few elated female Neiman's shoppers.

Absolute panic set in as my busload of media brethren got off and saw the endless line snaking down the walkway around the stadium. "We don't have to stand in line do we?" asked one guy. "There must be a special entrance for media," said another. It's funny, these two guys were the same ones talking loudly and knowingly about "the scam" Jerry jones put over on the hoodwinked Arlington mayor and how he made sure there were no restaurants anywhere near the stadium (I think we passed a McD as they said this). If hey knew so much about the innerworkings of Jerry jones' empire, you'd think they would know that there was a media entrance, just a little bit farther down the walkway. No wonder people hate the media.

I30 is already backed as you approach Six Flags and the stadium exits. Leave early and often.