Springtime in Deep Ellum, on a Friday night in 1998. An otherwise average night except for the noise coming from the street–a heavy machine-operated clamor that pounds its way into the loft above the art deco store at 2825 Commerce St. Justin Burgess is in that loft, waiting for sleep…
Can’t Go Home Again The wandering Dallas Burn hopes its fans will follow Out comes the flag again. It’s maybe 40 feet long and 40 feet wide with a simple crimson and black blocked design. The guy running it up the steps of the Cotton Bowl, man, he’s a fan…
Everyone in Dallas is salivating over the prospect of Shaquille O’Neal playing for the Mavericks next season. No one on the Mavs has been deemed untouchable by owner Mark Cuban when it comes to trade talks with the Los Angeles Lakers, even Dirk Nowitzki. That saddens us, sure, but with…
Editor’s note: In a D Magazine interview with Channel 11 anchorman Tracy Rowlett, Mayor Laura Miller says she’s matured since her days as a firebrand Dallas Observer columnist. She says she knows there is no longer a conspiracy at City Hall. Her ghost, which still haunts her old Observer office…
We weren’t a confident bunch before Saturday’s game began. It was hot out, and the Dallas-Fort Worth sports media don’t usually do hot. We like climate-controlled arenas and soft chairs to cushion our ample backsides. Plus, we were set to play against the Mavericks coaches in the annual Hoop-it-Up clash…
When Perfect Isn’t Perfect enough: The unmentioned story behind the story (“Nice Kid, But…” by Zac Crain, June 17) is the uncomfortable likelihood that a true merit-based admissions policy would produce college classes overwhelmingly heavy in Indians (such as Mr. Biswas), Asians and homeschoolers to the detriment of minorities and…
It’s a tough life being in a rock-and-roll band. Endless days on the road, long nights in smoky clubs, the occasional beating by thugs who don’t like your politics. You’re probably wondering what we mean by that last one. Well, we’re talking about Lillian Berlin, singer for the band Living…
The kid calls it luck, says it with a little laugh and a small smile, as if he´s sharing a secret. Says it casually, his dark eyes flitting from side to side before they land in his lap. It´s the same self-effacing manner he adopts whenever the subject of Niket…
My wife belongs to a book club, a monthly, no-men-allowed assembly at the home of one of her girlfriends where the gossip and red wine flow as freely as the discussion of that month’s book. It’s more of a social gathering than anything else, and the books under consideration are…
When the phone rang, it was early morning, and Pete Hunter didn’t react at first. The sun hadn’t come up, and the sleep crust hadn’t fully formed in the corner of his eyes. He rolled over, fighting through the heavy fog that lingers when you’re barely awake, and he wasn’t…
Give a Hoot Fussbudgets: I read the article about Hooters here in Arlington and just cannot figure out what is all the fuss (“Repressed,” by Paul Kix, June 3). There are everyday people who go there, and the food is great! I saw no lewd activities or anything that was…
When a reporter manages to reach Marine Captain Josh Rushing on his cell phone, it can only be to confirm a few facts or make small talk about, oh, where he grew up or what the weather’s like in Los Angeles or other trivialities. Yes, he can say he was…
Well, so much for that new Dallas Cowboys stadium at Fair Park. Might as well get used to the sound of it: the Arlington Cowboys. Or maybe the Grapevine Cowboys. Mmmm, mmmm. On Tuesday, the Cowboys announced that the team has suspended negotiations with Dallas County regarding its proposed move…
When Jerry Jones walked into the news conference flanked by Vinny Testaverde and Stephen Jones, I knew I’d been duped–along with the rest of the media and probably you, too. For the past few months and ever since Dallas was dumped from the playoffs, the Cowboys did their best to…
Scare Tactics Chicken Littles: I must say I was sadly disappointed by your lame article on amusement rides (“Scream Machines,” by Josh Harkinson, June 3). John Stossel, the famous reporter from ABC’s 20/20, refers to such reporting as “scare stories.” People take rare isolated incidents and make them bigger than…
In the realm of human sorrows, there is no more searing grief than that of parents burying a beloved child, and to lower a son into his grave just as he’s flown from the nest is perhaps even more agonizing. When a child is murdered, a different kind of anguish…
There have been some strange stories in this space–stories that stretched (and often completely ignored) the traditional definition of sports journalism. Columns about wing eating and video games, columns about yoga with Mavs dancers and me watching TV. The fact that my check clears is either an act of charity…
Pretentious? Nous? All that jazz: The Observer shows cultural pretensions in the fact that its writers use the syntax and jargon of highfalutin literary criticism in their reviews of cultural products. However, this rarefied style sounds incongruous when used to evaluate three-chord rock CDs or concerts. Wilonsky and Co. apparently…
Thrill seekers have a word for almost every moment aboard a roller coaster, and if they were to describe Sam Nguyen’s position in the summer of 2001, they would say he was at the top of the lift hill. After all, Sam held a freshly minted season pass to Six…
There are soccer moms at Hooters. There are soccer moms and their soccer kids in their soccer gear at Hooters. There are soccer dads here, too, on this Saturday night in April, but the stereotype goes that men are supposed to be here, so the soccer dads go unnoticed. Because…
Buzz is nothing if not a great Monday-morning quarterback. Example: Last week, KERA radio convened a “state of the local media” powwow. One of the participants was James Moroney III, publisher of The Dallas Morning News. Moroney took exception to the other panelists and callers when they suggested the paper…
They “bug out” to reggae. They wear skater clothes. Some of their grades aren’t good. One of them has dropped out of Southern Methodist University. Two more have yet to graduate. Still, they dream big. They think about “the greatest job in the world.” Like, what exactly would that be?…
