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Imagine Living Next To These Holiday Lights

ListenToOurLights.com
John Storms' house in Cedar Creek, a suburb north of Austin, has a K-Pop soundtrack.

Five stories that have North Texas talking (and that you might've missed over the looong holiday weekend): Austin 'burb goes Gangnam style, Larry Hagman keeps on giving, the Railroad Commission might get a new name and more.

From the photo, it looks like your standard suburban Texas holiday display -- a home in Cedar Park, north of Austin, with lot of lights (25,000 or so), pretty tastefully done.

But click the play button, hit the soundtrack and ... welcome to Gangnam style.

That's the Korean pop, or K-Pop, anthem by a singer known as PSY, who's spawned thousands of copycat videos around the world. (Here's a quick primer from NPR.) YouTube just announced this weekend that the original Gangnam video became  the most-watched ever -- with 827 million views (and counting).

John Storms and his family have only lived in the Ranch of Brushy Creek subdivision for a couple of months before, as KXAN in Austin reports, they decided to make a splash, Gangnam style.

There is good news for the neighbors, though: The music only plays through an FM tuner.

-- Rick Holter

Credit Jeff Whittington / KERA News
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KERA News
When Larry Hagman appeared on KERA's 'The Glenn Mitchell Show' in 2001, he signed Jeff Whittington's organ donor card and offered a souvenir $10,000 bill.

A Big D Goodbye, Larry Hagman Style

UPDATE:  Southfork Ranch will open the mansion to the public Sunday from 2-4 to honor the life of Larry Hagman.  The ranch's Janna Timm says Southfork was "home" to TV's JR Ewing and to Hagman.  She says Hagman even had a family outing at the ranch planned the day of his passing.  Guests on Sunday may leave cards, flowers and sign Hagman's memorial book.

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Even after his death FridayDallas icon Larry Hagman keeps building his philanthropic legacy in the town he loved. His family asks that mourners hold the flowers and contribute instead to the foundation that bears his name. The Larry Hagman Foundation supports arts education for disadvantaged local kids.

-- Rick Holter

Kennedys Coming To Dallas

For years after John F. Kennedy was shot in Dallas, legend has it that the Kennedy family vowed to never return here. No longer. Two of Robert F. Kennedy's children, RFK Jr. and Rory, will take the stage of the Winspear Opera House on Jan. 11. The pair will be interviewed by public TV stalwart Charlie Rose. Tickets go on sale next week on the AT&T Performing Arts Center web site.

-- Rick Holter

Getting The Railroad Out Of The Railroad Commission

The Texas Railroad Commission is old school -- so much so, in fact, that its name really doesn't have much to do with what it actually does.

Our pals at StateImpact Texas report about the recent state-issued Sunset Report, which recommends, among other things, a name change for the agency -- to the Texas Energy Resources Commission. That would better reflect the commission's primary job, which is to regulate the state's oil and gas industry.

-- Rick Holter

Button Up Those Overcoats: It's Stock Show Season

Tickets for the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo went on sale today. And in a nod to the traditionally cold, and often rainy, weather that surrounds the late January-early February event, Stock Show weather is headed this way. Temperatures should hit the 30s by tomorrow morning.

Perfect for snuggling up next to the rodeo clown in your life.

-- BJ Austin