Media

Fly-boy

A Wylie computer programmer flies high.

Mission Accomplished

The newest game from Dallas’ Digifx Entertainment is ready for prime time. In Mission to Nexus Prime, whose storyline has been crafted by Star Wars author Timothy Zahn, you command your troops through a series of battles to gain control of planet Nexus Prime and its complex network of wormholes

Liz Smith

I entered the University of Texas before World War II ended; I was fresh out of divorce court. I didn’t know a soul in Austin, and there were only very young men—prodigies—or very old men on campus. American guys were still at war! So I spent my time swinging between

Not Much Left

The Texas Observer could be on its last legs (again).

Game Daze

IF FILLING OUT YOUR TAX forms this month wasn’t complicated enough for you, Richardson’s 7th Level has a new computer game that may be right up your alley. In G-Nome, you can pilot a lumbering craft that looks like one of the Imperial walkers from The Empire Strikes Back. But

Linda Ellerbee

When I was a little girl, the thing that I most wanted to do was to be able to sing, but as fortune would have it, I can’t carry a tune. One year at River Oaks Elementary School, a humane decision was made by the principal that anyone who wanted

.commies

A Fort Worth filmmaker makes history on the Internet.

War Stories

Mexico’s recent political unrest is the subject of a new CD-ROM from the University of Texas at Austin’s Advanced Communications Technology Laboratory, or ACTlab. The Revolution Will Be Digitized uses video, animation, art, and music to dress up an academic analysis of the Zapatista rebel movement. Due out this spring,

To Die For

Obituaries are a grave matter, of course. But they can also be funny, insightful, and poetic, which is why I’m so obsessed with them.

Disc Golf

Feeling a little subpar? Stuck in a mental bunker? The Ben Crenshaw Golf Screen Saver (ProTour Productions, $19.95) will drive away the blues. This lively program contains more than 25 images of important moments in Crenshaw�s life that pop up on your computer whenever it is idle; select your favorite

And That’s the Way It Was

In excerpts from his upcoming memoir, legendary newsman Walter Cronkite remembers his days as a cub reporter in Houston and his introdcution to the realities of racism.

Sam Donaldson

I started working for radio stations in El Paso at seventeen. I played records and ripped wire copy off the United Press International or the Associated Press wires and read it. Then, in 1954, television came to town; so my last year of college I worked for a local TV

Funny Papers

If you believe the Fort Worth Star-Telegram obituary that says Jaime Woodson was one of the great writers of this century, let me tell you about the Corbet Comets.

Spiel Burg

A Spielberg-backed cyberguide comes to Texas.

Belo the Belt

Reading the Arlington newspaper war.

Proving Their Medal

IF MULTIMEDIA were a competitive sport, Archimedia Interactive would have a shot at the gold. The Dallas company recently released 1996 U.S. Olympic Team ($29.95), the official CD-ROM of the summer games, which can be purchased in stores or on the World Wide Web (www.olympiccdrom.com). The disc features extensive profiles

Gov, American Style

Ann Richards gets ready for prime time.

Now Hear This

The surprising sound of the Internet.

Shrink-Rapt

SMALL TIME HITS the big time in The Incredible Shrinking Character (Cyberdreams), a new CD-ROM written by Austin mystery novelist Jesse Sublett and designed by Go Go Studios of Austin. In this spoof of fifties B-movies, you play a private eye who’s been hired to find a girl kidnapped by

7th Heaven

What do Monty Python, the Lion King, Ace Ventura, and Howie Mandel have in common? They’re all part of 7th Level’s strategy to marry show biz with the computer-game biz.

The Far Right Stuff

Wyatt Roberts says he’s simply crusading against sin, but critics contend that the Christian activist is trying to usher in a new era in Texas: the anti-gay nineties.

Show Us Your Bits

The Internet gives a whole new meaning to the phrase “getting wired for Mardi Gras”—there are several helpful sites covering New Orleans’ bacchanalian Carnival, which ends with Fat Tuesday on February 20. One of the most festive and informative is the city’s official page (http://www.neosoft.com/citylink/ mardigr/default.html), which offers traditional music

Virtual Vittles

From chili to chiles, there’s a heaping helping of Texas food on the Internet, including cookoff schedules, mail-order info, recipes, and restaurant reviews. Dig in.

Alternative Weakly

Texas newspapers go to war.

The News About Jim Lehrer

Once an accomplished newscaster and reporter in Dallas, he’s still going strong—and now solo—on PBS.

Texas Twenty: Catherine Crier

No longer judged a lightweight.

Tech Talk

The Watchdog

Forget how she looks. For fifty years, Tyler’s Sarah McClendon has been the most vigilant White House correspondent.

Radio Foreplay

In the beginning, say Stevens and Pruett, a listener dubbed them “radio gods.”

Russian Around

Dateline Moscow: From Red Square to yellow journalism?

Too Legit to Quit

Ward and deejays Murphy, Milton, and Love rap about rappers.

Whittling Away

Students’ attention wanders when commercials come on the tube—just like at home.

True Stories

Fish gotta swim, birds gotta fly—and some folks don’t feel alive unless they’re staring at a blank sheet of paper.

Radio Central

Part history, part gossip, part stream of consciousness, Mattie Dellinger’s talk show speaks to the heart of Center, Texas.

Just the Fax

Dallas sportswriter Skip Bayless takes his column high tech.

Shock Jock

Whether on the field or on the tube, Steve McMichael’s roughhousing grabs fans.

The Last Obit

The Dallas Times Herald, 1879-1991, R.I.P.

S. A. Split

The Cisneroses aren’t the only ones in the Alamo City fighting over their divorce.

Dan Rather Is a Good Ol’ Boy

But he’d rather not leave CBS to return to Texas, at least not yet.

The Mythic Rise of Billy Don Moyers

A small-town boy’s journey from Texas to the cosmos.

Parish the Thought!

FYI: The Houston Post’s new society sleuth has great connections, a phone in her purse, and the complete attention of Houston’s haut monde.

Bach to Basie

Dallas’ KERA discovered that music that’s good for you doesn’t have to be boring.

Brave New World

On temporary assignment, a newspaperman sees that when it comes to TV news, what you see is just about all you’re going to get.

Old Times

Before the Dallas newspaper war, the Herald was full of character—or was it characters?

Paper Boy

When newspaper entrepreneur William Dean Singleton bought the ailing ‘Dallas Times Herald,’ people thought he was crazy. When he bought the ‘Houston Post,’ they were sure of it.

Turn It Up!

The rudest, crudest, and most obnoxious disc jockeys are on in the mornings. Here’s the best—or the worst—of the lot.

The Legacy of Citizen Robert

As an heir to the Dallas Morning News, Robert Decherd has vindicated his father’s name, waged and won a newspaper war, and emerged as the new leader of the Dealey dynasty.

The Sheets of Laredo

Life after the oil bust is fair-to-Midland; bad News, hard Times in Laredo; I hear a timpani; a coach who believes winning is everything.

Is All This News Fit to Print?

Inspired by last summer’s media mania in Dallas, our expert offers a few suggestions for spicing up future nonevents.

The Training Ground

To wind up on top in the news business, it pays to start at the bottom.