This may surprise you, or even lower your opinion of me (if that’s possible), but I’ve never watched the NFL Draft. It always seemed like an incredible waste of time, an exercise in nerd-dom. Oh, I would tune in periodically during the day and check the “draft crawl” at the…
Here’s a little inside Dallas Observer baseball for you: Our writers have quotas. They’re expected to write so many stories a year in exchange for continued employment. On occasion, our hardworking reporters find the quota system a bit burdensome. (By “on occasion” Buzz means “always,” and by “bit burdensome” we…
Breast Is BestEditor’s note: What follows is a sampling of the more than 150 letters and e-mails the Dallas Observer received from all over the world in response to Thomas Korosec’s April 17 story, “1-Hour Arrest,” and an April 24 follow-up in Buzz. All but one letter criticized the actions…
There is something about the boy’s eyes–half-shut and lifeless–that may hold the clue to his truancy. They mirror a depression driven by emotions too big and confusing for the 17-year-old to manage. But ask Bobby Malone why he cuts class and he will tell you flat-out: He is ready to…
The specialty license tags issued by the Texas Department of Transportation are a benign bunch really, offering little to raise the hackles of citizens on either end of the political spectrum. After all, how much moral outrage can you muster over an “Animal Friendly” plate that features a childlike drawing…
It was a dreary day late last spring, and SMU head coach Phil Bennett was standing to the side of the field wondering why the weather wasn’t cooperating. The skies were overcast and the ground was damp–far from ideal conditions for SMU’s “pro day,” a workout where NFL scouts evaluate…
He’s not a “draftnik.” Let’s get that straight. Rick Gosselin, the man Sports Illustrated’s NFL writer Peter King calls “one of the greatest football writers in America,” would not be watching this weekend’s pro football draft were he not The Dallas Morning News’ chief pigskin scribe. He would not be…
Finally, Buzz brings you some sort of good news. The state of Texas, in its all-too-finite wisdom, has bowed to eons of mammalian evolution and decided that breast-feeding your child is not a sign of unfit parenting. This is particularly good news for Jacqueline Mercado and her boyfriend, Johnny Fernandez,…
1-Hour OutrageBeauty made ugly: I do not think I could be any more disgusted or absolutely enraged by this story (“1-Hour Arrest,” by Thomas Korosec, April 17). This is a perfect example of how people of this country are so obsessed with sleaze that they can take something beautiful, twist…
Here’s a lesson in standard journalistic etiquette for those of you who aren’t part of the media elite. (And by “elite,” Buzz of course means anyone who knows where to find the chilé-lime fried pork rinds at Kroger.) Often, after you write a story about someone, that someone will call…
Thirty or so nominators, culled from the rank and file of the local music industry, decided what names made it onto the ballot for the 2003 Dallas Observer Music Awards. Slightly fewer than 6,000 of you decided what names made it onto the 15 pounds of sculpted metal we call…
You know it’s springtime in Dallas when the crepe myrtles begin to bloom, native wildflowers start their sprouting and the nutria waddle from their drainage pipes and sewers to frolic like kittens in the warm air. With their native land of Argentina too far away for swimming or travel by…
Wick’s End Never let it be said that the Full Frontal staff only digs silliness. We’re all about the politics, too. We understand how important citywide elections are in determining how budgets will be balanced, which potholes will be filled and whose ass Sharon Boyd will kiss. Which is why…
Out Come the GeeksTotal immersion: Your article is the best, most comprehensive and most accurate review of World War II Online: Blitzkrieg that I’ve ever read (“Toy Soldiers,” by Eric Celeste, April 10). Your in-depth look at the game made all the difference. From interviews with other players to your…
The service was fast, the judgments even hastier. Never did Jacqueline Mercado imagine that four rolls of film dropped off at an Eckerd Drugs one-hour photo lab near her home would turn her life inside out, threaten to send her to jail and prompt the state to take away her…
Revi68ss knows he has to be smarter than the enemy. His weaponry–tank, rifle, fighter, bomber, you name it–is inferior to that of the Allies he’s fighting in Western Europe. That doesn’t bother him. The challenge for Revi68ss and his comrades in the 6th Panzer Regiment (“Graubär”) is in outthinking and…
It was a big claim for small-claims court: “I think he killed his wife.” The words reverberated through a near-empty justice of the peace court last Thursday, providing an odd new twist in the case of Sharon Davis, an Oak Cliff schoolteacher who disappeared nearly two years ago and is…
The day before Jerry Mathers showed up at the Dallas Observer offices, his arrival became an endless string of tiresome one-liners he’s no doubt had to endure for 45 years; needless to say, the low point came when two of us decided to interview him at once, thus allowing for…
A few years ago, we told you about Dallas’ own Music Man, J. Jovan Philyaw (“Goodbye Kitty,” June 6, 2001), the man behind the CueCat, Net Talk Live!, Tripledge Wipers and other testaments to his con-artistry. Now, Jovan has reinvented himself again–and this time, Buzz must say, he’s really outdone…
MeanieCruel and low: Regarding your review of Sara Shelby-Martin in Anything Goes (“It’s De-Lovely,” by Elaine Liner, April 3), I cannot believe that you would dedicate an entire paragraph to bashing a person’s physical appearance. There is absolutely no reason to serve such personal blows to Dallas actors who are…
A reporter friend from Washington, D.C., called the other day to discuss war coverage. This friend is “plugged in,” as they say. Perhaps you saw him during President Bush’s recent news conference, sitting in front of our commander in chief, nodding thoughtfully, looking somber and balding. No matter. The point…
This is where I’m supposed to tell you about how ugly the Texas Rangers season could get, or how it looks as though you people will be enjoying hockey well into the summer’s heat. I could do it, but I’d be faking it–even more than usual, if you can believe…
