My Home, the Hospice With three kids facing a life-threatening illness, the McNair family lives one memory at a time The day after Michael and Heather McNair’s wedding, they were in the hospital. Michael’s large intestine ruptured, a result of his battle with Crohn’s disease, an inflammatory bowel disorder. He…
One month ago, in the story “Tee’d Off,” graphic designer Patrick Reeves told the Dallas Observer he wasn’t “trying to make enemies” with his line of novelty T-shirts touting Dallas as “the can’t-do city” and thanking Mayor Laura Miller for losing the Dallas Cowboys to Arlington. “It’s not like we’re…
Sorry You Missed It The genius of Slobberbone: For Tommy (obviously not Stinson): I understand your complaints about the Slobberbone article (“Head Full of Beer,” by Michael Chamy, March 10). But exactly what you request in a band is there, just not written about. Other things about the band were…
For the moment, they’re all pals, comrades-in-arms who have each other’s backs–you know, the same ones in which they used to stick knives and other sharp things. Their pasts have not been forgotten, mind you; there’s always someone with a shovel ready to dig up ancient history and use it…
Let’s take it back. Back before scouts whispered her name as a top five pick in this year’s WNBA draft. Before she broke all those records at Texas Christian University. Before, even, that one game her junior year, where she considered giving it up, all of it, the basketball, the…
Know the Score Some people don’t want restaurant inspection scores posted. Here’s why. Sometime this spring, the city council may or may not adopt a new health inspection system for restaurants. It’s based on a program adopted by the state, which in turn is derived from federal standards. Under the…
After living in Texas for 21 years, Buzz has grown sort of fond of the place and is a little defensive when friends and family from out of state (damn Yankees) refer to Texans as a bunch of gun-totin’ truck-drivin’ ignorant goobers. That’s why, as we read a story in…
Generally, I’m a slow learner. I was about 10 before I figured out that the stove was hot and I shouldn’t put my hands on it (which is the main reason why this column is constantly twisted; it’s hard to type with Kentucky-fried fingers). Later, in high school and college,…
Wigged Out Mean sister: I don’t know why Erykah Badu receives all the positive publicity from the Dallas Observer (“Waiting for Erykah,” by Robert Wilonsky, March 24). Perhaps you missed the show at the Forest Theatre when Ms. Badu and her sister, Nayrok, sang anti-war songs, calling out President Bush…
“No one ever plans to sleep out in the gutter/Sometimes that’s just the most comfortable place.” –Bright Eyes, “Road to Joy” Sporty is a natural leader, the kind of person others follow instinctively. He’s a who-where-when-what-why-how guy, an answer man. A few twists and turns aside, he could be someone’s…
PALESTINE–They don’t actually roll up the sidewalks in Palestine on Sundays, but it’s fair to say that if they did, no one would be bothered much. The Rockwellian downtown of this East Texas town of 18,000 lies deserted under the noonday sun on March 20, the stillness broken only by…
Occasionally, Buzz is called upon to answer questions from and provide quotes to reporters from other media. We do it–would be hypocrites otherwise–but we hate it, for a couple of reasons. First, you never know what another reporter is going to do with your words. Second, in more than 20…
A few months ago I was walking through the American Airlines Center on a Sunday afternoon–during a Desperados game, of all things–when I ran into Fort Worth Star-Telegram basketball writer Art Garcia. Being an industrious young scribe, Garcia was on hand for Mavs practice (which was being held on the…
Pointed Criticism Feeling edgy: As soon as I read Points, the “edgy” new Sunday section in The Dallas Morning News, the first thought that came to mind was this: I can’t wait to see how the Observer blasts this mindless bit of self-promoted fluff. I was not disappointed. You guys…
SURPRISE, Arizona–The morning Arizona sun beams down and lets its presence be felt. It needs no help on that score–it’s powerful enough to warm everyone below and tan the backs of their necks–but it’s magnified nonetheless, made ever brighter as it bounces off the ridiculously large ring adorning John Hart’s…
Play Nice or Else Free speech at UNT depends on where you stand. Literally. Everybody loves free speech until they’re the one offended. Then somebody had better pay. Or so it would seem at the University of North Texas, where the residue from a student protest six weeks ago finds…
So the mayor of a major Bible Belt city wants a gambling casino downtown. Hmm. That sorta sounds like big news to Buzz, but what do we know? Apparently a lot less–or more, your pick–than the editors of The Dallas Morning News, which reported last Friday at the tail end…
Never Annoy Your Shrink What about the children: My heart goes out to Dr. Susan Diamond (“An Irritating Woman,” by Glenna Whitley, March 3). It may be small comfort for her to know that Tarrant County family court is equally outrageous. I was crucified by my ex for more than…
For banana growers, the pesticide DBCP seemed like a godsend when it came on the market in the 1960s. The chemical has no equal for killing parasites that can devastate a banana crop. But DBCP proved to be uniquely effective for another purpose as well: sterilizing the men who worked…
Bad Medicine A new documentary takes aim at a dubious diagnosis The scene is like something out of Kafka: A young woman named Misty Jones in her 34th week of pregnancy is arrested at her home and taken to a local hospital in handcuffs. Her labor is induced and her…
First, Buzz offers apologies to the people who took time to talk with us last week. See, we had another column lined up about perceived bias at The Dallas Morning News, then came Al Lipscomb, so that one will have to wait. Not that we’re happy about it. Now, you…
Fuming in Frisco More like dystopia: In “Suburbatopia” (March 3), Jim Schutze provided evidence that Frisco may not be the perfect place it first appears. The fact that this comes as new information to the Dallas Observer is a surprise to me. I am one of Frisco’s sons. I am…
