He comes to America with no money and fewer friends, knowing the English language only as it relates to bass fishing. Takahiro Omori loves bass fishing. But not the Japanese kind: The bass over there are too small, the competition in the professional tournaments too easy. He tells his parents…
Crash of Symbols A grieving family gets pulled into an anti-war demonstration In a clash that illustrates the power of symbols over good intentions, a candlelight vigil last week honoring 1,000 troops killed in Iraq triggered a screaming confrontation between the family of a fallen soldier and members of the…
Buzz knows all about one kind of belt-tightening. As our gut continually tries to put more distance between itself and our spine, the belt gets snug. Nothing you can do about it. The other kind–when people start pinching pennies–Buzz knows nothing about. Of all the clichés in these two paragraphs,…
Table Dance Are you sick of poker yet? Of course you’re not. And neither is Jim McManus, author of Positively Fifth Street. The book was a best seller shortly after its release last year, came out in paperback this year and is now being made into a movie. It’s the…
It was grim in Arlington last week. On one front, the can-do city continued talking about bringing the Cowboys to town for a few hundred million. That sounded like a terrible idea for all the obvious reasons (publicly financing a stadium for a franchise that’s among the richest in sports,…
The Wrong Stuff Final verdict: When I read Robert Wilonsky’s article “The Right’s Stuff” (September 9), I came to one conclusion about both liberal and conservative extremists: They’re all fucking morons. Pablo Ampuero Dallas Sins of the lefties: You wrote a fantastic article on the Protest Warriors. It’s obvious that…
On a Friday afternoon in late August they’ve come to this street corner to raise their signs and voices to protest the venal forces that would bring down the United States. They brandish placards and peace signs, and passing motorists wave back in agreement, offer their own gestures consisting of…
Basic Instinct Texas primitive archers do it Indian-style Bill Decker eyed the fencepost carefully, sizing up its potential. Gray and decayed on the outside, it wouldn’t have looked like much to an outsider, but Decker knew it was destined for greatness. Made of Osage orange wood, or bois d’arc, it…
It’ll Put a Hurt on You No place like Deep Ellum: I moved to Dallas six years ago. After taking a year to get my bearings, I moved down to Deep Ellum. No other place in Dallas had the combination of character, community, entertainment and dining. I have lived in…
On Friday, a unanimous Texas Supreme Court, with one justice abstaining, sided with the Dallas Observer and ruled 8-0 that Denton County District Attorney Bruce Isaacks and County Court at Law Judge Darlene Whitten are “big doodyheads who need to grow up, get a sense of humor and act like…
David Kunkle is choosing his words carefully. Not surprising. He’s meticulous and thoughtful in everything he does, from the way he gently folds his hands in his lap to the way he stares intently from across his desk, eyes unwavering for nearly half an hour. His quiet intensity is unsettling…
Jokes for Jesus Get this: Sometimes Christian comedians can be funny IT’S NOT EASY to keep reading, is it? You see a headline about some Christian comedy night and you’re thinking, “There’s no way that’s funnier than Senate testimony on C-SPAN.” Maybe you’re right. But try to keep reading. You’re…
Grow your hair for peace, John Lennon once suggested. That, um, didn’t work out so well. Maybe cutting your hair for Democrats is a better idea. Maybe. Jonathan Van Voorhees, a former Dallas City Council candidate and hairstylist in the heart of Republican Richardson, is offering a free cut and…
Vice City Those of you who don’t know Dan Michalski should get to know him. He’s a freelance writer for a number of publications, including the Dallas Observer, Men’s Health and, I think, the venerable Car Shopper. He’s also the proud papa of two relatively smart and entertaining blogs: The…
It’s hard to figure who’s in a worse spot–the rookies Bill Parcells likes, or those he doesn’t. The rookies who aren’t his type of guys, you can see them straight away, and you almost feel bad for them. They’re too slow or too lazy. They don’t tackle properly, or they…
Kicked While We’re Down You jerks: I am sickened and downright shocked that your editor in chief allowed an obviously mentally disturbed member of your writing staff to print what is nothing short of a slap in the face of Deep Ellum (Full Frontal, August 26). There are many businesses…
OXNARD, CALIFORNIA–Off to the left, not more than a few feet away, a bird is perched high in a tree. It’s obscured by the foliage, but everyone at Bill Parcells’ daily news conference knows it’s there. The bird is determined to show up the Cowboys head coach with its loud,…
The Same, but Different No matter what team youre on, softball is softball At Kiest Park last week, Barbara Barnette, athletic coordinator for the Dallas Park and Recreation Department, was trying to determine whether the Gay Softball World Series was different from any other softball tournament that had been played…
Buzz doesn’t care for most sob stories. Buzz himself is about two busted deadlines away from caring a whole lot where that there homeless shelter gets built, so when someone calls to tell us about their problems, they often end up talking to the cat that sleeps next to our…
Off Target Sentence suppressor: There is something fishy about Mr. Terry Anderson (“The Shootist,” by Glenna Whitley, August 19) receiving only a 36-month sentence for possessing numerous automatic weapons and suppressors, some without serial numbers and none registered. This sentence is so far below the provisions of federal firearms law…
After the nine-hour flight from London, a weary Terry Anderson walked off the plane at 2 p.m., phoned his office and was surprised to learn Marylynn would be picking him up. Marylynn, a religion teacher at Ursuline Academy and his wife for almost 28 years, never did that. It was…
More Bushwhacking Yet another filmmaker sets her sights on the president In mid-July, Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11 opened in France and made $3.4 million, showing on only 222 screens across the country. That weekend, in a single theater in Paris, a movie showed up that looked suspiciously like Moore’s, only…
