Lucy Wrubel

When I go to the website for Dallas City Hall, I don’t expect to see the face of Lucy Wrubel, the coolest DJ the Park Cities has ever produced. But there she is alongside Lyle Lovett, because they will both be performing at the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge celebration party on March 2.

You asked, here it is.

Photo: Heritage Auctions

Every once in a while, I kick around on Dallas’ Heritage Auctions site, secretly pining from items that I have no use for/ my bank account can’t support. This is one of those items.

I spent my childhood like most boys born in the 80s: mimicking the every moves of Calvin Whateverhislastnameis. I bought every book, and literally almost cried when Bill Watterson hung up his pen.

But, if you’re like me, a $14,000 bid  for the original watercolor for the 1989-1990 Calvin and Hobbes calendar is not feasible. In fact, it would be so irresponsible that my soon-to-be wife would quickly become my never-to-be wife. That said, the People offices are at 750 N. St. Paul Street, Dallas, TX, 75201. We’re on the 21st floor, and we always accept gifts.

Most commonly, phone calls and emails come flooding in about games won, galas well danced, and other joyous occasions. But yesterday, I got a call about the Junior Symphony Ball that included such memorable and visceral descriptions as “walking through vomit in cowboy boots,” “drunk fest,” and “complete orgy.” The caller, whose daughter attended the Jan. 28 ball, said chaperones turn a blind eye to alcohol and drug use, and that the event has been declining in decorum for years.

This all falls in stark contrast to the JSB that Michelle Duncan, co-chair of the event, attended.

“The things she’s attesting to are really not correct,” Duncan said.

Duncan (and plenty of people whose glowing emails she forwarded to me) considers the ball a grand success. Sure, there was a bloody nose here and there, at least one kid bent over a trashcan, and another mouthy one cuffed by police, but Duncan isn’t losing any sleep over it.

“It’s like going to a concert,” she said. “Unfortunate things happen. You can only control it so much.”

The ball drew more than 2,000 students and had around 200 parent chaperones. With all those hormones packed into the Palladium, something is bound to go down. But Duncan maintains it was far from “a complete orgy.”

“I did see one little couple kissing in the ballroom,” she said. “But it wasn’t a deep, heavy, intense thing. It was kind of like, ‘Oh, that’s sweet.’ ”

Duncan, who said this was the first official complaint in the JSB’s 53-year history, diplomatically offered to refund the caller’s ticket price.

“Nobody turned a blind eye,” she said. “Now with that many kids, could we have missed some stuff? Of course, but we tried our best.”

Did your kids go to the JSB? Do you agree with anonymous caller No. 1 or Duncan?

Comments are on, for now …

NASA's Orion spacecraft slides under the Tollway Friday. (Photo: Strauss Marketing)

Don’t worry, there were no little green men driving the truck.

The above photo (h/t Strauss Marketing) is of NASA’s Orion spacecraft, which will stop in Dallas tonight as part of a cross-country tour. The photo was taken at Lovers and the Tollway.

Check out the interstellar ride outside the American Airlines Center this weekend, and for more information about the tour, visit NASA.

I’ve talked about the Katy Trail before, and I generally love it. It’s clean (most of the time), safe, and well-lit. Yesterday, it was like a Turkish bazaar.

There were kids fighting with bamboo swords outside of Katy Trail Ice House, a middle-schooler scaling the rocks near the AAC, and, over the course of our two hour ride, at least three separate Dallas Fire and Rescue squads aiding sick trail users.

When I go to the Katy Trail, I always expect it to be crowded. I know that going in. But yesterday it was like Dirk Nowitzki was signing autographs at one end, and they were handing out free Porsches at the other. Anyone else out there see the same thing?

(P.S.- At least two of the people aided by Fire and Rescue eventually walked away on their own strength. So I’m not a total monster for mentioning it.)

Junior Symphony Ball chairmen work on invitations.

Attention, high school students: Today is the deadline to buy tickets for the Junior Symphony Ball, featuring the Casey Donahew Band. The event is scheduled from 8 to midnight on Jan. 28 at the (gulp) Palladium Ballroom. Tickets are $75, and the funds raised allow special-needs students to attend Dallas Symphony Orchestra concerts at no charge. Over the last four years, the Junior Symphony Ball has raised close to $200,000. To buy tickets, email Karen Reeder at reeder.karenm@gmail.com.

Vapiano, an Italian restaurant in Mockingbird Station, is offering a free tango lesson and dance party tomorrow evening. The  lesson is from 8:30 to 9 p.m., and the party kicks off directly after and runs to 11.