Angelo Salas and Edwin Cruz (above) won a break-dancing competition July 18 at Kick N Habits, a summit of sneaker collectors, b-boys and graffiti artists who met behind Studio 410, on West Davis Street. Winners in a shoe contest opted to go just by their crew names, said event spokesman Jeff Rodriguez, so here goes: Process took first place, Akuma took second, and Sandman took third. All three show off their collections together, in a group dubbed the Heat Seekers. And the winner of the poppin’ (you know, like, poppin’ and lockin’) contest was Narci Gonzalez.

Dan Koller previewed Kick N Habits in the July 16 issue of Oak Cliff People, and the photo below — of some Heat Seekers competition — ran alongside his story. From left are David Ibarra, Emmanuel Villasenor, and Juan Villasenor, otherwise known as the Freshest Kids. Emmanuel, for the record, once drove 10 hours to Atlanta to buy sneakers. And he’s considering a trip to Europe next month, so he can get a pair of Air Jordans before they come to stores in the U.S.

Now that’s dedication.

The inaugural Bastille on Bishop block party had better become an annual tradition. This thing was a lot of fun: wine, live music courtesy of Kessler Theater, a petanque court (which looked like a combo of bocce and horseshoes), a French maid-costume relay, and, of course, lots of mussels.

Staff Photos: Chris McGathey

Six students from the Texans Can! campus in Oak Cliff are visiting the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and other sites in Washington, D.C., this week. They’re journaling as part of their coursework, and we plan to share their thoughts here each day.

This entry is from Avone Huynh, a 17-year-old junior:

If ever there were a day so exhausting, so draining, so fatiguing that God himself would complain, well, today was that kind of day. I was depleted and drenched in sweat!

Today’s theme was memorials. We visited the WWII, Jefferson, FDR, Vietnam, and Korean War Memorials. When I visited the Vietnam Memorial, I felt my heart drop. Thousands of names were carved on the Wall. I ran my fingers over a couple of names and felt their triumph and courage. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers sacrificed their lives to help aid in the Vietnam War. I had sincere empathy for the family members of the deceased because I, too, had someone sacrifice their life in the war. My grandfather, Doss Paigle, a French general, died in the war. I never met my grandfather, but I remember my grandmother telling me countless stories about his bravery and integrity.

After we left the Vietnam Memorial, I scurried around like a maniac. I wanted to see every bit of scenery, artifacts, and memorials as I could. I was an enthusiastic tourist! The next day, we went to the Capitol Building. Boy, was I excited! I couldn’t wait to see the Rotunda after reading Dan Brown’s novel, The Lost Symbol. I was very intrigued by the beautiful paintings and sculptures. I managed to capture a magnificent photo of myself with an amazing view of the Capitol. There were clouds flowing overhead.

On Thursday, I woke up in a cheerful mood because we were going to Quantico. The FBI Academy is rarely visited and toured by regular civilians. Being able to tour the Academy made me feel special. I felt almost on the same level as Nicolas Cage or Johnny Depp, who has visited the site once before. The FBI Academy has opened my eyes to new things. I am no longer afraid to push the limits. “The more you change the way you look, the more you will change.” That quote pierces deeply within my heart and opened the cage door. I want to protect our rights to be informed.

Decorazon Gallery, as you’ve likely heard, is leaving the Bishop Arts District. But as co-owner MK Semos tells us, she and husband/partner Hugo Garcia-Urrutia aren’t saying goodbye to the arts scene — just making a change (stay tuned for details).

In any case, there’s a closing party Saturday at Decorazon, and you’re invited.

From 6 to 9 p.m.,  artists will turn plain white plates into art for the AIDS Interfaith Network’s silent auction. Then the fun continues with food, music, and drinks until midnight, all for a $5 suggested donation at the door.  Fun!

Sylvan Thirty, the site at the intersection of I-30 and Sylvan Avenue that has been hosting 48 Nights, will host another very cool event Saturday night. Spikes ’n’ Spokes is a design competition between motorcycles and bicycles. But it’s also an opportunity to hear music from RTB2 and Stew, eat food prepared at Bolsa and Smoke, and generally just celebrate the coolness of Oak Cliff. If you want to enter your bike or motorcycle, the $10 fee will benefit the Guns and Hoses Foundation of North Texas. But if you just want to hang out, admission is free.

Six students from the Texans Can! campus in Oak Cliff are visiting the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and other sites in Washington, D.C., this week. They’re journaling as part of their coursework, and we plan to share their thoughts here each day.

This entry is from sophomore, Knycole Smiley, 15 (front row, fourth from left):

Today was a very exciting day. Everyone in the leadership program got the chance to go to Pentagon City Mall. It is so pretty inside, and everyone couldn’t wait to go shopping after lunch.

When we finished spending money we crossed the street for the Drug Enforcement Association. There they taught us all the dangers of drug abuse. We were told a little — but not too much — about their undercover jobs to catch drug pushers. I learned a lot of things that I didn’t know. I thought that marijuana was harmless, but it actually kills brain cells. All the pictures there were great and really showed that drugs can be addictive, not just in America but all over the world.

After dinner, we did a lesson about responsibility in our evening meeting. Being responsible means handling the consequences that come along with your actions. This means, at some point, you must take the blame and say that it was all your fault. After the meeting, I had a lot of things on my mind. When I go back home to Texas, I’ll be sure that I “take the lessons home.”

Seems like Dallas is ripe for a bicycle turf war. (Bike Friendly Oak Cliff likens it to a Westside Story-ish battle, replete with ominous snapping.)

In Jim Schutze’s Unfair Park blog post from yesterday, he says an East Dallas cycling enthusiast used the term “North Oak Cliff snobbery” when referring to the attitudes within our area’s cycling community. What say you, Cliffers?

Sounds like there will be a new barbecue belt-buster on West Davis Street, with Luckies Smokehouse hopefully opening at North Clinton Avenue in September, business partner Nhat Ngo said Thursday.

Ngo said Luckies will offer ribs smoked for 14 hours, 12 types of burgers, and apple cider vinegar cole slaw.

The business will seal the doors of the old gas station and enclose part of the station’s old awning with walls for a bigger restaurant.

Check out next week’s Oak Cliff People for more details.

I’ve got to meet the guy picking out movies for the Belmont Hotel’s poolside screenings. I have a feeling we’d be  pretty good buds. Tonight’s (very awesome and unbelievably hilarious) Dive-In movie is Rushmore.

The movie starts at 8:30 p.m., which is plenty of time to grab some barbecue at Smoke and then head over to the pool to digest. Sounds good to me!

Six students from the Texans Can! campus in Oak Cliff are visiting the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., this week to learn about human rights. They’re journaling as part of their coursework, and we plan to share their thoughts here each day.

Today’s entry is from junior Carolina Rangel, 17:

When I was selected for this trip I was nervous because I didn’t know what was going to go on. I was going to back out of the trip, but my sister Celestina told me it was going to be an exciting trip because she had already been to Washington, D.C. I was worried about taking the trip because I didn’t have a suitcase. Ms. Burns, my chaperon, called me and told me to come to the school because the school had collected some supplies for our trip and there was a suitcase.

My grandpa was taking me to the airport and was telling me that I would be okay and to not be nervous about getting on the plane. He told me to pray and everything will be okay.

The first day we went to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. When we first arrived, I was so excited to go inside because I wanted to see what it was going to be about. But when we finally went through the metal detectors I was very nervous because of what I was starting to see. First, the museum staff led us to a meeting room to speak to us before going through the exhibit. After they had briefed us about the tour we were split into groups of four. When we started to explore the museum I began to feel sad and depressed because the reality of genocide was right before my eyes. I also felt bad when I saw the shoes of the many victims who were assassinated. It made me feel bad because I imagined, “What if this happened to us?”  The Holocaust is an event to always remember no matter what. A quote I will always remember is, “When they came and got us socialists, I didn’t speak because I wasn’t a socialist. When they came and got a Jew, I didn’t speak because I wasn’t a Jew. But when they came for me, there was no one to speak to me.”

The second day our tour group visited different monuments in Washington, D.C. I was so excited to see some of the monuments that up until now I had only studied about in school.

We visited the Jefferson Memorial, FDR Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, WWII Memorial, and the Korean War Memorial. But the one that had the most impact on me was the Vietnam Wall Memorial.

As we approached the Vietnam Wall Memorial, the weather was so hot. I was tired because we had visited all the other memorials before we stopped here. I was kind of dreading to visit another site, but when I went into the Vietnam Wall Memorial my attitude changed. One might ask, “Why did it change?” I felt a stirring in my heart when I touched the carved names on the wall of the monument. The names belong to soldiers who have fought for America’s freedom. I realized that these were not just impressions etched into the marble, but these where once lives. Not only a life, but a life that was sacrificed for freedom then, for times to come. I just wonder about these soldiers. Did they have a spouse, children, parents, or grandparents? I also wondered if their family was upset because their lives were taken.

This makes me think about the war today. Now people are still fighting and giving their lives in Iraq. It makes me appreciate how soldiers are risking their freedom for us to be here today. Without this freedom, I wouldn’t be in Washington, D.C., today to express my voice and learning about the awareness that this leadership conference has given me this far. I look forward to the rest of the week.