First, a disclaimer: Buzz doesn’t speak Spanish. We tried to learn. Even got so far as to be able to hold a conversation, provided the person we were talking with: didn’t speak; didn’t object to a grown man babbling like a 3-year-old with a cleft palate; and could simply point…
Last weekend’s Corndog Festival really inspired us. After all, what with the corn dog craze that surrounds the State Fair, there are plenty dogs available on which we can lavish our artistic vision. Here, we’ve gone the route of “celebrity look-alike” and duded up our dogs à la Dallas “visionaries.”…
Everyone is pissed at Billy Cundiff. On most days, no one really cares enough about him to develop any emotion whatsoever. But this isn’t most days–the kicker is coming off his best game as a pro, one of the best games by any pro, really. Normally, that would afford him…
They are visible on the flatland horizon from miles away, rural beacons signaling that the fall ritual of Texas high school football is again under way. Down Farm Road 308, past the sprawling cotton fields and sun-browned pastureland that dot this region south of Dallas, the Friday-night stadium lights are…
Pavel Lachko, a Russian student at the University of Texas at Arlington, was in America for about a month when he received a rude cultural lesson he won’t soon forget: In these post-September 11 times, young foreign men aren’t allowed innocent mistakes. On September 6, Lachko and his roommate, fellow…
What’s Cookin’, Rock? After a preview screening of The Rundown at the Loews Cityplace theater last week, wrestler The Rock showed up for a Q&A session, which I had the misfortune of moderating: Its hard to lead a group discussion with 500 people when nine of 10 questions begin, Uh,…
Lights, camera, action: Some people go to movies. Some people buy movie theaters–54 of ’em, to be exact, all across the country. On Tuesday, Todd Wagner confirmed that he and some guy named Mark Cuban closed a deal to acquire Landmark Theatres, the nation’s largest chain of art-house theaters. The…
Man in Black Lasting gift: Those of us who have been in and around Nashville the last decade saw recently departed country music legend Johnny Cash (Scene, Heard, by Zac Crain, September 18) deteriorate physically. It was the same kind of deterioration on display at the ’96 BMI awards, where…
He stood on lush grass that was soft as fleece and storybook green. The sun shone a brilliant white, sending waves of gentle warmth through his body, penetrating all the way to his bones. Someone was talking to him, reciting the names of his brothers and sisters and little niece:…
On a recent Saturday, a group of wide-eyed wannabe mystery writers, aware of the forensic fascination that is sweeping the country and anxious to lend authenticity to their novels-in-progress, followed Dr. Carol Wise as she led them on a tour of her laboratory. Her guests dutifully made notes as she…
My childhood can only be described as traumatic. When my mother wasn’t finding excuses to hand down a beating with her big wooden spoon (You tracked dirt in the house! Where’s the big wooden spoon?), there were other people eager to scar me. In eighth grade, I wanted nothing more…
Mo Funny Among Simpsons scholars, it’s known that America’s first family is quite versatile–from meeting the first President Bush to doing a rendition of Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven.” Rick Miller has taken the family’s artistic achievements one step further. About 10 years ago, Miller, a Toronto-based actor, wrote MacHomer,…
Well, shoot, that was disappointing. We’re talking about fired police Chief Terrell Bolton’s appearance this week before a city council hearing. (Jim Schutze writes at length about the event in this week’s issue, so yes, Buzz is just piling on. What’s your point?) Anyhow, the day before the hearing, Bolton…
Mad About You Sad about Bolton: From a white journalist’s perspective, the Dallas Observer tried in vain to understand why blacks felt that the handling of Terrell Bolton’s firing was racist. Whites need not look beyond your article (“Ted’s Excellent Adventure,” by Jim Schutze, September 4) for the reasons. The…
Real Whirled If you’re among the 13 people left in the United States who haven’t appeared on a reality TV show, now’s your chance: From 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. September 13, casting directors for MTV’s The Real World and Road Rules will be in town, ahem, auditioning would-be roommates…
Fatima Leiva and Edwin Mancia had forded the Rio Grande into Texas only hours earlier–so recently, Mancia’s wallet was still wet. The two young Salvadorans had paid a coyote $200 for the crossing and a truck ride up state Highway 16, a main artery for undocumented immigrants heading out of…
When Jay Winborn lived in Miami, no nightclub closed before 5 a.m. Most places, the night was just getting started around then. Some clubs didn’t shut down until noon the next day. This is just how things were. Not only in Miami, where he lived for five years, but pretty…
This won’t do. This won’t do at all. Tony Romo is absorbed in the book he’s reading, which would otherwise be fine, except this is football, not nerd camp. The newly named third-string quarterback of your Dallas Cowboys sits on a cushy blue couch in the Valley Ranch locker room…
Now, listen carefully here: Buzz is not saying that work is for chumps. Although when Bart Simpson made that statement, Homer did have the perfect comeback: “Son, I’m proud of you. I was twice your age before I figured that out.” Buzz is just saying that it would pay a…
Never Dine Alone Shut up or pay up: I recently sat down to dine alone and against my better judgment picked up a Dallas Observer. I was going straight for Jim Schutze, but I found myself first reading the letters section. I was quite surprised by the diversity of opinion…
CRAWFORD–The lone traffic light that slows passing motorists in the heart of this tiny Central Texas community blinks in silence as another 100-degree day gives way to welcomed, cooling twilight. The 705 residents of this McLennan County dot-on-the-map have made their way home or out to the high school to…
The wine is flowing, the chips are dipping and the conversation is turning brazenly partisan. And why shouldn’t it? This is not some effete soiree that hopes to nudge funds out of its guests for an inoffensive but deserving charity. It’s not some wild frat party meant to raise blood-alcohol…
