Perhaps when you perused your Dallas Morning News last Sunday, you read the hagiography on Dave Smith, the (soon-retiring) sports editor of the paper for more than two decades. And, if you’re like Buzz, you are one of the 117 people in the Dallas area who cared that he was…
The voice on the other end of the phone was probably kidding, but who the hell could tell? Not me. The holidays are generally brutal on my end–far from anything remotely resembling vacation. I’m not a big drinker, but there’s something about Christmas and New Year’s parties that turns me…
Rude Awakening Alternative theory: Having just finished reading the third of your three articles concerning the bathtub shooting in South Dallas during the height of the Jamaican cocaine period in Dallas (“Rude Boy,” by Julie Lyons, December 25), I want to compliment you on your skillful reporting and excellent descriptive…
It’s January again, time for us to take one last gratuitous unkind swipe at the various adults who spent the past 12 months doing the grown-up stuff that keeps Dallas a functioning city, such as it is. Maybe it’s because we’re getting older, but Buzz is feeling kind of bad…
Another year has passed, leaving me older but certainly not smarter. Which is why I acquiesced in our staff meeting when told we were once again putting out a blanket year-end issue, adored by lazy, slow-witted journos everywhere. I figured I fit pretty safely into that category, and besides that,…
The Virgin Diaries Say a little prayer: Great article on True Love Waits (“No Trespassing,” by Michelle Martinez and Leah Gerchario, December 18). It shows the kids and the struggles that they deal with and how it affects them. I wish someone had been around to encourage me in that…
This was a crazy place, the wild frontier of the gangsta life. You’d never know it now, staring at this empty slab of weathered concrete, overgrown with grass and barely visible from the street. A few people can still tell you what happened here; the rest would probably just as…
Hassles at the doctor’s office and threats to the household budget have made heroism a dicey proposition for Dallas police lately. Sergeant Michael Flusche, a 20-year veteran assigned to patrol in the southwest division, was shot last month as he and other officers charged into an Oak Cliff apartment in…
This is the time of year when Buzz spends countless hours at Dallas’ central library, doing research for our upcoming annual year-end story. (By “research” we mean “cadging from The Dallas Morning News microfilms.” Please don’t tell them.) It has become something of a holiday tradition for us, hanging out…
Years ago, before the world beat me down and left me a cynical shell of a man, I had dreams. I wanted to go places and do things. (What, you think I always wanted to become an alternative-weekly zombie?) But then I hit middle school, and I pretty much resigned…
Distracted Bait and switch: Jim Schutze’s article (“Spanish Fly, December 18) overlooked the fact that building a suspension bridge across a storm sewer will greatly facilitate access to Ray’s Hardware and Sporting Goods on Singleton Boulevard–the best little gun store in town–plus make Dallas the laughingstock of the American Society…
Every weekday morning beginning at 7 o’clock, the gate of Huntsville’s Walls Unit opens, just slightly. Returned to society are a dozen or so prisoners who have completely discharged their sentences. As a parting gift, the state provides them with $50, the clothes on their backs and bus tickets. Those…
It was just a coincidence, but Ellen Cotter, the Manhattan-based chief operating officer of the Angelika chain of art-house theaters, happened to be in Dallas the very day Landmark Theatres was sending in its troops to assume control of the Magnolia Theatre in the West Village. Cotter, spotted at lunch…
In sports, particularly among the media, rumors are like venereal diseases: There are a lot of them out there, and they’re quickly and easily passed around. Who’s a nice guy, who’s a dick, who’s not talking to his coach, who slept with this actress or that celebrity–there’s never a shortage…
Good WorksDiffering visions: Normally I wouldn’t read an article as lengthy as “Fallen Angel” (December 4), but your story was filled with enough distortions that I couldn’t wait to finish it. Great fiction! Besides, you were kind enough to mention my name several times, even though you didn’t contact me…
The throng of teens mills around “the loft,” a youth-group meeting area sparsely furnished with plastic chairs. They’re preparing for an icebreaker game, a prelude to their Wednesday-night Bible class. Some kids watch dismissively from the sidelines as their classmates grip lollipop sticks between their teeth and race to pass…
It was the first wintry evening of the holiday season, and early Christmas shoppers had gathered in Fort Worth’s Botanical Gardens for a TCU Press-sponsored affair called Autograph Extravaganza, one of those events where dozens of writers stand around, generally faking nonchalant good will while hoping against hope someone, anyone,…
Full Frontals Guide to Gift Giving 1. This will sound odd coming from me, but I am just being honest. Do not buy me expensive things, as I am, by nature, ungrateful and will likely return what you’ve purchased in exchange for cash, which I will then lose gambling and/or…
PHILADELPHIA–The week leading up to the Cowboys-Eagles clash told the story before a down had been played. It was quiet in Dallas, almost eerily so. That’s never good before a big game; it usually portends disaster. I couldn’t figure out why so few people in Big D were talking about…
During the Mavericks’ December 4 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers, Steve Nash became the latest victim to be taken down by one of Karl Malone’s infamous “inadvertent” elbows. Here’s the play: Early in the third quarter, Nash takes it to the hole, misses. Malone rebounds, and Nash swats at…
Leaning PiazzaMost balanced article: Thank you for a well-written, relatively “low-drama” article regarding the problems at Cathedral of Hope (“Fallen Angel,” by J.D. Sparks, December 4). I, too, am a former member who stopped attending when it became clear to me that Michael’s goal was to separate from Metropolitan Community…
It was one of those cool-breeze, sunny mornings in Thousand Oaks, California, and before the Dallas Cowboys were to begin another preseason practice, a tennis match was under way on the Cal Lutheran campus. On one side of the net was coach Tom Landry and his assistant Dan Reeves. Opposing…
