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Munster Party a Frightening Hit
| October 31, 2002 |
Waxahachie |
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The first-ever Munster Mansion Masquerade Party took place on Saturday and has been deemed by Texas Twisted a huge success!
The pre-Halloween celebration was hosted by Charles and Sandra McKee, the Waxahachie couple who have been building as their personal home a nearly exact replica of the house featured on the 1960s sitcom The Munsters (Feb. 4). They organized the party with the help of Butch Patrick, who played young Eddie Munster on the original series. Patrick signed autographs at the party while busily ensuring everything went as planned.
Also in attendance was Al "Grandpa" Lewis, who spent the evening chatting with guests and signing memorabilia. Patrick had also hoped to bring to the occasion Pat Priest, the actress who played Marilyn Munster, niece to Herman and Lily. Due to an illness, however, she was unable to make it.
The party, which helped to benefit the Texas Baptist Home for Children, is hoped to become an annual event.
Read the Special Report on my visit to the party. |
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It May Be in Color, but It's Still Awfully White
| October 14, 2002 |
Dallas |
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Those wags at the First Men's Garden Club of Dallas just couldn't keep their shirts on; they're releasing their new beefcake calendar two months earlier than last year. Plus, this year's cover photo is in full color, a more appropriate format to show off all those green thumbs.
The Men of the First Men's Garden Club of Dallas 2003 Calendar is a follow-up to last year's debut pictorial featuring club members demonstrating their cultivating prowess in the buff. The 2002 calendar showcased 12 skilled gardeners, ages 53 to 89, toiling naked in the soil while holding strategically placed gardening implements.
The new calendar, available this month, includes 16 club members in an expanded 15-month format. Chester Cundiff, last year's Mister June, returns again this year. He turns 90 in December.
To round out the sensory feast, several members got together to record their new anthem, "The Naked Guys of Texas." A parody of the song "The Yellow Rose of Texas," the recording can be heard free of charge on the club's Web site.
The calendar's models will be on hand at Richardson Square Mall on Saturday, Oct. 19 to sign autographs and pose for photos with their tools. I mean their props. |
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'Big Chair' on Last Leg of Texas Tour
| October 12, 2002 |
Arlington |
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 In celebration of 100 years of business, Bassett Furniture has chosen North Texas as the site to unveil what is being billed as the World's Largest Chair. At a height of 20 feet and 3 inches, the "Big Chair," as they call it, is made of layered ash with a fiberglass seat.
The enormous sitting appliance succeeds Bassett's previous oversized chair built in 1958, a 19-foot Duncan Phyfe that still stands in Anacostia, Washington, D.C. The new contender is a Mission-style chair modeled from their popular Grove Park collection.
The Big Chair has been visiting Bassett Furniture Direct stores in the Dallas-Fort Worth area this week and is currently in Arlington for its last stop in Texas. After tomorrow, it will begin a year-long tour around the country before most likely coming to rest at Bassett's headquarters in Bassett, Virginia.
However, according to Erin McAnally, a Marketing and Communications Manager for Bassett, repairs will need to be made to the chair before it continues its journey. "There are a couple of pressure splits in the back legs from the hydraulic lifts," she revealed. The chair travels on its own trailer and the lifts are used to set it up for display. According to McAnally, it will have to return to the shop to have reinforcements added before heading to the west coast. "San Diego will probably be its next stop," she said.
Nevertheless, Bassett's claim to the World's Largest Chair may be unwarranted. As reported earlier by Texas Twisted, the Star of Texas Rocker beats Bassett's big butt shelf by 6 feet. And Amboy, Illinois boasts a 55-foot wicker chair, promising a 70-footer next year.
But, if nothing else, they've still got the World's Largest Mobile Chair.
Thanks to Todd Kent for the story lead and to Doug Kirby for help with the research. |
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You, Too, Can Be an Athlete
| October 6, 2002 |
Eldorado |
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As part of their 2002 Homecoming celebration, the town of Eldorado (pronounced el-doh-RAY-doh) yesterday held an Armchair Decathlon.
The event consisted of ten butt-numbing challenges: donut eating, thumb wrestling, darts, nail driving, jig-saw-puzzle making, pitching cards into a hat, an obstacle course and what was announced as three "surprise events."
Reportedly, organizers also held time trials for next February's Elgoatarod, similar to the Iditarod, but with ... well, goats. |
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El Paso Gears Toward Trekkies
| October 6, 2002 |
El Paso |
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Geek check: Where was Gene Roddenberry born? Answer: Roddenberry, the creator of the immensely popular science-fiction series Star Trek, was born in El Paso, Texas in 1921.
El Paso, located in far West Texas near the borders of Mexico and New Mexico, is finally taking advantage of that fact. On Friday, a ceremony was held to rededicate the El Paso Independent School District's 33-year-old planetarium the Gene Roddenberry Planetarium.
Although the name was officially changed in November of last year, Friday's ceremony marks a huge effort by city officials to make El Paso a destination spot for Trekkies from around the world. A proclamation was made designating Oct. 4 Gene Roddenberry Day and a wooden plaque was placed at Roddenberry's boyhood home.
The house where the Roddenberrys lived is gone, but the address, 1907 E. Yandell Drive, is now the site of Sylvia's Flower Shop, where the plaque was installed. The shop's owners say they don't understand what all the fuss is about, but welcome the business they hope it will bring in.
The planetarium's rededication prefaced a Star Trek convention held over the weekend, the fifth to be held in El Paso since 1989 and what many hope will become an annual event. In attendance were Roddenberry's son, Eugene Roddenberry Jr., Apollo 12 astronaut Dick Gordon and several stars from the various Star Trek spin-offs: Michael Dorn (Worf), Marina Sirtis (Deanna Troi), Nicole deBoer (Ezri Dax), Ethan Phillips (Neelix) and Robert Picardo (The Doctor).
Additionally, this Roadside Headline marks the beginning of what I hope will be a great deal of search-engine traffic from geeks looking for Star Trek stuff. |
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If This Chair's A-rockin' ...
| October 6, 2002 |
Lipan |
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Larry Dennis, proprietor of the Texas Hill Country Furniture and Mercantile, is doing his part to prove that everything really is bigger in Texas.
Dennis, who threw a party over the weekend celebrating one year at his business's new location, has built what may be the World's Largest Rocking Chair. Made of cedar logs and topped with a series of large, decorative stars, the Star of Texas Rocker stands nearly 26 feet tall and weighs approximately 4 tons.
Dennis says he's waiting for confirmation from the Guinness Book of World Records, but according to Texas Twisted's research, the new chair at least beats out the 21-foot-tall "World's Largest Rocking Chair" in Penrose, Colorado.
The Texas Hill Country Furniture and Mercantile is along U.S. Highway 281, about 5 miles south of I-20, between Mineral Wells and Stephenville. |
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State Fair Deems Condiments too Saucy
| October 6, 2002 |
Dallas |
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It may be surprising, but there are some things that don't pass for good taste at the State Fair of Texas.
Hot Sauce Harry's, a Dallas-based manufacturer of spicy condiments, was not allowed this year to display their full assortment of sauces at the Food and Fiber Pavilion. The Texas Department of Agriculture banned five of their offerings, the most prominent of which is their Bomb Laden Mad Blast Habanero Hot Sauce.
The Bomb Laden bottle is topped with a tiny turban and its label depicts an image of a frightened bin Laden in a bomb's crosshairs.
Four other sauces were banned, as well:
Dynamite Hot Sauce, packaged in a faux stick of dynamite.
Hot Lips Hot Love Sauce — "... hot sensual sauce that burns like love."
Flippin' The Bird — "Add pizzazz to poultry ..."
ENwRONg Shredded Sauce — "One LAY, but millions screwed!" |
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