For this, you traveled to Africa? So what has ex-Observer music editor Sam Machkovech been up to since he and the paper parted ways? Rafting down the Nile River. Judging by that hand signal he’s throwing, I’d say that Sam may have left the Observer, but some of that Observer…

A guy named Rob is looking for a guy named Bugs, who may be in possession of a map, or may have firsthand knowledge, “as to the grave of two Bigfoot” here in Texas. We just got an e-mail from Rob, who says he hosts something called the X Zone…

Now, I know you’re all thinking that I make the big bucks, but you’re wrong. Those all go to Wilonsky (“Fingers of Fury,” I believe some of you call him). But even if I did, student loans, aka credit card debt incurred when I was a college student, have now…

In another life, DISD trustee Ron Price was probably a studio publicist in the 1930s with an extraordinary knack for garnering headlines for his Hollywood clients. Through luck or calculation, the school board member and possible city council candidate knows how to snag the spotlight. After Price spoke before the…

Gene Street, chairman of Consolidated Restaurant Operations, is getting himself into fighting trim as he prepares to open a new Silver Fox Steakhouse in the Centrum’s Star Canyon space in January 2007. “I quit everything in May,” Street boasts. “Fried foods, potatoes, sugar, and I quit drinking red wine. I…

There was a time, seems like it was about five seconds ago, when I didn’t think it would ever get below 100 degrees in Dallas. My bike rides around White Rock were put on hiatus. Friday nights on the porch with a cold one were moved inside with six fans…

Today’s D’Angelo Lee story has got me really upset about the state of things. If a former member of the Dallas Plan Commission can’t spend Sunday morning at the Knubian Fantaciez all-nude stripper club–which open-mindedly offers all-male shows after midnight–without fear of having his $15,000 alligator billfold temporarily stolen and…

In college, we had this MTV channel, mtvU, that actually played music videos. Weird, right? You could turn it on and expect to see a full-length, non-TRL shortened version of (at the time) some My Chemical Romance, Phoenix or Snow Patrol video. I know, how embarrassing, I’m showing my old…

In the ongoing soap opera at Water of Life Church in Plano, preacher Doyle Davidson has posted another “message to Lisa” with a new tidbit of information–and what reads like a threat. For the first time, Davidson says that the church–and the Spirit of the Lord–bought Lisa and J.R. Staton…

Gas prices in Dallas continue to fall, according to the Dallas Business Journal, which attributes it to “calmer weather.” “Dallas motorists are paying about $2.54 a gallon for regular, self-serve gasoline, about 12 cents less than last week,” the article says. And maybe that’s not such a good thing, according…

So my story on truck stop whores got posted on some Web site called rotten.com, and in the comments section, in which people are bitching about how long the story is and how much it sucked, a guy named Johnny lifts the lid on a whole other world. Texas State…

Tarantino’s and Green Room and Trees may be gone, but there’s still a lot of life down in Deep Ellum, thanks in no small part to Frank Campagna, owner of the Kettle Art Gallery on Elm Street. He’s got a show opening tomorrow night that I’ve been excited about for…

Hey, Taylor, want an Observer sandwich? It’s tasty. DALLAS–Last night, Merritt Martin and Andrea Grimes had a threesome with Taylor Hicks. In their minds. When the American Idol winner walked into Club Dada around midnight after finishing a performance at Nokia Theatre, Grimes frantically telephoned Martin, knowing that a possible…

Nothing like a little morbid curiosity to boost a sale Big estate sale going on right now at 4949 Swiss Ave., subject of the recent series of stories in The Dallas Morning News, “Mary Ellen’s Will: the battle for 4949 Swiss,” by Lee Hancock, which I thought was really terrific…

Screw Rock Star: Supernova. We’re thinkin’ we prefer our karaoke live…like, in person. Last Wednesday, we ventured into the world of live backing bands with Rock Star Karaoke hosted by the lovely and vivacious Jenn Nabb. Good thing we did when we did–the karaoksters got the boot from Lakewood Bar…

You’re fat. A real porker. Chunky McBlubber. Fatski Von Tubbenhausen. How do I know? Men’s Fitness says Dallas is the 4th fattest city in the U.S., up from 6th last year. So chances are you could stand to lose a few, just like Terry Daniels did this year. Terry before…

Patience, patience: You can almost smell the odor of “gotcha” in the air. Four months after May’s enormous immigration marches, whose rallying cry was “Today We March, Tomorrow We Vote,” reporters and pundits are parsing the numbers, trying to figure out if there has been a spike in the number…