They came from opposite directions, Glowing like the stars they Would become, Arriving in the same place To shed their remarkable light. Old friends Cleatus Rattan and Jack Myers have, at first glance, little in common aside from a passionate devotion to their faded art and the fact one of…
Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison sure sounded like a Democrat last week when she bitch-slapped the boys at Belo. In the wake of the FCC’s ruling that a media conglomerate can own enough TV stations to reach 45 percent of the U.S. market (it used to be 35 percent), the Texas…
Dallas Observer staff writers Charles Siderius and Mark Stuertz have been named winners in one of the most prestigious national contests for feature writers, the University of Missouri Lifestyle Journalism Awards. Siderius won in the consumer category for “Garbage In, Garbage Out,” a May 16, 2002, cover story that exposed…
We here at the Dallas Observer try to do and to be good–at least as good as circumstances allow. Sometimes, we wonder why we bother. (Not that we bother much. But still…) Take, for instance, our April 25, 2002, story “Sweetheart Deal” by Thomas Korosec and Rose Farley, about how…
Run Like Hell Old-fashioned justice: After reading the story on Coral Eugene Watts (“Evil Eyes,” by Glenna Whitley, June 19), all I can say to the women of Texas is to go and get your concealed handgun permit and a .38 snub-nosed revolver, and do it before 2006! It’s obvious…
He’s a wood shop machinist at the Ellis Unit in Huntsville, his oversized hands and muscular arms as brawny as the day in 1982 when he first entered a Texas prison, as powerful as the day he last choked a woman to death. By some accounts, Coral Eugene Watts has…
The idea of a memorial to American Airlines flight crews who died in the September 11 terrorist attacks seemed simple enough. And as Dean Thompson saw it, “Who wouldn’t be for it?” In the waning months of 2001, Thompson and his wife, American Airlines flight attendant Valerie Thompson, began pushing…
It’s June in Dallas–a horrible combination. The weather is hot and sticky. The bars are crowded. Bastard children with no one to school them run wild in the streets. And, of course, the Texas Rangers are performing their annual rendition of Dead Men Walking. Makes you wish you were somewhere…
Miracle Grow They come, sometimes as many as a half-dozen a day. Tucked in the endless stream of spam offering Russian women, low-cost mortgages, porn and mini remote-controlled toy cars arrive the pitches for “all natural” penis-enlargement pills. Feeling inadequate? Too embarrassed to take a shower at the gym? Just…
A three-judge panel of the 5th District Court of Appeals has granted the Dallas Observer summary judgment in a libel suit brought by restaurateur Dale Wamstad. That means we won, though it’s too soon to tell whether Wamstad will appeal. This is good news for Buzz, since we edited the…
Movin’ On Up Bubble-icious: Only George Jefferson could have done us so proud! Before I was transferred (somewhat unwillingly) to this simmering urban sprawl, a.k.a. “the metroplex,” a decade ago, all I knew about Dallas was: 1) The city had been the site of the unfortunate sudden demise of a…
“Look at that. This could be the 1870s,” says Dr. Zech Dameron III as he pulls his pickup behind the herd. Substitute a pair of horse ears for the Dodge’s hood ornament and harden up the seats considerably, and we are a couple of cowhands moving up some long-ago trail–the…
If you’ve been busy traveling the world and not filing expense reports the past month, perhaps you’ve not heard of the “Jayson Blair saga” that roiled The New York Times. A quick recap: A young reporter, Blair, made up facts, plagiarized and lied about traveling to various locations to cover…
I didn’t do it. I swear. I wish I had, but this time someone else orchestrated the whole wonderful scheme. And bless them for it. Bill Parcells, new head coach of your Dallas Cowboys, is sitting at a table surrounded by a media horde. He’s rubbing his forehead in one…
Missed Shot Presumption of guilt: Carlton Stowers’ story “Shot in the Dark,” June 5, is a ridiculous non-story. It’s a sympathetic story of a criminal. No matter if it is small-town Texas or Dallas, a crime is a crime, and punishment is needed. If Hicks had been a resident of…
Whistling Dixie Recently, Natalie Maines, lead singer of the Dixie Chicks, appeared on the Academy of Country Music Awards with a homemade T-shirt that read “F.U.T.K.” (See digitally altered example at right.) Given that the singer has engaged in a very public battle with mindless country star/Republican party organ Toby…
Ten or so bicyclists gather around an outdoor table in downtown Dallas with bicycles of many varieties leaning against chairs or a nearby post. It’s late on a Friday afternoon, and they are sweaty and tired from another day’s work. But, they are not as sweaty and tired as they…
The elderly women high-kicking like Rockettes in skimpy, sequined outfits and fishnet hose likely were enough to open the eyes of any Saturday-morning cable wanderers who recently happened to stumble across Dallas public access channel 13 B. Senior Moments, Dallas’ own Oprah for older people, is quite a departure from…
Each year, the Press Club of Dallas passes out scads of bronze statues of a semi-naked woman–called the Katie Awards–for excellence in local journalism and public relations. Buzz, while not a member of the club (see Groucho Marx’s comment re: clubs, membership in), would like to suggest a special prize…
One week later, no one can forget the Great Mavs Collapse of Game 6. It’ll probably be that way forever. It’s going to become one of those “where were you when” scenarios, so I’ll share. I was playing poker with my buddies–why go to the game when you can watch…
Back in Klanland Weak signal up north: How funny! I work in Wise County for the sheriff’s department, and Jim Schutze had me laughing until I cried with his references to Wise County, Harleys, tornadoes and burned-down meth labs (“Radio Free Gomer,” May 29). Klanland was humorous but not altogether…
Soler Power Graffiti is everywhere. Most people despise it, especially the costs racked up in building and city structure damages. Our take: We’re not saying it’s a good thing, we’re not condoning vandalism, we just want 600 words to fill this space. So we talked to Soler, a local tagger…
