Email Author Patrick Williams

2005 Stories by Patrick Williams

• Grinched

  published December 29, 2005

  Grinched: We'll be honest. Christmastime isn't exactly Buzz's season. We prefer caustic sarcasm to the mawkish... More >>

• Glenn Mitchell, 1950-2005

  published November 24, 2005

  Glenn Mitchell, 1950-2005: We have a tendency to break rules here at the Dallas Observer, even those we make ourselves. For example,... More >>

• True truisms

  published November 17, 2005

  True truisms: Good writers eschew clichés, but this is Buzz, so we're giving you two to ponder right off the bat: "Lie down with... More >>

• Licensed to Speak

  published November 3, 2005

  Licensed to speak: OK, here's a thought: The next time the Texas legislators want to propose a redundant state constitutional... More >>

• Place Called Hope

  published October 27, 2005

  Say I don't: Hope, they say, springs eternal. Unless you happen to be a Texas voter of the progressive or liberal bent, in which... More >>

• Go on, flame us

  published September 29, 2005

  Go on, flame us: It's been a busy few weeks here at Buzz central, as we've been doing our part to help put together the massive Best of... More >>

• Opportunity Poops

  published September 22, 2005

  Opportunity poops: Listen up, editors of Dog Fancy magazine: You missed the scoop (that's our last bit of wordplay, we... More >>

• Not so public

  published September 15, 2005

  Not so public: Buzz's congratulations go out to Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott for winning the Freedom of Information Foundation... More >>

• Dang, some good news

  published September 8, 2005

  Dang, some good news: Buzz, ever the one to point out the dark cloud amid the silver lining, was going to tell you about some of the... More >>

• Damn

  published September 1, 2005

  Damn: Last week, Buzz suggested that The Dallas Morning News could provide a service to its readers if it would begin publishing... More >>

• Feelin' groovy

  published August 25, 2005

  Feelin' groovy: One of Buzz's all-time favorite lines about the news business comes from the 1994 movie The Paper: "We... More >>

• Al Redux

  published August 18, 2005

  Al redux: A few new faces are walking around the Dallas Observer offices, as former staffers have left for new "opportunities"... More >>

• Just because you're paranoid

  published August 4, 2005

  Just because you're paranoid: So Buzz and the missus were doing our monthly shopping at Sam's Club this weekend--bottled water,... More >>

• Good Man

  published July 21, 2005

  We here at the Dallas Observer want to say "thank you" to D magazine for naming Jim Schutze "best muckraker" in the mag's... More >>

• Pull the Other One

  published July 14, 2005

  Where's the love? Your regular Buzz correspondent travels out of town for a week's vacation, and only then Dallas decides to hold one of its most... More >>

• Our Pal

  published June 30, 2005

  First the bad news, at least for the media: Since the U.S. Supreme Court declined this week to hear an appeal by two reporters found in... More >>

• Ready, Let's GO!

  published June 23, 2005

  The news is a bit old now, but if you think Buzz is going to pass up a chance to riff about high school cheerleaders pooping on a pizza,... More >>

• Service Industry

  published June 16, 2005

  Two questions leaped to our mind when we saw the billboard for Amdecon along Interstate 35 near Oak Cliff, featuring a chalk outline of a... More >>

• Salon of Babel

  published June 9, 2005

  Arabs fighting Kurds. Israelis battling Palestinians. Americans vs. Iraqis. And so on. Can't we all just get along? Or, barring that, can someone... More >>

• Cosmetic Change

  published June 2, 2005

  Being the suspicious, cynical sort, Buzz couldn't help but salivate a little bit when we heard that Mayor Laura Miller's chief of staff,... More >>

• Tax Dollars at Work

  published May 26, 2005

  First the good news: Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott is all over the bureaucratic SNAFU that allowed convicted sex offenders to receive... More >>

• Much Ado

  published May 19, 2005

  Buzz is in Encyclopedia Brown, Boy Detective, mode this week, trying to get to the bottom of several mysteries: Who was the driver of the car that... More >>

• Irrelevant? Us?

  published May 12, 2005

  A quick note to those of you who think the media conspire to wield undue influence on politics: You can stop now. As... More >>

• Get the Funk Out

  published May 5, 2005

  Dallas leaders often cite Houston as a city with ideas worth copying. Houston has a strong-mayor system, for instance, and its local... More >>

• The Fun Vote

  published April 28, 2005

  The fun vote: To the people who care--chiefly Dallas officeholders and the people who own them--the vote on the city's strong-mayor... More >>