Bradford Pearson contemplates whether he has enough road to reach 88 miles per hour, thereby activating the McLaren MP4-12C's flux capacitor. (Staff photo: Alana Harrison)

Park Place McLaren held its grand opening on Lemmon Avenue last week. To mark the occasion, we asked if Bradford Pearson could take a 2012 McLaren MP4-12C for a test drive. This is a car that’ll run you $257,000 — not $275,000 as I erroneously wrote in the headline. (And those $18,000 will make all the difference in your buying decision, right?) I highly recommend you pick up a copy of today’s paper to read Brad’s account of his ride around Dallas. Not only is it funny, it’s already prompted one reader to cancel her subscription.

The Pretty Kitty, a California-based waxing company, recently opened its doors in Mockingbird Station.

Raya tackled this at ShopTalk a few weeks ago, but … the name. Thoughts? You gonna walk your kids past it and try to explain it to ‘em?

I live in Uptown, pretty close to the West Village. I drive a 2001 Volkswagen Jetta, but would probably switch to an electric/hybrid car if I could afford it (Park Cities People subscriptions are really pretty cheap, folks.).

That said, the announcement that West Village had installed electric vehicle charging stations struck me as odd. Who will use them? The dude that drives a literal monster truck down McKinney Avenue, revving his engine at 2 a.m.?

Wishful thinking on the center’s part, I suppose. Now buy some papers so I can get a new car.

Freelance writer Sarah Hepola was just enjoying some Gloria Steinem at the Northwest Highway Barnes and Noble when, out of nowhere, a man started masturbating next to her.

For the whole disturbing story, check out Sarah’s post about it. Seems like Barnes and Noble handled this pretty well, but yeeeeeesh. Sorry Sarah.

(h/t Frontburner)

Carl Sewell addresses SMU graduates on Dec. 17.

I can’t drive down a street in the Park Cities without seeing at least three vehicles bearing the Sewell logo. It’s apparent that y’all love to buy cars from Carl Sewell, but will you take his advice? A 1966 graduate of SMU and a former chairman of its Board of Trustees, Sewell delivered the commencement address to about 950 graduates in Moody Coliseum last Saturday. According to an SMU press release, he offered four major pieces of advice:

Find a mentor.

Think about what you read and how much you read. Make the reading of a serious book something you do at least once every six months.

Decide how good you want to be, and how much time you want to devote to it.

Learn from failures. (He mentioned his long history of working with GM, and how he has learned from that company’s failures.)

Those all sound like good words to live by. Can anyone think of something he should have added?

Here’s a little Christmas present to all of the businesses looking to make an impression on our lovely readers in 2012. For the next 24 hours, we’re discounting our advertising rates for the Jan. 6 edition by 50 percent. To take advantage of this offer, you must call me at 214-523-5242 by noon on Friday. Don’t miss out on this chance to take advantage of our holiday spirit!

Sharon Friedberg needed a mega-flashlight to give me and photographer Chris McGathey a tour.

In the summer of 2009, I toured the shell of the AMC Glen Lakes, my employer during the early ’90s, and wrote a story about how it was sitting vacant along Central Expressway, gathering dust. My tour guide, leasing agent Sharon Friedberg, told me there was some interest in converting the old multiplex into a Dave & Buster’s-style entertainment venue, even though an actual Dave & Buster’s sits just on the other side of Walnut Hill Lane. As it turns out, Friedberg was prophetic. Maria Halkias reports in today’s Dallas Morning News that Dave & Buster’s plans to convert the Glen Lakes into a replacement for its nearby location.

No matter how you cut it, today’s Dallas Groupon for Luxe Boutique in Snider Plaza is an awesome deal.

Have at it!

Forbes has an interesting article, posted Friday, that argues that instead of spending taxpayer money wooing stadiums, cities should instead fight for Apple stores.

The shops have become “anchors for affluent areas,” and promote more economic growth than stadiums, which often just encourage growth between and around their seats.

Dallas has two Apple stores (McKinney Avenue and NorthPark, plus another in Plano), falling behind New York (5, tied for most in the world with London), Los Angeles, San Francisco, Miami, Las Vegas, Pittsburgh (surprisingly) and Honolulu (incredibly surprising).

In Texas, Houston has three shops, San Antonio two, and Austin two. I can’t fathom how much good an Apple store on Lower Henderson or Deep Ellum would help stabilize those shops, though I may be in the minority among my friends in that respect.

Small businesses are important, but I think an anchor like Apple could help some of those shops flourish, and stick around.

'Served by the Belles,' the Highland Park drill team's inaugural cookbook, is now available at Christy M Boutique.

So Christy M Boutique — subject of a Park Cities People feature back in February, and a Snider Plaza store I literally cannot visit without buying something, dangit, even when I’m on the clock — is throwing a four-year anniversary party from 5 to 7:30 p.m. tonight.

I’m told Christy Mesec and her employees will be offering up wine, cheese, discounts, party favors, and the whole lot. They’re also selling copies of Served by the Belles, the Highland Belles’ new cookbook, alongside the store’s collection of clothes and accessories. You can find the book here, too, and at Kid Biz in Preston Center.