News comes slowly on vacation, and, even if it does finally reach you, your brain has a way of not believing it. For the last week or so, I was at the South Jersey shore, but my brain was somewhere else–marinating in a never-ending cocktail of sun, sand, Heineken, poker,…
Back in ‘Nam Nothing cloudy: I have scanned your recent article, “Fog of War,” by John Gonzalez (July 29). You report that a small group of veterans is alleging that Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry “stretches the truth about his Vietnam service.” I suggest that their allegations are maliciously unfair…
He had two belts. He tied the first one around the handle of his bedroom door, then tied the second to the first and swung the slack over the door’s frame. There was just enough slack to form a noose. Taylor Hooton slipped his face through it. It was around…
When Tommy McHenry steps onto his porch, it’s obvious what the problem is. Or part of it, anyway. To the elderly ladies who’ve lived here in Casa View for three and four decades, the retired homemakers and widows of war veterans who get together and play bridge, McHenry probably looks…
Conservative local political blogger Sharon Boyd (www.dallasarena.com) sometimes reminds Buzz of the Terminator. No matter how hard you knock her down, up, up she comes again, ready for another pointless sequel. Sometimes we wonder why she bothers, particularly now. Boyd recently filed a lawsuit against DISD trustee Jose Joe May,…
Purple Heart Condition Unproved innuendo: I’ve just been reading John Gonzalez (who I usually enjoy); however, the reflections concerning Senator John Kerry’s distinguished war service are disturbing to say the least…I thought I was reading the Belo Daily News blurb (“Fog of War,” July 29). Since viewing the Democratic National…
It Hits the Fan The city washes its hands of James Jennings crap-filled house Almost 12 years have passed since the toilet at the back of his house turned into a giant turd cannon, blasting raw sewage all over his home, and James T. Jennings still can’t talk about it…
A few months ago, just as John Kerry began to dominate the Democratic presidential primary races, John O’Neill lay in bed at Houston’s Methodist Hospital, recovering from surgery he’d undergone to donate a kidney to his wife, Anne. It’s rare that a husband can successfully donate organs to his wife,…
Unbuttoned-Down Muse An anti-slam crowd takes to verse Are there two words in the English language more ill-suited for each other than “poetry” and “Republicans”? But Republicans, we have learned, are tricky: Just when you think you have them all sussed out, they dispatch a curious specimen of the order…
It’s been a while since Buzz checked in with Belo. Maybe that’s because the new, well-received managing editor at the The Dallas Morning News, George Rodrigue, has so far impressed newsroom naysayers. (Note to them: You know Buzz appears every week, don’t you?) Finally, though, word comes of recent unrest…
Whole Lotta Bull Death-defying: Great article (“Bull Riding,” by John Gonzalez, July 22); besides big-wave surfers and race car drivers, you ask, who else risks their life in pursuit of sport? Bull riders–one man, 130 to 200 pounds, against a 1,500- to 2,000-pound bull full of testosterone and vinegar. And…
It begins, as it always does, with a dream. A kid grows up wanting to be a baseball player. He sleeps with his glove beneath his pillow, his bat next to his bed. His walls are adorned with posters of players; his drawers are filled with their baseball cards. He…
TX Eff U Was Channel 11’s TXU report shocking or old news? Channel 11 investigative reporter Robert Riggs sits on a Florida beach, talking on his cell phone while on vacation, trying to explain how his story two weeks ago caused a huge one-day sell-off of TXU stock. “We were…
Over the weekend, the news flashed all over the world. The Guardian in London, the Star Phoenix in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, CNN and The Washington Post all ran stories saying that charges against Joanne Webb, infamous dildo saleswoman of Burleson, have been dropped by the Johnson County Attorney Bill Moore. In…
It’s hard to decide which legend is bigger–Greg Noll or the famous wave he battled like some Hemingway character decked out in striped board shorts and a scowl. Noll is a surfing god and long since retired, but both of those things are due as much to his lifetime spent…
A Bunch of Crape An ugly eyesore: I fervently hope that whoever vandalized Norma Minnis’ house is caught and punished appropriately–preferably by having to remove the graffiti with paint remover and a toothbrush (Buzz, by Patrick Williams, July 15). That sort of behavior has no excuse. BUT!!! The story is…
The last time Patty Clarke talked to Suzanna Wamsley, the Christmas season was just beginning. Her neighbor was on her way to purchase some pretty towels for an elderly lady moving into an assisted living facility. Typical Suzanna. If a neighbor had a death in the family, sweet, upbeat Suzanna…
Riding Coattails Friends of Bill take his case to the cineplex Usually, the films produced and released by Regent Entertainment go straight to cable, then to the video-store discount racks; such is the inevitable fate of fare starring Jack Wagner, Lorenzo Lamas, Adrienne Barbeau, Bruce Boxleitner and other Love Boat…
You think you have problems in your neighborhood? Crack houses? Rat-infested vacant lots? Listen, wuss, you don’t know how mean the mean streets of the city can get, and if you don’t want to find out, then don’t ever, ever touch one bloom on a crape myrtle. Someone should have…
Restart the Insanity Remember Susan Powter–the brash, blond, buzz-cut Dallas soccer mom who was screaming “Stop the insanity!” on her weight-loss infomercials in the ’90s, like some sorta inverse Richard Simmons? Well, she lives in Seattle now, has grown her hair long, has converted to lesbianism and is making a…
Dastardly DART Officer unfriendly: I’m so glad that you have brought to the public’s attention DART’s “blind eye” attitude toward the public (“DART Guns,” by Jim Schutze, July 8). I’ve been riding DART off and on for about 15 years (depending on my car situation). Although my experiences were not…
The bass pulses in my bones, causing my hips to thrust involuntarily to the beat. Most nights, this is not a particularly rhythmic activity for me; it’s more of a seismic anomaly than a dance move. Tonight is different. I’m poured into my best Italian suit. I’m recording urbane observations…
