Archive: April 2003

April 23, 2003	Dallas
The Colossal Colon Tour has come to town! Making its sixth stop on a nationwide tour, the Colossal Colon will be in Dallas today through Saturday. And we're not talking giant punctuation marks here; the Colossal Colon is a 40-foot replica of the final stretch inside the human digestive system, equivalent in size to that of a man approximately 60 feet tall. The best part? The Colossal Colon is completely interactive. Crawl inside — no lubrication necessary — and discover what polyps and hemorrhoids look like in 1:10 scale! Be sure, however, to don the special protective booties before investigating the fiberglass intestinal afflictions — the tour guides would be upset if you wrecked 'em. After Saturday, the Colossal Colon will be off to Houston, where it will make its second and last Texas stop, May 7-10.

Related Information:

Check Your Insides Out The Colossal Colon at Rolling to Recovery

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Remembering 'Waco's Wackos'

April 21, 2003	Waco
Ten years ago Saturday, an event that brought worldwide attention to the Central Texas town of Waco came to a fiery close. The now infamous compound that held the previously little-known Branch Davidians burned to the ground, killing some 80 people inside. The inferno marked the end of a 51-day standoff between federal agents and the religious cult's leader David Koresh. The event, involving guns, religion and cowboy-hatted Texas Rangers, was perhaps the greatest reinforcement for Texas stereotypes since Dallas went off the air in 1991. Covered by news media in a seemingly unending two-month broadcast, the outrageous tragedy scored another point for the Wild West view of Texas as a land of death and outlaws. Today, hundreds of curious travelers still visit the site, where they find a small visitors center, markers listing the names of those who perished and a chapel built by surviving cult members who believe that Koresh will one day rise from the dead.

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A Howling Good Memorial

April 7, 2003	Del Rio
Robert Smith, the late disc jockey better known as Wolfman Jack, will soon be honored in the Southwest Texas town of Del Rio. Just recently, a wax replica of the statue was unveiled in Del Rio during a day-long music festival held in the DJ's honor. The statue, designed by sculptor Michael Maiden, depicts Wolfman Jack dancing on one leg as records and musical notes rain down behind him. Wolfman Jack's career hit it big while working at XERF-AM, a 250,000-watt radio station in Ciudad Acuña, Mexico, just south of Del Rio. The precise site for the completed work has yet to be determined, but the statue is scheduled to be unveiled on Halloween later this year. With the memorial's debut, Wolfman Jack will join the likes of Buddy Holly, Janis Joplin and Stevie Ray Vaughan to become another in a line of dead music legends with a statue in Texas.

Related Information:

Michael Maiden Studios

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